our winter break. Once we settled in, things in our classroom took off!Toddler Group (Ms. Lam’s group)
This month Ms. Lam’s friends focused on Caterpillars and Butterflies. The group talked about the 4 stages of a butterfly’s life, which includes 1. Egg 2.Caterpillar 3.Chrysalis 4. Butterfly. The children began to observe the life cycle, watching the caterpillars starting out small, growing larger over several weeks, and ultimately
becoming a chrysalis! The little ones even took turns guessing when they would see the chrysalis. What a fun way to introduce life sciences to our toddlers .
The toddlers also enjoyed the “I spy” sensory bin filled with lots of fun insects and bugs. The children searched to find them in the bin and then match the corresponding bug to its card. At some point the children went to grab paint cups and started to create
their own sensory bin, using the cups to scoop and transfer the lentils over to the other cup. This activity helps develop hand-eye coordination, and gives exposure to different textures and sounds as they poured the lentils from one cup to another.
Here are some of the books the children enjoyed reading:
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
- Ten Little Ladybugs, by Melanie Gerth
- Backpack Explorer: Bug Hunt, by Onana Befort Next Up for Toddlers!
Next Up for Toddlers!
This month Ms. Lam’s group will be learning about Shapes and Colors. Each week the children will be introduced to a new shape and color. The group will focus on the primary colors for the first two weeks, followed by the children experimenting with color mixing.
Preschool Group (Ms. Angelina’s group)
January was busy for the preschoolers. Ms. Angelina’s group started the month learning about snowflakes and what makes snow. They talked about how to make snowmen from snow, and touched on animals who live in snowy, cold environments, like polar bears and penguins.
The group also took a few days to learn about Lunar New Year, where they read books related to the holiday, and made red lanterns for the children to take home. During circle time they discussed traditional Lunar New Years celebrations, like the Dragon Dance. Ms. Angelina also shared a marionette of the New Year Dragon for the children to explore.
The preschoolers made snowman collages using doilies and other materials, counting the number of pieces needed to put the snowman’s bodies together. The children worked together, talking about the different designs and outfits for each of their snowmen. This was a fun way for them to work on their social skills as they talked to each other and Ms. Angelina about their plans for the snowmen’s outfits, jewelry, accessories, etc.
Here are some of the books the children enjoyed reading:
- No Two Alike, by Keith Baker
- My First Chinese New Year, by Karen Katz
- The Snowman Story, by Raymond Briggs
Next Up for Preschoolers!
This month the preschool class will be talking about Colors and Shapes. We’ll learn the difference between primary and secondary colors and explore monochromatics. We’ll revisit some familiar shapes as well as learn some more complicated ones.
Spiders, Ladybugs, and Butterflies. Ms. Lam will be reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” for circle time and will try to set up an actual lifecycle of butterflies for the children to observe.
together.
a chance to husk corn! Once they were done husking the corn (putting fine motor skills to work), they helped Ms. Lam put it in the Instant Pot to steam it and enjoy a yummy treat. The friends also had an opportunity to learn about the lifecycle of seeds. They got to see what a seed looks like, by exploring an apple that was cut up. They engaged their sensory skills as they removed the seeds from the apple, touching them to see how they feel. Because the children were so into the farmer and farm animals, we will continue to learn about the farmers in December.
excited to learn about some of the animals that live on a farm, as well as some of the foods that we get from the farm like corn, apples, and pumpkins. To expand on the topic of foods grown on a farm, we shucked, cooked, and ate corn-on-the-cob. The children also tasted different color apples, and made a no-bake pumpkin pie treat that they loved! These cooking activities are a great way for children develop cognitive and mathematic skills, by measuring and mixing ingredients and following the steps needed to complete the recipe. Regarding woodland animals, we learned that raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, owls and bears all live in the woods. We will continue to learn more about these animals in the coming months. Friends read the “The Farmer and the Dell” book and enjoyed singing the accompanying song, followed by conversations about things that happen on the farm.
classroom for the occasion. Naturally the children were excited to share about their costumes for trick-or-treating, and enjoyed the yummy treats from the festivities. Our first annual Fall Fest was certainly a success! We had so many of our past, present, and future families show up to enjoy the day. That was followed by our Halloween Parade in the office space. Thank you to all of the families who were able to participate, we had a BLAST!
explored the topic of spiders, learning they have eight legs, are hairy, and are not usually harmful to humans. We also learned about bats. We discussed how they are nocturnal (active at night), use sonar (sound) waves when hunting prey, and sleep upside down. While the focus was on Halloween, the circle time lessons were about taking the “scary” out of these subjects, while learning more facts about the subjects. We also addressed monsters, what they are and do we really need to be afraid of them? We also talked about the difference between a pumpkin and a jack-o-lantern. The children enjoyed finger painting, gluing, and using our imagination to turn everyday objects into beautiful works of seasonal art.
Friends explored many new topics and discovered new abilities along with it. In the classroom – Ms. Angelina introduced our new “Writing Center” that features dedicated space for friends to practice recognizing and writing letters and numbers, how fun!! Even our smallest friends enjoyed practicing to use writing utensils, working on their fine motor, pincer grasping skills.
our skeletal system and how we move our body. This was a fun-packed month and the children enjoyed exploring this fascinating subject! In September, we will focus on community helpers.
