Science and writing.

It was good to be back in the classroom this week. I always enjoy my vacations but I love seeing all of the children when school resumes. I hope you all had an enjoyable week and enjoyed your children. :)

We had a very busy week in our 3-day program.

We planted sunflower seeds and will be growing them in the classroom for a couple of weeks before we send them home. In addition to learning how to care for them (watering and making sure the plants get plenty of sun) we will be "documenting" their growth through little books. The children will draw what they see in their own individual "Sunflower Books". Later in the week the students planted california poppy flower seeds in our sensory table. When they are large enough we will transplant them into our preschool garden. We also took apart and categorized the parts of flowers at the science table.

Working on our ABC books we had fun with the letter Q. This letter has such a fun(ny) sound that the students had a great giggle over it. Many of the students are writing small words so a "word bank" was created for them. This activity is not for everyone for not every child is ready to write words. A few examples went home with some of the students who chose to take on this challenge. This activity was only created to continue to challenge the students who wanted to write/read small words. This is a small example of customized curriculum. We really want to teach and encourage each child at the level that they are at. If the child is pushed too fast or hard then their esteem will be marred. Each child should feel the joy of their own successes and efforts. A word of encouragement for the parents who worry that their child is not advanced enough; each child comes into their kindergarten class a wide, varied range of abilities.

For our Bible story we talked about the seed growing in different types of soil (good soil being the best, of course). Then we talked about how their kind hearts are the best kind of "soil" for God's love to grow in.

We also talked about liquids/solids using our art project to create our own planets. I used a hot griddle, circles cut out of wax paper and crayons. We talked about how the crayon is hard (solid) but when they started to draw on the wax paper which is laying on top of the griddle the crayon is melted into a liquid like paint. The students had a great time with this project.

Next week we will begin our "Sunflower Books". I'm looking forward to seeing how the students tackle this project.

Have a GREAT rest of the week and enjoy the sunshine!