Being Healthy is Fun!

This week we will our two week unit about healthy bodies. We will spend this week exploring how to keep our bodies healthy with nutrition and exercise. Our letter of the week is Xx for x-ray and for eXercise. Check out starfall.com for more letter the week words. We will be making CheX MiX for our cooking lesson this week. This is always a huge hit with the kids. Visit chexmix.com for several recipe varieties you can try at home.

Dole has a great website for kids......check out SuperKids for fun way to get healthy. Here are two games on their website:
1. Catapult Game
2. Drop & Catch

Many activties in the classroom will relate to our story, The Very Hungry Caterpiller. Watch this great video version of the book. There are so many great concepts in this story including sequencing, days of the week, numbers, food groups, and the life cycle of a butterfly. Click here for website #1 that has lots of great ideas you can do with your child. The ideas are endless. Here is website #2 with more activities from DLTK. The kids loved reading this story.....let them help you read as they can repeat the phrase "but it he was still hungry."
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We are really working hard to learn our numbers 1-5 and also extending patterns. You can reinforce this concepts at home very easily. Check out this link that has information regarding Math Activities for Preschoolers.

Here are some ideas you can try at home:
Egg Crate Counting
Take a simple egg crate and number the bottom of each space with permanent marker from one to five. The extra spaces can be cut off or left blank. Give your preschooler a plastic bag full of any small, interesting items like mini-M&Ms, jelly beans, beads, dried peas, pebbles, etc. Have your child match the number of items to the corresponding number in each space. To make the game more fun and challenging and to develop small hand coordination, have the child use child's-sized plastic tweezers to place the items in the cups. Children can also use the same items to fill plastic Easter eggs with numbers on them.

Sticker Chart
Take a piece of butcher block paper and write the number symbols from one to five vertically on the paper. Give your child an inexpensive book of stickers. Have the child put the correct number of stickers next to each number. Children may also enjoy drawing the correct number of pictures or gluing the correct number of pompoms or buttons on the paper.

Patterning: Fruit Loop Necklace
Making necklaces by stringing fruit loops on yarn is a preschool math activity that can reinforce many skills. First have your child sort the fruit loops by color. Then use the different colors to create patterns. String a pattern on yarn first and then ask your child to create the same pattern. Have your child create a pattern for you to create. When a necklace has been strung, have the child count the loops as he slides them. Children love to practice counting backwards as they eat the cereal off their necklace. Make sure to wash hands before this activity!

Short Week!

With school being closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr., this week is going to be a short week.

This week the preschoolers are learning about space ( focusing on sun, moon, stars, Earth). There isn't a ton of resources out there for this theme but I have managed to find a few.
Click here for an online book called The Flying Train.

Our letter of the week is Ss for sun and star. We will be learning a few nursery rhymes including Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star & Star Light, Star Bright. To go along with our letter Ss, we will be making star sandwiches (PB & J using a star cut out) for our cooking lesson on Tuesday. We are working hard on number recognition so our story Five Shiny Stars will help us with the number 5 this week.

Reminder that Family Fun Friday is this Friday. Please arrive at the Children's Musuem by 12:45 so that we can pay the admission and begin our tou promptly at 1:00. We have a very large group this time!!

Penguins, Polar Bears, Pancakes, & Pigs

Pp is our letter of the week and out theme is Arctic Animals (penguins/polar bears) but we can't do Pp week without reading the story If You Give a Pig a Pancake. We will be making pancakes for our cooking lesson to go with our story on Tuesday. Click here for the recipe card.

Other stories we will be reading include The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly, Penguin Pete, Cuddly Dudley Tacky the Penguin, and Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear?

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Wednesday is PAJAMA DAY for preschoolers! Wear your PJ's to school.

