Together in Learning, Together in Christ
Mrs. O'Gara
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Welcome to Nursery!
In our Nursery class at Saint Aidan, the students will experience learning in a safe, loving, child-centered environment, based on Catholic values. The program aims to develop readiness skills, social interaction, a love of learning, and compassion for others. The children will be introduced to parental separation, learning our class routines, songs, making friends, sharing, art projects, and listening to stories. Our day also includes music and movement, free play, prayer, and activities that develop both fine and gross motor skills. As the year progresses, the children will work on recognizing their printed name, letters, colors, shapes, and numbers. Catholic values are incorporated into our curriculum through books, daily prayer, celebration, and discussion of holidays.
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Nursery 2 Daily News
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May 17 - May 21
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Our busy special helpers this week. Look at all of the jobs they did!
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Playground fun!
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There is nothing better than getting to see your big brother at school and getting a hug.
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We loved the book fair. Thank you to Mrs. Serrano, our school librarian and to all the moms that helped us shop.
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Finishing our letter V project:
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Fun with crayons, paper and stickers!
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It was a beautiful day for the Walk-A-Thon! Thank you to all who joined us. The ice pops were delicious!
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May 10 - May 14
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Some morning fun this week:
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Cleaning up with friends always makes the job easier.
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Here are our special helpers this week doing their jobs:
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This week we learned all about the letter V, but first we had to finish our letter U craft. U is for Unicorn. The children all loved the pink glitter! Making the gluey triangle horn, scooping the glitter out and sprinkling it on, pouring the extra off - they loved it all!
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Who needs toys when you have a bunch of empty chairs? Spontaneous playtime fun - an airplane ride with a seat for everyone. The baby dolls even came along on the trip. The hardest part was waiting for a turn to be the pilot! Goodbye everyone. We're taking off!
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The playground on a beautiful sunny day!
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Some bowling fun in the afternoon. This is one of their favorite activities.
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May 3 - May 7
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Working on puzzles and building together.
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We have fun together on the playground even on cloudy days.
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Here were our special helpers this week:
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We love watching our butterflies!
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We had so much fun painting our own wings to wear for our butterfly release.
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Here we are finishing up our T is for tree project. Crumpling up all the paper was the best part.
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Finally! The day has come to release our butterflies.
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April 26-April 30
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Here are our special helpers for the week!
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The mornings are for playing and building together! It is one of our favorite parts of the day.
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We had awonderful time on the playground this week.
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Counting fuzzy caterpillars. We love this song!
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Mixing paint for the most special project.
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"Writing letters" is one of our new favorite playtime activities.
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Finishing our caterpillars.
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Lunchtime!
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Week of April 12-April 17
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Welcome back to everyone! It was so exciting for the children to be back with their Nursery friends. We got right back into our routine and had a great week. Here are some pictures of the special helpers this week:
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We have been focusing on the spring and talking about the weather a lot. The April showers had us painting colorful umbrellas this week. They look beautiful hanging up outside the classroom.
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R was our letter of the week. Here we are coloring the Rainbow Fish and adding glitter to make one of his shiny scales.
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There was a lot of cooperative play happening in the classroom this week. From fixing broken things to making a meal together - this type of play encourages conversation, listening skills, taking turns, and best of all stretching the imagination!
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We added trains to the classroom this week and they were a big hit!
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We were lucky enough to get out to play this week when the weather cooperated.
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When it was too wet to play outside, we did fun things inside. Here we are bowling and cheering one another on.
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I will see you all on Monday!
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Week of March 22-25
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This class loves to build and they really enjoy working together. These boys were trying to make a tower taller than themselves...and they succeeded!
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Good morning! It is circle time for Nursery 2.
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Today we wore our crazy socks!
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We were very excited to celebrate the arrival of spring by waking up our hibernating bears. We have been patiently crossing off the days on a calendar and the day has finally arrived!
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Painting was a highlight this week. The children helped to mix the paint. Learning to add a bit of bright color to white paint to create pretty spring pastels was very interesting to the children. Everyone gets as long as they need at the easel so they also need to be patient. They must be a quiet audience while they wait their turn.
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The spring weather gave us a wonderful opportunity to get outside and play!
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I will see you all on Monday. Have a wonderful weekend.
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March 8-12
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Nursery 2 welcomed a new friend this week. We had so much fun showing her our classroom and how we play and learn together.
