Our new school year is well underway and the kids as well as the teachers are having fun doing all the activities. A typical day begins with free play while the kids wait for their friends to arrive. At 9:00 they participate in circle time which includes music and Chinese activities. After circle time the children may choose to work at a variety of centers the teachers have prepared for them. Each center has three to six activities to choose from.
On this morning most of the children opted to work at the language arts center. V. is working on a Zoo Phonics activity where he is filling in the “b” outline with playdough.
Next V. chose to practice writing “b” with Crayola window markers on a plexiglass sign holder. The boat worksheet is inserted inside the sign holder. This year the Zoo Phonics curriculum is being integrated with our science themes. We’ve been working on measurement and exploring balls, so the children have been learning all about the letters b and m with Bubba Bear and Missy Mouse.
These gel bags were featured in the toddler activities post a couple days ago. The gel bags are fun for all ages and help children to develop the fine motor skills needed to learn handwriting.
The teachers rotate through the centers and help the children as needed. With the exception of the Zoo Phonics activities Gloria encourages the children to learn Chinese vocabulary while completing tasks.
Children love sensory activities. A. is playing with the rubber bands that were set out as part of our movement and motion unit. The teachers started several rubber band balls for the children to add to. As the balls grow bigger the children will play with them and compare them with the other balls they’ve explored. As we move farther along in our movement study the children may also discover other attributes of the rubber bands.
Sand is the absolute ultimate sensory activity! The children can’t get enough of it. The sand table helps children to develop many skills including math, language, and social interactions. Currently the sand table is equipped with many measuring utensils to compliment our measurement unit. Through their play the children are learning about volume and comparing the different units of measurement.
In the past we’ve always used authentic Oregon beach sand in the sensory table, but I discovered colored sand over the summer. I love color and can’t wait to try out the purple sand. Although I’m sure if the kids choose the color we might have to buy pink!
The children are very busy at preschool and this is only part of what was accomplished on this particular morning. The next post will include the rest of the morning’s activities.
Little Pandas Playschool 