Below are the songs/finger plays that we will be doing this week.
Peter Penguin
Peter, Peter Penguin, marching by (March)
Toes turned out and head held high (Stand Tall)
A long black coat (Point Like Coat)
And a clean white vest (Rub Chest)
Peter, Peter Penguin, you're the best (Do Tony Tiger Their Great Gesture)

Six Little Penguins
Six little penguins off an iceberg did dive,
One bumped his beak, then there were five.
Five little penguins swam the ocean floor,
One saw a whale, then there were four.
Four little penguins spun around, whee-ee!
One spun off, then there were three!
Three little penguins, with nothing to do,
One went fishing, then there were two.
Two little penguins, having lots of fun,
One fell of, then there was one.
One little penguin, when the day was done,
Went home to sleep, then there were none.


Looking for some ideas at home? Check out these fun activities:

Ice Cube Painting
Wou will need: Penguin pattern, powdered paint, ice cube with Popsicle stick.
Directions: Freeze Popsicle sticks into ice cubes. Have the children sprinkle powder paint on white paper and paint with an ice cube on a stick.

Penguin Puzzle (Online Game)

ONLINE STORIES:
Penguin, Penguin (Non fiction)
Rumble, Grumble, Gurgle (fiction)

Did You Know........
• What kind of animals are penguins? (birds )
• Do penguins fly? (no)
• Are penguins found south or north of the equator? (south)
• How long can a penguin hold its breath under water? (about 3 minutes)
• What do penguins eat? (fish )

Penguin Ice Experiment : Freeze a long pan of water and have several objects, some that will slide on the ice and some that will not (cotton balls, dry beans, piece of felt, plastic penguin figurine, etc.). Predict and then test .... “Will It Slide?”

Movie Night! Cuddle up with a blanket and watch these great penguin movies: Happy Feet and Madagascar.

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Welcome Winter!

I hope Santa found his way to everyone's house and you had a wonderful holiday season. Welcome to the New Year and back to school this week!

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Our theme this week is WINTER and will focus on the season of winter. Our letter of the week is Ii for ice. We will be doing two cooking lessons this week, but both are very simple. On Tuesday we will make ice cream sundaes for our letter Ii...brrr just like winter! We will warm up with some hot cocoa on Wednesday. Our stories this week will include A Little Bit of Winter, The Biggest Snowman, and two Jan Brett stories called The Hat and The Mitten. The kids loved retelling The Mitten as they each had a mask to pretend to be one of the animals squeezing into the mitten. Click here or on the links below to check out the Jan Brett link for some activities/games related to her stories.

Animal Matching Game (Printable)
Numbers Game (Printable)
Mouse Concentration (Online)
Print Animal Masks to retell story
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For our craft, we colored and decorated a pair of mittens to go along with our story. The children will also be painting snowy day this week. Our songs this week include Snowy Pokey and Chubby Little Snowman.
Chubby Snowman
I had a chubby snowman, he had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny, And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny, looking for his lunch,
Ate that snowman's nose. . . NIBBLE, NIBBLE, CRUNCH!!

Snowy Pokey
You put your right mitten in, You take your right mitten out,
You put your right mitten in and you shake it all about.
You do the Snowey pokey and you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about.
Continue with additional verses:
You put your left mitten in
You put your scarf in
You put your right boot in
You put your left boot in
You put your hat in
You put your snowself in

Here are some other computer game you might enjoy!
Snowman Puzzle
Dress up snowman

If your looking for something to do at home....make homemade ice cream in a ziploc bag. It is easy and lots of fun! Click here for directions.

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Peer Information/Applications for 2011-2012

The Independence Integrated Preschool Program provides preschool services to children with disabilities and typically developing peers. Applications are now being accepted for typical peers to participate as role models in all areas of development for all of our students for the 2011-2012 school year. If you would like to learn more about this program, click here. If you are interested in your child participating in this program, please click here to download the Preschool Application for the 2011-2012 school year.

Happy Holidays to each of you!

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As the Christmas season unfolds at our home, I want to wish each one of you a Happy Holiday season. May your days be filled with special moments and may you be surrounded by the love of others during this holiday season.

Click here to check out pictures from our Holiday Party with Santa and other classroom pictures from this month.

Gingerbread Baby....