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We had so much fun learning about the letter O this week. We read several books about ocean animals and did many ocean themed activities.
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We used different shades of blue to make an ocean scene. It was fun mixing and swirling the paint colors together. When it was all dry we glued little fish to it. Our favorite part was drawing on the happy faces!
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It was a group effort to put the ocean puzzle together, and everyone that helped was very proud at the job they had done.
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We did our best to find ocean animal toys that matched the ones in the puzzle.
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We did a little fishing in the afternoon while we waited for our friends to finish resting.
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We celebrated a birthday this week and it was double the fun!
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The best part of this busy week was that we were able to go to our little playground again! The snow has melted and the weather was beautiful!
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It was wonderful to be back together again after the long winter break. We spent the week getting back into our routines, learning new songs and most importantly doing our special helper jobs. It is one of the children's favorite parts of the day. It is amazing to see how they count on the calendar now compared to back in September.
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The letter of the week was M. We talked about the sound, made a list of M words (Mommy was their favorite) and laughed and giggled with George - the monkey puppet that joined Snooze in his log. We read books about monsters, mice and monkeys and had a blast acting out "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed."
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The best part of being back together is playtime. We took out our Lego table this week and it was a big hit.
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We made working on numbers fun. We put together a number line, and then used scooters to collect beanbags that we matched to our number line. Nuber regonition, number order AND some exercise!
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This week we began talking about the qualities of magnets and discovered many interesting things we can do with them. We started with finding items in our classroom thatthe magnets were attracted to. They children even discovered that my name tag was!
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January 25th - January 29th
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The children enjoy socializing in the morning. Whether they are working on puzzles, or working with manipulatives, they love to move from table to table to find friends to help.
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Some fun with manipulatives!
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We learned about the letter K this week and had fun going on a letter hunt. Ready, set, go.....
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Success!
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We celebrated two birthdays this week in Nursery 2, and this birthday boy was very excited about it.
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Our sweet birthday girl didn't want the fanfare but she enjoyed letting everyone know how old she was now and talking about her delicious chocolate cake and presents!
We always have birthday decorations hanging in our kitchen and a play birthday cake on the counter to let everyone know we are celebrating!
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Getting the babies ready for the party.
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Add some cake and some party hats.
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Don't forget the donuts and ice cream!
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It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of January already. It went by so fast. February will be a fun month filled with crafts, hearts and cards. I will see everyone on Monday!
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January 18th - January 22nd
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Our snowmen are finally done! They took a while but don't they look wonderful? They make our classroom look happy. The children really wanted to take them home.
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We spent the week talking about the letter J, positional words and hibernation. We have read several books about hibernation, and we have put our bears into their "lair" (which is on my desk). Snooze our friendly classroom mascot comes out of his log every day to sing with us. He makes everyone laugh!
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The children love when we use Play-Doh!
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We got to go out on the playground this week and we had so much fun!
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January 4th - January 8th
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Happy New Year!
2021It was hard to come back and fall into routine after Christmas vacation. Once everyone was settled in however, it was so much fun to listen to the children talk about what they did while at home, what treats they left for Santa Claus and what he had left for them. It made for a very exciting circle time discussion.
This week we will be talking about the letter I. Ice cream scoops and cones were added to the play kitchen.
We will also be focusing on winter. Winter clothing, weather, and activities will all be part of the books we read, projects we make, and even the games we play. We are decorating our "art gallery" with snowmen. We begin by painting their bodies and then we will add all the details. They are as individual as the children.
We will discuss hibernation and the children will make bears. They will put their bears into a "cave" ( a painted box with a door) and the bears will take a long sleep until the first day of spring. The children will mark off each day they are in the cave until we take them out. This is one of the special helper's jobs each morning.
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We welcomed 2021 with a fun project that had the children choosing shapes and colors, gluing and peeling stickers. This was great fine motor practice.
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The Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th, so we took out our Nativity scene one last time to tell the story of the three kings who came with gifts to see baby Jesus. Then we made a three kings craft.
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We read "All You Need for a Snowman," and then we made our own!
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Every month we paint something different for our "art gallery". This month we are making snowmen! We love painting on the easel.
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The song we sing at the end of every day:
Now our day is done.
We've had a lot of fun.
It's time to go, so don't be slow.
