Rumney Preschool
Ms. Murray's Classes
Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
Call us a jelly sandwich because we had a jam packed week! Thanks for taking the time to meet with me for conferences. Watching your children grow into these amazing little people is by far the best part of my job. We watched a live stream this week of a bear family who have spent the winter underneath a porch in PA. They were so interested in the baby bears and kept listening to see if any of them were snoring. (Thanks Kim for sending that along!) Last week I taped up some handprints on the closet door for us to practice bilateral coordination. Please see the picture below to see what it is. If you would like a copy to print out at home to hang up, please let me know and I will email it to you. Here is a blurb about what it is and why it is important: What Is Bilateral Coordination? Bilateral coordination refers to the ability to coordinate both sides of the body at the same time in a controlled and organized manner; for example, stabilizing paper with one hand while writing/ cutting with the other. Good bilateral integration/ coordination is an indicator that both sides of the brain are communicating effectively and sharing information. Why are Bilateral Coordination Activities & Games Important for Kids? Bilateral coordination activities require both sides (hemispheres) of the brain to work together. The brain communicates effectively and automatically integrates movements of both legs and/or arms. In both classes, they had large pieces of paper with different colored dots on it. They had to connect the dots using the same colored marker. I typically shy away from markers as they do not promote a ton of fine motor skills (they glide easily on the paper oppose to crayons which takes more hand strength), but every once in a while is okay! They liked having to cross the lines to get to the other dot. On Thursday, we played a dot game. There were many dots on the paper and they had to roll a dice and circle how many dots they rolled. It got tricky by the end because they had to roll the exact number or less. They all have a great handle on number sense. I heard some interesting conversations about numbers. Someone said "5 and 3 make 8" and someone else said "and 3 and 5 make 8" Also on Thursday, we went to the All School Meeting where the 1st and 2nd graders taught us about their study on the Iditarod. There are so many siblings in those grades so it was nice to see them showcase their knowledge. Ask Your Child: Did you see bears on the tv this week? What were they doing? Have a good weekend, Deanna
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Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
Mud season has arrived! Both classes enjoyed their time outside playing in the puddles. With the weather changing, we often get quite wet outside. Please restock your child’s cubby with enough clothes — and please include pants and socks. If your child comes home in borrowed school clothes, please send them back if you remember. Thanks! We had so much fun this week. On Monday and Tuesday we did lots of painting. They really enjoyed putting watercolor paint in shaving cream and mixing it up! They also enjoyed using paint rollers that have different shapes and patterns on them. On Thursday, many kids showed an interest in some letter and number dot marker pictures I made. The letter ones were letter mazes where they had to dot the same letter throughout a maze. The number ones were similar: there was a big number in the middle and many small numbers all around. They could only dot the big number that was in the middle. They did this for quite some time! We did lots of rhyming this week. In both classes, we read Frog on a Log by Kes Gray. It prompted lots of conversation about rhyming words. We practiced -og family and -at family rhyming words as a class. Preschool Registration: It’s that time of year again! If you know of anyone who lives in Middlesex and has a child who will be 3 by September 1st, please direct them HERE to register for preschool. Please note that next year’s schedule will be changing to AM and PM sessions Tuesday-Friday. Ask Your Child: What did you do outside in the mud? Did you use any tools? Have a good weekend, Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
What a snowy week! We really took advantage of all of the deep snow and had so much fun playing outside. On Wednesday, they particularly liked climbing the very large snow mound and sliding down it. They also liked jumping down the hill, the snow was up to their bellies on the hill! On Monday and Tuesday, the kiddos had a lot of fun with the marble run. A second grader stopped in on Tuesday morning to help build a marble run that was quite tall. Also on Tuesday, we drove cars through the paint and it was a huge hit! On Wednesday, it was an adjustment to get to know our 2 hour delay schedule. They were so surprised to find out that we did not have snack OR rest time! Also on Wednesday, we read a book called Good Morning Snow Plow by Deborah Bruss. The story discussed how while we all sleep, the people who plow the snow stay up all night. After snow plowing all night, the person who was snow plowing went to sleep in the morning. There was a discussion about if snow plowers are nocturnal, what a fascinating conversation! Ask Your Child: Did you do any painting this week? What kind of painting was it (dot markers, easel painting, driving cars through paint). Have a good weekend, Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
