Pre-K: Kangaroos, Kandinsky and Thanksgiving!

Nov 19, 2018
2 min read

Last week and this week were both short, but we managed to fit in quite a bit! Below are our highlights:

Language and Literacy

Our favorite book last week was The Koala Who Could, about a little koala named Kevin who learns that trying new things, while sometimes scary, can also result in lots of fun. We also played with our names through magnetic letters on white boards, asking children “what new silly sounds can you make from the letters in your name?”

This week, we made a tree of thanks, in honor of Thanksgiving. Each child wrote their name on one side of a paper leaf and on the other they wrote one thing they for which they are thankful. Here is our list (and pictures of our tree are included below):

Lara: my bear ears

Nathan: mommy

Asher: Christmas

Gracie: my mom

Carter: markers at our house

Evan: Noah

Jack: everything

Catherine: my mom

Selah: my birthday

David: mom

Jiyoo: mom

Martine: my children and Bowen

Emily: my family and our Pre-K class

Math and Science

In addition to kaleidoscope patterns and stringing beads on kite strings, we also turned into kangaroos and measured how far each child could jump. After reading a book on kangaroos and before springing, each child predicted how far their jump would be and then compared it to how far they actually jumped.

Melissa from Puddlestompers also visited us to talk about what animals and plants do to prepare for winter. We learned about bats, wolves, chipmunks, seeds and birds!

Art

We incorporated math into art for "Kk" week and created a Kandinsky installation, which you can see on the Pre-K bulletin board. First, each child painted a small square canvas one color. The next day, after reading The Noisy Paintbox, children drew 2 concentric circles in pencil on their canvases, and then painted in their circles in different colors. Together our canvases created Pre-K’s very own version of Kandinsky’s Squares with Concentric Circles.

For "Th/th" week, we used Ed Emberley’s Complete Funprint Drawing Book for inspiration as we made pictures from thumb stamps and colored pencils. You’d be amazed what art a little thumb can create! We also made paper bag puppets, which children used to put on short puppet shows in our puppet theater.

In order to help St. John’s feed Thanksgiving meals to a few local families, each year Bowen classrooms prepare some dishes as well. Pre-K made stuffing, pumpkin pie and roasted butternut squash. Many kids really loved helping to pour, stir and mix!

Martine and I wish you a lovely Thanksgiving and safe travels to those who are heading out of town. We are so thankful for our Pre-K families!

Emily and Martine