Dental Health

Theme: Dental Health

Choosing Time: Dominoes, Little People Village, Cushions, Books
Art: "Brushing" our Yellow "Teeth" White
We painted some paper yellow teeth white with old toothbrushes.
Snack: Thank you Leo for a yummy & healthy snack! We loved the "clementines," "cuties," "tangerines," or "tang-a-ma-thingys" (depending on who you ask) as well as the granola bars!

Science: We had 2 experiments today to help reinforce why brushing our teeth is so important.

1) I gave each child an oreo cookie to eat. We passed around a couple of mirrors for them to see what happened to their teeth. Many of us were surprised and shocked by the black residue on our teeth. I then gave each child a tiny slice of apple to eat. (For the sake of our experiment even our picky eaters ate an apple slice :) We passed the mirrors around again to see what may have happened...We then discussed the impact different kinds of foods have on our teeth. We all agreed that making healthy food choices is important.After Oreos:
After Apples:




2) I had tea-dyed 2 eggs. I explained that the egg shell is similar to our teeth. We talked about different things that can stain teeth like cola and even orange juice. I passed an egg around and gave each child the opportunity to brush the egg with real toothpaste. After the egg had been brushed 9 times in the same spot, the stain was gone. Removing the stain in just a little spot took a lot of effort. We learned how important it is to brush our teeth slowly and get each and every tooth.
Book: Dr. De Soto by William Steig

Music: We learned a fun chant to remind us how to brush:

I Know How To Brush My Teeth
I know how to brush my teeth
I brush on top and underneath
Up like a rocket
Down like a plane
Back and forth like a choo choo train

We also learned a fun song sung to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat":

Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth
Brush, brush, brush your teeth
Brush them everyday
Up & down & round and round
Brush the germs away!

Math: A Mouth Full of 32 Teeth
We took turns rolling a dice. We then marked a tooth for every number rolled. The first one to fill in all his teeth won! I think Spencer came in first! This was a fun way to practice counting.

Mini Class

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Theme: Chinese New Year

Choosing Time: Dominoes, Little People Village, and Animals

Snack: Thank you June for bringing a special treat today! Cheese in a can is always a huge hit! We also munched on crackers, goldfish crackers, and carrots. Yum!

Book: The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie de Paola

Art: Kites & Firework Pictures
Movement & Music: Dancing with our kites and Gold Ribbons

Happy Chinese New Year!

Theme: Chinese New Year

Choosing Time: Dominoes, Tactominoes, 12 special animals, & Little People Village
We had a fun time playing dominoes together. It was a great way to practice matching, counting, & color identification.
Snack: Thank you Mitch for a fantastic snack! It was a special surprise to open our brown bags and find popcorn with little marshmallows! We also loved the juice boxes!
Lesson: We learned a few things about the Chinese New Year and then we compared some of the Chinese celebrations with some of our New Year's festivities.

• The Chinese New Year Celebration lasts for about 2 weeks. It follows the moon cycle.
• Our New Year's party only lasts one night.
• The Chinese have 12 lunar calendar years. Each one is identified by a different animal. We identified all 12 animals and then learned what animal year we were born into.
  
• We learned that a dragon is special to the Chinese people. We have many stories of knights fighting the bad dragons, but the Chinese view the dragon with respect.
• Two things usually occur at a Chinese New Year celebration. One is fireworks. We have fireworks too. The second is a parade with dragons and lanterns.
• Gold and red are special colors to the Chinese people.
• We sampled some rice candy and went home with an American fortune cookie :)
  

Book: The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie de Paola

Music & Movement: We danced with gold ribbons to traditional Chinese music. We loved making our ribbons swirl and squiggle like snakes. We danced as a dragon train too.

Art: Firework pictures

Valentine's Party!

Theme: Valentine's Party

Choosing Time:
Trains & Cars
Melt-A-Heart
Warm Fuzzies
Decorate Treat Bags
Art: Our Heart Valentines

Snack: Thank you Nathan for making such a special treat for our party! We all enjoyed the Rice Crispy Treats with pink M & M's.
Movement: The Hokey-Pokey

Book: Puppy Love: Valentine Riddles for the Young at Arf! by Lisa Eisenberg
Our favorite riddle is....What are your favorite Valentine letters? O-I-C-U-R-A-Q-T

Game: Valentine, Valentine, Who Stole My Valentine?
The kids fooled me when it was my turn to leave the room! We had so much fun playing this game I almost forgot about the rest of our activities!

