Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!

Last week we began our Transportation unit.  We set up several transportation centers for the students to explore.

The students learned about scientific concepts while using cars to test out ramps, tubes, and tunnels.

We also had sensory fun with our shave cream car wash.

The parking lot box working on visual matching skills.

The students enjoyed imaginary play while "driving" themselves through the big car wash. 

In art we painted with cars to make new place mats.  We also drew with markers attached to cars.  

4CATS FIELD TRIP

Our field trip to 4Cats Art Studio in Summerside is happening THIS WEEK.  If you have not yet filled out the permission slip on PowerSchool you are required to do so before your child can attend.  

The itineraries are as follows:

AM class

• Parents will be responsible for transporting their own children to and from the Art Studio
• 9:15 am - meet PreK staff at the 4Cats Art Studio
• 9:30 - 10:30 am - Splatter Paint Class
• 10:30 - 11:00 am - snack
• 11:00 am - Parents pick up their children from the 4Cats Art Studio
• Students are taken home by their parents

PM class

• Parents will be responsible for transporting their own children to and from the Art Studio
• 12:15 pm - meet PreK staff at the 4Cats Art Studio
• 12:30 - 1:30 pm - Splatter Paint Class
• 1:30 - 2:00 pm - snack
• 2:00 pm - Parents pick up their children from the 4Cats Art Studio
• Students are taken home by their parents

Your child will need to bring a snack and water bottle to enjoy when we are done painting.

Please ensure you dress your child in old clothes that can get dirty.  This is a very fun, but messy field trip!

Games FOP

Thank you to all of the families who attended the games FOP this morning. It was nice to see so many families spending quality time with their children while enjoying games together.  

Click here to see the rest of the pictures from our transportation week.

Coming Up

Next week we will continue with our unit on transportation.  Important upcoming dates:

• January 31st - PD Day - No School
• February 1st - Field trip to 4Cats Art Studio
• February 7th - Early Dismissal Day
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm
• February 19th - Family Day - No School
• February 23rd - Games Part 2 FOPs
• 10:00 - 11:30am
• all PK Families are welcome to attend

To The Moon!

This week we continued our journey through space! We learned about the moon and some of the planets in our solar system. Students made alphabet rockets,created beautiful galaxy bottles and made craters on the moon. What a fun week it was!

Blast Off! Rocket ship races! 

Learning about craters on the moon!

Students used milk lids to give our giant moon craters! 

Here students gave the moon craters by pressing rocks into the sand

Galaxy Bottles!

The students enjoyed creating their own unique Galaxy bottles. We will enjoy the galaxy bottles for a few more weeks at school and then they will be sent home. If you would like to make a Galaxy bottle in the meantime, it is super easy!

1. Fill empty water bottle with about an inch of CLEAR glue. 
2. Add desired glitter/beads. 
3. Fill the rest of the bottle with water until there is no bubbles.
4. Hot glue the lid closed (we hot glued the inside of the lid, screwed the lid on and then glued the outside as well). 
5. Let glue dry, Shake and enjoy seeing the galaxy in a bottle! 

Next week we will be talking about how we can use our Galaxy bottle as a tool if we are feeling in the blue, yellow or red zone. We will be reminding students that it is okay to be in each of the different zones and we can use tools to bring ourselves back to the green zone.

Alphabet Space Ships! 

Students sorted the letters in their name to create their own rocket

Click here to see more pictures from space!

Thank you for all the parents who attended our Building Independence FOPS last week. We have been encouraging students to be independent at school and encourage parents to practice this independence at home as well :)  Here are a few ideas we emphasize at school: 

• First, students try themselves before asking for help. We say "You try first." 
• Second, remind students they can ask for help if they are getting frustrated "You can ask for help." 
• Third, once the student has tried first and then asked for help, an adult can start off a task and have the student finish by themselves. For example, opening the corner of a snack and having the child open the rest. 

Click here to see more pictures from the FOP! 

Click here to see some playtime fun! 

Coming Up!

Next week we will be travelling into our transportation unit. Hold onto your seats!

• Monday, January 22nd: No School - ECS Meeting Day
• Friday, January 26th: Board Games FOPS (please let us know if you are able to attend) 
• All families are welcome to attend
• Wednesday, January 31st: No School - PD Day
• Thursday, February 1st: Field Trip to 4Cats Art Studio  in Summerside 
• All students are welcome to attend
• Parents must sign permission slip on PowerSchool by January 25th 

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Last week we zoomed into outer space.  We had fun building a space ship out of boxes, "flying" to the moon in our pretend space ship, and painting the sun.  We have been singing a fun little song that the students all like.  Here are the words in case you want to sing it at home as well.  

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
(rub hands together, back and forth)
We’re going to the moon.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
We’re going pretty soon.

If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship.

(pretend to step into the ship)

In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
(slowly shrink down with each number)

Blast off!
(jump into the air)

The students enjoyed strengthening their pincer grasp through the sensory experience of picking stars out of space slime.  We also melted crayons on wax paper to make planets for hanging in our window.

You can click here to see more pictures of our outer space fun.

Obstacle Course Fun

This week we tried to beat the cold weather jitters by setting up an obstacle course within the classroom.  The students had fun crawling, balancing, throwing, jumping, and driving plasma cars to strengthen and develop their gross motor skills.  

Click here to see more pictures from the obstacle course.

Cutting

We focused on cutting this week.  Our classroom occupational therapist Kayla taught us this fun song for cutting:

We then practiced cutting with some fun snipping stations.  At one station we cut up straws.  The other station was a fun snack - cutting up licorice to eat.

  You can click here to see more pictures of our cutting fun.

  

Lice Prevention

I have had several questions regarding head lice.  I thought I would share with you some prevention methods I used when my children were younger.  There is a shampoo that I used to buy at Shopper's Drug Mart called "Shield."  It is a lice prevention shampoo.  I used it on my kids once a week.  "Shield" also makes a spray that you can spray on your child's hair before they come to school.  The Shield products are not with the regular shampoos.  I used to find them in the same section as the lice treatment kits.  

Another trick I do sometimes is to add a couple of drops of tea tree oil in my children's shampoo.  Or you can put tea tree oil and water in a spray bottle to spray in while you style your child's hair.  

Water Bottles Needed!

We still need empty water bottles (with lids) for our galaxy jars that the kids will be making this week.  If you have any that you can spare we would appreciate it.  Thank you!

Coming Up

Next week we will be continuing our Space Unit.  Important upcoming dates:

• Monday, January 22nd - No School - ECS meeting day
• Friday, January 26th - Board Games FOPS
• all families are welcome to attend
• Wednesday, January 31st - No School - PD Day
• Thursday, February 1st - Field Trip to 4Cats Art Studio in Summerside
• all students are welcome to attend
• parents must sign permission slip on PowerSchool by January 25th