Monday, December 9, 2013

December 2013 newsletter

Trinity Preschool  December 2013 Newsletter                                                                                                                                                                         IMPORTANT DATES:

BOOK ORDERS DUE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013 ! 

Stocking Stuffers:

Still time to bring in items. Thank you to everyone who has brought in items for the Salvation Army toy drive.  There is still time to drop off small toys stocking stuffers, socks (for children or adults), hats , mittens, etc.  The drop box is in the office.

Classroom Holiday Parties:

Thursday, December 19- Willow Room Party- Terrific 2’s and 3’s class
Parents come: 11:00 a.m. (children come normal time)
Your party will be in the classroom, the children will song some songs and we will enjoy some refreshments together.  Please be here on time as we start right away with the children singing. Children may dress up as we do no messy activities on party day.


Friday, December 20- morning classes
Willow Room - MWF class
Maple Room-MWF class
Oak Room- 5 day class
Parents come: 10:45- (children come normal time)
The MWF and 5 day classes will all sing together in the sanctuary.  Then we will move down to our “gym” for refreshments.  Feel free to invite whomever you feel will enjoy attending.

Planning ahead: Winter vacation: Dec. 23- Jan.3
Special Note: School resumes: Monday, January 6, 2014

Trinity Preschool Silent Auction fundraiser: Mark your calendar!
Sunday, February 23, 2014.
___________________________________________________________
Staffing change at Trinity Preschool

Mrs. Kauke, who started with us in September as an assistant teacher in the Maple Room will be leaving us. While we are sad to see her leave after such a short time with us, we are excited to announce that she is expecting a baby this spring, so will be home preparing for her new bundle of joy.
We have hired a new assistant teacher to begin when we return in January.  Her name is Jenny Occipinti and we will have the children call her Miss O.  She is the parent of two of the children in our Oak Room this year so she is very familiar with our school and our program. 


Stay & Play:
Remember- No Stay & Play on Friday, Dec. 20.
Our stay & play program is a fun way to extend your child’s day with more activities, and a healthy snack.  If you would like to add stay & play, see Mary.





Early Drop Off:
We offer early drop off as early as 8:30 for a fee of $3.00 per day.  Please give advance notice.

Outer Door:
Please make sure the outside door is closed and not propped open on these cold winter days.

Winter weather emergency school closing:
How to find out if we are having school or if school is cancelled.
v  The best way is to: Call the school phone to check the message, if the weather is bad, there will be a message (by 8:00 a.m.) stating whether we are open or not.
v  Check our website (trinitypreschoolmp.org) for a link to District 59- if they are closed, we are for sure closed (however, there have been occasions where they stay open and we have closed due to terrible road conditions)
v  Watch the television - again for District 59- if they are closed, we will be.
v  Always, if you feel the road conditions are unsafe for you to drive; you may keep your child home.

Snowy Weather:
Please have your child wear boots if it is snowy and bring a change of shoes so we can keep our classroom floors clean.
  • FLOORS AND STAIRS ARE SLIPPERY WHEN SHOES/BOOTS ARE WET-USE CAUTION!
  • Sometimes the parking lot is icy and it is hard to tell due to the black asphalt-walk slowly and hold your child’s hands.
  •  IF YOU SEE ME OUTSIDE BY THE DOOR IN THE WINTER WITH MY COAT ON ….. YOU MAY DRIVE UP AND DROP OFF YOUR CHILD AT THE DOOR! If you don’t see me outside and have younger children with you and want to drop off your child at the door - call the school phone to make arrangements!


Trinity Preschool Silent Auction:
Many preschools require families to buy/sell items to raise money for their schools.  We do not, but we have a once a year, silent auction to raise money for important  items like playground equipment, playground  ground cover, classroom educational toys, furniture for the classrooms and other items needed to continue to provide the high quality of education we are known for providing.  This year we have a different goal, we are being required by the state to put in two fire doors in our hallways at a very high expense.  We will be using the money from our silent auction to help pay for these doors, as well as trying to get some new classroom equipment.
Our fund raising event is going to be Sunday, February 23, 2014 and we hold it in the church lobby.  Church members and preschool families join together to support the preschool. 
Right now, we are beginning to seek donations for our auction from local businesses.  You will be getting much more information about the auction beginning in January and how you can be involved. Please plan to come to the auction to support the preschool. 

Fall 2014 enrollment:

Soon, I will be handing out information to all of our families about classes for fall 2014.  Official Registration will be in January. 
If you have someone you are referring to Trinity Preschool, have them contact me right away so I can get their name on my notes.  I will first open enrollment to Trinity Preschool families (current and past); then I will enroll those referred by one of our families.  After that, if any space is still available, we open enrollment to new families. 


