In science class this week, we learned about chemical reactions. The Pre-K students each had a tray of baking soda and used droppers to add in some vinegar (with some added food coloring just for fun). The children watched in amazement as they added the vinegar to the baking soda and saw the chemical reaction happen as the bubbles formed. Shouts of "This is so cool!," "This is real science!," and "This is the funnest thing ever!" were heard throughout the classroom. Not only did the students learn about chemical reactions, but they also worked to strengthen their pincer grasps and hand/eye coordination using the droppers.
Happy 100th Day of School!
Can you believe it? Wednesday was the 100th day of Pre-K!
We had so much fun celebrating! We counted to 100 by ones, tens, and fives. We did 100 exercises and had a 100th day dance party. We practiced tracing numbers from 1 to 100 and we completed a fun shape graph. It was a great day recognizing all we have learned so far this year!
"Best Day of My Life"
"100 Days of School"
Some reminders:
Show and tell will be on Friday, March 5. The topic will be something that begins with /d/.
March is Women’s History Month when we will be celebrating women in history. If you or someone you know would be willing to share with a class, a division, or multiple groups to enhance our celebration in any way, please email jmyers@holychildacademy.com, and we will make it as easy as possible.
Looking forward, April is Arab American Heritage Month and May is Asian and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. If you have ideas or suggestions for our celebrations for those months, please email jmyers@holychildacademy.com.
Prayer service
Thank you again for all your help getting the children ready for the prayer service. They did a wonderful job and were excellent leaders. I am so proud of them! You can watch the prayer service here.
It was a big week in Pre-K! The boys and girls have been working so hard on their "challenging" lessons and we have had some great accomplishments!
Luke worked with the small button board. This is a challenging, fine motor task. Luke showed great perseverance and never gave up. Way to go, Luke!
Anthony mastered the concept of beginning sounds! He is able to name the sound that each letter makes and match the sound to a picture that starts with that sound. Great job, Anthony!
Justine worked on her counting skills to 20 and practiced one-to-one correspondence when counting. This is a very important skill to master in Pre-K and Justine took her time touching and counting each dot correctly. Fantastic work, Justine!
Connor used the Movable Alphabet to fill in missing initial sounds in phonetic words. After looking at the picture, he was able to identify the sound, find it in the box, and add it to the word. So proud of you, Connor!
Charlie mastered the Teen Board! He was able to order numerals from 11-19 and show quantities for each as combinations of a ten and units. This is a precursor to learning about place value. Amazing job, Charlie!
Ava is practicing Letter Box 5 to sort picture cards by the initial sounds of D W E and N. Her work is set up so neatly and she is sounding out each picture to determine the beginning sound. Excellent work, Ava!
Lily is sounding out words to spell them! She looks at the picture on the word card, sounds out the word, and matches letters to spell the words. Soon she will be spelling words completely on her own! Good job, Lily!
Greyson completed the Hundred Board! This is a monumental task in Pre-K! First, each numeral is placed in a pile by units, teens, twenties, etc. Next, the numbers are placed on the board in order from 1 to 100. Finally, Greyson will practice writing each numeral to make his own Hundred Board. Fabulous work, Greyson!
In our class, the students will often celebrate each other's accomplishments. They are so happy to cheer their classmates on and learn more about the lesson so they can work on it, too, one day!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Mrs. Mossor shared a great Valentine's Day activity with us called "Let's Draw and Exercise!" It was a "SUPER FUN" activity that combined a directed drawing and various exercises to make a love monster. The boys and girls had to make a choice, exercise, and then draw the monster part. Check out their amazing love monsters!
This would be a fun activity for the whole family to do at home over the long weekend as well. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB7W5p9707Q&feature=youtu.be. Thanks to Mrs. Mossor for sharing such a wonderful activity with us!
Important Reminders:
There is no school on Friday, February 12 and Monday, February 15.
We will have show and tell on Thursday, February 18. The topic will be something that starts with "L."
Pre-K and Kindergarten are hosting a sock drive to benefit the Joy of Sox. Please send in NEW socks for men, women, and children. The Joy of Sox will donate them to families experiencing homelessness. The drive will run through February 19.
Enrollment contracts for the 2021-2022 academic year are due on Friday, February 26th.
While it was a short week, it was a busy one! We continued our discussions about celebrating our similarities and differences and ways we can help make the world a better place.
We are in the middle of an author study on Todd Parr. Todd writes simple stories with wonderful messages for young children. You can find out more about Todd and his books at his website https://www.toddparr.com/.
One of our favorite Todd Parr books is "It's Okay to Be Different." In the book, the Pre-K students learned that "It's okay to be different. You are special and important just because of being who you are."
We also learned that February is Black History Month and we will be learning about some famous Black Americans who have helped shape our country. We kicked off our celebration of Black History Month with a dance party to music by some influential black artists: Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, Boyz II Men, Sugarhill Gang, and the Jackson 5. While we did love "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "ABC" by the Jackson 5 quickly became the class favorite.
Finally, we started a new unit! Since it's February and we celebrated Groundhog's Day, I read the children the story Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather and Geoffrey himself came to visit Pre-K!
Our new unit will be on positional words. Each day, Geoffrey will be "hiding" in a different spot in the classroom and the students will have to tell me and their classmates where he is using positional words (i.e.: on, behind, next to, under, etc.). The boys and girls are having so much fun with this unit and are getting great practice describing location using positional words.
Today, Geoffrey was hiding on the toy shelf, next to the curtain, behind the iPads.
Important Reminders:
We will have show and tell on Monday, February 8. The topic will be something that begins with the /h/ sound.
Please send in two napkins everyday for snack and lunch.
Children should wear sneakers to school everyday. If it snows and your child wears boots, please be sure to pack his/her sneakers to change into once in school.
Student Council is selling Candy Grams - $1.00 per gram; deadline to purchase is Wednesday, February 10th. The delivery date will be Thursday, February 11th.
Thursday, February 11th will be a dress down day and students may wear red/pink for Valentine's Day. Students may bring in valentines for their classmates, but please refrain from sending in any food treats per the email from Mrs. Fox-Tully.
If you are sending in valentines, please make sure to have one for everyone in class. The class list is: Ava, Connor, Anthony, Greyson, Justine, Alexandra, Charlie, Lily, Luke.
There is no school on Friday, February 12th and Monday, February 15th.
Enrollment contracts for the 2021-2022 academic year are due on Friday, February 26th.
February is Black History Month when we will be celebrating Black history and culture. If you or someone you know would be willing to share with a class, a division, or multiple groups to enhance our celebration in any way, please email jmyers@holychildacademy.com
Looking forward, March is Women's Month, April is Arab American Heritage Month, and May is Asian and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month.
Thank you to all who have donated socks for our sock drive!
We already have over 100 pairs of socks! Please continue to send in NEW socks for men, women, and children to benefit families experiencing homelessness. The new deadline for the drive is February 19.
