Once upon a time a preschooler fell and cut his lip. It was a serious moment and all the rest of the children were told to be very quiet and slow. Usually children can run on the track, use loud voices, ride fast on the boat, play the instruments, send cars down a ramp but those things are loud and fast. What ever would they do?

Read on to learn about the serious time, the only SH word in our book, our triple S snack, making shamrocks and playing hide and seek!

What did you do after your friend got hurt?

Ms Brenda and I are very proud of this class. After one friend got hurt, I told them it was a serious moment and they had to be quiet and slow. This will help us teachers figure out what to do next and help the hurt child have a calm space. These kids did it! For almost 20 minutes they either attended to their classmate (bringing pillows, blankets, water, ice and the feelings cards) or played contently with each other.

It is moments like these were we see the fruit of our labor. There was no resistance to our new guidelines as well as no distress sensed from anyone else. The teachers stayed calm and in charge, the hurt child was held and comforted, the rest of the children carried on. Bravo, everyone!

We got news later in the morning that our hurt friend is fine and didn’t need any extra medical attention.

What was snack served on today instead of trays?

Napkins!

Thank you Wilmer for a delicious snack of strawberries, Sun chips and string cheese! We also did a Self Serve Strawberry Store. These kids love strawberries!

We rearranged our schedule and instead of going to Circle Time first, we paused to wash our hands and eat before Circle Time.

What SH word was in our book?

Share!

In the whole book there was only one word that started with SH. There were quite a few S words (strawberry, see, smell, sniff), but we had to look at the next letter for the H.

At Circle Time we also looked at some picture cards of associated S and SH words: The sun came out and made a shadow. I rode in a ship on the sea. I used a shovel to dig in the sand. I washed my hands with soap in the sink. I washed my hair with shampoo in the shower, etc.

This is an activity that can engage all levels of pre-reading and reading. Some friends are identifying the pictures only, some are looking for an H next to the S, some are reading the words, etc.

How did you get the green papers to stick to your shamrock?

Green glue paint and tiny paintbrushes!

Our March art project has the words, “Things turn green in March” so we kept our eyes out for green things inside and out.

Where did you hide during Hide and Seek?

After learning the safety plan for Hide and Seek at preschool, Ms Kristin hid 3 times while the children had some counting time in our Shelter Hallway (through the door at Circle Time) with Ms Brenda.

Then the children had a chance to hide or seek each other. It was a very fun way to end our day. I checked in if they would like to play this again and everyone gave a thumbs up that yes, they would.

Enjoy more photos and a video from our day

BONUS: We send home a Bathroom Work Report anytime Ms Brenda or I (the only two authorized to help in this way) assist with bathroom work. I love providing a space where children can follow their impulses to use the bathroom anytime they need to…and talk about it!

Once upon a time a bear family got all of their snack food ready for a picnic. They had peanut butter, oreos, fruits and vegetables. They had bread as well but something was carrying it away! Then there were also mice, snakes, moose, birds, ducks, turtles…uh ho!

Read on to learn about the bread, rehydrating strawberries, another cup problem, making shamrocks and using our fists!

Who was carrying the bread away?

We looked again at our book from last week, focusing mostly on the Silly picnic Snack page. Some more favorite “I spy” moments: a snake has their head in a peanut butter jar, a bird is waiting in the tree, the ducks are eating oreos…what else do you see?

What filled every hole of your snack tray?

Sea Salt Sugar Snap peas, freeze dried Strawberries, Small Sugar cookies and String cheese! Thank you, Owen for a superb S Snack!

Getting our snack trays was a little different because normally children look for the cup with their name on it to know which tray is their’s. Today they got to take any tray and any cup because of the cup problem. Earlier in the day a few friends went on an investigation to figure out the cup problem. (The story is that Ms Kristin noticed that there was dirt stuck under the tape of the name tags so Grandma Bonnie took all the name tags off.)

What did Grandma Mona show us we could do with the strawberries?