Have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas           

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Willow Room:  MWF

We read "Snowmen at Christmas" by Caralyn Buehner

We glued scrunched up red tissue paper pieces and green construction paper pieces onto a wreath shape.

We painted Christmas light shape paper with glitter colors of paint.  We will hang them in our classroom windows.

Maple Room: MWF class

We read "Gingerbread Boy" by Paul Galdone

We made ornaments shaped like a wreath with green sequins .
we had donuts shapes at the easel with puffy paint and paper sprinkles.

We did our letter F activities on dry erase boards.

Oak Room: Pre- K class

We read "The gingerbread man" by Eric Kimmel

We worked on letter "L" words and pictures in our journals.

We made salt clay and the children used it to make cookies for our bakery. 

We used flannel board pieces to retell the gingerbread story. 

Stay and Play:

We read "No more cookies!" by Paeony Lewis

We painted large sheets of paper with green paint using various kinds of roller brushes.
We will later make them into tree shapes and we will add ornaments.
We strung straws pieces onto yarn to add to our tree as garland.

We did a counting cookies rhyme and used clackers to do the Alligator Stomp for music.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Willow Room: Terrific 2's and 3's class

We read "If you give a moose a muffin" by Laura Numeroff

We made ornaments with fun foam mitten shapes, glitter glue and fun foam pieces. At the easel we had large tree shape stencils and green glitter paint.

We have our dramatic corner set up as a bakery and the children each have their baker hats to wear.

We played a "missing ornament" game.  We put some ornaments on a tray and then covered them with a blanket.  We took one away and the children had to guess which one was missing.

We did a Christmas tree counting rhyme.

Oak Room:

Oak Room: Pre- K class

We read "Froggy bakes a cake" by Jonathan London
and Grains to Bread
Our dramatic play area is now set up as a bakery.  All of the children have their own baker hats.

We used white finger paint to paint our hands white over and over.  Then we made prints in a circle to look like a snowflake.

We did 5 green and speckled frogs , the December song.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, December 2, 2013

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "If you give a moose a muffin" by Laura Numeroff

We made ornaments use fun foam holiday shapes on mittens.  We used silver glitter glue.
At the easel we painted with roller brushes and stencils with green glitter paint.

We played a game with the children where we put various kinds of ornaments on a tray and showed the children.  Then we covered them with a blanket and removed one ornament.  The children had to guess which ornament was missing.

Our dramatic corner is a bakery now and all the children have their own baker's hats.

Maple Room:MWF class

We read "The gingerbread man" by Karen Schmidt

We made gingerbread men with a mixture of applesauce and cinnamon.  We put him in the oven and when we went back to check later he had escaped (just like in our story).  We went on a hunt around the building following clues the gingerbread man left for us.  We finally found him back in our room!

We had grid stencils and rollers with paint and brushes at the easel.

We played pass the gingerbread man (like hot potato) 

We did letter F activities.

Our dramatic play area is now set up as a bakery.  All of the children have their own baker hats.

Oak Room: Pre- K class

We read "The little red hen" by Paul Galdone and "I want to be a chef"


We painted a small paper plate green and added colored tissue paper to look like ornaments.  We will put them all together in a tree shape on our bulletin board.

We will be doing holiday activities and bakery the next few weeks.  Our dramatic corner is set up to be a bakery and each of the children has their own bakery hat.

Stay and Play:

We read "The great monster hunt" by Norbert Landa

We had rainbow colors of tempra paint and small brushes.  The children painted pictures.

We did "play the band, B I N G O , and Old Mc Donald had a band with instruments for music.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Friday, November 22, 2013

Willow Room:

We made pumpkin muffins and had pudding, raisins, and dried plums as part of our Thanksgiving feast today. We made our own butter by shaking cream in a jar.


We read "Thanksgiving at our house" by P.V. Hallinam

We painted gold glittery stars to decorate our room for December.

We painted on paper that was taped ot the wall, we used brushes and rollers.

We did "Please pass the peas", Turkey Hop", and we danced with feathers to the song, shake something.

We did "The thankful rhyme" and "5 little turkeys" using finger puppets.



Oak and Maple Rooms;

We had our joint classroom Thanksgiving feast today.  One class dresses as pilgrims and invites the class dressed as Native Americans to come join them in a feast.  The children made corn muffins, and we had everyone bring in food for our "Friendship mix"  We all meet together in one room and have our snack together.

