We are back! So much has been happening! In the classroom we have been talking about maps and our homes! We have been discussing all the different types of materials homes are made of and how people all over the world have different ways of building a house. We drew pictures of our own homes. See if you can find your home displayed on the wall by the loft!
It has been fun finding Ohio on the map and locating where all our friends live on our local maps. This is one of my favorite units because the kids start to really become aware of their surroundings. I recently sent out our latest project, Flat Stanley. We are very excited about the response we will get. For those of you who don't know, Flat Stanley is our flat paper friend that travels across the country. We mail him to people we know in different states and they mail us a postcard back to our school! We will be mapping his travels and I hear there is a possibility Stanley might go global... We'll see! (if you did not receive one please check in w/me) Our next challenge will be drawing a map from our home to our school.
Today we had some fun talking about what we can do to take care of our home and how it feels good to have a safe, clean, place to play and learn. Miss Hollie and I got brave... We had three groups of children and gave them a spray bottle of soap and water, handed them some washcloths and set them free. To our pleasant surprise we had some wonderful helpers! It was neat to see what they thought was important to clean; our tables, the mirror, the windows, the loft, some toys. What was a better surprise was that they worked together. One child sprayed the rest wiped and when one of their friends asked for a turn there were no fights, they shared all by themselves!! No intervention necessary. No soap in the eyes. Just some good ol' fashion cleaning. :)
Look at these helpers go!
Our upcoming excitement in the pre-K classroom is our woodworking bench. I am slowly introducing tools and different building materials. Tomorrow we'll start out by exploring with wooden hammers, cork, and golf tees. I will then follow up by setting up craft hammers, nails, and pizza boxes. Eventually there will be screwdrivers, wood screws, scrap wood, sandpaper, non-power hand drills and much more. No worries though, it is important to me that my friends learn about safety and create agreements that keep everyone happy and SAFE! The tool bench was such a great hit last year I can't wait to see what will happen this time around.
Now its not all work at Sycamore Run. With all the cartography, cleaning and woodworking our busy friends get to have some downtime too! Here are some of our outside adventures!
Thank you all for reading! Please be sure to check out our calendars and the whiteboard on your way out of the pre-K room for events, reminders, and wish lists. If you have any questions or concerns let us know!
*increase the peace*
