Little Busy Bodies Preschool
Newsletter
Newsletter
August 15 & 17, 2011
Dear Preschool Parents,
It’s been another great week! The children are becoming more familiar with the routines within our preschool day. It usually takes the entire first month of preschool for everyone to adapt to each other and get in the groove of things. By mid-September, our class will run like a well-oiled machine!
This week we continued our name exploration. We began by reading the book, “A Porcupine Named Fluffy,” by Helen Lester. Should Mr. and Mrs. Porcupine name their baby Lance? Needleroozer? Quillian? Perhaps they should, but they don't. Instead they decide on the unlikely name of Fluffy. Fluffy fails to become what his name describes and this saddens him, until he meets and befriends a rhinoceros named . . . Hippo! Of course, the two become fast friends and they help each other to see the humor in their names. After reading this story, we did a name puzzle activity where the children mixed up the letters in their name and then had to assemble them in the correct order. They did this process twice before gluing the letters down. Children learn about letters by using their own name as an example.
The second book we read was “We’re Different, We’re the Same,” by Bobbi Kates. Muppets, monsters, and humans compare noses, hair, and skin and realize how different we all are. But as they look further, they also discover how much we are alike. The format of the book is repetitive - We are all alike. We all have hair to keep us warm. Then on the next page, We are all different, our hair looks different. The children are immediately attracted to the Sesame Street characters and the possibility of guessing each character by their distinguishing feature. It is a great way to begin our “All About Me” segment. Our follow-up activity with this book was a Name Memory Game we played using the letters from our names.
This month we are focusing on our visual discrimination skills, an essential skill in learning to read. Visual discrimination lets us see differences between objects that are similar (i.e. letters and words). When we read, it's visual discrimination that lets us see that the words "was" and "saw" are different even though they have the same letters, or that the letters b, d, p, q are different. There are many games that we will play that will help us develop this skill.
REMINDER
*KING/ QUEEN OF THE WEEK--AUG. 22nd & 24th:PIPER…please bring in a poster about yourself (if you want to) and don’t forget snack (I have cups and napkins).
*AUG. 22 , 24, 31- Me & My Friends
*AUG. 29-NO SCHOOL
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Sincerely,
Amber
Amber