Oak Room:

We read "Thanksgiving day" by Gail Gibbons and "Turkey Day " by Grace Maccarone

We made placemats for our feast, they drew a picture and snipped along the edges to fringe it.

We did "Turkey hop", "Turkey Pokey" and "Turkey lake story" - we draw a picture as we tell the story and it comes out as a picture.

We also shook cream to make it turn into butter.

Maple Room: MWF class

We read "Arthur's Thanksgiving" by Marc Brown and "Bear says Thanks" by Marc Brown

We did some letter E activities.  We had beads for bead stringing.

We made corn muffins and our own home made butter.

We had dab a doo  painters at the easel.

We did the November song


Trinity Preschool Activities for Thursday, November 21, 2013

Oak Room: Pre- K class

We read "Franklin's Thanksgiving" and "Who will carve the turkey this Thanksgiving?"

We made pine cone turkeys, we glued feathers into pine cones and drew a face on the  paper head.

We did "This old man" (we followed action pictures with rhyming words) "and "I know a chicken" using bells.

We had clay at our sensory table.

Willow Room: MWF class

We read "Thanksgiving at our house" by P.K. Hallinan

We made firefighter helmets, we decorated them with the numbers 911.
We had fire fighter Jim from the Mount Prospect fire department visit our class today.  We got to try on his jacket and helmet too.

We had our "Thanksgiving feast" in our class, we made pumpkin muffins and we made our own home made butter.

We did a thankful rhyme, and we did a 5 little turkeys rhyme.


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Willow Room- M. W. F. class

We read "Thanksgiving Feast" by Quinlon B. Lee

We asked the children "What is your favorite food to eat at Thanksgiving?

We glued feathers onto a turkey shape for art.

We had magnetic shapes at the easel.

We did "Travelin Turkeys", "Over the Deep Blue Sea" and "Turkey Pokey" for music today.

We did a 5 little turkeys rhyme too.

Oak Room: Pre- K class

We read "Arthur's Thanksgiving" by Marc Brown and we read "Over the river, a turkey's tale" by Derek Anderson

We worked in our letter journals on the letter K.

We did "Turkey feathers rhyme", "Deep in the jungle" and "5 little turkeys" for music today.

Maple Room: MWF class

We read "Turkey Trouble" by Wendi Silvano

We made handprint turkeys.  The children painted their hand brown, their fingers, red, yellow, orange and purple- then pressed it on paper.

We did "The November song", and "5 little turkeys" for music time.

We did letter E activities, what words start with E?, do you have the letter E in your name? Letter E song.

Stay and Play:

We read "Llama, Llama and the bully goat" by Anna Dewdney (a story about being nice and not a bully)

We did stencils with dabadoo painters- the children put a shape on their paper and used dab a doo dot painters to paint all around the shape.  When they took it off, the shape showed ( negative space)

We did "I'm a little turkey", "Come an get a smiley face" and "Bean bag songs" for music time.


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Oak Room- Pre-k class

we read "Run, turkey, run!" by Diane Mayr

We did corn cob painting, we rolled feed corn on the cob back and forth in a big tub with fall colors of paint.  We will cut them into turkey shapes when they dry.

We had a visit from the children's librarian to read to the children today.

We did "Deep in the jungle" with drums for music, and we played "Pass the turkey" (like hot potato).

Willow Room: Terrific 2's and 3's class

We read "Thanksgiving feast" by Quinlon B. Lee

We are already starting to learn the songs we will sing for our Holiday program- we don't have too much time after Thanksgiving break.

We did a traveling turkeys felt board song.

We glued real colorful feathers onto turkey shapes for art and we had magnetic shapes at the easel.

we had a visit from the children's librarian today to read to the children.


Monday, November 18, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, November 18, 2013

Willow Room- MWF class

We had the Mount Prospect children't librarian visit our class today to read to the children.

We also read "If you give a cat a cupcake" by Laura Numeroff

We painted with shaving cream and glue mixed together to look like frosting.  The children added it to a large cupcake shape and put on some paper sprinkles to look like cup cake sprinkles. (search cupcake on our blog to see picture of project)

We had dry erase  markers at  the easel.

We did "Late last night", "Can't sit still" "Put your hands in the air" for music time.

Oak Room- Pre- k class

We read "Turkey trouble" by Wendi Silvano and we also read "Five silly Turkeys" by Salina Yoon

We put fall stamper shapes onto paper that will be something we wear as Pilgrims for our Thanksgiving feast.

We did "Come and buy a pumpkin", "List of dances" and "Couch Potato pokey" for music today.