Goodbye to everyone.
We put the toys away, and now it's time to say:
Thank you, thank you, thank you God.
for this blessed day.
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December 14th-18th
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Morning routine and circle time are the most consistent, predictable parts of our day. The children love having jobs, helping out, and feeling important. They like to know what is happening next (and correcting us when we forget something).
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We spent time having a letter hunt this week to practice what we have learned. This activity is not about knowing the letters, but for working on visual discrimination. Even if a child is unfamiliar with the name of a letter, they can still find a match and feel successful.
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A busy week full of holiday projects and a lot of practice following directions. We made an angel, a Christmas tree, a manger scene, Rudolph and a candy cane too!
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Spirit week was so much fun, and the best was when we got to wear our pajamas. We got to see our tree lights get turned on, and we sang songs too!
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Not all children are fans of the parachute, so this week we did some unique parachute activities that everyone LOVED! The children did some block sorting on the parachute. It was interesting to watch them make corrections when they found a stray block. More, less, shapes, colors - we got it all in with this simple activity.
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A parachute "clubhouse" is so much fun, and a great place to read books with your friends. "No grown-ups allowed," we were told!
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One of my favorite moments of the week. A quiet moment in the flurry of free play. One student quietly reading to a friend and another stopping by to listen.
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Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you on Monday!
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Week of Monday December 7, 2020
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This week we learned about the letter H, reviewed our shapes, talked about the birth of Jesus, and sang a lot of songs with our jingle bells.
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We spend the beginning part of our day building and working on various skills while we unpack. This week we added in blocks and animals and it was a big hit! The children were very engaged in categorizing and sorting.
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We have been very busy making Christmas decorations! Some are sent home, many are hanging in the classroom and some are a secret -lovingly made to bring home to you. The children are very excited to wrap them.
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Here are some pictures of our playtime fun today:
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Today we read a book and talked about Chinese New Year and painted dragon masks.
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We all had the sillies at dismissal.
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The dress up clothes and the doll clothes were all placed inside our tunnel which was folded up under a table. They were spinning it around and pretending it was their washing machine. They are so imaginative!
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There were building blocks to begin our day. This is one of their favorite (and loudest) morning activities. The children get very creative.
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Monday, February 24, 2020
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Friday, January 24, 2020
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Here is the special helper busy at work.
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Painting with water colors.
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Here we are working on shape recognition. The children loved searching for shapes around the classroom.
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The best way to end a busy week is with some parachute fun! The special helper always gets a ride.
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Here we are doing a mitten match up game after singing a fun mitten color song .
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Wednesday, November 20, 2019
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There are many daily routines in Nursery, and the children really like predictability. They feel comfortable when they know what is coming next and some reluctant students become more engaged when they know what to expect. Here is a staple of our morning - the special helper collecting the name tags and counting on the calendar.
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We highlight a new letter every week, but none of the concepts we introduce are in isolation. They are woven into everything we do and the goal is to have the children be the ones to eventually get excited about recognizing and pointing them out to us. Our learning in Nursery is done primarily through play. Today we went on a letter hunt!
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We have been talking a great deal about Thanksgiving. We have read about the first Thanksgiving, books about gratitude and today, a counting book highlighting some popular Thanksgiving food. "1, 2,3 Thanksgiving," by W. Nicola-Lisa. The children had a lot to say about the food!
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Today, we water colored some turkeys. Painting is definitely one of their favorite table time activities.
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Welcome back everyone! The children were all so happy to see one another again, and had a lot to talk about. We got right back into the swing of things and the special helper did a great job collecting the name tags, holding the flag, and marking off the date on the calendar.
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We sang some fun songs with our shaky eggs.
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There was time for play-doh too!
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As important as routine is in nursery, there are times when we need to break routine when things don't go as planned, in order to recognize the need of a student, or when something seems very important to a little one. Today it was needing to wrap the baby doll up just right, hold it tight, and bring it to the table for lunch (highchair and all). As young as they are, these children have tremendous capacity to love and care for one another. They watch everything we do!
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We reviewed our letters today with a game of memory using paper plates and then all took a turn trying to hit letters with the ball.
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Monday, February 10, 2020
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Today we celebrated Charlotte and Ellie's birthday. Mr. and Mrs. Traina came in to read the book "Birthday Monsters," by Sandra Boynton. A perfect book since we are working on the letter M. We painted monster paper bag puppets also. They will come home on Wednesday after we use them to act out some funny monster stories!
