Little Busy Bodies Preschool

Newsletter

September 26 & 28, 2011

Dear Preschool Parents,

           

Letters, letters, everywhere!! We began by reading the book, “A My Name is ALICE,” by Jane Bayer. This is an alphabet book with great illustrations.  Each page shows a letter of the alphabet and then uses different names, places, and things that match that letter… “A, my name is Alice, and my husband’s name is Alex. We come from Alaska and we sell ants.” After reading this book we made a much more simplified version of a page from this story using our names.

The second story we read this week was “On Market Street,” By Arnold Lobel. It’s about a boy who walks down Market Street buying presents for a friend, each one starting with a different letter of the alphabet. Every letter is illustrated by a person composed of apples or donuts or quilts, etc. Each child shared the item they bought from the store with their parent that began with the same letter as their name. We then played a fun game with these items to build phonological awareness with initial word sounds. The children sat in a circle and the first child said: “’My name is ___ and I brought ___.” The next person then repeated what the first person said: “Her name is ___ and she brought ___.” Then they continued on with their own statement, “…and my name is ___ and I brought ___.” This process repeated itself until all the children had a turn. Of course the last person in the circle had a doozy of a job repeating everyone else’s information! After doing this, I sent the children to the “Preschool Store” and asked them to shop for one more item (that I provided), all by themselves, that began with the same letter as their name.

           

REMINDER

*KING/ QUEEN OF THE WEEK OCT. 3^rd & 5^th: Piper…don’t forget snack (I have cups and napkins).

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

*October 10th-12th MUSD Fall Break--NO SCHOOL

*October 17th--NO SCHOOL (My child attends Legacy Traditional and they have no school this day.)

*October 21st--MAKE-UP DAY Please let me know if this does NOT work with your schedule.

Little Busy Bodies Preschool

Newsletter

September 19 & 21, 2011

Dear Preschool Parents,

           

We had another action-packed week here at preschool, and so did our alphabet letters. We began by reading the book, “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,” by Bill Martin Jr. A told b, and b told c, 'I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree.' This all seems well and good until the other 23 lowercase letters decide to follow. First we see a green palm tree standing straight and tall on the page, but it begins to groan and bend under the pressure. First the coconuts fall off, then CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM! Down they go. All the letters end up in a big heap underneath the tree. The uppercase mamas and papas come to the rescue. They fix up skinned knees and stubbed toes. It’s a catchy story with a fun rhythmic pattern that really introduces the idea of each letter sporting two forms (uppercase and lowercase). After reading this book, we did a fun art activity where I painted the children’s forearms and hands to create their own coconut trees. Then the children used letter stamps to recreate the idea from the story. A fun time was had by all! 

We also spent a second day on the book, "Chicka Chicka boom Boom" as we watched the short 4 minute video of this story and conducted our own investigation of coconuts. We used our five senses to learn more about them.

            Just a quick FYI when it comes to introducing letters. Have you noticed that nearly all ABC books for young children teach uppercase letters first? Yet capital letters account for only five percent of all letters in written English. Therefore, pay more attention to teaching the lower case letters to your child. Lower case letters are far more important in developing reading skills.

The second book we read this week is “Dr. Seuss’s ABC.” This is a breath of fresh air compared to the standard ABC book you tend to find out there (A is for apple, B is for ball). This book provides an entertaining way for small children to learn the letters (upper and lowercase) and their sounds. After reading this book, we discussed that every letter makes a sound and the idea of making personal ABC books was introduced. I modeled how they will begin to use magazines, stamps, stickers, etc. to fill in the pages of their very own ABC book. This will be an ongoing project throughout the year during center time.

Keep the environmental word wall words coming!

REMINDER

*KING/ QUEEN OF THE WEEK SEP. 26^th & 28^th : Reese…don’t forget snack (I have cups and napkins).

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

*October 10th-12th MUSD Fall Break--NO SCHOOL

*October 17th--NO SCHOOL (My child attends Legacy Traditional and they have no school this day.)

*October 21st--MAKE-UP DAY?? Please let me know if this does NOT work with your schedule.

Have a good week!

