Simon Says Shaving Cream

Dear Parents,

We began our week playing with shaving cream. We gave everyone the first letter of their name in shaving cream on the table. Most friends knew exactly what to do and got right to work. Some children waited and watched first. Once they saw others spreading the cream and drawing in it, they got busy. We made circles with our palms, our fingers, and used our fingernails to make straight lines. 

The next day we added yellow and blue food coloring to our shaving cream. We saw a new color emerge. We noticed this color at our easel too, on the yellow and blue side. 

We read How To Two, I Can! Can You?, Mice Squeak, We Speak, You Matter, and We Love School!

We made a list of things we can do that we could not do when we were babies. Walking, running, painting, and eating cupcakes were on the list. 

We played Simon Says. Simon said to bend, stretch, walk into the big room, make the letters T, V, and O, step through the O, and to sit down. The next day he told us to crawl like kittens, drink milk, hop like bunnies, slither like snakes, take a cat nap, and go to the Peanut Butter Wall. 

The Peanut Butter Wall is the edge of the stage that we all “stick to” while preparing for a transition. 

We are reminding everyone to use two hands and two eyes when pulling underwear and pants up. Some forget about the underwear and just pull up their pants, making it very uncomfortable. 

We took the first of four class pictures under a tree in our yard to document the seasons. We examined the tree and noticed all the leaves are still green. What season is it when all the trees are green? Many children knew this meant summer. We noticed many green trees in our books and that the children in the books also had short sleeves. We looked forward to fall. 

Have a hot last weekend of summer,

Therese

Play Dough and Painting

Dear Parents,

On Monday we began in the yard. We climbed on the jungle gym, and played on the swings. Some children were selling ice cream under the jungle gym and others were driving the jungle gym. One day someone said, “The truck is broken and we need a tow truck.”

We used our easel this week. Everyone was excited for their turn. It took two days for all of us to get a turn to paint. We used red and yellow on one side and blue and yellow on the other. 

We added a new color to our yellow play dough. We had to work hard pinching, pulling, squeezing, and rolling the play dough to mix the colors. Play dough and clay are great hand strengthening activities in preparation for motor skills used in writing, zipping, and snapping math manipulatives together. 

In the classroom, we have been connecting plastic waffles to build streets and buildings. Our rainbow bears have enjoyed playing on the creations. 

This week we read: One Happy Classroom, Olivia, Now Soon Later, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten, The Night Before Kindergarten, Wake Up, and Owl Babies- on repeat! 

We played in the sandbox on Thursday. People made castles and cakes. We talked about keeping the sand in the box and low to the ground so we wouldn’t accidentally get it in anyone’s eyes, including our own. 

We asked the class what part of our bodies do we use when we listen? They responded, “Our brains”, “Our still bodies”, “Our ears”, and “Our eyes”. We thought they were going to say ears! They are listening. 

We made a list of what we did this summer. We went to Maryville, Texas, Amsterdam, Spain, Germany, the Catskills, Shelter Island, the swimming pool, and the lake. We made a present for our mama, played at home, painted, rode in boats, read books, and lost our laser pointer. 

Someone said while waiting for the bathroom, “I think this is going to be the best year ever!” 

I agreed,

Therese