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Last Month at Pillar Kids: January 2023

February 8, 2023 by Amirh Davis Leave a Comment

January was a busy month for our Pillar Kids! We found ourselves needing to regroup and get back into preschool routines afterKaymbu Image 20230208 2043 our winter break. Once we settled in, things in our classroom took off!
Our curriculum was filled with exciting topics, including seasonal/weather discussions, learning about Lunar New Year, and even watching some classroom “pets” grow and develop. We also welcomed several new friends, which means building new relationships and strengthening existing ones. Keep reading to hear more details from our toddler and preschool groups.

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 ultimatelyKaymbu Image 20230208 2058 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 createKaymbu Image 20230208 2049 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:

  1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
  2. Ten Little Ladybugs, by Melanie Gerth
  3. Backpack Explorer: Bug Hunt, by Onana Befort Next Up for Toddlers!Kaymbu Image2 20230208 2051 Scaled E1675890478600

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:

  1. No Two Alike, by Keith BakerKaymbu Image2 20230208 2104 Scaled E1675890588931
  2. My First Chinese New Year, by Karen Katz
  3. 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.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Arctic animals, Bugs, Butterflies, catepillars, counting, fine motor skills, Insects, january, life cycle, Lunar New Year, math concepts, Music time, observation, PRIMARY COLORS, science, SECONDARY COLORS, Sensory Bin, SOCIAL SKILLS

Pillar Kids End of Year: December 2022

January 6, 2023 by Amirh Davis Leave a Comment

December 2022 at Pillar Kids

Welcome to 2023 everyone! Even though December flew by, we hope you all had a chance to slow down and enjoy some relaxing family time. Reflecting on last month at Pillar, the teachers and children had a great time learning about various holiday
Kaymbu Image1 20230106 2251
traditions, including Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanzaa. The classroom was revamped with lots of beautiful decor, including a new fireplace for chilly days! Thanks Ms. Angelina for creating such a fun addition to the classroom. Of course there were plenty of exciting holiday activities for the children to explore. We also had a great time celebrating at our Pillar Holiday gathering thank you to everyone who came out to close the year in celebration!

Toddler Group (Ms. Lam’s group)

The toddlers got to explore an Arctic Sensory Table filled with penguins, polar bears, walruses and whales. Ms. Lam enjoyed watching her friends use their fine motor and engineering skills to creatively arrange the sensory items, like rocks that they stacked together, adding animals to finish their creations. The group also talked about how the arctic animals move their bodies, for example walruses using their fins to move vs. penguins who waddle. One of our table activities involved matching an arctic animal with their corresponding feet.

Here are some of the books the children enjoyed reading:

1. “That’s Not My Snowman” by Fiona Watt ( They enjoyed touching the different materials in this book)

2. “Little Blue Truck’s Christmas” By Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurryKaymbu Image3 20230106 2256 Scaled E1673045949874

3. “Clay Boy” By Mirra Ginsburg

Next Up for Toddlers!

We will be learning about Bugs and Insects this month. Ms. Lam will be setting up an “I spy” sensory bin filled with Ants, Bees,Kaymbu Image 20230106 2252 2 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.

Preschool Group (Ms. Angelina’s group)

The children were eager to make lots of Christmas crafts, playing and exploring with Christmas-themed activities. We were also fortunate to have Ms. Amirh and her children visit the class to teach us about Kwanzaa, and, of course, we loved having Mr. George visit us for music time. I sincerely hope that your holidays were restful, and you were able to enjoy quality family time Kaymbu Image 20230106 2252 Scaled E1673045717264together.

Next Up for Preschoolers!

We hit the road running in January talking about the Winter Season and Snow, and using investigative skills to experiment with ice. This month, we will also explore snowmen while incorporating science, math concepts, and fine motor skills, to name a few. The preschoolers will continue to learn about Arctic animals through the end of this month. We will be busy little learners, starting the year off right!Kaymbu Image 20230106 2253 3Kaymbu Image 20230106 2253

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Arctic animals, Bugs, Butterflies, Christmas, fine motor skills, Holidays, Insects, january, Kwanzaa, Ladybugs, math concepts, Music time, observation, play, science, Sensory Bin, spiders, Winter Season

A Month in Review at Pillar Kids – July 2022

August 15, 2022 by Amirh Davis Leave a Comment

This month, both our preschool and toddler groups, explored animals from “Habitats around the World” and it was amazing! By reading books, singing songs, and creating beautiful art work – we learned about different animals, including Elephants and Lions from the Safari, Tigers from the Asian Jungles, Polar Bears from the Arctic, and more!
Kaymbu Image 20220816 0427 2  Kaymbu Image 20220816 0427 3 1

Preschool Group (Ms. Angelina)

The preschoolers sharpened their language and cognitive development skills as they discussed animal “habitats” in the wild. We learned how animals like Bears and Lions protect themselves from “predators” by building special structures, called “dens”. And how chameleons change colors to “camouflage” or blend in to any environment!

This month we tried a new welcome song for circle, called “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” that we sang as we passed around a huge elephant, singing each friend’s name to welcome them.

Toddler Group (Ms. Lam)

We talked about which sounds different animals make, for example horses say “neigh”. The toddlers enjoyed singing the “5 Little Speckled Frogs” song. The kids also loved dancing to “animal freeze dance”. Try playing these songs for your little one and watch them light up!

Both groups honed in on their fine motor skills while glueing, cutting, and painting works of art. The children explored the different patterns found in nature, like the tiger’s and zebra’s stripes.

New to the classroom!

All of the children thoroughly enjoyed playing in our newly built sandbox this month! Teachers provided various open-ended items to the sand, i.e. twigs, blocks, trucks, etc. The children spent hours creating and playing together (and independently). The sandbox is definitely a breeding ground for all sorts of sensory, creative, and dramatic play.

Kaymbu Image 20220816 0427Kaymbu Image 20220816 0443 2Kaymbu Image 20220816 0426 Scaled E1660625332922

Filed Under: News Tagged With: cognitive skills, creative play, dramatic play, fine motor skills, language development, open ended material, sandbox, sensory play

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