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It was a beautiful day so, after lunch and reading time, we went out to play and had so much fun! It definitely did not feel like a winter day in February!
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We have been reading and talking about hibernation. We even made our own brown bears! Today we put them in their "den" to hibernate until the spring. We will check each day off on the calendar until spring arrives.
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Wednesday, January 15, 2020
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Happy Halloween!
Aren't our jack-o-lanterns fantastic? We have had so much fun this week. Pumpkin picking, reading Halloween stories, dancing and playing fun Halloween games are just some of the activities we enjoyed.
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We started our day with puzzles!
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Monday, January 13, 2020
Happy Hibernation to our Bears
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The special helper was very happy to do the morning jobs: collecting the tags, holding the flag, labeling the weather, and counting on the calendar.
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A new week has begun! We started today off with table manipulatives.
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Here is our special helper of the day collecting the nametags, holding the flag, and counting on the calendar.
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There was a lot going on in the kitchen at playtime today!
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A new job has been added for the special helper! We are crossing off the days until spring arrives and our bears come out of hibernation.
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The weather was so wonderful today that we decided to go out to play in the afternoon. When we told the children, they let out a big cheer. Rest time was much more restful after they had the chance to run and play.
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Although the weather has been unseasonably warm, we are still talking about winter weather and snow! Today we read a Nursery favorite, "The Jacket I Wear in the Snow," by . The children love "reading" the book themselves using the repetetive pictures.
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We then made winter trees. We made one of these back in the fall and we will do one for every season.
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We went out into the hall and had some fun racing on the scooters. It was exciting to cheer one another on. It is especially fun when the teacher and Mrs. O'Connell get in on the last race. How silly! There was a lot of cheering and laughing going on.
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Manipulative time this morning!
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Monday, December 2, 2019
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Here is the special helper of the day collecting the nametags, holding the flag and counting on the calendar.
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We were very busy today making our Advent wreathes and painting Christmas trees to hang up in the classroom.
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Monday, November 4, 2019
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Here is our terrific special helper today, collecting the nametags!
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We read a great book today called "Fall Ball," by Peter McCarty. The pictures were very funny and led to us talking about many things that the season of autumn brings such as windy days, blowing leaves that we rake into piles, the day getting dark earlier, cold frosty nights and football. The children loved the illustrations which are simple but evoke lots of expression and movement. So much to talk about today!
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We even practiced raking leaves into piles. It took a little practice, but we got the hang of it and are ready to help at home!
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We used Q-Tips and paint to add some colorful leaves on the tree branches, the ground and swirling in the air too.
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Wednesday, October 30, 2019
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Here is our special helper today carefully collecting the name tags, holding the flag, and counting on the calendar at circle time.
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Wednesday, December 11, 2019
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There were puzzles to begin our day today. We love to watch them work together.
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Here is the special helper collecting the nametags, holding the flag and counting on the calendar.
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Play time is the best time to make friends. All of the children are making connections with their peers now. They are learning how to negotiate sharing, taking turns and expressing how they feel (both positive and negative). It is very interesting to watch how they come to the rescue when they see a friend having difficulty. It doesn't always go smoothly, but they have come so far in such a short time. This is hard work!
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It was wonderful to watch the children's faces, and hear them sing during our lower school tree lighting. One of the children walked past the unlit tree last week and said, "Google, turn the tree lights on," and now it has happened! They really do make us laugh every day.
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Monday, November 9, 2020
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Happy Monday! Today we continued with the letter E and read the book "Elmer," by David McKee. This book is a wonderful story that illustrates how we are all uniquely created by God. The children were as eager to talk about the differences in their hair and eyes as they were to talk about who liked to dance, color. paint and run. Here is our special helper holding the flag!
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Creative building - one of our favorite ways to start the day together. A great way to get everyone chatting and working together.
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It was a boisterous, fun morning free play with cooking in the kitchen, truck driving, and setting up the animals in the barn.
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A quiet relaxing afternoon with the "real animals" and soft blocks. The children built enclosures for the animals and organized them too. I will see everyone on Friday!
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There were two playtime art projects today. The children watercolored a beautiful patchwork Elmer. and then made an Elephant. They loved painting the toe nails - there was a lot of giggling!
