Marshmallows, Marshmallows, Marshmallows!

What would a camping unit be without marshmallows?!  We had fun with marshmallows this week.  We strengthened our fine motor skills by painting with marshmallows and by making marshmallow poppers.  Then after a week of using marshmallows for art projects, I finally let the students eat them!  The students were thrilled to make s'mores on a stick, and they were a yummy treat too.  You can click here to see more pictures of our s'more making.

Camping Lanterns

Everyone needs a lantern when they go camping.  The students had fun making their own special camping lanterns this past week.  When the lanterns were all made we had a special campfire sing along with our lanterns in the dark!

What's Your Trigger?

This week during our Zones of Regulation lessons we talked about triggers.  Triggers are something that can move you from zone to zone.  We began to touch on the concept that sometimes you can be happy and in the green zone, and then something happens (for instance, it is time to clean up your toys) and it frustrates you and puts you into the red zone.  We brainstormed the different triggers that we have in our prekindergarten world.  We also talked about different 'tools' we can use (deep breathing, counting, squishing a stress ball) to help keep ourselves calm if we know a trigger is coming up.

I also introduced the concept of big problems versus little problems.  We talked through several PreK problems we have and tried to hash out if they were big problems or little problems.  We concluded that big problems (when someone is hurt or is in danger) require big reactions, and that little problems need small reactions.  We will be using this wording as we help the students work through their issues during their PreK day.

A Camping Scavenger Hunt

We went for a little camping hike around the school yard to see how many bugs we could find.  The students were determined to find all of the bugs on their list.  Too bad there were no grasshoppers or slugs to be found!

Click here to see more pictures from our scavenger hunt.  

Field Trip!

We will be taking two walking field trips to Centennial Park this month on June 19th and June 20th.  Please check your email and your child's mail bag for more information.  

Each child will need a signed consent form to participate.  Consent forms are signed online by logging into your parent PowerSchool account.  

A Special Morning Visitor!

We had an exciting visitor during show and tell this week!  Our morning class was thrilled to meet "Spike" the bearded dragon.  Thank you Michelle for bringing him in to show the class.  

Click here to see more pictures of Spikes visit to PreK.

Coming Up!

It's hard to believe it is June already.  This week will begin our Ocean unit.

• June 7th and June 8th - early dismissal days
• The morning class will dismiss at 10:25 am
• The afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm  
• June 19th and 20th - field trips to Centennial Park
• Please sign the online consent form through PowerSchool
• June 22nd - Last day of PreK