Gingerbread Men

Joan and I looked around during activity time and saw kids playing so nicely, including each other, even holding hands with one another as they transitioned from one room to another.   Some of the kids were working with gears, others were coloring and using stickers, others were playing with the kitchen and the dolls, still others were using letter blocks to make words.  Wow, have the kids grown since the beginning of the year.  Their attention span is longer, they've formed connections with one another, and they are becoming more independent as they work!  Maria Montisorri once said, "the greatest sign of success for a teacher is if the children are now working as if I didn't even exist!"  It's a great feeling when that starts developing in the classroom, and it is!!

We've been talking about Gingerbread this week.  On Tuesday we read the original Gingerbread Boy and today we read Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.  We had fun talking about the similarities and differences betweent the two books.  The kids noticed that the fox was the same in both books but in one book the fox ate the gingerbread boy and in the other book the gingerbread boy was saved by Matti in a gingerbread house.  Of course we had to make gingerbread men during art time!  

We also celebrated Emma's 4th birthday on Tuesday.  She brought in jello that we made together in class and we set it outside in the snow to jell!!  It wasn't quite finished when it was snack time so we ate it today instead and it was delicious!!  It was made with cran-apple juice and bovine powder.  We also had cupcakes yesterday and Emma even brought in red and orange peppers to have with ranch dressing!  Thanks Emma for the wonderful treats!!  Happy Birthday!!

Holidays Around the World

We had a wonderful week learning about holiday traditions both at home and around the world  On Tuesday we started by asking the kids what they think about when they hear the word Christmas.

Kate said, "Putting ornaments on a tree!"

Carter said, "Santa goes ho, ho, ho!"

Liam said, "Santa comes down a chimney!"

Jonas said, "Toys!!!"

Gavin said, "Santa"

Duncan said, "Playing Outside!!"

Emma said, "There's a gingerbread house downtown!!"

Jacob said, "Sleigh and reindeer and dreams of Santa!"

Mrs. Gould said, "Candy Canes."

Mrs. Chyko said, "Family."

We heard the story The Twelve Days of Christmas and practiced our holiday songs in music.  We learned a song about a dancing Christmas Tree.  Here's the link:

► 1:20► 1:20

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlr4uXAz-JM

Dec 5, 2011 - Uploaded by KidsTV123

Report. Uploaded on Dec 5, 2011. A Christmas song for children. This song was written and ...

We made ornaments to hang on our Maple Leaf Tree during art.  We glued down our picture and decorated around the outside using mosaic squares.

On Wednesday, we talked about traditions, or things we do year after year.  Then we talked about how people all over the world celebrate Christmas and have for a long time.  We looked at the globe and found where we live and looked at different countries and then found Germany.  We talked about how this is where the tradition of bringing a tree into a house and decorating it started and then people liked it so much the idea spread around the world!! We also talked about how they used candles to light it because lights weren't invented then!

We heard 2 stories about Christmas Trees.  One was The Nutcracker and the other was Max's Christmas.  We had fun decorating our own Christmas tree during art using glitter glue and painting with q-tips.

We listed words that start with "C" and then had a chance to use markers and write C's on the whiteboard.

We got a new game on our Ipad called "jumpstart preschool."  During activity time some of the children chose to work on that while others played with cars, played with the babies, used the sand table, and worked on an art project.  

Thursday we started the day with stringing cheerios on pipecleaners and making bird feeders with them.  We went outside and put them in the bushes outside our window so we can watch and wee if the birds eat them.  Some of us made another one to take home and feed the birds.  

This was the day we talked about Holland.  Mika's dad was born and grew up in Holland so he came in and told us about the holiday called Sinterklass that they celebrate.  St. Nick comes on a boat from Spain to bring treats to the girls and boys.  He has a horse that he rides and the children put out their shoes at night with food inside to feed the horse, like a carrot or sugar cubes.  St. Nick feeds his horse and leaves treats in the shoes for the kids.  There is also a special cookie that the kids in Holland eat called, pepernoten.  Mika's grandma still lives in Holland and she sent some of these cookies to Mika who wanted to bring them in and share with her friends at preschool.  They were delicious, they tasted sort of like gingersnaps.  The kids all wanted more!!  We also learned how to count to 5 in Dutch and saw pictures of a Dutch castle, windmills, and beautiful tulips!  Thanks Mika and her family for coming in and helping us learn about Holland!!