Classroom Fun!

Special Dancers!

Building with wood!

Playing with friends!!!

3rd Grade Reading Buddies!

Ms. Buvarp's 3rd grade class is coming in and reading to us every Monday and Tuesday! The kids love having older buddies reading to them!

Science Fun

What do you get when you combine water and cornstarch? Lots of fun! The kids were amazed with the properties of the oobleck we made! If they held the bag in their hand, it was liquid but if they hit it, it was a solid. It also made a great sound when dropped on the table!

Guest Dancers

We have been struggling with some friends not wanting to dance or be silly so we decided to invite some special Guest Dancers in!  The kids loved it! Here we have Mr. Denny (5/6) and Mr. Radtke (2).

Popcorn needed

Is there anyone who is able to donate some bags of popcorn to our Family Movie Night tomorrow night?  If you are able, please email me asap so that we can plan on what we need to purchase.  

Family Movie Night is Tuesday November 26!
5:30 pm come and get your tickets and popcorn, 6:00pm movie begins!!  Come in your pajamas and bring your favorite pillow and blanket!  Movie is Arthur's Perfect Chrismtas!

FREE of charge (donations welcome to help offset the cost of snacks)

What is Sit and Watch?

I have been asked by parents if I could explain a little about what Sit and Watch is and how it works in our classroom.  First off I want to begin by saying that Sit and Watch is NOT time out.  They are not removed from the room nor are they put in a chair in the corner or even away from the other children.  When a child is making the choice not to comply with a direction, (i.e. come to the circle, sit properly at circle, do a given task etc.) the first thing we do is heavily praise those who are complying.  i.e. "I like how George is sitting criss-cross at the carpet." or "I like how Mary is using quiet feet in the hallway."  This is called labeled praise.  We are letting all the children know what is appropriate or what is the correct way of doing something by labeling what others are doing correctly.  Typically this will lead to compliance.  Once that child is doing what they are supposed to be doing, we praise them!  "Thank you for coming back to circle time."  or " Thank you for sitting quietly with your hands in your lap."  If they still do not follow directions, we attach their name to the request.  i.e. "Henry, please sit criss-cross on the carpet."  or "Nicole, you need to come join us at the circle."  If they still do not follow the direction, they are placed in a chair near the group.  "Nicole, you were told to come to the circle.  You made the choice to keep playing.  You need to sit in sit and watch and watch what your friends are doing."  They sit for about 30 - 60 seconds.  They are then invited to join the group again.  If they have missed an important skill during the time that they were not following directions, that task or skill will be made up during play time.  This is the "discipline" portion of something called TCIT (Teach-Child Interaction).  I have gone through training and get coded and coached several times a year in applying TCIT in my classroom.  All paras and MRC members are also trained in TCIT.  Kids thrive on praise and positive interactions!  If you have any questions regarding TCIT or Sit and Watch, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Also, something to watch for, we are going to be having a training available to parents!  You can learn the techniques that we use in the classroom and apply them at home!  Further details are coming!!

All About Me!!

We have started our All About Me unit!  So far we have made banners with our favorite colors and made a graph of our eye colors!  If you haven't sent in your child's cut-outs of their favorite things, please do so this week!  We will be using them in a project very soon!

Newsletter for week of Oct. 28 - 31

The photocopier at the elementary has been down today.  I was not able to copy my newsletter!  I will hopefully be able to get it out next week.  One thing I wanted to make sure that parents of M/W kids knew is that we had a Code RED DRILL today.  It was only a drill.  The kids did AWESOME!  We have to close all blinds, cover the window on the door and turn off all lights.  We sit in the corner by the sink and have to be very quiet.  I was amazed!  They were so quiet and did just a fabulous job!!  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email me!!

Also, your child is bringing home a Pumpkin book, that is from the staff of Adventure Preschool to your child as a halloween treat!

Have a great and safe Halloween!

Preschool Conferences!

I am so excited to meet all of you at conferences!  They are held November 6 and November 7.  Everyone received a pink slip in their child's folder giving their conference time.  If you are unable to make your time please call and let me know!  218-338-4079 ext. 316.  

Here is an article that talks a little bit about what to expect at your preschool conference!

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/preschool-teachers-discuss-parent-teacher-conferences-8276.html

Fall Party Pumpkin for 2013

Here it is!  Humpty Pumpkin!

This was a joint effort between both preschool classes and ECFE!  

Give us your vote tonight!

October 26, 2013

Fun Times in Preschool and ECFE!!!

Planting Peanuts!

We are planting peanuts in preschool!  We started out with a hard disc that we weren't sure would do much!  But we added the 2 cups of water and...

...we got dirt!!  We looked at the peanut "seeds" and decided that they were just like the ones we would eat...but these aren't to be eaten!

We placed them on the soil and pushed them in...

Now we wait and see if they will grow!

We are practicing writing our names and learning "our" letters.  "Our" letters are the letters in our names.  These are the first letters that children learn.  It is so fun watching them grow and learn!

Starting the day with a little bit of coloring!

Our days start with Choice Time.  This is a time that the children can play, color, read and explore!  

ECFE friends are painting our "wall" for Humpty Pumpkin!  Look for our Humpty Pumpkin at the Fall Party!

Here he is!  Humpty Pumpkin!  The classes had fun painting the pumpkin and the wall!  

FINGER PAINTING!!!  We learned that if you mix red and yellow you get ORANGE!!! (and messy hands!)

Everyday, the kids get two stories!  Small Group story time is with Jill, our amazing MRC tutor!!!  We are so lucky to have her!

We have some new additions to our classroom!  We are taking care of the fish that were in the pond in the courtyard!  We even get to name them!  

The other new thing is a leap pad2!  The kids are having so much fun playing and learning with this new technology!

I LOVE how my friends help each other out!!

Even our youngest ECFE friends love to explore nature!

ECFE friends making a pumpkin patch with paper towel tubes and paint!  What a great bunch of pumpkins!!

Good thing we have such great workers!  Our chairs needed a lot of fixing!

We are just a happy bunch of monkeys!! :)

Blog Pictures

If you see a picture that you want that I have on my blog, please email me and I will email you that picture!  

hplasek@pp.k12.mn.us

Oops...Here are the ECFE pictures from the Fire Fighter!

The Wednesday ECFE class got to join the 4 year class to watch Fire Fighter Dave!