Welcome back from break! I look forward to seeing the Mon/Tues class next week. Since Pie Breakfast is this weekend, we really leaned into the fun pie activities this week. We read books about pies and made pie pictures. Some pie pictures went home and some will be kept to be hung up in the gym for Saturday. I asked everyone some pie recipes to be hung up this weekend in the gym as well, so please look out for your child’s recipe! Outside, there were huge snow mounds! They had a fantastic time climbing up and down. They also used lots of tools (spoons, big forks, bowls, plates) to make lots of popsicles, cakes, etc. This week we read a book called On The Same Day In March by Marilyn Singer. It talked about what a day in March looks like all over the world. It’s one of my favorite stories to read this time of year since it’s hard to conceptualize what it’s like in other places! Ask Your Child: What was your favorite pie activity? Have a good weekend, Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
I enjoyed my time with the Mon/Tues class, and certainly missed the Wed/Thurs crew this week while being sick and the snow day. I look forward to seeing them after break. The Wed/Thurs class had a great day on Wednesday with Crystal, Haley, and Mrs. White. On Monday, we did lots of stuff! They worked together as a team to move the rocking boat when it was time to clean up. I love watching them process the steps on how to get something from point A to point B. I encouraged them to use their words with one another to share their plan so they could all be on the same page. Inside, I taped shapes on the table and put out gems for them to line up on them. They were excited to match the shapes and some even did patterns with the gems (blue, clear, blue, clear). Later on Monday, we took out the linking shapes and they were determined to make a chain taller than themselves and me. We are now on school vacation. I will miss your kiddos but look forward to seeing them after. I always get excited to see them after February vacation because it feels like they do a lot of “growing up” over that time! Ask Your Child: What did you do outside? Was the snow melting? Have a good weekend, Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
What a fun week! In both classes we made Friendship Soup. Thanks for sending in all the ingredients! They enjoyed measuring the ingredients, cutting the vegetables, and pouring all of the ingredients in the instant pot. Almost everyone tried the soup and lots of pals loved it! In both classes, we read the story The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond. We made our own raining hearts picture after. Take a look around our classroom next time you come in to find your child’s picture! We had a blast playing outside this week! With the weather warming up, we took advantage of it and spent a lot of time outside. On Wednesday and Thursday, the kiddos got pretty soaked playing in the puddles. We brought out different tools (cups, bowls, scoopers) to make the mud/water play even more exciting! We had a lovely time giving out valentines this week. They were so excited to share their creations with each other. It is so fun to celebrate friendship in preschool! Ask Your Child: Did you make anything with hearts this week? Tell me about it! Have a good weekend Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
On Monday, we decided our classroom needed some more decorations so we made lots of art with tape and heart stickers. They chose where they wanted to hang them and taped them up themselves. Check out the closet door next time you’re in to see their new art! On Tuesday, they really enjoyed making a fresh batch of play doh! They helped measure and mix and watched me pour the hot water in. After it cooled, they kneaded the play doh and we put it away. They were happy to contribute to our classroom and were excited to know the kids in the other class will use the play doh, too. We have started discussing friendship this week in celebration of Valentine’s Day next week. In both classes, we read Friendshape by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Litchenheld. It is about a circle, triangle, rectangle, and square who are friends. On Thursday, we read Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller. It talked about different ways we can be kind to each other. One takeaway was to use someone's name and say something you like about them. We will practice that next week as well. On Wednesday, the lunch was hot dog. We really capitalized on that and danced to the Mickey Mouse hot dog song for morning meeting and made hot dogs with our names on them during center time. They loved it! In both classes, we made our names out of little hearts. This was great fine motor work because the hearts were small. Check out our classroom next week to see their heart names hung up around the classroom. On