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It was a beautiful day to play outside!
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Wednesday, January 22, 2020
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Wednesday, November 13, 2019
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We began the day today with puzzles. Many of the children ask if they can move around to other tables to help friends do their puzzles. We really enjoy watching them socialize when they first arrive. We see students who like to do things independently, or who don't need help, accept help from a friend. This speaks volumes! Despite how young they are, they love feeling neeeded and they love to feel helpful.
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Here we are at the beginning of circle time!
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Here is our special helper of the day collecting the nametags.
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Here is the special helper today. She is collecting the name tags, holding the flag, and counting on the calendar.
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Free play is not only fun for the children, but the perfect opportunity to develop social skills and explore imaginative and role playing activities. It has been very interesting to watch the process of the children not only going from playing alone to playing in groups, but also from playing with the toys as they were designed to be played with, to using the toys to represent other things they are familiar with. Today, the yellow bins that we usually use as baby beds, became footbaths as a group of girls decided to open a beauty parlor. Ketchup and syrup bottles from the play kitchen became the shampoo. They filled the bins with blankets for the water. They poured cups of tea to sip. Interestingly, at circle time today one of the boys was talking about getting his hair cut at the barber, this led to talking about the differences between the barber and hair salons...and the beauty parlor was created! The children listened carefully to details and created something together. What a fun play time!
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Here is our special helper taking care of the morning business!
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We read the book, "The Grouchy Ladybug", by Eric Carle, and then made our own cute ladybugs. After adding the eyes, and the wings, we put on the spots.
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We read a funny book at story time called, "Scaredy Crow", and then began making our own scarecrows! We will finish them on Friday.
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We talked about positional words today, and watched Grover from Sesame Street explain them using a simple song. We then practiced acting out the words ourselves to the music. Everyone was laughing and really having so much fun.
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We had such a busy morning that we ran out of time for play-doh, so we did it in the afternoon all together.
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Week of Monday, November 30, 2020
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A fun activity in the afternoon was making hearts with sponge painters and paint that we mixed ourselves.
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Puzzles to start the day today! The children were very excited to see one another again after the Thanksgiving break. There was a a lot to talk about.
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Here is the special helper collecting the name tags, holding the flag and counting on the calendar.
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Through
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Around
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Under
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Today we learned about the Nativity and read the Christmas story. We learned that Advent is a time for waiting and getting ready. We made Advent wreathes but we didn't want them to be ruined in the rain, so they will go home on Wednesday. The children painted angel ornaments.
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After lunch, we read books together on the rug. The goal is to get the children interested and excited to choose books that interest them. We want them to love reading. When they share a book they like with others, it is wonderful to listen to their conversations and watch their enthusiasm
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Friday, February 28, 2020
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How can you not be excited to come to school when this is how your buddies greet you in the morning?
We had fun this morning with building blocks.
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Wednesday, November 27, 2019
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Here is the special helper for the day collecting everyone's name tag, holding the flag and counting on the calendar. It is amazing to see the children not only recognize their own name in print but, each other's names as well.
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As the day wound down and everyone was tired, we did some block building on the front rug. They built a zoo for the animals.
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We finished our paper bag turkeys today! Aren't they cute?
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We did an activity today where each child got a plate with a picture of a food they might eat on Thanksgiving. They had to practice saying, "yes, please" if they wanted to try something and "no thank you" if they didn't.
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Here is our special helper taking charge this morning.
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We would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
We hope that you are all surrounded by love on this special day.
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Monday, November 25, 2019
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We began our day today with manipulatives.
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Here is the special helper busy collecting the name tags and counting on the calendar at circle time.
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We had so much fun doing the turkey feather dance. Whoever had the same color feather had to go in the center of our circle and dance to the music! They had to flap their wings and waddle like a turkey
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Today we started making our paper bag turkey by coloring the feathers and adding on the face. We will let it dry before we stuff it.
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We did a lot of singing today, and had fun making music with the rhythm sticks.
One student was so excited to demonstrate all the letters he could make with the sticks. Everyone was quick to jump in and offer suggestions. Learning is happening constantly!
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Friday, November 22, 2019
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We painted a few more canvases to add to our color wall.
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The first thing we do is unpack. The children have gotten very independent and love to help each other.
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We began the day with block building.
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We had a very enthusiastic special helper today who was very excited for it to be her turn.
