Fostering the love of reading is an important aspect of early childhood education.  It is great to see how the friends love to read!  Although they can not read in the conventional sense, they are learning valuable pre-reading skills and concepts of print that lay a strong foundation for future reading success.

We went to the gym today! 

During small group time we documented our wondering about flowers and flower shops.

We took turns being the "hider" for tricky mouse.  

We also practiced discriminating the beginning sounds of words.  

Our friends had a hard time remembering to show God's love to each other today.  During Jesus time, we addressed this issue by drawing a picture of a heart to represent our heart.  I colored on the heart representing our mean words and bad choices.  We then said a prayer asking God to forgive our bad choices.  I erased all of the ugliness off of the heart and told the friends that is what Jesus does for us.  He forgives our sins!  We discussed how we can show God's love to each other.  This would be a good reminder for you to discuss with your children at home too.  :) 

Second free choice

The friends worked to make "puzzle city."  :) 

We noticed that one of the puzzle pieces was missing.  Isabella worked to write a poster to inform others that the piece was missing.  

Karissa made a pogo stick!  

During small group time the friends played tricky mouse independently.  They took turns being the hider.  :) 

With Mrs. Lipsey, the friends practiced discriminating the beginning sounds of words. 

With me, we were silly with words.  :)  We changed the beginning sounds of words and segmented words into smaller parts.  These phonemic awareness skills lay a strong foundation for future reading success! 

We had a great day in Pre-K!  

Please be sure to return the field trip from that was emailed on Friday and sent home today by tomorrow.  We are extremely excited to visit the flower shop!  It will be a short field trip, but it will be a great learning experience for us. 

If the interest in the flower shop continues after our field trip, we will begin a flower shop project!  

Play is a way for children to make sense of the world and their experiences.  :) Our friends love to play school.! 

Flower shop fun! 

Some of the friends wanted to make a trash can for the flower shop.  We estimated how much paper we would need to cover the trash "can" (in this case a box).  We taped it on the box and the friends began to decorate it.  Tomorrow, we will work on a label for the trash can! 

Mrs Zwettler was at home with a sick child, so Mrs. Dieckamp helped us this morning!  Thank you Mrs. Dieckamp! 

During outside time today we had a fire drill.  It was tricky for the friends to transition from playground loud to fire drill quiet, but they did a great job! 

During small group time we practiced identifying beginning sounds of words with Mrs. Dieckamp. 

We also played in the flower shop! 

With me, the friends dictated what they already know about flowers and flower shops.  This will help us identify areas of interest and misconception for the project.  It will also serve as an information assessment as to what the friends learn throughout the project! 

During Jesus time we learned the story of Mary and Martha.  We learned that sometimes we get distracted by many things, but the most important thing is God's word!  

Second free choice

Second outside time

During small group time we practiced some social skills while painting.  There were five friends in a group, but only three paint brushes.  The friends had to practice using the social skills we have learned throughout the year to figure out how to ensure each friend has a turn. 

The friends also played in the flower shop. 

With me, the friends practiced segmenting and blending words.  This is an important phonemic awareness skill that you can practice at home too!  Break words up into phonemes ( s/ i/ t) and have your child tell you what word you are saying.  Once your child has mastered that skill, encourage him/her to segment words and then you blend them for him/her.