Put them in water!

She demonstrated it for us at Circle Time and children had a chance to experience it at Snack Time.

It did evolve into “potion making” after some friends took their trays to the kitchen (what they do once they are finished).

Thank you, Grandma Mona for seizing the teachable moment!

How did you get the green papers to stick to your shamrock?

Green glue paint and tiny paintbrushes!

Our March art project has the words, “Things turn green in March” so we kept our eyes out for green things inside and out.

What sound did we make when we pounded our fists?

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

At Circle Time we looked at some picture cards of associated S and SH words: The sun came out and made a shadow. I rode in a ship on the sea. I used a shovel to dig in the sand. I washed my hands with soap in the sink. I washed my hair with shampoo in the shower, etc.

This is an activity that can engage all levels of pre-reading and reading. Some friends are identifying the pictures only, some are looking for an H next to the S, some are reading the words, etc.

Enjoy more photos and a video from our day:

Once upon a time everyone had their own cup. They knew it was their cup because their name was taped on it. Then one day a teacher noticed that there was dirt stuck under the tape so another teacher took all the names off. Then when it was snack time, there was a cup problem.

Read on to learn about the cup problem, smelling french fries, the sweet shamrocks, a lot of scary things and a real dog visiting us.

Why did Ms Kristin talk about smelling french fries?

In the book we read it states that the bear could smell a red, ripe strawberry a mile away. Since McDonald’s is a mile away from preschool (and Ms Kristin loves french fries), she talked about that:

What color was your sweet shamrock sugar cookie?

Scarlet brought us yummy shamrock sugar cookies, Smarties and Skinnypop popcorn. So good! Thank you, Scarlet!

Getting our snack trays was a little different because normally children look for the cup with their name on it to know which tray is theirs. Today they got to take any tray and any cup!

What came to visit us when we were on the hay bales?

Wilmer’s dog, Lily!

Everyone was very respectful of Lily and waited on the hay bales or behind the hay bales for Lily to come to us. Lily is a girl, almost 9 years old who eats kibble and sometimes eggs, drinks water, wears a purple harness, has a leash, sleeps in her bed or with Wilmer’s mom and dad, has a tongue and is very soft.

Thank you, Wilmer, Millie and Ms Jasmine for visiting!

What did you say you felt scared about?

Children took turns coming to tell Ms Kristin about times when they or their siblings felt scared. Then we read them at Circle Time and we did a little (or big) shiver shake after each one to feel those fears and let them go a little bit.

What languages did Ms Kristin read the story in?

English and Spanish. This class was very interested in saying words and phrases like, “¡Que rica!” (Yum!) and “¡Ven conmigo!” (Come with me!) and “Estoy asustada/o” (I’m scared). If you are blessed to have multiple languages in your child’s life, use it! If not, you can use technology to find and listen to words and phrases in other languages.

By the way, the mouse was scared the bear was going to come and eat the strawberry. We took notice of the fact that we never see the bear and we never hear the bear. All of the mouse’s fears were about ideas of what could happen. As someone who lives with anxiety, I am very familiar with this cycle!

Enjoy more photos and a video from our day:

Our leprechaun shelter is back. This reminds me of March 2020 when we had S Week, then schools were shut down for the remainder of the year. What a time to be alive.

A former preschool family donated strawberry baskets for us and amazing creations were made. Some leprechaun shelters, some fancy baskets and some skyscrapers. They were very creative because glue doesn’t work for this so they had to use tape or string/wire/zip ties.

There is a mirror on the ceiling over our swing.

The letter S wanted to dress up like a strawberry!

Bonus: At the beginning of Circle Time we did snake breaths together. Each pointer finger was a snake and after a deep breath in through our noses, we exhaled long making a hiss sound. There were a few more stories we told about our snakes hiding in our laps or behind our backs. I bet your child can retell them and make the hiss sound!

