We enjoyed a fun visit from the dentist office. We learned how important it is to take care of our bodies and especially our teeth. We learned how to properly brush our teeth too. We practiced on our Lion friend and then on ourselves. We had so much fun, and they even gave us a new toothbrush and toothpaste. The Dentist isn’t scary!!!
Students busy cutting out Valentine hearts and “friends” at their Valentine’s Day party. “Open squeeze, open squeeze.” Cutting on the line is a great way to practice and improve children’s fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.
Last month our students talked about setting New Year’s resolutions. The Level I teachers explained, “Since so many goals are related to health and fitness, we talked about our bodies! First we discussed what happens to our food when we eat it. We also learned about our muscles and bones and did fun active songs to help us exercise! We realized that it is important to keep our bodies and our homes clean so we don’t get sick germs. We did an experiment and put oil and glitter (germs) on our hands. We learned that we need to use warm water and soap to really get the germs off.”
Our students also learned about doctors. They pretended to go to the doctor and learned about what happens when they have a checkup. They learned about the different instruments doctors use and practiced using them in their “school hospital.” They made cute doctor bags and put bandaids and other “doctorish” supplies in them.
We had three wonderful Christmas programs this year. The children were busy practicing for their parent during the wnole month of December. The program consisted of the students singing alphabet and educational songs, reciting poems, and singing christmas and holiday songs with props and actions. The children also enjoyed a special visit from Santa and Mrs. Clause. Thank you grandparents and parents for coming. Unfortunately we did not take very many pictures of the program because we were busy helping the children. So here are a few other pictures of the reindeer antlers the children made by tracing their hands.
The children have been working so hard on their quilts. They are so excited to take them home at the end of the year.
The preschoolers have been working on math concepts using manipulatives. Patterning blocks and other math manipulatives are excellent for exploring the concepts of sorting, matching, and symmetry. Thay can also promote hands-on discoveries in measurement, set theory, and number concepts. The kids love working with them too!
Level I has been exploring colors this month. Miss Megan, a level I teacher said, “We started with the primary colors, and now we are working on the secondary colors and the tints and hues. We made green water with yellow and blue food coloring and we had fun mixing ketchup and mustard to make orange. We also mixed shaving cream with red and blue and frosted pretend cakes.”
This month Level II is learning about community workers. We took a field trip to the Fire Station. There were so many things to learn about and see. The children enjoyed the Fire Safety demonstration, the CPR demonstration, viewing the helicopters, the K9 dogs, and walking through the ambulances and firetrucks.
Level II also had some special visitors in the classroom this month: A Highway Patrol Officer, Police Officer with his K9 dog, a x-ray technician, and a dentist. All of our visitors helped us learn about their jobs and responsibilities within the community.
In September our students learned about the artist Jonathan Eastman Johnson, and his famous realistic painting The Old Stagecoach. The students enjoyed the Western Days theme by exploring a cowboys life, singing songs around the campfire, and dressing up as fancy cowboys and cowgirls.
To start the school year off, the children enjoyed a train ride in their favorite animal cart. All Aboard the My Smart World train… chug a chug a choo choo!
