APRIL  2010   TRANSPORTATION  ~~  ANIMALS IN THE WILD
Text Box: MWF class Text Box: Trains, Planes, Automobiles— Get your ticket now!  Our new theme is transportation, and we look at the various ways to move from one place to another.  Being Northwesterners, of course we include walking and biking. Can you think of other ways to get around?  We also talk about where we’ve been and how we got thee, so we can make a graph about our own travel.  This might be a good conversation-starter at home to remind your children of the many places—near and far—that they have travelled. Text Box: Our next unit, Animals in the Wild, is highlighted with our field trip to the Woodland Park Zoo on Friday, 3/26.  The information sheet is attached, so you can please return the sign-up by 3/17. We are learning about some different kinds of environments — savannah, tropical rain forest, northern tiaga, South American coastal desert, and more — and about some of the animals found in these regions. Text Box: Goals -  We are working on & seeing progress with: · Identifying feelings in ourselves and in others · Dressing independently (putting on coats, pant zippers, shoes—thank goodness for Velcro!) Text Box: LOOKING AHEAD— ¨ We hope to see you at our MARCH 20TH GALA     TWILIGHT IN TUSCANY AUCTION ! ¨ School Food Drive—3/8-19—to benefit HopeLink. ¨ Spring break is 3/29—4/2. ¨ KIDS’ TIME will be Sat. 4/10.  Sign-up starting 3/22. ¨ Plan for our annual fieldtrip to Farrel McWhirter Park on Friday 4/30.  Class times are changed, so please mark your calendars.  Everyone meets at the Park at  11:00, with picnic lunches, & we’ll say good-bye at 1:30.  (More information will cone with the next calendar.)

WHY WE “DO MATH” USING THINGS FROM THE    CHILDREN”S LIVES— Learning most often starts with connections building upon familiar things—think of block building.  You might be able to suspend a new block in mid-air, but the most successful method is careful scaffolding with the new block.  So when we make a graph about ways these children have travelled, the concepts of “more/less” and consecutive counting take on a personal interest, which provides that mental scaffolding.
Text Box: SCROLL DOWN FOR A  MESSAGE FROM TEACHER AUGUSTA

Dear Kirkland Preschool Parents,

 

It has been a pleasure doing yoga and creative movement with your children.

We have been having so much fun pretending to be dinosaurs, fairies, hospital patients, and this week planes and trains in creative movement.

 

In yoga these past couple of months we have been practicing the crocodile, dragon, corpse, and  boat poses. Yoga is not just about the physical skills we practice, but also the creative. This last week as we practiced our boat pose, the children packed their imaginary suitcases for the boat trip and it was such a joy for me to hear what they packed. The children packed their most important objects and shared them with the class. And I heard time and time again how they were packing their most important objects - their sleeping snugglies!

 

It is during these quiet moments where we learn so much about each other and it gives the children time to hear what each other has to say! Which is usually A LOT!

 

I look forward, as always, to learning more about your children through yoga and creative movement!

 

Sincerely,

 

Teacher Augusta