Thursday, we played a "race to the top" game with valentine pictures (cupcake, heart, rose, strawberry). They had to draw cards and color in the one they drew to see which picture got to the top first. It was a hit! Here’s a little tidbit about me— Cam and I will be moving to Middlesex next week! Boy howdy, we move a lot. I am hoping this is the last move for a lonnnng time but I’m looking forward to living close by! Hope to bump into you at Red Hen! Ask Your Child: Did you do anything with hearts this week? What did you do? Class Lists: Mon/Tues: Everett, Riley, Emerson, Clayton, Ms. Murray Wed/Thurs: Phoebe, Dawson, Oli, Ali, Monte, Roman, Ruben, Maverick, Scout, Tanner, Alice, Kaia, Crystal, Dawn, Haley, Ms. Murray Have a good weekend, Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
It feels good to be back and playing with your kiddos! Thanks for all your kind emails while I was sick. On Tuesday, we had a great time exploring some giant snow mounds. We did lots of walking and climbing and they were certainly tired afterwards! Also on Tuesday, we played a game where we “made” hot chocolate with scoops of sand and white pom poms. They had to pull cards that told them how many scoops of hot chocolate and how many marshmallow pom poms to add in. They loved scooping and pouring and mixing it up to drink! In both classes, we made Mat Man, which is a person made out of wood pieces — I added a picture below of Mat Man. This is through the Handwriting Without Tears program that we use intermittently throughout the school year. Both classes really enjoyed making Mat Man! On Thursday, we enjoyed making books called “Where is Love Bug?” It was a book that helped with positional words such as: Love bug is in the box or Love bug is on the box. Ask your child to read it with you at home! Ask Your Child: What was your favorite place to play outside? (the sledding hill, the big snow mounds) Class Lists: Mon/Tues: Everett, Riley, Emerson, Clayton, Ms. Murray Wed/Thurs: Phoebe, Dawson, Oli, Ali, Monte, Roman, Ruben, Maverick, Scout, Tanner, Alice, Kaia, Crystal, Dawn, Haley, Ms. Murray Stay warm! Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
On Wednesday, every child got a blank book to do coloring in. It has their picture on the front and they each wrote their name on them. They loved coloring and telling us what the picture were. They were a little disappointed that they couldn’t take their pictures home right away, but I let them know that we will add to these books from now until the end of the school year and then they will take them home. It will be fun for them to show you all their pictures come June! On Thursday, we went around the school and did some tally mark votes. This time it was asking people if they liked skiing or sledding more. We found some grown ups and a few kids to ask them. We practiced our tally marks and making the line go across for the fifth one. They were super into using the magnetic writing boards this week. They spent time writing menus in the dramatic play and using them during rest time to draw pictures of their friends and family. They have really encouraged each other to practice their writing! We played a game this week with a bear and some caves. Each cave has a letter on it. They all closed their eyes and I hid the bear under one of the caves. They had to guess which letter the bear was hiding under. Some friends wanted to make their own bear games on Thursday to take home. They can teach you how to play! Ask Your Child: Did you have a book with your picture on the front? Tell me about what you drew in it. Have a great weekend, Deanna Hi Preschool Families! Announcements:
Another great week of preschool in the books. With the cold weather, they have been enjoying their time outside either on the hill, on the playground, or in the woods. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, we spent some time in the woods! It was the first time we have been out to the woods this year. They enjoyed their time building houses with large branches. On Tuesday, we found a partially frozen stream and they enjoyed breaking some of the ice and “fishing” with sticks. On Wednesday, I brought a few kids down at a time to do a hearing screening. They were excited to go and do this big job. Only about half the class did it and the rest will likely get it done next week. If Bonne has any concern about your child’s hearing, she will reach out to you. On Thursday, we read The Mitten by Jan Brett. What a classic story. We made some mittens later in the day to retell the story and added every character that squeezed in the mitten. They love this story! Ask Your Child: What was your favorite part about playing outside this week? Have a great weekend, Deanna |
Welcome!Hello and welcome to the Rumney Preschool blog for Ms. Murray's classes! You will find information about what we do every day in preschool along with important announcements. *Photos on the Blog*
If you would like family members to see pictures of your child playing at school, please email me and I will add them to my weekly email list. These photos are not permitted to be posted on social media. Thank you! Archives
June 2023
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