2018 Begins wtih Belonging

We begin the preschool experience with students gaining a sense of belonging. Whether that means we gather in a circle, or cluster, to learn from one another, or learn the routines and rituals of our day at school- we are learning all the fun that preschool has to offer.
Check out this student-generated list of Safety Tips from Mrs. T's class. Notice that students came up with these great ideas and Kara honored each student's idea by writing their names next to their thinking.

Here we see little artists and writers! Here you'll find students drawing self-portraits or writing stories In their journals, or tracing lines to develop those fine motor skills.  

 

 

 

Of course, we can't forget the PLAY our preschool day. This fundamental part of a preschool helps our kiddos really feel like they belong. This is the time of day they get to grow in so many ways: socially, intellectually, emotionally, and physically! No day would be complete without it.

 

    





 

We are just getting started as we begin the process of feeling like we BELONG here at the Oldham County Preschool.

 

First Days of Preschool

Writing our Names on Day 2!!!! Tracing BIG names with a dry erase marker makes for a great way to get those important literacy skills, fine motor skills, social skills, in right away. Of course, it helps with attendance, too!

What would you like to buy? Drama is off and running. Imaginations are ignited and questions extend thinking about play. Bonus: You can learn so much about interests and even some abilities.

House is fun to play with friends as we learn how to interact with others and the center, itself. This crew could communicate "How to Play" in the center and even how to clean up! You know, doing it= transfer!

Small groups, already?! Why, yes. Think about all the learning a teacher can do watching kids play with cubes AND asking just a couple of those TSG kind of questions. No need to pull each one aside if you can do it in a small group setting and see what they do. Woohoo!

Playing outside means imagining, "motoring," and solving conflicts. Real life stuff that lasts far beyond preschool.

Mrs. Sibley's small group is drawing pictures of themselves and writing their names. Don't you just love the learning we can gain from these simple, engaging, and important assessments?

Mrs. Potato Head is not just for playing with, she actually so helpful in learning what body parts are called. : )



Mrs. Prather's kids love to come in an work puzzles on the floor to start the day.



What will your kids be doing next during the first week of Kindergarten?  WRITING!

Kindergarten writing displayed on Friday of Week 1. We ARE ALL writers.

Retelling & Reaching Learning Targets through Small Group and Play

This has been the week of THREES! Three Bears, Three Pigs, Three Letters!
Here is just a snapshot of the learning that is happening in our amazing preschool!

 What may look a house of sticks (from the 3 Little Pigs) morphed into a trap for the ghost shark to use the turtles as bait for those poor people! A story of their own making ends with a lesson learned about falling prey to the ultimate predator! Mrs. Bratcher's' imaginative crew!

 Blocks in Mrs. Banks' room are constructed to meet the big plans these little ones have for them. Can the wolf blow this brink house over??

 

Mrs. Clark's room offers this little one's imagination a world of possibilities! Making a box into a stick house - adding sticks one by one is a little counting lesson, too!

Extending the retelling of the Three Little Pigs= learning about story structure! Whether they were retelling though the book version, making up a new scene, or considering possible roles for the characters and who would play which one - play and learning collided! Research shows that purposefully "coaching" as kids play allows for teachers to offer up some questions to help learners plan or extend play, and intentionally impact learning (cognitive, social, emotional, etc.) all while the learner is engaged in play!

 Who wants some porridge? Mamma Bear and Baby Bear do! Why not add some letters for  a little added nutritional value?! Oh, and just after this they found a tiny bowl for the sweet Baby Bear, switched the orange "medium" bowl to be Mama's, and gave the "big" green bowl to Papa Bear. Love their understanding of the story and graduated order!

When you are learning math, it's more fun to have objects of choice! Each child has their own objects to count, but Mrs. Banks if extending each learner's understanding by need. Differentiation and engagement in action.

Rhythm, Syllables, Sounds and more! Making Music is fun for all! Mrs. Honeycutt makes music in her classroom and what a fun learning time they had!

 Mrs. Cheek's crew is learning to ID letters. The three you see are those of this week. Getting a Bingo makes this letter learning FUN!

 



 

Differentiation is at the hear of this mall group time. Some are rhyming and reading, others are listening for sounds, and still others are working on letter ID. What you need is what you learn!

Exploration and More

Unit 3 offered so much for our curious little kiddos. Never a dull moment could there be for these inquiring little minds. Students took to STEM projects coupled with the ever-present learning of literacy. Check out some of our preschoolers in action.

 

Water, Water! I wonder what it will do?  Whirl around? Swirl around? It's so fun to EXPLORE everyday objects and substances AND study the W letter and sound!

 Vocabulary building is a powerful strategy for all of our preschoolers. Check out this friend's examples of DIFFERENT. (A tier 2word the class is learning though text and explicit instruction.) Ms. Cheek's Reading Academy research-based strategies in action.  

 Help! We need to call in the community helpers to EXPLORE the fire! Dramatic play is all about pretending and playing with real-life idea... or those crazy ones that they dream  up!

 Nary a day goes by  without wrapping kids in literacy learning. Fluency poems and letter ID and sounds make for literate kiddos.

 Art + Math= learning! No only could this friend

 Excited to spend some quality science exploration time with dad at OC Preschool STEM family night in Mrs. Banks’ room

 

Hey Dad, let’s see what this lever can do!  Making observations while experimenting with levers at OC Preschool STEM family night in Mrs. Banks’  room.

 Everybody LOVES exploring Print concepts, and reading books each and every day- especially when we can do it with a buddy!

 Sink or Float? How do we  know? Each child predicts and tests objects and then charts what happens. What conclusions can we draw about why something sinks or floats? What do you suppose???

  Sinks float? What do you suppose???

Time for TRANSFER! Do we know alliteration? Which of these sounds the same at the BEGINNING? Because we KNOW the importance of phonological awareness plays in growing readers!

 

Wheels, Ramps, Measurement & Letters!

It was a short, but FUN week of LEARNING about lots of important concepts! Check out some this weeks' learning gems.

Help! This car has all 4 WHEELS, but they need some fixin'!

Tools! I need tools to get your car ready, ma'am, but you'll just need to wait because this car is going to take time to fix!

We can ALL work together to help at this repair shop!



Ramps are great for BUSES and cars to ZOOM down. Building SCIENTIFIC THINKING, ORAL LANGUAGE & MATH skills are so fun do as we PLAY.

Let's look at where we see wheels and (kids chose on this goal) HOW MANY we can find!

I see 1,2,3,4 wheels on this garbage can!

Ramps are so fun to BUILD! They can be LONG or SHORT and make cars go FAST, or SLOW!

 Gel bags make letter learning feel like PLAYING!

This is a K, can you say K? What letter is this? K.

 

When you already know L and K, what do you do? PLAY a game of LETTER TOWERS!
Check out this fun, individualized and INTENTIONAL letter/sound game in Ms. Cheek's room!

 

Sometimes playing means painting with colors we love and

ideas we hope to express.

 

It was a GREAT week at OCP! We can't wait to see what next week holds for our little learners.