Our first week is over. It went pretty well. There have been tears, but they didn't last long. I haven't started any jobs yet with the children. We are still learning a routine. I am slowly getting them used to coming to the rug for a short story or whole group activity once the second bell rings. I am hoping to get to the playground next week as long as the weather is nice.
During the first week of school, for the past few years, I have been retelling the story, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" using my (very old) flannel board pieces. Every year the class is mesmerized. I try to go nice and slow to enjoy the quiet and bask in the glory of having their attention for so long. It is an oldie but goodie. This year's group was the same way. They really liked it! I need to find more good stories like this. Show them the picture below and see if they can retell the story to you.
After a few times of playing the Doughnut Shop chant, I had the children paint "frosting" on paper doughnuts. (Our frosting was a mixture of shaving cream and glue.) Then they added the colorful sprinkles. It was fun to watch. Some children put the sprinkles on very gently and spaced them out evenly. Some started to put on a few at a time and then just picked up the bowl and dumped them on. (The more sprinkles, the prettier the doughnut.)
The children had some practice using scissors to cut yellow strips of paper to make a sunny craft project.
One of the story books we read this week was, "Spot Goes to School." Spot came home from school with paint all over him. The children put dot stickers on a dog to resemble Spot. This was a good fine motor activity to get them to use their pincer fingers.
Snack Time! Please remember to bring in Gluten Free snack items on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (unless it is a birthday snack). So far we have enjoyed strawberries, Veggie Straws, Tostitos Chips and Smartfood Popcorn.
Free Play Fun! (Some of these photos are from last week.)