The children were excited to see today's topic poster on our concept wall as they arrived. Next stop: Art Table. Shrieks. Chatter. Cookies! Today's Invitation to Create: Cookies. Children were able to choose cookie shapes and decorate to their liking. Some drew frosting details, others colored, many opted to add sprinkles. Everything is better with sprinkles! Mrs. P. is our naturally gifted preschool aide. She loves our students and takes a personal interest in them, so conversations at the art table flow easily. Children are eager to work with her and share their experiences from home that relate to the project. Yes, I could easily list a variety of visual, math, fine motor, and language skills. (Click here to learn more.) What warms my heart the most is that we have developed healthy, nurturing relationships with our families. Children feel safe, loved, and supported at home and school. These relationships open the door to a foundation that will set them on a life-long love of learning. Experience Preschool provides us with not only four teacher guides and many of the materials needed to carry out the lessons, but they also add a music CD that helps children learn concepts through music and movement. We have learned so many concepts through music, which you about here, here or even this one. "Counting Cookies" is a song the children have enjoyed. I have heard them sing it while they play also. Our teacher guide for this week suggested a number line placed on the floor for children to hop to while they sing the song. So much fun! We also had children hop to a specific number and a number that comes before or after a given number. This activity helped us engage those active kids who have difficulty sitting during learning time. They don't realize they are "doing" math, although we know they are learning number sense, gross motor, and self-regulation skills. During skill time with my group, we sorted cookies by the letter on each one. Our transitions to a new activity are always the same: come to the table (or area) with hands in our lap, waiting for directions. Children learn to wait their turn. After a few rounds, a child suggested we sort cookies by color, so we did that, too. Letter sounds were practiced as well! "The B says /b/, the B says /b/, every letter makes a sound, the B says /b/."
Not pictured: the cookie patterns we worked on during our afternoon skill time session. Patterns have now advanced to an AABB pattern. What a busy, learning-filled day!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorSheila Anderson has over 25 years experience in the Early Childhood Field and still loves going to "school" everyday. Archives
January 2022
Categories |