Sincerely,

Amber

Little Busy Bodies Preschool

Newsletter

September 12 & 14, 2011

Dear Preschool Parents,

           

This week has provided a fun introduction to the letters of the alphabet! We began by reading the book, "Petunia," by Roger Duvoisin. Petunia the goose finds a book, and because she carries the book around, she thinks she's wise. However, when Petunia starts passing out advice based on her "knowledge", the barnyard is ripe for one calamity after another. Petunia and her friends are colorful and comical in the illustrations, and the problems her new-found intellect creates are clever and funny. And, it couldn't be a truly good children's book without a truly good lesson at the end...Petunia comes to see that she has not gained any knowledge from simply carrying the book around. She must read what is within the pages. She must learn to read!!! After reading this book, we went on a Reasons to Read Scavenger Hunt. The children followed clues around my house, each providing a practical reason to learn to read (practical reasons even for a 3 year old). My intention is not to teach your child how to read at age 3, but simply to give them practical reasons and motivation to want to learn their letters, which is the first step.

        The second book we read was “Alphabet Under Construction,” by Denise Fleming. It’s about a playful, little mouse that "constructs" the alphabet--airbrushing the A, buttoning the B, carving the C, and so on. After reading the book, I divided the children into pairs and gave each pair some letter builders. The children then worked together to “construct” the letters on the letter cards they were given.This activity is a wonderful aid in expanding their visual-spatial abilities.

Last month we focused on developing our visual discrimination skills. This month we are moving on to listening, the first key ingredient in working on our phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to attend to the sound structure of language. Types of phonological awareness include: phonemic awareness, rhyme awareness, syllable awareness, word awareness, and sentence awareness. For example, today we did a very basic activity where we learned that we use much more than our ears to listen. We talked about different parts of our bodies and what they are doing if we are really listening (i.e. mouths closed, eyes looking at speaker, feet still, etc.).

Thank you for all the environmental print that has been brought in this week!

REMINDER

*KING/ QUEEN OF THE WEEK—SEPT 19 & 21: Olivia

*SEPTEMBER--Letters, letters, everywhere!

Have a wonderful remainder of your week.

Sincerely,

Amber

Little Busy Bodies Preschool

Newsletter

September 7, 2011

Dear Preschool Parents,

I am on a preschool high after today! We had a great class time. It's like clockwork every year . . . one random day everything just seems to click with the children and from there on out everything runs a little smoother. Today was that day! The children were engaged, listening, transitioning well, and acting like they've done this preschool thing a time or two. I loved it!

Today we finished up our Friends unit as we learned about sharing and being a good friend. We read the book, “The Rainbow Fish,” by Marcus Pfister. Rainbow Fish is "the most beautiful fish in the entire ocean." However, he refuses to share his prized, shimmering scales. When his greed leaves him without friends, the lonely fish seeks advice from the wise octopus, who counsels him to give away his beauty and "discover how to be happy." So, of course after much hesitation he does give a scale away, and he finds that others want to be around him when he thinks of more than just himself.

Today we had our first contribution to our environmental print word wall. THANK YOU!! Just to give an example, a Walmart bag was brought in because it is print that this child could "read." I cut it out and we discussed it as a class (letters, sounds, etc.) and I put it up on the wall under the letter Ww. It takes a little time before it becomes a habit, but before you throw any cereal boxes or food containers away, see if it's something your child can "read." If so, send it in!

REMINDER

 *KING/ QUEEN OF THE WEEK SEP. 12^th & 14^th : ROME . . . you may bring in a poster about yourself (if you want to) and don’t forget snack (I have cups and napkins).

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

*October 10th-12th MUSD Fall Break--NO SCHOOL

*October 17th--NO SCHOOL (My child attends Legacy Traditional and they have no school this day.)

*October 21st--MAKE-UP DAY??

THINGS TO COME

*SEP 12th & 14th-Intro to the Alphabet/Importance of learning

*SEP 19th & 21st-The world of letters!!!

*SEP 26th & 28th-The world of letters!!!

Your kids are a pleasure to have in my class. Have a good week!

Sincerely,

Amber