This week will be full of fun, filling things, faces, fuzzy things and the numbers four and five while we practice a new Coping Skill. Read on to learn more about our week.

Our main Story Time book is Apples and Pumpkins and it is at our local library. We also have a couple of copies including a Big Book format. This book gives us the opportunity to remember A Week when we worked with apples. There are also some “danger” pages I’m sure you’ll hear about.

F Week Activities

Here are some F things for the week you can look for in photos, conversations and backpacks!

Faces on Pumpkins: Since children are invited to come in costumes this week, paint and markers are limited. For our art work this week we’ll only need crayons and glue for our paper.

Fuzzy the F: Oh Fuzzy I predict you may be a favorite Alphabet Friend because you will feel so soft. Lots of glue is used to get the variety of furry and fuzzy fabric to stay.

Costume drawing: if you’ve been around this preschool for any number of years you may know that every year (since at least 2010 when I started this website!) I draw pictures of the children in their costumes. It starts today and will go on all week. Note: children don’t have to wear or even have their costume along for me to draw, I follow directions as best I can.

Pumpkin play: Ms Kristin did some pumpkin rearranging work. The little pumpkins moved to the Water Table, a big pumpkin went in the Tub Table (fill it up! dump it out!) and the pumpkin cookie cutters aren’t with the playdough but there are with kinetic sand. The pumpkin swing has a new plan: 2 at a time if someone wants to navigate it with a friend. Whew!

Here are 3 questions to learn more about our day:

What did you eat at snack time?

In the morning we had Fruit Snacks and Fruit cups from Ruthie. The Fruit snack wrappers were so exciting (with characters we recognized) that some friends taped them in their journals.

In the afternoon we had a birthday celebration for Cade with very fancy cookies, cheese sticks and apple sauce. Cade helped take the picture with his candle lit!

Thank you, Ruthie and Cade!

How many pumpkins did we fill at Circle Time?

6! We will use these outside when we practice Trick or Treating. Thank you, families for bringing us candy and treats! We are ending each day with Trick or Treat practice. Day number one included a lot of coming back to the teacher and calling out thank you. Well done, kids!

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What was waiting on the playground for us to walk on?

Hay bales!

I am so grateful for Ms Brenda, Grandpa Kelven and Stutzman Greenhouse: we have a new circle of hay bales and enough gourds for each child! What a fun gift and tradition.

Bonus question about an elephant where the answer is no: Did an elephant pee on the block? No. But it sure looked like it. The elephant from last week must have still had water in it and when we played with them the water leaked out!

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Coping Skill of the Week

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This week’s Coping Skill questions you can ask your child:

What shape do you call the box? (Ms Kristin calls it a square)

How many sides are there? Four!

What number are we counting to? Four!

What does four start with? F!

Idea for home: get a box and make a big 3D version of the Coping Skills picture!

REMEMBER: NO SCHOOL NEXT WEEK OCTOBER 29-31

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This week is all about eyes and looking far away. Read on to find out why this is so important!

We ended up our week getting in some exercise in the form of hiking as far as the boundaries of our fence to the north, south, east and west (to get to places where we have the opportunity for wide open views), using hundreds of googly eyes in playdough, cloud dough and our journals! We marked our classroom with cardinal signs North, South, East and West (you can do that at home too!) and played hard inside and out:

We have several Story Time books this week all from our local library (I will return them after this week so you can check them out too!): Hiking Day (Rockwell), It’s Impossible! (Cordouroy), The Hike (Farrell), Hiking (Reagan) and Where Did Josie Go? (Buckley). The books all show the experiences of children and animals looking at things both close up and then taking in the wide open spaces. You can find out which your child likes the best! The early reader book called Hiking has a funny part of a lizard climbing in the uncle’s shoe when he took it off to get a bandaid for his foot:

E Week Activities

Here are some E things for the week you can look for in photos, conversations and backpacks!

Pie Pan Pumpkin Prints (too bad it’s not P week lol): Everyone was invited to make a a pumpkin print. This involves painting on the bottom of a pie pan, using a pencil eraser to draw facial features and then making a print with gentle patting. They are so fun.

Googly Eye sticker work: As a continuation of last week’s dot sticker work, children peeled more small stickers to place in their journal…these look like googly eyes. This requires a high degree of fine motor work…more than many of us realize!

Egg Carton painting: we finished painting cardboard egg cartons orange in preparation for a pumpkin project next week! Given the 3D nature of egg cartons, more dexterity and problem solving will be used to get in the nooks and crannies.

