Preschool Newsletter: March 27

Hello Preschool Families,
​
What wacky weather we have had in the last two weeks! The warmer temps have felt so nice, and have given us a chance to start raking and tending to the earth in our front playground space. Get ready for colder weather this week though. On that note, please pack hats, mittens, snow pants, warm jackets, rain jackets, and warm layers each day this week. These spring days are full of confusion (weather-wise) so we will try to be prepared for anything Mother Nature throws our way! 


The Science Center came again last week and we learned all about birds. Did you know that birds are the modern-day dinosaurs? That blew some of the preschoolers away! Naturalist Kyle introduced us to a pigeon skeleton to discover how a bird uses their body to move and beak to eat, and then explained how much birds rely on feathers to keep warm, etc. The preschoolers each got to hold turkey vulture feathers and owl feathers. They flapped those wings fast and hard to compare the sound each type of feather makes. Owl feathers don’t make sounds when flapped. Turkey vultures on the other hand are quite loud! The preschoolers played games with Kyle, matching objects to the types of beaks birds have (which may have inspired a fun sensory table activity in our classroom this coming week, wink wink)... they also played some movement games where they waddled like penguins and flew like other types of birds. We also met an American Kestrel, which is the smallest most common falcon in North America. Naturalist Kyle brought an egg from this type of bird and we compared its size and color to a real ostrich egg!

I love seeing the children’s faces light up with excitement when the Science Center comes to visit. These hour-long visits are adult led and really offer an amazing balance to our child-led, emergent curriculum. Children make so many discoveries on their own each day; they live in a world of trial and error; of “how does this work?”. So, when a knowledgeable person comes along (like a Naturalist from the Science Center) who wants to share information in a developmentally appropriate way, it just lights the children up! Learning about the natural world just makes sense with children because when we step outdoors, we step into the world of bugs, insects, wildlife, etc. It’s a magical place where wonder and discovery come together.

Preschool Happenings This Week:

• On Thursday morning, the entire class began constructing a marble maze in the block area on their own. Ahh, science! And it was child-initiated, and play-based. It all began with two children, and quickly evolved into a group activity. There was a lot of trial and error, and a lot of negotiating… Will the marble keep moving if the ramp goes up hill? Will the marble move if the ramp goes down hill? How do we keep the marble on the ramp instead of flying off? Who gets to use the most colorful marbles? Do we take turns? 


• So much yoga! We have been using the quiet time after lunch to get into our yoga groove. From playing yoga freeze dance, to trying out partner yoga poses, to making sandwiches with our bodies, we have been having a blast.
• We learned a few new songs this week. One favorite is called “Yogi Has The Cat”... it’s been a really fun way to come together as a group… This group loves to pretend they are cats pretty much every day, so this song has been a big hit!
• We played an alphabet hide-and-seek card game. I hid cards around the classroom for the children to find, and when everyone found a card, we came back together as a group to learn the letter names, sounds and think of other words that begin with those same letters. Play + emergent literacy = a really fun and educational game
• Everyone enjoyed making faces and creations using multicultural skin-tone colored playdough and beautiful loose parts. 
• We began cleaning up the front playground (soon to be an outdoor classroom). On Friday morning the preschoolers started raking leaves and moving bricks, which turned into a huge large motor activity. The brick piles were quickly transformed into houses, castles and walkways. These preschoolers worked so hard and took such joy in tending to the earth together. 
• The tinker-art area is a forever favorite for many preschoolers. The stickers, tape, glue, scissors, and coloring are all incredible invitations for your child to practice fine motor skills. 
• Some favorite books we read this week are The B Book by Jan and Stan Berenstain, Bathe The Cat by Alice P. McGinty and Tucking Mommy In by Morag Loh​

Be well,
Kasia