Friendship Week

Friendship Week

Friendship week is a wonderful week in preschool. Throughout the week as we did our daily activities I talked with the students about “what friendship looks like” and “how you can be a good friend.” I loved hearing their responses because no matter who you are, what you do, or what your age is, it is always refreshing to hear about the dynamics of friendship.

Here are some of the responses:

“Friendship is when you let someone else play with your favorite toy.”

“Sharing if someone else wants a toy you can pick a different toy.”

“Ummm..you can get them a snack.”

“You can help your friends clean up even if you didn’t make the mess.”

“Friendship is a whole big family that has God in it.”

“Friendship goes in the middle of your kissing hand.”

We have some wise kiddos in our preschool class! For friendship week I tried to make each craft something that they could work on together. We made a friendship wreath, a friendship quilt, and friendship bracelets.

The friendship wreath is where I was able to talk to the students in smaller numbers about friendship and what it means to them. 

The friendship quilt was fun because the students each drew their own depiction of friendship. They were also able to see the quilt come together as I hung their pictures on the wall. We talked about team work a lot during this craft.

The friendship bracelets and necklaces were great for exercising the students small motor skills, counting skills, and color recognition.

Side note -I dyed the pasta at home and it was amazingly easy. Just 1 cup of noodles, toss in a bag with 1tablespoon of vinegar and then add a couple drops of food coloring and shake, shake, shake. Set it out to dry and it is as easy as that.

Thanks for checking in!

Mrs. Winter

Back to School!

We are a couple weeks into the school year now and I finally have had the time to get the classroom website up and running! The wheels are in motion and the daily routine in the classroom is taking its own flow. Each week I have seen great gains in the classroom as we adjust to the new routine and the new environment and I am so happy with the direction we are headed.

September has been an adventure filled month so I wanted to share our letter to our wonderful classroom parents that I sent home after our first week.

Hello Parents,

The first week of school was a success! I am so proud of the way each student is already adjusting to being back at school or to being at school for the very first time. I can already tell that we have a great year ahead of us.

During the month of September we will be following four themes. Week 1 & 2 we will be focusing on “I Am Special” & “Rules & Routines.” In weeks 3 & 4 we will be learning about families and friendship.

During  the “I Am Special”  theme we will be learning about our emotions, practicing self esteem building exercises, and we will be sharing what makes us special. It is so important that each little one know the value that they have and that they have the confidence to be comfortable in the classroom.

As we learn about the classroom “Rules & Routines” please take the time to talk about the rules with your child and reiterate the importance of following the rules. Our classroom rules are: Keep your hands to yourself, Use walking feet, Use listening ears, Use kind words, Respect school property, and Share.

Thank you Parents for all of your support, for your willingness to volunteer, and for being so welcoming. It is fantastic to be a part of such a great school community. Also, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you,

Mrs. Winter

Each theme this month has been super fun to teach.  Throughout the day I have over heard the students going over their classroom rules together, hand motions and all. (It is always a proud moment for a teacher seeing the students discuss what we are learning during free play.) They have shared some super sweet and also super funny responses as to why they are uniquely special. “I am special because I can play soccer. Also, my Dad is probably the best tennis player in the world.” I also LOVE hearing what the kiddos want to be when they grow up. I think being batman or a princess sound like superb careers!

During our family themed week we read one of the sweetest books called “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn. We talked about the love we feel from our family and held our kissing hands up to our cheeks to remember them throughout the day. To go along with the book we made this little crafts with the students:

The poem below this little hand reads:

“A piece of me I give to you,

a special heart because I love you.

The heart is you, the hand is me,

it shows that we are family.”

Now how sweet is that? I love my job! 

Mrs. Winter :)