OUR LAST WEEK !!!!!!!!!!

Our last blog includes activities from our last week of school. We didn't get to visit the farm, but we talked and dicussed farm animals, and how they were different than zoo and jungle animals. Our trip to PuzzleFun Dome was hilarious and a first experience for many of us. Graduation night was filled with excitment and anticipation of new beginnings in the fall. I would like to thank our wonderful parents and grandparents for making this such a positive year for the kinder prep students. They have exceeded my expectations in every aspect of learning. I'm very proud of them and I know you are too. I wish my darlings and their families a safe and fun filled summer. Please keep in touch with us at LAP. We care.

The Tootie Tot was our very favorite.

The pictures below show all our happy families having fun at PuzzleFun Dome the day our field trip got rained out. By the smiles, I would say everybody had a blast.

The farm was our theme the last week of school. Ms Angela gave us capsules and we put them in water. We guessed what animal our sponge would become.

Each child was assigned to be part of a team to share the responsibility of watching the sponge.

The hardest direction was to watch and wait, but do not touch.

This is one of the finished products of their vigilant watch.

Quite a few shows were performed at our puppet theater.

SPRING HAPPENINGS

Although spring is here officially, the rain has kept us inside quite a bit. That however, has not dampened our energy nor our spirits. We are learning to read better each day, and we take beginning readers home weekly. I am so proud of the children and their amazing growth academically, and socially. As you look through these pictures, give yourself a pat on the back, parents, for your part in their developement.

Thanks to all our families who worked so hard on creating the colorful silks.

We had an opportunity to see real baby ducklings. They were so cute.

Parachute fun!!!!

He just found the lower case bottom part of his egg to match the capital. Each child was given part of an egg with a capital letter on it upon entering the room that morning. Their job was to find the matching lower case letter.

Helping the Easter bunny

Some serious play

TEAMWORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kodak Moments

When the students came back from spring break, the room was different. The furniture was rearranged, toys were added, and some were in different spots. We all love the new look. The first group of pictures have nothing to do with themes, but depict shots taken at random throughout our school morning. Those are the best kind when the children are so involved with their discoveries, they don't even realize they are where the love of learning begins. I hope you enjoy these Kodak moments. The next three pictures display "The Beanbag Boogie." What a terrific balancing act and listening to directions on the tape.

A very intricate task-putting those cubes in individual slots with a tweezers.

Energy with a beat :)

Here these boys had no idea I was taking a picture, but I loved the way they were sharing.

An architectual masterpiece

Picture day led us to quieter, sit down games. We had to keep our hair looking pretty for pictures. B-I-N-G-O is fun any day, however, and that always leads us to the song B-I-N-G-O.

We created the stages of the butterflies in various ways during the week, but the one that probably stuck with us the most was the braclet we made with beads. One white bead for the egg, followed by a red bead for the caterpillar head, and three green beads for the body. We added a crystal bead for the chrysalis, and a metalic butterfly at the end. WOW!!!! We can tell a story with our beads.

We couldn't let butterfly week go by without reading "A Very Hungry Caterpillar." Ms Angela has her sock puppet to eat up all the fruits and vegetables.

We discussed the bee as an insect and talked about how we should act if we come in contact with any of these small creatures. We talked about the food chain and how every animal has a special place in God's world. The special job of the honey bee is to make honey which most of us sampled and LOVED!!!!!!!

This ladybug matching game involved number recognition and symmetry.

Our fingerprints were helpful in showing the three distinct parts of an insect.

BEACH PARTY 2011

The ocean is so vast and that's why we discussed it for two weeks. The ocean creatures, the water, and the beaches allowed us many opportunities to create, discover, and learn much information through experiments, crafts, songs, and stories. Join in the fun as you view our journey into the ocean.

Where's the sun screen??

The mysterious gummy shark at the bottom of the blue jello ocean didn't stop us from devouring the beach party snack.



Ms Crystal gave all our friends party bags with these cool shades in them for our beach party. Thanks so much Ms Crystal. We love them and you too!!!!!!!!

Digging for shells provided the opportunity to find letters in the water.

This science experiment made us predict about which objects would sink and which would float.

A crayon resist made with deep blue water captures some of the ocean creatures we learned about during the ocean theme.

The sand is surely part of the beach. Add a starfish and you have a perfect beach scene. Our starfish turned into a very tactile experience when we covered them with oatmeal.

Magnetic fishing was a popular activity with the children. The only "CATCH" for them was they had to tell me what number was on their fish. A lesson in magnetism occurred when magnets attached to each other and several fish were caught at one time. What a learning exercise.

WE'RE GOING TO THE ZOO, ZOO, ZOO

We began our zoo unit by making lions. Since it corresponded with the beginning of March, we related the saying that March comes in like a lion, and it certainly did with lot of heavy rains. I think all children love animals of any kind whether they are pets, zoo animals, ocean creatures, or insects. In the following weeks we will be covering many types of animals so the interest level is very high. Check out the following activities we did when when we visited the zoo, zoo, zoo.

Skills papers are so much more fun in masks!!!!!

Our unifix cubes became cages. We were able to review our shapes also.

These giraffes didn't need any cages because we surrounded them with our bodies.

Graham crackers and chocolate icing formed a base for our cages. Our wild animal crackers with pretzel bars turned into a most yummy snack.

We took an imaginary bus trip to the and you guessed it, we went to the zoo. Each student got to describe their favorite animal they saw. Such vivid imaginations!!!!