<![CDATA[Memories & Milestones Preschool LLC<br />growth/happiness/success - Class Blog]]>Wed, 22 May 2013 17:47:55 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Parent Appreciation]]>Sun, 14 Apr 2013 01:45:21 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/04/parent-appreciation1.html    We spent the last week of school reviewing, creating gifts for parents, participating in our favorite learning activities from the school year (glitter project, Cheez-It Bingo, Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom ABC Bingo, etc.), and enjoying each other's company. Unfortunately, Police Officer Mason was ill on Wednesday and therefore couldn't make it to our preschool but he recovered quickly and our Thursday preschool class had the privilege of having Officer Mason visit us. We also celebrated Danica and James' birthday this week (photos below).
    Thank you all for coming to our Moving Up Celebration. It was a pleasure visiting with all of you and meeting many of the grandparents. Please feel free to share this blog with family if they would like to see photos of your little one throughout the school year. I will keep these photos up through the summer. The children looked like they really enjoyed themselves. The kids have worked very hard this school year, have come a long way in many areas since September, and most definitely deserved to be acknowledged for their accomplishments and effort. Thank you parents and most importantly the KIDS for making this school year a memorable one!
]]><![CDATA[Transportation]]>Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:24:19 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/04/transportation.html    Students loved looking through the various books about transportation this week. During our read aloud students learned and shared the different modes of transportation on roads, in the air, on water, and on tracks. Students also learned and shared the many different things that can be transported. Throughout the weekly activities students had the opportunity to practice their colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. 
    As you can see from the pictures below, the prekindergarten class enjoyed our airplane experiment session. Students used their creativity and knowledge gained from experimenting to create airplanes. The students had fun racing their airplanes to see which design could go the furthest.
    We ended the week celebrating Max's birthday and going on our field trip to the Odell Fire Department. 
    
]]><![CDATA[Easter]]>Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:37:20 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/03/easter1.html    Throughout a day of preschool your child is exposed and/or taught through theme based lessons with the following domains: physical development & health, social & emotional development, approaches to learning, language development, literacy knowledge & skills, mathematics knowledge & skills, science knowledge & skills, and creative arts expression. Though your child may think he/she is playing the entire time at preschool, the activities planned and the materials available for child use all have a purpose in preparing your child for kindergarten and life in general. 
    I enjoy preparing academic activities that stimulate a child's curiosity, excitement, and senses. The students this week enjoyed learning with jelly beans, colored goldfish, candy, etc. All students showed great improvement in their mathematical skills; one-to-one correspondence, sorting, patterning, graphing, etc.
    One of the most challenging things in life is learning to get along with others. Every person is unique and therefore one way to deal with one person may not work with another. Our little ones are learning this life lesson daily here at preschool. Through free choice and recess time, students are given the opportunity to stretch their imagination, creativity and utilize their problem solving skills. A few students are able to use conflict resolution independently while majority of the students need adult assistance to help talk through this challenging skill. The students have come a long way since September and it is pleasing to see these little ones solve issues that arise. We have a sweet group of kids with tender heart for others.
    This week we had our Easter class parties. You can view pictures under our M&M Student Page. Students had a blast hunting for Easter eggs, passing out goodie bags to friends, and of course opening those goodie bags.
]]><![CDATA[Kites]]>Sun, 17 Mar 2013 01:27:15 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/03/kites.html    Like the letter Cc from last week we talked about how the letter Kk sound is made from the back of our mouth and our tongue stays still. Students learned how Kk and Cc make the same sound but when it comes to spelling we just have to remember which one is used. Our English language can be a challenge.
    The kids enjoyed moving their bodies like kites while singing kite songs this week. Students explored air and learned what takes kites high in the sky.     
    You may have heard your child come home talking about calling 9-1-1. This week we discussed what an emergency is and what we should do in an emergency when there isn't an adult to help. The younger kids had some confusion with this topic. Some students thought a scrape on the foot was considered an emergency. When you have the time, please discuss with your child again what an emergency is and when it is appropriate to dial 9-1-1 (only in a life emergency when an adult is unable to call). We always hope our child is never put in this situation but we want to be rest assured they know what to do if uncertain circumstances happen.
]]><![CDATA[Clouds]]>Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:55:09 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/03/clouds.html    This week students learned about the many different clouds and how clouds are formed. Students conducted experiments to visualize evaporation, precipitation, and wind. Students moved their body to imitate different weather patterns, sang "If It's Windy and You Know It", and did a cloud finger play.
    Students learned the two different sounds letter Cc says; "c" as in cloud and "s" as in Cinderella. When learning the letter of the week we focus much of our attention on pronouncing the letter correctly. A letter that may be easy to say for one child may be difficult for another. We discuss the placement of our tongue, where the sound primarily comes from, how our lips are shaped when saying the sound, etc. 