Maple Room: MWF class

We had the children's librarian from the Mount Prospect library read to our class today.

We did Marble Painting for art today.

We had water colors at the easel.

We did "The November song" and "Please pass the peas" for music time.

We did Letter E activities, (the alphabet monster box- what did he eat that starts with the letter e?,) an E book, and thought of words that start with the letter E.

Stay and Play:  

We did an art activity using vinegar and watercolors dripped onto baking soda.  They came out looking so cool. They children really enjoyed exploring how the two reacted to each other.







Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, November 20, 2013

Willow Room:  Terrific 2's and 3's class

We read "Bear snores on" by Karma Wilson

We asked the children "Do you like winter time?

We painted with cookie cutters and glitter paint.

We had magnetic 3 D shapes at the easel.

We did "Rhythm in my fingers" "Animals exercising" and "Tap your toe and follow me" for music time. 

We pretended we were animals getting ready for winter.  We hid "nuts" all over the rooma nd the children helped find them for the squirrels.


Oak Room; pre- k class

We read "Mixed up chameleon" by Eric Carle and "The very lonely firefly" by Eric Carle

We glued a chameleon to paper and rolled paint over it so it blended in with the background.
can you see the chameleon?


We did "Turkey feathers rhyme", "Please pass the peas", and "List of dances" for music time.

We guessed what items were in our "J mystery bag

Trinity Preschool Activities for Friday,November 15, 2013

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Sneeze Big Bear Sneeze" by Maureen Wright

Int eh story the bear sneezes and all the leaves fall off the trees; so we asked the children "Do you think a bear could really sneeze the leaves off a tree?

We painted using dish scrubbers to make a design on paper.

We used chalk boards, colored chalk and stencils at the easel.

We did "Head, shoulders, knees and toes", "2 little blackbirds" and "strolling down the road" for music today.

We did a "Leaves on the move " rhyme.  We give each child a leaf and they did action moves that are opposites, (fast, slow, high, low, etc)

Oak Room- Pre- k class

We read "10 little rubber ducks" by Eric Carle

We did an art/literacy activity to incorporate our book we read.
The children painted with light blue watercolors on paper and then glued on 10 paper ducks.  They told us what their ducks did on their adventure.



We did "Bean Bag alphabet rag" we did a movement for every letter.

We asked the children "What starts with the letter J?"

Maple Room: MWF class

We read "One is a feast for a mouse" by Judy Cox

We used thread spools on rollers with glitter paint.



We had acorn shape paper at the easel, with yellow paint and foam circle shape painters.

We did letter D activities, dry erase boards and practice writing the letter, words that begin with the letter.

We sang the "November song," "Hide turkey, hide rhyme", ""If your are thankful and you know it" and "List of dances" for music today.

Stay and Play:

We read "Slippers at school" by Andrew Clements

We did a group painting project.  We had a large sheet of paper on the table and the children painted to the music, faster as the tempo went faster, slower as the tempo went slower.

We did "B-O-O-T- S", and "Body Part Game" for music time.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Thursday, November 14, 2013

Willow Room- Terrific 2's and 3's class

We read "Sneeze Big Bear Sneeze" by Maureen Wright

We painted with dish scrubbers to make cool designs on paper.  
We had chalk boards, colored chalk, and stencils at the easel.

We did "If you're happy and you know it", "2 little blackbirds" and "Turkey hop" for music today.

We did an activity called "Leaves on the move" everyone gets a leaf and follows the directions to do a variety of moves.

Oak Room- Pre- K class

We read "The Grouchy Lady Bug" by Eric Carle

In the story it recounts what the lady bug is doing at each hour, so we made a clock to go with the story.
The children cut out a circle shape and we had written numbers in pencil on the face of the clock, so the children matched the correct number stamper to the pencil number to add numbers to the face of the clock.  We added a lady bug with a stamper too.




We listened to "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear?" a book on CD by Eric Carle
We played a number matching game- with lady bugs, find the partner with the matching number.

We brought in a large parking garage with cars for the children to use and we have corn kernels in the sensory table.





Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Bear snores on" by Karma Wilson

We asked the children "What do you like to do in the winter?

We painted with cookie cutter shapes and glitter paint.

We had 3 D magnetic shapes at the easel.

We did "Rhythm in my fingers", "Animal exercising" and "Tap your toe and follow me" for music time today.

We talked about winter animals and we hid pretend nuts around the rooma nd the children helped find them for the squirrel.

