Wonderful First Week

What a wonderful first week of preschool we had. We spent a lot of time talking about ourselves (which is always a favorite with 4 and 5 year olds). We talked about first days of school, and read many, many books about children going to school, and we even helped Dora on a few adventures.

We also spent time talking about rules and why we have rules to follow. I learned about some of the rules that the students have at their house, such as, no jumping on the couch, no messing up mommy and daddy's pillows on their bed, no running in the house, and turning out the lights in rooms when you leave, just to name a few. We talked about what happens when you break a rule at home and many of the children weren't to shy to admit that they have all been to time out and something about moving pennies to a jar if you break the rules in the house (I'm still working through that one to understand it :0) It was wonderful to hear all the stories and learn more about each student's home life. I loved it. We then worked together to create classroom rules that will be followed at school. Look for them to come in the classroom, each student had wonderful ideas on the classroom rules, and we are all in agreement and understand the classroom rules, which will make for a great school year.

Looking ahead to the month of September: We are going to begin our unit on apples, this is such a fun unit and the students have a great time with it. We will begin working on writing our names using lines on the paper, and we will also begin to work through learning all the letters and letter sounds along with numbers. Look for the great math and science learning also that goes along with such a fun unit. It will be a busy month but a great month, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Stay and Play days

A huge thank you to all that came to the parent orientation and the stay and play days this past week. I am so excited to get this preschool year started--and I think all the kids that I met the last few days are too.

I had so much fun seeing what the kids chose to play with in the classroom. I loved that the boys had so much fun in the blocks and the rescue heros centers, (isn't that an awesome addition to our classroom? Thanks so much Brooke!) and the girls had a blast with the new kitchen center and the princess dress-up clothes. I can't wait to see what they choose to play with this week.

Also a giant thank you to all the parents that commented on the "new" classroom. I greatly appreciate your feedback on the room. I dedicated a lot of time and energy into choosing a new paint color, setting the room up, and getting "new" toys in the room. I love that the hardwork paid off with all of your wonderful comments--this is going to be a GREAT school year.

Welcome to Preschool...hang on sometimes it's a wild ride

I am creating this blog to keep parents, friends and families of my students up to date on what is going on in our corner of the world that we call preschool at Newstart. I hope that you find this years stories full of love, full of exploration, full of innocence and full of an exciting world through the eyes of young children. Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, laugh, smile, and even sometimes possibly cry.

I'm excited to start another school year, I am ready to paint and sing and read and play. Anxious to start that first story, first art project, first poem...to count little buttons, to sing the days of the week song and to go out for recess. I'm excited to hear about summer vacations, puppies, and the pretty flowers someone saw on their way to school. I'm ready for a year full of energy and adventure.

I challenge you to live this school year through the eyes of a 4 or 5 year old. You will learn, you will be rejuvinated, and you will thank God for all the miracles in your life.

Sit back and enjoy, and welcome to the world of preschool.