Feeling Good

Today we read the book, When I Feel Good About Myself.   I really really like this book series because not only do the books reinforce positive messages, they also teach some biblical principles.  This particular book reminded us that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). 

We learned more about the five senses today and we even put them to work.  We baked peanut butter cookies.  We discovered that we can use all of senses when cooking and preparing foods.  We use touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing.  Yes, we had to listen closely for the oven to "ding" when the cookies were done baking.

We worked on our family photo collages today.  We'll be finished with our books soon and I can't wait for you to see the finished product!  The kids are working very hard.  I love watching them in their artistic explorations! 

Although today didn't feel much like fall, we went on a nature walk to see if we could find any signs of fall.  I've included a few pictures from our walk.  The children are always eager to discover new things and they seem to look forward to these walks.  We had a few dogs join us too which made it more eventful for me. 
We found lots of big unusal mushrooms and a few yellow leaves along the way.  I caught a glimpse of a frog jumping off a tree but he hurried to a hole near by.  I think the highlight of the walk must have been the big tree that had fallen on one of the paths. 

A big thanks to Logan and Jackson today.  It was so nice to have extra hands to help me today.  See you all next week! 

Last Wednesday, we read a story on how to treat others.  We talked about how it makes us feel when we treat others the way that we want to be treated.  As always, we had some enlightening discussions.  I always learn so much at preschool on Wednesdays!  He he! 

For art, each child made a collage using their favorite color.  The boys spent a lot of time on this project and did a great job working together sharing materials.  In the end, the collages looked fabulous! 

We used our sense of taste during a math activity last week.  We all worked together to count, add, and subtract pretzels.  This week, we'll use our senses, taste and smell, for a cooking activity.  Maybe we'll have enough left over to share with you all tomorrow afternoon.  See you then! 

A Great First Day

Today could not have gone any better. We had such a wonderful day! Not only was the weather prefect, but so was the company.

I had several things planned today for the boys. We had a scavenger hunt first this morning. The children received a sheet in which they had to find several things throughout our classroom. All of them seemed eager to find each item. The second activity of the day was a sheet in which the children had to answer questions about themselves. Here are some of the wonderful responses:

What is something that you are good at doing? "I'm good at riding my bike up the hill." Ryan

Things that I really like are..... "Going to NC State games and I-Carley." Bennett

I like to play........"Star Wars Legos with Daddy." Andrew

Each child will work on a book all month. This book will include all of our art projects and writing projects for the month of September. I'm looking forward to sharing those with you all.

We'll be reading books this month about feelings and our bodies/creation. The class calendar lists most of these books. We'll be learning a new finger play rhyme to go along with this study. I'll post it next week in case you'd like to recite it at home.

I am really excited about this year and I looking forward to having a class full of boys! See you next Wednesday!

Last Day Photos

Have a great summer everyone! Please keep in touch.

Tie Dye

We are winding down this week. I feel like I could spend months on this art unit and I wish that I would have planned for us to spend more time on it. There are so many more artist and art styles that we haven't covered.

We made tie-dyed shirts today. What fun that was! We wrapped the shirts up using rubber bands and then dipped each layer into one of the four colors of dye. Each shirt and design was as unique as each child.

We learned that the tradition of tie-dying has been around for thousands of years (long before the hippie generation). People in Asia and Africa create beautiful clothing using this art form. People in India have been tie-dying for over 5,000 years. This form of tie-dye is referred to as Bandhani. I've included a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandhani_work. Interesting enough, the Hindi word Banhan means tying up.

Remember, we'll have a short day next week. We'll only be meeting for two hours before we leave for the pool party. I look forward to spending our last day together with you and your families.

I can't say it enough but thank you again for supporting me and allowing me to pursue my gifts and my love for working with young children . I truly feel that it is a privilege to be entrusted with your children. Each one has made lasting impressions on my heart.

Pop Art

We spent nearly the whole day working on Pop Art projects. We learned a little about the works of Andy Warhol, a well-known Pop Artist. Basically, Pop Art became popular in the United States in the 60's. Pop Art uses images of everyday objects to portray elements of popular culture. People, celebrities, popular items and comic strips were used as subjects for Pop Art.

Our art project consisted of putting together images using the computer. We then edited the photos using effects such as changing the photos to black and white, adding colorization, texture, artistic effects, and distortion. Once the children were happy with their photo designs and layouts, we then printed them on iron-on transfer paper for t-shirts. Finally, we ironed the images onto shirts. Yes, it took us all day to complete the project but hopefully, you mothers are happy with the finished product.

I sent home some articles yesterday, along with a checklist of some of the objectives that we've covered this year. I hope that you find the information helpful. It has been a joy to work watch each child grow and develop this year. I grow along with them. Thank you again for sharing them with me. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.

Next week is water day. We will be going outside to play in the sprinklers as long as there are no thunderstorms. Please send your children dressed in swimsuits with sunscreen already applied. Also, don't forget towels and a change of clothing. Thanks!

Oh, and thank you to Andrew and Ms. Laura for providing us with a delicious pizza lunch yesterday. What a treat for all of us!

Action Jackson

I apologize in advance if the spacing of paragraphs is out of whack. I'm having trouble when posting the blog. Lately, my posts aren't appearing exactly like I publish them and I'm not sure why.

We studied Jackson Pollock this week. He was known as an action painter; he used the motion of his whole body when painting. He had his own unique style which was coined as the drip technique. He would lay his canvases out on his studio floor, instead of using an easel, and drip pour, and splatter paint to create his works of art. He would often use household paints instead of artists paints along with hardened brushes, sticks and other items to paint with.

We created our own versions of Jackson Pollock pieces. The children dripped and threw paints onto canvases that were laid on the floor. Each of them experimented with different colors and ways to throw the paints onto canvas. I've posted some pictures of them in the process as well as pictures of the finished product. For an extension of our lesson, you can take your kids to http://www.jacksonpollock.org/ and create mess free action paintings online.

Most of the excitement on Wednesday centered around a young cottontail, thanks to Rooney the dog. We were able to get the bunny before Rooney had him for lunch. We found a box to keep the bunny in for the remainder of the school day. We went online and researched to find out more about cottontails. I'm certain that the children's favorite part was getting to hold the bunny. In fact, it was quite a distraction because they didn't want to do anything other than hang out with the bunny;-) After the bunny received a lot of prayers and TLC, Syan took him home with her so that her vet neighbor could care for him.

Next week, we'll be working on a special art project for the mothers. I hope to see all the children then. Have a wonderful weekend!