Once upon a time there was a snake who was sitting with her sister on someone’s shoulder when suddenly the sister was gone. She took a deep breath and made a hiss sound so her sister could find her. Then they hugged each other with another long hiss.

Read on to learn about these sister snakes, strawberry cookies, scary things, shelter play and missing out.

1. How do you make a snake sound?

At the beginning of Circle Time we did snake breaths together. Each pointer finger was a snake and after a deep breath in through our noses, we exhaled long making a hiss sound. There were a few more stories we told about our snakes hiding in our laps or behind our backs. I bet your child can retell them!

2. Who brought us strawberry cookies?

Birthday friend, Charlie! Even though he knows he won’t be 4 until March 6, we celebrated today with a special snack. Thank you, Charlie, and happy birthday!

How amazing that we had strawberry cookies to match our Alphabet project and the strawberry in our book!

3. What was the mouse scared would happen?

The mouse was scared the bear was going to come and eat the strawberry. We took notice of the fact that we never see the bear and we never hear the bear. All of the mouse’s fears were about ideas of what could happen. As someone who lives with anxiety, I am very familiar with this cycle!

One of our copies of this book is also in Spanish, so I read it to them in Spanish as well. Just like at the end of the book, they might say, “Que rica” when eating something yummy today!

4. What did you say you felt scared about?

Children took turns coming to tell Ms Kristin about times when they felt scared. We had a range of being hit by a raquetball to characters on movies to storms to spiders and dreams. We did a little shiver shake after each one to feel those fears and let them go a little bit. While waiting to go outside, we paused and did some S feeling word expressions: Silly, Surprised, Scared, Sad

5. Did you stay for Show and Tell today?

Part of our work at New Creation Preschool is to equip children with skills for decision making and doing so in a “neutral to good” context. Giving them opportunities to make significant choices without any judgment from authority figures is a really powerful experience.

Today the choice was to participate in Show and Tell or not. It was a big choice and one friend checked in wanting to verify, “So I won’t be in trouble if I don’t stay?” I assured them it was not a test or a trick, that it was absolutely an option, and there was no disappointment from their teachers whatever was chosen.

We did see some cool Show and Tell things…stuffies, a robot, a princess crown, a school bus, a dump truck, a sparkly frog, a little cat, a doll and a few books.

Yes, the dump truck owner DID want help loading it up with dirt.

Fear not, Grandma Vicki came to the rescue and helped with the crown.

We heard this sweet Apollo 13 song all day…enough that I found myself humming it too.

Enjoy more photos from our day:

Our leprechaun shelter is back. This reminds me of March 2020 when we had S Week, then schools were shut down for the remainder of the year. What a time to be alive.

This was a very intricate yet loose game of “donuts and money” where the three oldest in the class were finding ways to bring the youngest in the class into the play. The beauty of a multi-age classroom.

Once upon a time there was a bear family who was going on a boat trip to have a picnic. They got stuck in a storm and when they got to the picnic area, there was another problem!

Read on to find out our predictions and what the problem ended up being.

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What was the problem at the picnic area?

After predicting what the problem might be, we find out at the end of the book that the other animals were eating all of the bear family’s food! Our ideas would have made other amazing endings to the story.

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What colors did you say were your favorite?

Children could choose as many colors as they wanted to on our Rainbow Rs.

They could also use any color or colors they wanted on their “rainbow” page of their journals. All the children had their own new box of markers.

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What green things did you notice or use?

We’ve got new green things around: the tiny things, the Tub Table scoops, the play dough and the collage supplies!

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Did you rock or roll today?

We have rocking chairs, rocking boards and a rocking boat. The red roller car will be around for the rest of the year so there will be many more chances to learn the technique. Children also experimented with rolling things down a big ramp.

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What did you have for snack today?

Thank you, Lane, for the rainbow cupcakes, rabbit food (vegetables )with ranch dip and Ritz crackers. We also had marshmallow rabbits (Peeps) on the playground. It was a cozy and fun time.

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Enjoy a few more photos and video from our day…