S Week
During S week we were grateful for a week with no Snow even though it starts with S.
Monday, we learned the sensory words: See, Say, Sound and Smell. We identified the body parts used for each sense and made lists of associated words. The list for sound was especially fun; it included boing, choo-choo, tweet, rumble, smash, crash, “rawr” and Michael Jackson. Our sensory activities for writing used Shaving cream and Sand and of course, we reviewed with our sandpaper letters during circle time,. Since the slushy conditions kept us inside we played Simon Says, which starts with S, and Red Light, Green Light so we could practice Starting and Stopping, which also start with S. Identifying words that start with the letter of the week may seem simplistic, but it brings a sense of accomplishment to our students and builds vocabulary. These indoor games also involve coordinated movement, attention and listening. In the classroom, we are focusing on waiting, listening and following simple directions, so these games reinforce those skills. Following sequential directions is a skill that is built with age and practice. Some of our students can follow a longer sequence than others, but almost all of them are working on receiving just one direction and waiting for the next, so we’re intentionally enhancing that ability.
Wednesday, we did a 1-100 counting sheet in groups so we worked with directions and assessed how our students are doing with writing numbers, patterning and counting from 1 to 100. Depending on their skill level, students have the option of either working on writing numbers or completing the chart during table work time. You’d be surprised how diligent and excited some of our students are when it comes to finishing what they start. Completing tasks is a hallmark of Montessori education. We are also using rainy and muddy days to play cooperative and listening games with numbers.
Thursday, we learned about the Solar System and created our own moving model of the solar system using our bodies. We had all the planets orbiting the sun, the moon orbiting the earth and a smattering of stars sparkling all at one time. We read several books about stars and planets. Along with our books about weather, they’ve become some of the favorite reading time books. Reading time is our usual transition activity when we’ve finished snack or lunch, so all our students get a turn with the class books. Science education also extends to circle time questions like – Why do sharks swim with their fins out of the water? It turns out that they don’t unless they swim into the shallows or a sand bar. Our students sure keep us on our toes.
Throughout the week we read fun books. It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles is a book of poems about food with plenty of rhymes, alliteration, assonance, consonance and onomatopoeia. Those terms are a little complicated for most our listeners, but hearing the patterns is essential for language building. We also began reading from the Miss Malarkey series, humorous books about elementary school, one of which reveals the terrible secret that teachers do not live at school and have toes under their shoes. All in all we had a fun and busy weekend, even though we could not go outside as much as we like. When Fun Friday came, we had a morning dance party, looked at pictures of famous Sculptures, talked about how they’re constructed, mixed plaster and made Sand Snakes.
We enjoyed our one seventy degree Spring day, but if it’s moderately dry and vaguely warm we will go outside. So please remember to dress children for the weather and send layers if needed.
Category: Preschool