Oak Room- Pre- K class

We read "The secret birthday message" by Eric Carle and "Slowly, slowly, slowly, said the sloth" by Eric Carle

We did our journals with the letter J.

We acted out a variation of Brown bear, Brown bear" using pictures and names.
We did 2 little blackbirds"and we did the ABC letter sounds (phonics) using picture cards.  
We did a rhyming song with our names too.

We played a small group game and ABC Eric Carle upper and lower case letter game.

Maple Room- MWF class

We read "Franklin's Thanksgiving" by Paulette Bourgeois

We did stamper painting on grocery bags that are cut into vests for our Thanksgiving feast.
We painted on paper at the easel using forks, brushes, and a sponge brush.

We did letter D activities.

For music, we did the "November song", "Picking leaves", "I'm Ted turkey", and we asked the children "Do you have the letter D in your name?

Stay and Play: 

We read "D.W.'s Guide to perfect manners" by Marc Brown

We painted with shaving cream mixed with tempra paint

We did "musical spots" When the music stops, you find a spot and follow the directions ( put your elbow on your knee, or put your foot on your other foot, etc.)

We used Zoob connector pieces to make one really long one almost the whole length of the hall.

  


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Trinity Preschool November Newsletter 2013

Trinity Preschool                       www.trinitypreschoolmp.org
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
November 2013 Newsletter                                                                           
                                                                                                           
Thank you- We appreciate no cell phone usage while in the building.
Tuition reminder: Tuition is due the beginning of each month.
Important dates:
Monday, Nov. 25- Parent Conferences for Pre-K class and MWF morning classes.  (No regular class this day)
Tuesday, Nov. 26- Friday, Nov. 29: No Classes- Thanksgiving Break
Conferences for our T/Th Terrific 2’s and 3’s will be in the spring.

Planning ahead:  HOLIDAY PROGRAMS- Kids come at 9:15
Thur., Dec. 19: Terrific 2’s and 3’s (parents come at 11:00 a.m.)
Fri., Dec. 20: Pre-K and MWF classes (parents come at 10:45 a.m.)

Winter Break: Monday, Dec. 23- Friday, January 3, 2014
Classes resume: Monday, January 6, 2014

Trinity Preschool Silent Auction fundraiser: Sunday, February 23, 2014
______________________________________________________

Parent Conferences:  MWF and 5 day morning classes only: On Monday, the 25th- You may bring your child with you to your conference; we do have assistant teachers available to watch them while you are meeting with your child’s teacher. I know many families travel this week and if you will not be in town to do your conference, the teachers will arrange a different date to meet with you.

Snack: 
We have been buying snack for the classes and it is working out well.  We give the children a good variety and hopefully expose them to some new foods they can try.  As I worked to keep the snack fee as low as possible, we are asking each family to bring in a package of napkins (or if you prefer, you can bring in one bottle of 100% juice instead of napkins). Thank you.  (If you already brought in napkins, thank you, this is just a reminder to anyone who has not yet done so.)


Holiday Programs:

Our Holiday Programs will be during class time this year. Dec. 19 for T/TH Terrific 2’s and 3’s class; and Dec. 20 for MWF and 5 day classes.  Please plan to join us as the children will sing some songs and we will enjoy some refreshments together. You are welcome to include/invite whomever you think might enjoy coming.  More information will come home soon, but mark your calendar and plan to join us for this special time.  The Terrific 2’s and 3’s class will have their own holiday party in the classroom on the 19th, but all of the other classes will join together on the 20th.

Donation request :

During the holiday season, I like to help be a conduit for donations for various worthwhile organizations.   Bring them in any time before Dec. 13. Choose any of the following that you would like.  (Obviously, this is just an opportunity for those who are looking for something, not required by any means.)We will be collecting the following items.

  1. “Stocking stuffers” for Salvation Army kids gift bags. Small toys or personal care items that can be given to needy children in the area.
  2. Packages of men’s white socks (like white tall sport socks, not decorative) for the local homeless shelter. Held here at Trinity church every Friday night.
  3. Scarves, mittens, gloves, hats for kids or adults.
  4. Socks for kids.


Sick Kids:
We are entering the big cold and flu season, so thank you for keeping sick children home; it will help keep everyone healthier this school year. Teach your child to cough or sneeze into their elbow instead of their hand, this helps cut down on the spread of germs from hand to surface. It is a good practice to always wash hands when you and your child enter your home.
Remember to call 847-357-1513 or email me at TrinityPreschool@aol.com and let me know if your child will be absent.

Outside:
We play outside if the weather is dry and above 40 degrees.  Please remember to send in jackets, hats, etc. as needed.

