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Showing posts from February, 2014

Water From The Sky

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Since we've been talking about water this rainy day provided a great opportunity to go outside and think about how the rain changes our environment. What does the playground look like now?  Arthur told us "The wood looks darker". Eloise said "It looks drip droppy, it's lighter when the rain is leaving". Titus noticed "The concrete is shiny". What does the rain sound like? Mateo told us "It sounds like tiny rocks hitting the umbrella" Emma said "It sounds like sprinkles falling and like the bathtub". We read a book about the water cycle. It said "All the water that is on the earth now is all we ever had". The same water is used over and over again. We are realizing just how important the rain is.

Where Does Water Live?

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We talked about all the places we find water. The children drew some great pictures of oceans, lakes, waterfalls, rivers and puddles. We also got some drawings of snow and rain because water can also live in the clouds.  Look for them hanging in our preschool red room.

Water Tracing

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The children practiced writing letters using a chalkboard. They practiced many letters and even spelled some words by finding the sounds with the letter cards. They copied the letters on the chalkboard with chalk and traced over the chalk with water.  The water made the chalk disappear! This was a great way for them to practice preliteracy skills.

Exploring Water

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This week we began talking about water. We realized how much we already know. Arlo told us, " Water helps people live because it makes it so people can drink and be alive". Mateo said, "Water is in the air and in our bodies". We talked about the things we would like to learn about water. Eloise asked, "Where does water come from?" This was just one of many great questions the children had about water.  We are excited to see where this curiosity leads us. Here we are seeing if some of our natural materials float in water or sink. We set out shells, rocks, sticks, leaves and moss. And of course, water. What a cool experiment!

Love Is In The Air

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We spent the week getting ready for Valentine's day. The children painted and cut out hearts for decorations. They made garland and invitations,cards and bags. We had a lovely family lunch to celebrate. Thanks to everyone for helping make it a special event.

The Air And The Wind

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We have been doing several projects that show us how air is all around us. We can't see air, but instead we see how air affects our surroundings. The wind ornaments: These wind ornaments focused on air's natural movement. When the windows are open and the breeze blows these ornaments move freely, tissue paper flowing back and forth. When the wind stops the ornaments go back to their resting position. During this time we asked the question, " What makes the wind?" " the ocean." Owen " trees moving." Emma " gravity." Eloise " the North Pole." Mateo " trees." Arlo Our initial questions about what makes the wind produced some very interesting answers! wind makers: During this art project we wanted to provoke the idea that wind is manipulated by air. When we wave the flag we are pushing the air around and creating gusts of wind! This was also a chance to make the sound of wind blowing-

Flowers Need Air

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Our Amaryllis bulb bloomed! The children were super excited to see its transformation. When one of the buds "fell" off we saw it as a great opportunity for further discovery. The children identified the different parts of the flower and drew lovely pictures depicting those parts. While the children drew their pictures we had a great discussion about what living things need in order to survive.  Since we have been talking about the importance of air in the preschool this conversation tied in quite nicely.

Painting The Wind

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One of the things that seemed to fascinate the children the most about the Moon is it's lack of air. We discovered that because there is no air in Space there is no sound. No air, no sound, no life, human or plant. No air, no wind...just still and quiet. This brought us to an "I wonder" moment. Theo asked, " How did the air come in the Earth?". This led us to a conversation about Earth being the only planet with air and therefore the only planet with life. It seemed as if we had come full circle. We started out talking about outer space because of the realization that Earth is a planet, and not the only planet. We learned the reason we live on this planet and not any other is in large part because of air. All living things need air to live. We asked some questions about air, one of them being, "Can you see air?" We realized that we can't really see air but when it moves we can see it's effect on things. We asked the child