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett is one of my childhood favorites so I love reading this with the kids! It is a little different than the traditional Gingerbread Man that most people know of. Very clever and cute story with a happy ending!

Check out these links that go along with our story:

Decorate and print your own Gingerbread Baby house online.

Print and play a Gingerbread Baby board game.

Jan Brett has so many great stories! If you have a chance, check out the sequel to Gingerbread Baby which is called Gingerbread Friends. Jan Brett has great illustrations and she makes her books predictable....take a look in the border of each page to clues as to what will happen next.

Along with leargning letter Gg for gingerbread, we will be making gingerbread baby cookies for our cooking lesson. Another activity this week includes making a scratch and sniff gingerbread baby decoration. It is very easy to do.....cut out a gingerbread baby on sandpaper. Rub a cinnamon stick across the sandpaper to make it smell great. Then decorate it with glitter, markers, or be creative and use raisins or other candy. Hang it up and enjoy this scented decoration for weeks!

On Thursday, we will be watching the short movie "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and decorating our own Christmas trees with fruit loops. Aww....this time of year is so much fun!

*Book Orders are due by December 1oth.

Click here to go to the Schlolastic Book Club Website.

Class online code: HHZ7D

* Mark you calendars for the next Family Fun Friday! Friday, January 21st will be our next event at the Children's Museum. The event will be from 1:00-2:30. Please plan to arrive by 12:45 as it is a group tour/activity. Independence students do not have school this day as it is a Teacher Inservice Day. Hopefully our preschoolers can share this experience with their siblings. Details including cost/directions will be coming soon.

* Thank you to everyone for the thoughts, prayers, cards, and get well wishes with my recent surgery. Everything went well. It has only been a few days but I miss the kids and coming to school! I am planning to briefly stop in to see them a few days next week, but please do not tell them as I don't want them to be dissapointed if I am not able to. I talked to Mrs. Palik today and she says everything is going well in the classroom. If you have any concerns or questions during my absence, please feel free to contact me via email. I can check my email from home but cannot retrieve my voicemails.

* Peer Model Information for the 2011-2012 school year will be out soon. If any siblings of our children, neighbors, or relatives might be interested please let me know. Applications will be available online at the district's website, on this website, and in the office at each building. I am hoping to have it available by the end of this week. Peer models that are currently attending our program DO NOT need to complete an application. I will be sending home a letter for you to indicate you intent for next year.

Happy Holidays

The Holiday Season is here! This time of year is filled with lots of festive activities, music, lights, decorations, family, and fun. It is my favorite time of the year and it is always a fun time with the kids! The next three weeks will be spent on the Winter Holiday theme.

For this first week, we are working on letter Qq for queen. Red and Green will be our colors of the week throughout the Holiday Season. Along with learning how to write letter Qq, we made quesadillas. They are a simple and easy snack that you can make at home.

We read several great Holiday stories including Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear along with Reindeer Afraid to Fly. We made a reindeer decoration to go along with our story. The morning class had the opportunity to go to the high school on Thursday morning to watch the Christmas Concert dress rehearsal. The PM class went shopping at the Santa Shop to buy gifts for their families.

Below are the Holiday songs that we are learning in school if you would like to practice them at home:

DEAR OLD SANTA (Sung to: "Mary Had a Little Lamb")
Guess whose beard is long and white?
Long and white? Long and white?
Guess whose beard is long and white?
It's Dear old Santa.
Guess whose suit is red and white?
Red and white? Red and white?
Guess whose Suit is red and white?
it's Dear old San-ta!
Guess who comes on Christmas Eve?
Christmas Eve? Christmas Eve?
Guess who comes on Christmas Eve?
It's Dear old San-ta!

