Preschool Takes Off !

Our preschool flight has experienced friendly skies, with ample learning space and the imagination lights fully illuminated.

This week, we created a list of things that fly. As you can see, the children were able to come up with many different suggestions! We read 'How People Learned to Fly' by Fran Hodgkins, which taught us that people have long been fascinated with flying, and made many separate attempts to fly, including a well-known monk who strapped wings on his arms and jumped from a tower, breaking both his legs... ouch!! None were too successful until the Wright Brothers aircraft flew in North Carolina.













Perhaps you've noticed, but there are some friendly flying creatures in our classroom (above the block area). This week, we created our own flying creations, using egg carton cups and a wealth of craft materials. Each child was able to create something that can fly, and use of imagination was definitely allowed! Many children chose to make unicorns, while others chose jets, bats, birds, or rocketships. Some chose to use feathers for flying adaptations, and others used more 'solid' materials to create wings. This was a small project for small hands, and was heavy on fine motor skill challenges, from gluing on tiny googly eyes, to applying small feathers to the desired location. Fun!

The children have continued to explore our math manipulatives and materials, frequently cooperating and collaborating with Mackenzie and Tracy's class. We are excited to progress from here, and in reality, we incorporate math into any applicable moment or lesson (i.e. not just during designated math time).


We have also spent a significant amount of time going over some of our 'class rules,' perhaps emphasizing 'keeping our hands to ourselves' the most. Using the children to demonstrate the different ways to use our hands, the children saw that it is okay to use our hands with friends when we are gentle (such as holding hands, or hugging) but also showed how these examples could turn into something which hurts (holding hands turns into pulling people around by the hand, hugging gently turns into squeezing and falling). We hope that by tackling such issues as early in the year as possible, we can ensure an exciting yet safe classroom environment for everyone involved. The mantra "use your words" is heard often during each day.

This week, we started gym (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays) and this is a very exciting way for the children to start the day. Our daily yoga routine is also a great way to warm up for our tumbles, spider hangs, and balance beam-ing.

Below are more pictures from our week. Enjoy!