Welcome to K Week! Here are things we did this week you can look for in photos, videos, backpacks and conversation.
Coping Skill: Power Pose! Learn more in the Coping Skill section below.
Story Time books: Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! and The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. We compared the books (there are many common illustrations), looked for the key, talked about kin and noticed the leadership qualities in the mouse.
Dirt Pumpkin: This has been a very exciting addition to the classroom. After a couple of weeks of no action above the dirt, we are up to many plants-and one that even broke through the rind of the pumpkin! We have two new holes in it now where we cut away rotten spots.
Kings: We used the fictitious story of King Keenan (a kind ketchup loving king who shares the key to the castle) to explore leadership qualities. We had crowns to wear and to color in our journals.
Kenny the K: Kenny got covered in ketchup (it’s actually paint in a ketchup bottle which makes for a fun joke so that’s where Joey the Jokey J was hanging out) this week and we pretended that they love anything red (because they think it’s ketchup!). Oh silly Kenny.
Kris Kringle: We have books and dress up clothes about who we’ve been referring to as “Santa”…this week we said Kris Kringle! There are other names for him too like Papa Noel, Father Christmas, St Nicholas, St Nick.
Kitchen Play: We moved our Family Corner kitchen appliances to the Play Dough Corner for some pretend Christmas cookie making.
Keys: Using a lot of fine motor skills, we worked with real and pretend keys this week.
Kitchen Sink Water Play: We had real kitchen tools in the water table this week!
Christmas Wreaths: The layers of paint dried and this week we added leaves, berries and pine needles! We’ll add 2 special things next week!
Poem of the Week: 2 Little Red Birds: We added real red feathers to the birds that go with our poem (this is done with two hands acting as birds who take turns going behind our backs):
Two little red birds sitting in the snow
This one is Mary, this one is Joe
Fly away Mary, fly away Joe
Come back Mary, come back Joe
Photos and videos of our day:
Today we referenced both of our Story Time books. The mouse is so diligent about guarding his presents but the book ends with Little Mouse and the Big Hungry Bear exchanging gifts. However, the book ends before the present is opened. Here are our ideas of what we think could be in the big present:
Here are 3 questions to ask your child:
What did you eat for snack today? In the morning we had animal crackers and fruit snacks from Gus and Max. In the afternoon we had Santa oranges, candy canes, chocolate cereal and fruit loop cereal from Annie. Thank you friends!
Where did we glue the red feathers? On the big red birds, Mary and Joe. They look beautiful!
What did the paint smell like today? Strawberries…kind of! Just like in the summertime book, we had paint that was supposed to smell like the mouse’s strawberry (Kool Aid packet in the “ketchup” paint so there is no sugar, only color and smell). Some people really smelled the strawberry scent and some thought it was like a strong fermented yucky paint smell .
Bonus Questions (all the answers are YES)
Did Kenny the K turn into a king and sit at tables with us?
Did Claudia the C turn into Santa because her clouds look like a beard?
Did Bobby the B come out of the bathroom to see the bubbles at the water table and the robot shaped like a B?
Did Santa climb up and down the ladder?
Did we throw all the pillows and blankets behind the book shelf?
Coping Skill of the Week: Power Pose
This week we are standing tall! Just like our fictitious friend, King Keenan, we can stand tall and with confidence. Research has showed adopting powerful postures can make us feel more powerful and be more successful.
Practicing this pose by intentionally alternating with a stooped posture and exaggerated “sad” or “scared” facial expression can really help our bodies feel the difference.
Try it…do you feel a bit royal, perhaps?
newcreationpreschool.com 