Stay & Play:
Stay & Play is going great and we are having fun.  The children are enjoying a healthy snack, many times helping to make it themselves. We play small group games, do more art, music, story time, choice time and either gym or outside time.  If you don’t want to commit to Stay & Play all the time, that is OK too; you can do one, two, three days a week.  You can also choose to join stay & play on occasion; especially helpful as we go into the Holiday season and you need a little extra time to get things done. Please give me advance notice so we can plan accordingly.


Early Drop off: 
We are open for early drop off at 8:30 a.m. or later for $3.00 per day.

Preschool lending library:
Please remember to return the books to the bookcase by our door so other children can borrow them as well. 

School closing for Bad Weather
We follow School District 59 for school closings due to weather. 
If they are closed, we are for sure closed. We have a link on our website to their closing information. 
www.Trinitypreschoolmp.org
You can always call our school too-847-357-1513….. if we are closed it will be on our answering machine message.

It seems the holiday season gets more drawn out each year, and we start to feel stressed by the media and stores making us feel like we are already running late.  At school we try to keep routines at a normal pace and give the children a sense of calmness.  We do some holiday activities, but it is not our focus all the time.  I believe the hype can get children too worked up and over stimulated.  We create a “baking” theme and incorporate Christmas activities into that theme.

Right now, we are learning about Thanksgiving and being thankful.  We do talk to the children about the first Thanksgiving and why it was held and we have our own version of a Thanksgiving feast at school. We make our own butter, muffins and some of the classes make a friendship mix to share.  




Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for being part of our Trinity Preschool family.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, November 11, 2013

We had fire fighter Jim visit our school today and talk to the children about fire safety and also about doing good deeds to help others.

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Firefighter Ted" by Andrea Beaty and Pascal Lemaitre

We asked the children if they had ever seen a real fire fighter?

We used number stampers to stamp 911 on paper fire fighter helmets.

We used black paint to put spots on our fire dog at the easel.
We did "Put your finger on", "I'm a fire fighter" (tune of Mulberry bush), and Fire truck song, (tune of ten little Indians)

Maple Room: MWF class

We read "The great turkey race" by Steve Metzger

We made placemats for our Thanksgiving feast- we wove them.

We had turkey shape stencils at the easel.

We did "The November song" and "Turkey feathers" but instead of colors, we did it with letters.

We did Letter D activities, the alphabet monster box (what did he eat that starts with the letter D?", and words that begin with the letter D.

Stay & Play: 

We read "Bear wants more" Bear wants more" by Karma Wilson

We panted with watercolors on Tin Foil and made prints of the paint.

We did "Jump up, turn around", "list of dances", "brown bear", "tommy thumb" for music today.

We did a numbers game "what comes before", "what number comes after" 

Oak Room- Pre- K class

We are doing all Eric Carle books this week.

We read "Rooster is off to see the world" by Eric Carle  and "Firefighter's in our community.

We cut out turkey feathers and the children told us what they are thankful for.

We did "Helpful firefighters", "Turkey in the brown straw" and "silly dance contest" for music today.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Friday, November 8, 2013

Maple Room- MWF 

We read "The fox and the falling leaves" by Julia Rawlinson

We used spools to dip in paint and make designs on the headbands we will use for our Thanksgiving feast.  (Some kids are Indians and some are Pilgrims)
We had turkey shapes at the easel and we glued real feathers onto them.

We did "The November song", "Turkey in the straw", and "5 little turkeys" for music time.

We did Letter C activities, 

We had baking soda and vinegar mixed with food color with eye droppers. When they drop the vinegar onto the baking soda, it bubbles.

We played the missing numbers game- "What number comes before? " "What number comes after?"

Oak Room- 5 day pre-k class

We read "The three little wolves and the big bad pig" by Eugene Trivizas

We built with packing peanuts and colored glue for art.

We did "The turkey hop", we did a syllable tap using rhythm sticks (we tap the number of syllables in the word- example dog- one tap, elephant,3 taps.
We also did Marching band with rhythm sticks- the tempo marches on.

We talked about words that start with the letter I.

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Fall leaves fall" by Zoe Hall

We made paper towel leaves.  The children colored on paper towels using red and yellow markers and then sprayed the markers with water to make the color spread. (See Nov. 7 post for a picture )

We asked the kids "Do you like to jump in the leaves?"

We did "leaves on the move", "I like my hat", "Sticky Bubble Gum" for music today.