Music: Skidamarinkydinkydink

Games:

• Exchanged Valentines--This was so much fun! Thank you for sending Valentines today! All of the children had a wonderful time taking turns to pass out their Valentines. This is such a great activity to practice taking turns and "reading" names!
• Decorated Heart Sugar Cookies

Mini Class

Theme: Valentine Party!

Choosing Time: Decorate Treat Bags, Stamp a Card, & make Warm Fuzzies
Trains,

Bead-A-Heart,

& Love Bug Headbands

Snack: Thank you Grace for a fun snack with Cheez-its and bananas. The chocolate covered pretzels were a wonderful treat!

Music: Skidamarinkinydinkydink

Books: Hearts & Kisses by Michelle Knudsen & Pop-up Valentine Book by Jessica Perez

Art: Thumbprint Valentines for You!

Valentines

Theme: Valentines
Choosing Time: Melt-a-Heart, Bead-a-Heart, Valentine Memory, & Little People Village
I had a fun time playing Memory with a few of the children today. Of course they beat me every time.

Lesson: I asked each child the question, "Who do you love?" Some of the responses include, "My mom, Eli, Mitch, & everyone." I then asked, "How do you know when someone loves you?" Answering this question took a lot more meditation :) And then Ray said, "When they say they love you." Others thoughts on this subject included, "They hug me, kiss me, cuddle with me, & give me candy." I added some other ways to show love: making dinner, making sure we have clean clothes to wear, smiling, saying hello, writing notes, and using kind words. I asked, "Who can tell me a holiday we have to remind us to be loving?"

Snack: Thank you Spencer for being a fantastic Snack Helper today! We all enjoyed the peanut butter crackers, grapes, & cheese sticks!

Books:
The Best Thing about Valentines by Eleanor Hudson
Best Valentine Book ABC Adventures by Pat Whitehead
This book is a really cute story demonstrating that Valentine Cards are not the only ways to say "I Love You." I asked the children to listen for the alphabet word on each corresponding page. It was really fun to see how many of them could pick out the words!

Music: Skidamarinkydinkydink

Science: Valentine Carnation

Art: Working on a Valentine Surprise

Hearts

Theme: Hearts

Choosing Time: Play-doh, Dinosaurs, Melt-A-Heart

Snack: Thank you Daniel for a yummy snack of animal crackers, cheese, & apples! I especially appreciate that you were noticing many things I needed help with today & just jumped in to help :)

Music: Skidamarinkydinkydink
We learned some tricky hand movements with this song. We sang it several times. When we started a new activity Grayce said, "That song is catchy, I can't get it out of my head!" :)

Movement: 5 Exercises 5 Times Each

Poem: 5 Hearts
As I read the poem, I choose a child to help take one of our colored hearts and act out the part of the poem. We did it twice so everyone had an opportunity to participate.

Lesson: Heart shapes and our human hearts do not look the same. Heart shapes show love and affection. Heart shapes come in many sizes and colors. Our hearts are about the size of our fists together. Our bodies hearts pump blood throughout our bodies. They have a "ba-bump" beat.

Art: Heart-Shaped Animals & People
I had made a few examples (mouse, dog, frog, elephant, & dragonfly) to show the class. It was fun to see what they came up with on their own! We had a fun time exploring many ways the heart shape can be used!

Science: Thank you Tiffany for sharing your stethoscope with us today! We each were able to listen to our own heartbeats. It was funny to hear some kiddos say, "I need to hear my heart again because I am really sick." I tried to explain that we can hear a heartbeat even when we are healthy...it doesn't mean we are sick....

Book: How Do I Love You? by Pk Hallinan
A very sweet book expressing a parent's love for his child in every situation.

Game: Dancing Hearts
I scattered colored hearts all around the floor. As I played a fun & lively tune about colors we danced. When the music stopped we froze. I called out a color. Each child found one heart the color I'd chosen and brought it to me to put in a bucket. This was a fun way to practice color identification and following rules (to freeze and to bring just ONE heart).

Cute Mentionables:

• I learned today that girls do not sweat.
• Am I part of the double scoop club? ( I would love to hear more about this!)
  
• Hurray that Bryn is home!!! Mitch said, "Bryn is home, Bryn is home! My mom doesn't have to leave me alone!"
• Boys don't have to pee when they need to poop.
• Graycie is going to get a baby sister! Congratulations!
• I am THE BOSS while your kiddos are here at school. Apparently, this is a GOOD thing :)
• New play-doh is exciting.
• Nathan is no longer a baby because he is four and in big boy underwear.
• All our 5 year olds insisted that he/she was 5 and 1/2--I think each was trying to be the oldest. All settled down and became very quiet when I explained that no one was 5 and 1/2 yet :)