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Today we read the story of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," retold by Janet Stevens. We used blocks and our play animals to act the story out.
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It was a great morning to play outside. We were running, hanging, sliding, jumping and a few were trying to wake up a princess!
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Some free play after snack!
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It was a very busy day! I hope that everyone enjoys the weekend. I will see you all on Monday.
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Playtime was busy. The children were cooking for Mrs. Amarain, and there was a lot of laughing. Mrs. Amarain loves everything the children make even though they tell her there are hot peppers in everything!
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We had a fix-it crew working on the lockers today. They were loud but, the crew assured me that they all work right now. So much fun.
We had a great day! I will see you all on Wednesday.
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Monday, December 9, 2019
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Here is our special helper for the day, collecting the name tags, waving the flag, and counting on the calendar.
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We practiced singing our Christmas songs today and used jingle bells.
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Some playtime fun!
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We painted angel ornaments last week and today we added the glitter.
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In the afternoon we had some fun doing our "reindeer bootcamp". Here we are practicing pulling the sled and walking on the roof.
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Hello! Every year there is "the book." This is the book that no matter how out of season, or how long ago we introduced it we can never put away because of how much the children love it, and ask us to read it to them. This year the book is "Goodnight Gorilla, " by Peggy Rathman which I originally read to the class when the letter G was introduced. Although there are very few words, there are countless little stories held within the illustrations and everytime we read it they seem to notice more. It has been great for expanding their vocabulary. Even the little ones who have a hard time sitting for an entire book love this one!
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Friday, December 13, 2019
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There was so much creative building happening today. Look how hard they are concentrating, and how proud they are!
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Here is our special helper doing his morning jobs!
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Here we are having some fun decorating stockings.
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Here is an example how how we abandon the plan sometimes because the children love an activity and find a way to make it their own. We started with building activities. The children loved setting the big cardboard blocks up, but what they enjoyed more was finding different ways of knocking them down. They took turns rebuilding sturdy, balanced towers that did not fall down until someone crashed into them. So much laughing!
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Monday, November 16, 2020
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Here is our super special helper doing his morning jobs. As the weeks go by, we gradually add more jobs and the children gain confidence and are proud that they can do things on their own while feeling helpful. Each job addresses different skills including: speaking in front of a group, sorting, following directions, and decision making. Here we are collecting the nametags, holding the flag, and counting on the calendar.
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In the afternoon, we took out the scooters once again, and used them while practicing shape recognition. The children scooted from one end of the room to the other, collected the shape called out, and then delivered it back to the front. So much fun!
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The children were excited to take turns painting on the easel during play time today. We experimented with fall colors and will hang the paintings up in our classroom. It will take us a few days for everyone to have a turn as we like to give each student as much time as they need. The decorations made by the children are the ones they like the best!
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Friday, November 13, 2020
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Here is our special helper of the day choosing a song circle. "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," is a very popular choice!
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We began our day today with manipulatives at our tables.
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We came in and worked on puzzles this morning. This class just loves puzzles! They do their own, help their friends and then ask to trade.
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We had so much fun racing on the scooters in the afternoon!
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Wednesday, February 5, 2020
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Our special helper was so happy that it was his turn today. Here is is busy with the morning jobs.
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We are working on the letter L this week. Today we read the book, "Is Your Mama a Llama,"by Deborah Guarino. We listened to a song, pretended we were animals and looked at photographs of baby animals with their mamas. We painted some lollipops too.
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We did some easel painting today. The children are painting hearts to hang up for Valentine's Day. They love to get involved in mixing the paint colors.
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At playtime, many of the children spent some time at the table we had set up with paper shapes, glue, paper and crayons. They love to create independently.
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Lunch, rest time, a fun game of Bingo, and closet toys rounded out the rest of the day.
**Reminder - Friday is a half day for conferences. All Nursery students will be dismissed at 11:30 am.
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Friday, November 8, 2019
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It was a busy morning and we began with manipulatives. It is wonderful how creative the children are!
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Monday, February 3, 2020
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Here is our special helper collecting the name tags and counting on the calendar.
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We are working on the letter F. F is for fish! Here is some coloring we did at the table today.
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A traffic director and a bouquet of pretty flowers!
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A floor puzzle at play time is much more fun when there are friends to help. They were very proud when they finished!