We did a 4 little leaf rhyme.

we worked on fine motor skills by adding feathers to some turkeys (see Nov. 7 post for picture of turkey)

Stay and Play:

We read "Otto the book Bear" by Katie Cleminson

We made salt clay (equal parts flour and salt , and 1/2 as much water to mix.) and the children added beads and pipe cleaners to their creation.


We did "I changed my mind" and used ribbons.  We also did a shape train activity, each child has a shape and when that shape is called, they join the train.Then we will chug around the room.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Thursday, November 7, 2013

Oak Room- pre-k class

We read "In a people house" and "Come over to my house" by Theo Lesieg

We cut out pictures from magazines to glue onto house shapes.

We did the Mack chicken dance, and we did a rhyming activity, with matching cards- find your partner

We asked the children "Does your name have the letter I in it?

We had feed corn in the sensory table and the children used their fingers to pick the corn off the cob. (Great fine motor activity)  Then they can play with the corn.

We did a counting board game in small groups too. 


Maple Room- Thursday class

We read "Perfect Square" by Michael Hall

We each got our own square and we turned it into something new.  We cut it, drew on it and glued it to paper.  We put all of the pieces there, so it was still made from our square.  Like our book.
Cute book about a square and how it can change into other things

Each child got a red square and did something with it to change it.

The children also added their own drawings to the picture.  All parts of the sqaure were glued onto the paper too.


Willow Room- T/Th class (Terrific 2's and 3's)

We read "Fall leaves fall" by Zoe Hall

We asked the children "Do you like to play in the leaves?

We are going to make leaves out of our project today.  We used paper towels and markers.  The children drew on the paper towels with red and yellow markers.  Then they sprayed the paper towel with water to get it wet, the colors run and "bleed" together.
Markers in red and yellow drawn on paper towel, then sprayed with water.  We will turn them into beautiful fall leaves.

At the easel we had magnetic corn on the cob, the children could put them in number order or find the two matching numbered corn cobs.
The children can either put numbers in order or they can find the matching number.

We did "leaves on the move", "I like my hat" and "Sticky bubble gum" for music today.

We did a 4 little leaves rhyme.  We worked on fine motor skills by adding feathers to a cup made into  a turkey. Take a paper cup, turn it upside down and poke holes in the bottom.  Then wrap brown paper around it and draw a turkey face on the paper.  The children take colored feathers and put them into the holes.




Top view of turkey feather holes.




Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Dora's Thanksgiving" by Sarah Wilson

We asked the children "What are you thankful for?"  

We are making our thankful turkey for the bulletin board- it will have what each child is thankful for on it.  We are working on assessments and we were working on cutting skills today.

We had magnetic letters at the easel.
We did "The turkey hop", "The turkey on the bus" (tune "Wheels on the bus" and "The turkey freeze dance" for music time today.

We did a guessing activity, it was a rhyme and the answer was a turkey.

Oak Room- 5 day pre-k class

We read "The true story of the 3 little pigs" (as written by Mr. Wolf)  and "There's no place like home"

We drew pictures and wrote the letter I in our letter journals.

We did "Jump up, turn around,", "I can hammer" and "Here is a house" for music today.

We are painting the log cabin we made yesterday.

Maple Room: MWF class

We read "Run, turkey, run" by Diane Mayr

We did corn cob rolling for a painting project.  We used orange, pink, blue and purple paint.  We will add them to our bulletin board after we cut them to look like corn.

We had textured paint brushes at the easel.

We did "The November song", "Turkey feathers", Turkey in the straw" for music today.

We did letter C activities, the letter song, and letters on the bus for our letter of the week activities. We also asked the children "Do you have the letter C in your name?  and we graphed the results.

Stay and Play

We read "Hilda must be dancing" a book on a CD by Karma Wilson

We painted using textured brushes.

We did "Who took the pumpkin from the pumpkin patch?", "Tommy Thumb" "Jump up, turn around", and "Brown bear"  for music today.






Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Oak Room- pre-k 5 day class

The children took turns acting out the story of the Three little pigs.  We used puppets- three pigs and a wolf.

We did a group art project.  The children used large plastic rollers with patterns on them to roll paint all over large sheets of paper.  They loved how the rollers made noise as they rolled. After they dry, we will cut the paper into small pieces to use as bricks.

We did 5 little pigs in a house, rock and roll freeze dance, and 3 little pigs blues for music today.

We glued paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls onto a box to create a log cabin. We are enjoying our 3 little pigs and construction projects.

Willow Room- Terrific 2's and 3's class

We read "Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins" 

We painted using mini pumpkins which have been cut in half crosswise, and pumpkin cookie cutter shapes and leaf stampers dipped in tempra paint.

