Our PreSchool Blog

There are many benefits to writing on a vertical surface.  Vertical surfaces can make an average writing activity into a great activity for developing fine and gross motor skills.  Using vertical surfaces strengthens shoulder and arm muscles, as your child’s arm must move against the pull of gravity in this position as she/he lifts their arms to reach.  Vertical surfaces also places your child’s hand in the best position to develop wrist strength and stability.  You can buy window markers in any craft store and they wash off easily with a little windex….get writing and have fun!

We learned today that letters build words.  When we change the letters we change the whole word! Word building activities are an important part of learning to read and are easily modified for any reader.    We built the sight word and searched for the word in a grouping of familiar words.  We also took a word from this week’s reading group book, I JUMP, and used our knowledge of letter sounds to build it phonetically.

So what’s the deal with using your fingers to read with? Because our eyes naturally follow movement, placing a finger, on a page and strategically moving it down the text, a reader will naturally keep their place and be more focused. This helps readers concentrate and understand what they read making reading a more satisfying experience.

We started our reading groups today in Pre-k.  The children were introduced to their magic reading finger which helps them become better readers!  As young readers begin their journey into early reading, it is important for them to point to each word as they read.  The children were also introduced to the sight words the and I today.  These are great words to begin with during homework practice.  They were excited to spot the new sight word in the book they read today. I Jump

We used rainbow writing to begin our writing unit today with a focus on our names as well as lowercase letters c, o, and s.  We focused on starting at the top of each letter and holding our crayon the proper way (pinch it with your two fingers!).  It is also important for your preker to write their letter o in a counterclockwise direction to make the transition into writing an easy one.

We learned about the volcanoes of Hawaii today during science small groups.  After watching a video clip of a REAL volcano erupt we talked about magma that is found in the center of the earth and when it come ups and out a volcano, we call it lava!  We cut a playdough earth in half to reveal the layers of the earth with the magma at its core.

As we began practicing our letter and letter sounds cards this week there was one question that the children kept asking after practicing the letter X…”What is an X-ray?”  Luckily we have a light table and Doctor on call to help us out.  The children explored x-rays of the human ankle, spine and brain!  We also compared the x-ray of the human leg to an x-ray of a lizard.  Teachable moments are sometimes when children learn the most.  Take the time to answer your preschoolers many questions they throw at you during the day and you will be amazed at what they remember!

A told b and b told c, “I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree!”  Our focus this week in preK was to review our uppercase and lowercase letters and sounds to help prepare us for reading groups next week!

Our math groups focused on reviewing numbers this week and our one to one coorespondence counting skills Chicka Chicka Boom Boom style…

Click on the book to find the animated version