Eggy the Egg E: We’ve affectionally given a silly name to this week’s cardboard E. Covered in egg cartons and painted with watercolors, they got their eyes today once the paint dried enough! Given how the other Alphabet Friends are entering play, it was fun to see Eggy at the Snack Table before they even got their eyes!

Here are 3 questions to learn more about our day:

What did you eat for snack today?

In the morning we had grapes, cheese sticks and 2 kinds of goldfish. These were all leftover snacks and we are so grateful!

In the afternoon we had ghost cookies made by Annie’s mama and oranges turned into pumpkins by Annie’s mama. We said thank you to Annie and her mama. Then Malcolm brought us chips, fruit and fruit circles which he calls pepperoni. What a snack time!

Just like every class every day, the children know how to fill their cups with fresh cold water.

Where was the EAST sign?

Right under the head of a person driving a car in the Block Corner on the East Wall!

Compass Questions:

Did it work for real? No… Did it work when we turned the needle? YES!

Did it move to North, South, West or East alone? No… Could we move it to the N, S, W, E? YES!

Our cardboard and metal brad compasses were uniquely decorated by each child and then put to good use for our hikes around the classroom and playground! We hiked west to our own Dirt Mountain (which is really just a mound of dirt that we usually call Dirt Hill). I imagine there may be an increased letter recognition of N, S, W and E after today!

One friend said to make a movie of how I check the playground ( I look out first and give thumbs up if it’s safe and ready) so her mom can see it and that she would keep a serious face the whole time. Even with me talking with my cardboard compass in my mouth, she (and the others) were successful. LOL

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Coping Skill of the Week: Far off gaze

This week’s Coping Skill questions you can ask your child (and yourself!):

What is the farthest thing we can see from here? Actually naming the objects allows us to be even more in the present moment.

Can you see the tops of the trees? Name the colors or if there is any movement of the leaves.

Can you find the sunrise/sunset/moon/clouds?

BONUS: notice your breath while you’re doing this or take a deep bubble breath (deep inhale and long, slow exhale)

This week is all about eyes and looking far away. Read on to find out why this is so important!

We are exploring exercise in the form of hiking (to get to places where we have the opportunity for wide open views), using hundreds of googly eyes in playdough, cloud dough and our journals! There are elephants and eggs at tables which get a lot of attention. We’re really getting into the October spirit with talk about costumes and painting more pumpkins while playing freely in the classroom. Next week is when children can join me in wearing or bringing their costumes! Enjoy pictures and videos of our day today:

We have several Story Time books this week all from our local library (I will return them after this week so you can check them out too!): Hiking Day (Rockwell), It’s Impossible! (Cordouroy), The Hike (Farrell), Hiking (Reagan) and Where Did Josie Go? (Buckley). The books all show the experiences of children and animals looking at things both close up and then taking in the wide open spaces. You can find out which your child likes the best!

Today we read Where Did Josie Go? and practiced looking at it close up and from far away.

E Week Activities

Here are some E things for the week you can look for in photos, conversations and backpacks!

Watercolor Eyes: children finished up their crayon resist experience with watercolors this week while looking in mirrors at their own eye colors. The crayon is drawn on first and then watercolor painted on top. The watercolor doesn’t stick as well to the waxy crayon which is the “resist” part.

Googly Eye sticker work: As a continuation of last week’s dot sticker work, children peeled more small stickers to place in their journal…these look like googly eyes. This requires a high degree of fine motor work…more than many of us realize!

Egg Carton painting: we started painting cardboard egg cartons orange in preparation for a pumpkin project next week! Given the 3D nature of egg cartons, more dexterity and problem solving is used to get in the nooks and crannies.

Eggy the Egg E: We’ve affectionally given a silly name to this week’s cardboard E. Covered in egg cartons and painted with watercolors, they will get their eyes on Thursday once the paint dries enough!

Here are 3 questions to learn more about our day:

What did you eat for snack today?

In the morning we had a birthday celebration snack for Daniel with Danimals (with teeny straws to practice our B Week Coping Skill of blowing bubbles!) and donuts! The next time we see Daniel he will be 4! Thank you, Daniel!

In the afternoon we ate goldfish, freeze dried strawberries and the earth from Owen. (This is a good time for you adults to say, wait…you ate the earth? We are on the earth!) Thank you, Owen! Here is a description of the earth snack:

Why was Ms Bindergarten home in bed?

Was it bedtime? No… Was it still nighttime? No… Was she home sick? YES!

Just like our dear Grandma Bonnie and Grandma Mona, we read about Ms Bindergarten staying home sick. In our book more kids got sick and stayed home. The surprise ending was that Ms Bindergarten came back to school but then Mr Tusky the substitute stayed home sick! So far we’ve not had any preschoolers home sick and we’re washing our hands a lot!