We had paper at the easel with a "tree shape" drawn on it and the children dipped just their fingertips in the paint and made marks on the paper to look like leaves.  (See Monday Nov. 4 post to see a sample picture)

We did "Silly dance contest" by Jim Gill, "Give me a clap" by Dr. Jean and "Face the Facts", by Jim Gill for music today.

We turned our dramatic play area into a vet's office to take care of our sick animals.

We did a pumpkin themed rhyme called "Down around the corner at the pumpkin shop"- each child comes up one at a time to "buy" a pumpkin.  


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, November 4, 2013

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Corduroy" by Don Freeman (This is a classic story about a teddy bear)

We painted using mini pumpkins that were cut in half crosswise, pumpkin shape stampers, and cookie cutters to make fall prints.

We used our fingers to paint at the easel. We mixed salt and paint to give it a texture and a little sparkle. We had a tree shape drawn on paper and we used out finger tips to make falling leaves all over our pictures.
The children dipped just their fingertips in the paint mixture and added "leaves" to the trees.


We did "Face the facts" (Jim Gill), "Give me a clap" (Dr. Jean) and "Silly dance contest" (Jim Gill)

We turned our dramatic play area into a veterinarian office (They can take care of the farm animals)

We did a fun rhyme "Down around the corner at the pumpkin patch", it involves each child coming up to "buy" a pumpkin.

Oak Room- Pre-k 5 day class

We read "The three little pigs and we read "The napping house"

We cut out 3 house shapes and glued them to paper.  Then we glued sticks, straw and paper bricks to represent the three pigs houses.  We used a stamper to add a pig to each house.

We did 5 clean and dirty pigs, and face the facts for music today.

We will be doing three little pigs and construction this week.  We glued packing peanuts and cotton balls on a box to make an igloo.


Maple Room: MWF class
We read "Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

We are beginning to talk about Thanksgiving and about what we are Thankful for and what does that word even mean?

We had large turkey feather shapes and the children cut the feathers out.  They told us something they were thankful for, which we wrote on their feather.  We will put them on our turkey in the hall.

We painted with real feathers at the easel.

We did ""The November song", "sticky bubble gum", "Alphabet letter sounds", and "This is the way" for music today.

We are doing the letter C this week, we did the Alphabet Monster today (he has eaten various items that start with our letter, the children have to try to guess what he might have eaten that starts with the letter of the week.  We read The letter C book, and thought of words that start with the letter C.

Stay and Play:

We read "What will fat cat sit on, A birthday for Cow?  by Jan Thomas

We did "Squish art", a group art project where the children used paddles, popscicle holders, round blocks and containers to create circle art.

We did "Shake your sillies out" and Stop Go, Fast Slow, and we used shakers as we moved to the music.  We also did "Who stole the pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.



Friday, November 1, 2013

Trinity Preschool Activities for Friday, November 1, 2013

Oak Room- 5 day pre-k class

We read "Sam and the firefly" by PD Eastman  in the story the firefly makes words in the sky and gets in trouble.

We also read "I'm not sleepy" by Jane Chapman

We used letter stampers to press onto black paper to look like words in the sky like in our story.

We did "Alligator stomp", and used wooden clappers, and we did "Can you leap like a frog" an action song for music today.  

We talked about what words start with the letter H?  We made a graph about our favorite nocturnal animal.

Willow Room: MWF class

We read "Red leaf, yellow leaf", By Lois Elhert  We had Pastor Dan as a guest reader today.

We made a fall wreath using a paper plate, real leaves, and paper leaves.

We painted using our easel turned in a new direction so 2 children could paint at the same time standing next to each other and sharing the paint.

We did "Over in the meadow", "As I was walking to town" and "Come on and join in the game"  for music time today.

The eggs our stuffed  hen laid have hatched and we now have stuffed baby chicks in the nest.

We also read a book called "Press here", it is an activity book that involves all of the children.

We had leaf rubbing at the free art table.

Maple Room- MWF class:

We read the story "I know an old lady who swallowed a pie" by Alison Jackson and we have an old lady puppet and props that she swallowed.

We used bubble wrap to make prints that we will turn into corn pictures.

We had rainbow paints at the easel with small brushes and tiny paper.(This give the children a new challenge)

We did letter B activities, we practiced writing our letter B on a dry erase board.   

We have corn in our sensory table, the children use their fingers to pick the corn off the cobs- great fine motor activity.

We did "The November song" (first time today), "The Months song, bean bag boogie, take that bean bag (using bean bags), tap your toe and follow me for music today.