He'll Be Driving 8 Brown Reindeer (Santa Sung to: "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain")
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer when he comes, (yee-haa)
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer when he comes. (yee-haa)
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer,
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer,
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer when he comes. (yee-haa)

He'll be piled up with toys when he comes, (oh my)
He'll be piled up with toys when he comes, (oh my)
He'll be piled up with toys,
For all the girls and boys.
He'll be piled up with toys when he comes. (oh my)

He'll be dressed all in red when he comes, (woo-wee)
He'll be dressed all in red when he comes. (woo-wee)
He'll be dressed all in red,
From his toes up to his head,
He'll be dressed all in red when he comes! (woo-wee)

S-A-N-T-A (Sung to: "BINGO" )
I know a man with a long white beard
And Santa is his name-o
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
And Santa is his name-o
He slides down the chimney with a pack on his back
And Santa is his name-o
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
And Santa is his name-o
Eight little reindeer pull his sleigh
And Santa is his name-o
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
And Santa is his name-o

WHEN SANTA COMES…..
When Santa comes down the chimney,
I should like to peek,
But he'll never come ,
no never,
until I’m fast asleep.


REMINDERS:
* Scholastic Book Orders Due by Dec 10th.

* Our Preschool Holiday Party will be on Dec 16th. 10:00 for AM & 2:00 PM

* Mrs. Palik will be substituting for Miss Gruskiewicz beginning December 2nd. If you
need to contact me, please email me at tgruskiewicz@independence.k12.oh.us . I will be checking my email daily.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey day will be here soon and the preschoolers are getting ready! Our letter of the week is Tt for turkey and our color is brown. For our cooking lesson we are going to make turtle sundaes.

There are lots of things going on in our classroom including making a turkey and a horn of plenty craft. The preschoolers are working at home to disguise "Tom the Turkey" so he can come hide and school. Please send in your "Turkeys in Disguise" by Tuesday, November 23rd.

We are going to read some funny stories: Plump and Perky Turkey, Ten Fat Turkeys, Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, and Thankgiving is for Giving Thanks.

We have been busy learning some songs that we are going to sing at our Thanksgiving Feast. Please feel free to practice the songs at home:

I'm a Little Indian
(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little Indian on the go,
Here is my arrow, here is my bow.
When I go a-hunting, hear me shout,
Bears and buffalo, better watch out!

I'm a Little Turkey
(I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little turkey,
Short and fat
I have lots of feathers
On my back.
Gobble, gobble, gobble,
Is what I say,
Quick! Run! It's Thanksgiving Day!

Indian Song

This is how an Indian paddles his canoe (splash,splash,splash,splash)
This is how how he hunts with is bow and arrow too (zip,zip,zip,zip)
This is how he beats upon his drum (boom,boom,boom,boom)
This is how he dances when his day is done (woo-hoo-woohoo)

Parents and welcome to join as at our Feast on Tuesday, November 23rd. The AM class is at 10:15 and the PM class is at 2:00.

Check out some activities you can print and do at home for letter T. (Click to open)

Turtle Counting

Turtle Color Match

Turtle Writing Practice
Turtle Size Sort

* Reminder: Early Dismissal on Wed., Nov 3oth. Preschool will dismiss at 2:00.

Down on the Farm

Mooove over, the farm animals are coming to preschool. For the next two week, the preschoolers are going to be learning about farm animals and harvest. This is such a fun unit for kids! We are singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm and the Farmer in the Dell and learning the nursery rhymes Little Boy Blue and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Our letters of the week are Cc for cow and Jj for jam. We will be making chocolate chip cookies and jello jigglers for our cooking lessons.

There are so many great stories that it was hard to choose which ones to read. Below is a list of stories that we will be reading. Some of the stories on are online so you can enjoy them at home too.
Barnyard Dance
Mrs. Wishy Washy's Farm
A Flea's Sneeze
Three Little Pigs
A Leaf Blew In
Sheep in a Jeep
Big Red Barn
The Cow That Went Oink
The Little Red Hen (online version)
Mr. Bunny's Carrot Soup (online version)
Farm Animals (online movie)

Here are some computer games you can play at home:
Create an animal farm
Animal Sounds matching game

REMINDERS:
* Conferences are scheduled for Nov. 4th and Nov. 11th.

*Family Connections has a one night program regarding Sensory Processing and how it can impact behavior. The program is free and childcare is available. Please click here for more information.