What did we hide outside?

Did we hide our backpacks? No… Did we hide our projects? No… Did we hide Easter Eggs? YES! Even though it is October, we played with Easter eggs and practiced our Coping Skill as we looked far away for eggs hiding in the grass.

I feel the tension of wanting to take photos of moments for you and wanting to be in the moment…this is one example of basically no photos or video of a very fun time!

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Coping Skill of the Week: Far off gaze

This week’s Coping Skill questions you can ask your child (and yourself!):

What is the farthest thing we can see from here? Actually naming the objects allows us to be even more in the present moment.

Can you see the tops of the trees? Name the colors or if there is any movement of the leaves.

Can you find the sunrise/sunset/moon/clouds?

BONUS: notice your breath while you’re doing this or take a deep bubble breath (deep inhale and long, slow exhale)

This week is all about eyes, welcoming Ms Emily and looking far away (read on to find out why this is so important).

We are exploring exercise in the form of hiking (to get to places where we have the opportunity for wide open views), using hundreds of googly eyes in playdough, cloud dough and our journals! Later this week we will mark our classroom with cardinal signs North, South, East and West (you can do that at home too!). As always, the children have access to the whole classroom for big chunks of the day…watch them play!

Our Alphabet friends Abe, Bobby, Claudia and Dotty got some play time today too:

We have 5 Story Time books this week all from our local library (I will return them after this week so you can check them out too!): Hiking Day (Rockwell), It’s Impossible! (Cordouroy), The Hike (Farrell), Hiking (Reagan) and Where Did Josie Go? (Buckley). The books all show the experiences of children and animals looking at things both close up and then taking in the wide open spaces. You can find out which your child likes the best!

E Week Activities

Here are some E things for the week you can look for in photos, conversations and backpacks!

Watercolor Eyes: children experience crayon resist with watercolors this week while looking in mirrors at their own eye colors. The crayon is drawn on first and then watercolor painted on top. The watercolor doesn’t stick as well to the waxy crayon which is the “resist” part.

Eggy the Egg E: We’ve affectionally given a silly name to this week’s cardboard E. Covered in egg cartons and painted with watercolors, they will get their eyes on Thursday once the paint dries enough!

Here are 3 questions to learn more about our day:

What did you eat for snack today?

The morning class is prepared for you to be very surprised and concerned about their answer when you ask them, “What did Charlie bring for you eat for snack today?” (if they forget you can say, “Surely it wasn’t eyeballs…” so they can say that yes it was!). We also had cheetos, apples and pretzels. Thank you, Charlie! Here is a clip explaining the process:

In the afternoon we had another snack that might surprise and concern some grown ups when you ask them, “What did Heath bring you for snack today?” (if they forget you can say, “Surely it wasn’t any kind of ball-those are what we play with…” so they can tell you all about the Energy Bite Balls). We also had triple e cheese sticks and the “biggest grapes we’ve seen.” Thank you, Heath!

What were people using those stick things for?

During Circle Time we discussed low vision, blindness and assistive technology aids (like a blindness cane, braile, large print, etc). If you invite them to repeat “assistive technology” they can do it! The children were very curious and listened carefully as I showed different dollhouse people and their assistive technology.

We talked about canes and walking sticks that can be used for another purpose: stability and balance before reading about families going on hikes. This was a perfect entry to our outside time where we found our own Dirt Mountain and walking sticks for some far away gazing.

Here’s the pre-teaching of “what do we know about walking sticks:”

Here is a website with helpful information on explaining low vision and blindness to children: https://veroniiiica.com/childrens-questions-about-low-vision/

What showed up on the paper when Ms Kristin painted on it?

Jack-o-lantern faces! The white crayon was already on the pumpkins and then she painted over it with watercolor. This was more crayon resist in action: the watercolor would not stick well to the crayon! It seems like magic but it is science…magical science.

Bonus questions where all the answers are no: were there only 3 pumpkins? No…there were five! Was the paint really red like it looked in the jar? No…it was very concentrated orange paint. Did Ms Kristin put the paint back in her Circle Time basket? No…she put it on the Teacher Cart so it wouldn’t spill.

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Coping Skill of the Week: Far off gaze

This week’s Coping Skill questions you can ask your child (and yourself!):

What is the farthest thing we can see from here? Actually naming the objects allows us to be even more in the present moment.

Can you see the tops of the trees? Name the colors or if there is any movement of the leaves.

Can you find the sunrise/sunset/moon/clouds?

BONUS: notice your breath while you’re doing this or take a deep bubble breath (deep inhale and long, slow exhale)

Our Poem of the Week: