Computer Lab

We now have an elementary computer lab with 20 lap top computers. Mondays are "computer lab" days, and the preschoolers really look forward to going to the lab. They love having their own computer to work on. I choose a program for everyone to work on, but they can work at their own pace. The preschoolers are doing fantastic with the computers. They are so patient while we get everyone logged on, they are very careful with the computers, and they work very hard.

Library Christmas Tree

Each year, we decorate a Christmas Tree at the Newell Public Library for their annual Christmas Tree display. This year's theme was Christmas in Other Lands. We chose the country Brazil to decorate our tree. Thank you to Thomas' mom, Juliana, for helping with the decorations. At the library, we heard a story, decorated our tree, looked at the other trees, and took a tour of the library including seeing the book drop. Stop by and see our tree if you get a chance.

Talking Turkey

We have been doing a short unit on Turkeys in November. We have been looking at pictures of different turkeys on the computer. The preschoolers favorites are Wendy and Wally who have pictures of them growing from poults to a tom and hen. The farmer tells funny stories about these turkeys which the children love to hear. We looked at different pictures of turkeys and then the children made their own out of paper. Katie, the B.V. County Naturalist, came and taught us some more things about turkeys. She brought feathers and an egg for us to see. We had some very interesting "sharing bags" too. Tucker brought his grandpa's stuffed turkey and Zach brought a turkey call.

Too Cute to Spook

P.M. "Spooks"

The preschoolers had fun dressing up in their costumes for Halloween. As you can see, they were very cute. We went on a costume parade, played games and ate snacks at our parties. A big thanks goes to the parents who provided for the Halloween parties. The kids had a great time.

Plants and Seeds Program

Katie, the B.V. County Naturalist, visits our classroom periodically throughout the year to teach us about science and nature. As we were finishing out plants and seeds study, she came and presented a program to the preschoolers. She talked about what plants need to grow, the parts of the plant and showed us some different types of plants. She brought some seeds that we eat and let us eat a sunflower seed. We look forward to learning more about nature from Katie this year.

Story Hour at the Library

The librarians at the Newell Library invited us to a Fall Story Hour. We walked to the library and heard stories about the farm. We then got the chance to make our own farm book. Each child worked on a page for the book, and the finished book will be kept at the library. Stop in sometime to find your child's page and to check out some of the great books they have available.

Fire Safety Day

Fire fighters from the Newell Fire Department visited our classroom on Friday. They talked about ways the preschoolers could stay safe around fire. Fire fighter Brian also put on all the gear including the mask so the preschoolers would know what he would look and sound like if they ever had to be rescued from a fire. The a.m. class rode in the Rescue Unit and the p.m. class rode on the fire truck. The fire department also gave the preschoolers fire hats and bags with fire safety activities inside. We want to thank both the Newell and Fonda Fire Departments for taking time to talk to the children about fire safety.

Future Fire Fighters?

We have been talking about fire safety the past couple of weeks. The children have had the opportunity to pretend to fight fires in the dramatic play center. The fire fighter dress up clothes have been very popular. We may have some future fire fighters in our class.

Fall Fun

The preschoolers have been having so much fun playing outside in the leaves. I'm sorry if they have been bringing souvenirs of this activity home in their hair and clothes, but they have been having a blast! We snapped some pictures last week of the p.m. class and had to share some of them. The looks on their faces are priceless.

Playing in Shaving Cream

One of the activities we did this week to learn about the color white was playing in shaving cream. The preschoolers practiced writing shapes and letters with their finger. Our tables are now "glue and marker free" again too. :)

Homecoming Week

Pajama Day

Beach Day

A very special football reader -- Coach Wilken

Blue and Silver Day

Watching the Homecoming Parade and cheering on our Mustangs.

Even our little mustangs showed their spirit by dressing up for Spirit Days. It was fun seeing the outfits each day. We combined learning about blue with Homecoming by cutting out blue pennants to wave at the parade. The P.M. class really enjoyed watching the parade. Football players, fire trucks and candy are pretty exciting for preschoolers.

F is for Flute

We read a story about Fifi Ferret's Flute to learn about the letter F and the sound it makes. After we read the story, Megan played her flute for us and the preschoolers tried to guess the song she was playing. Some of the children were very good at guessing the correct song. Thank you, Megan for taking time to play this game with us.

Learning About Yellow

Shaking up a batch of yellow pudding for snack.

Learning about yellow sunflowers.

Playing in the yellow bus.

Dancing with the yellow suns we made.

Painting with yellow paint.

Yellow was the color of week which had us doing lots of yellow activities to learn this color. In addition to the above activities, we also read stories about things that are yellow, drew yellow suns for our plant pictures and watched some youtube videos about the color yellow. We are also learning the colors in Spanish and sign language.