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Welcome February! Our busy day began with manipulatives with patterning, sorting and gear assembly.
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F is also for finger painting. This was messy, but so much fun to do. The children loved discovering what happened when they mixed the colors together. They also enjoyed creating texture using different parts of their hand.
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We read the book, "Go to Sleep Groundhog!" by Judy Cox and then made cute groundhog paperbag puppets.
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We introduced the new month and all of the special days. Today we talked about Groundhog's Day. No shadow and, an early spring proclaimed Punxsutawney Phil! Here is our special helper.
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Wednesday, November 6, 2019
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In the afternoon we played with shaving cream! A messy, but fun sensory activity. The children had as much fun helping to clean up as they did playing with the shaving cream.
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Here is our excellent special helper collecting the name tags!
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
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Welcome to Wednesday everyone! It is puzzle time once again.
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We had a big discussion about some different animals leading up to our story tody. We used hoola hoops to make two categories: sea animals and land animals. We placed them in separate circles at first. Then we overlapped the circles and put animals in the middle who spent time on land and in the water. They loved this activity and were very excited to share their ideas. A Nursery venn diagram!
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There were many jobs for the special helper today but, we began with the usuals: collecting the name tags, holding the flag, doing the weather, and counting on the calendar.
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Learning how to listen and follow multi-step
directions is an important skill, and one the children are excited to practice. We kept with our animal theme for this today! They were very proud of their work.
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Ash Wednesday was part of our circle talk today. Mrs. O'Connell came in after the school mass to distribute ashes to the children who wanted them.
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Wednesday, November 4, 2020
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We started the day with manipulatives!
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We read the book "Fall Ball," by Peter McCarty. We loved the funny pictures, and the dog who jumped into the leaves. We took turns raking up leaves on the classroom floor.
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Monday, January 6, 2020
Happy New Year!
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Welcome back everyone and Happy New Year! The children didn't miss a beat today, and easily fell back into routine. They all seemed very happy to see one another and were very excited to share at circle time. We began the day with manipulatives.
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It was a beautiful day to play outside.
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Our special helper was so happy to see her name in the basket today, and was excited to collect the tags and hold the flag.
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Here is our special helper for the day collecting the nametags, and holding the flag. He was very excited to help!
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After talking about the New Year, we decorated colorful 2020 signs of our own. It was terrific fine motor practice, and fun too. The children were chatting away while they worked. So much to talk about!
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At story time, we talked about Three Kings Day and read the book, "The Three Kings," by Loek Koopmans. It really held everyone's interest.
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We were very busy during play time today. The children had fun with Mrs. Amarain setting up a big picnic and they also spent time trying to "fix" our refrigerator. It was a good day. I look forward to seeing you all on Monday!
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At art time, we created a picture of the three kings. The children liked being able to choose the clothes and crowns themselves. They glittered the star which took a long time to dry so we will send them home on Wednesday.
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We had an extra long play time today because everyone was having so much fun. They missed their buddies! By the end of the morning the children were all exhausted and ready to wind down to quiet activities. I will see everyone on Wednesday!
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Friday, October 30, 2020
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Our focus this week has been on Christmas. We have been reading books and talking about the birth of Jesus. In addition to books, we explain the story using the Nativity sets that are in our classroom. The children are allowed and encouraged to play with them and we often hear them at play time retelling the story to one another.
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Scooters made learning about shapes so much fun.
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Friday, January 31, 2020
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Our routine was different today so in the morning we took out our closet toys!
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It is hard to believe but, we said goodbye to January today as we put the last number in the calendar. The year is flying by! Here is our special helper doing his morning jobs.
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A very big thank you to everyone who came in to listen to our story and work on a craft. The children were so excited waiting for all of you to come. It is so much fun for them to have visitors!
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Wednesday, January 29, 2020
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Today we began the day with puzzles on the tables. The children love to move around and help one another or even trade puzzles when they have finished theirs.
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Here is today's special helper collecting the nametags!
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We did a fun sorting activity today. First, we used our fingers to pick up pompoms and sort them into the matching bowls. We did this very quickly. Next, we used big tweezers to pick them up. This was more work to pick them up and let them go.
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Monday, January 27, 2020
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There were manipulatives on the tables to begin our day today.
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Here is our special helper doing a great job collecting the nametags anf counting on the calendar.
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