    Our prekindergarten class read and colored a Letter C mini book that they were to take home and read to their family. During our recess time the Prekinders discovered first signs of spring...a caterpillar!
]]><![CDATA[Balloons]]>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:40:34 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/03/balloons.html    We had a lot of fun activities this week. You can see from the pics below the boys had a blast. Students acted like balloons, played pass the balloon to music, walked/skipped/tiptoed to a song called "Punch Your Ball" while punching a giant balloon and identifying colors. For our snack time students manipulated biscuit dough to create capital or lowercase letter Bb. We then cooked and ate our letter, YUMMMMM.
    The prekindergarten class brought home helicopter balloons which unfortunately did not work as well as I had hoped. The boys still had fun trying and learning the hard concept that some things don't always go how we want. Did your child read their mini Letter B booklet to you? The prekindergarten class was to go home and read their Letter B mini book to their family. 
    I was impressed in the progress the older class is achieving in their writing abilities. We have some good little writers on our hands and should see great writings from them in the future.
]]><![CDATA[Outer Space]]>Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:52:14 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/02/outer-space.html    Students learned the sounds the Letter Oo says (long O, short O, and when O is paired with u or w it says ow like what we say when we get hurt). Since many students begin their handwriting at the bottom the letter Oo (an easier to write letter) was a perfect letter to reiterate starting to write a letter beginning at the top. 
    This week the students learned a lot about how our earth works (gravity, oxygen, etc.) and of course what is beyond our planet in outer space. The kids were very curious and asked some very good higher level thinking questions on how things work.     
    Our preschool class did an amazing job this week tracing their name independently. We focused on correct pencil grip and following 3 step directions.
]]><![CDATA[Valentine's Day]]>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:30:33 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/02/valentines-day1.html    Our activities this week were focused around Valentine's Day, learning heart shape and the color pink. Our prekindergarten class estimated and graphed colored candy hearts then compared and contrasted the amounts of candy amongst peers. The preschool class sorted colored candy hearts by their color and then practiced one-to-one correspondence while counting each colored group of candy. 
    Students played Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ABC Bingo. First we reviewed one of our class favorite books ABC Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Students then matched capital letters to lowercase letters while saying the name and sound of the letter. I thought this would be too easy for the older class but I am glad I had them do this activity too because I found matching some capital letters to their lowercase letter was challenging. Our alphabet wall came in handy during this activity. 
    Students enjoyed making their handprint craft for their parents this week. Our T_TH class had a finger play and rhyming poem to go along with their handprints to practice at home with their family. Rhyming turned out to be very difficult for these little ones. Our prekindergarten class practiced their book bag readers here at school and are to read them at home and bring back each week.
    Our Valentine Parties were a lot of fun. It is always a joy of mine to watch the kids' faces light up when giving. Learning to give is a special trait to encompass. Thank you parents for helping to make our parties special!
]]><![CDATA[North America]]>Sun, 10 Feb 2013 17:58:41 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/02/north-america.html    Our students learned a lot about geography this week. We talked about and looked at pictures of the world we live in called Earth, how the world is split into continents, inside North America is where we live in the USA, inside USA is Oregon then Hood River. The kids commented "there are a lot of places inside other places". This was truly a higher level thinking concept and the kids seemed to grasp it at an elementary level. 
    Throughout the week we focused our attention on the letter Nn. Many of the art work we did this week either had to do with Noah the Newt or North America (focusing on where we live; USA).     
    Throughout the months we have been in preschool we have learned about the different coins. This week we sang "Banana Nana Bubblegum" while finding the correct coins that went along with our song. The kids enjoyed singing this song and taking a turn to find a specific coin. The older class did a fantastic job with this activity. The preschoolers are still learning about money so this activity was a little more difficult for them. 
    The prekindergarten class was pushed this week on their literacy readiness. We had alphabet tiles that we placed upside down. The students would then choose two tiles to add to a vowel. The students would then work together to sound out the word and determine if it was a real or nonsense word. The boys absolutely loved this activity and did not want to stop. It is exciting to watch these little ones begin to read!
]]><![CDATA[Eric Carle Books]]>Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:58:22 GMThttp://www.memoriesandmilestonespreschool.com/1/post/2013/02/eric-carle-books.html    Eric Carle books are a favorite of many preschoolers with their unique coloring choices and repetitive writing style. The repetition helps boost preschoolers reading confidence and independency with books. It is a true joy to watch these little ones read these books on their own. 
    Throughout this week we read many of Eric Carle books. We talked about which ones were our favorites, silliness in books that capture a reader's attention (example; a purple cat), and noticing the repetition in books. Students enjoyed singing finger plays about a Grouchy Ladybug. After reading a book students would then sequence the story; a great comprehension tool. 
    One major reading concept I would like our little ones to grasp is that "the most important part about reading is to understand what you're reading". There is no reason to read if you don't understand what you are reading. We can help our children practice this concept by having them retell the story in their own words after reading a book.
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