Little Adventures Preschool Graduation 2016

We were so excited about graduation today.  Today is a very special day.  Today we celebrate YOUR children's life and times in preschool!

It's hard for many of you to believe that the time has come for your children...your babies, to be beginning kindergarten, isn't it?  Some of these wonderful children started coming for tot school 4 years ago when they were itty bitty.  I remember kids who would cry and cry, not wanting to be left behind, but quickly finding their way to the sandbox or another fun activity as moms gave their children space to be without them.

The beginning of the school year, whether four years ago or only ten months ago, was a time of building trust with the children...and with you.  It was a time of building relationships together and creating a team with one shared goal: Providing your children with what they needed to develop and grow as preschoolers.  

That trust was built, relationships and a team created.  Language was developed to describe ourselves as learners, readers, bucket fillers, muscle builders, writers, artists, friends and hard workers.  We intentionally tackled challenging concepts and learned how to be successful as a member of a group, a friend and a learner.  We moved through the year - as a team - growing and learning and building a foundation your children will take with them to Kindergarten.

And now, it is very hard for ME to believe your children are leaving me!  You have entrusted the most important thing in your lives to me - your child.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate that trust!  Thank you for sharing your children with me.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your family during this time.

I will miss your children more than you know.  But, I will smile through the goodbye tears because I am so grateful to have been a part of their lives and your family during this time.

It's time to say good-bye.

Our class has come to an end.

I've made more cherished memories

And many more friends.

I've watched your children learn and grow

And change from day to day.

I hope that all the things we've done 

Have helped in some small way.

So it's with happy memories

I send them out the door,

With great hope and expectations

For what next year holds in store.

Last Day of Preschool!

We had a great last day of preschool.  We started by writing about our favorite memories of preschool and then sharing them with the class.  After that we practiced for our graduation performance - that will be super cute!

 We enjoyed some time outside and came in when the wind got too yucky.  What a great group of kids!  They've grown so much!

Ladybug Release

We had an awesome day of school today.  After our standard reading groups we made bug jars in preparation for catching ladybugs later in the day.  Then we worked on our performances for graduation next week.  They are going to be so much fun!  These kids are a handful of giggles and laughter.  It won't be Broadway, but it will be a preschool performance that makes everyone smile.

 We were able to head outside in the warmer weather (thank goodness) and do our ladybug release.  The local garden store has buckets of 1500 ladybugs for gardens - a perfect experience for kids.  We dumped them out onto the grass, caught some in our bug jars and then got comfortable holding them and letting them climb all over, boy were they tickley! 

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More

 Towards the end of the school year it is so much fun to add a variety of activities that will have lasting memories for the kids.  I think these kids will always remember the day they got to body paint themselves in school :).  We started off our day as usual reading and having story time, even writing in our journals.  Then we read "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More" which I love and the kids seem to love as well.  It goes along to the tune "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More".  It's the story of a naughty little boy who gets his paints taken away and then proceeds to sneak them back and paint all over his body.  It's a fantastic read that encourages rhyming and has great opportunities for conversations about behavior.

 After reading the story we headed upstairs and set up our painting zone.  A big blanket that can easily be tossed into the washing machine is a super plus for this activity.

 Everyone paired up to share a tray of watercolors and we got down to business painting all possible exposed skin.  This type of body art always produces the opportunity for kids to practice art with their non dominant hand, which I love!  They get such a kick out of the different ways they can paint their eyebrows or designs on their legs.  They even talk about their "new nail polish".  The conversations are so silly about how they're "bleeding green blood" or they need to go to the doctor to get stitches for all the spots all over their legs.  It is a super fun and memorable activity.

 Usually I like to have access to the hose to wash kids down after this activity.  Today, however, the weather was poor and we were stuck inside.  Bring on the Costco pack of babywipes :).  A little tip: add water from the faucet to the pack of baby wipes before handing them out.  The extra moisture goes a long way in the initial removal of the paint.  Though the paint washes off fairly well, do expect for skin to be stained a bit for a couple of days - try not to schedule any family photos right after this one!

Wrapping Up the Preschool Year

I love this time of year in our reading groups.  After kids finish warm up reading their text at the sofa they come and read to me.  When other kids are done at the same time they get to listen in on the story being read aloud.  It is so fun to have them hear different stories and support each other by listening politely.  We spent our day as usual in reading, writing, math and playing.  I'm wrapping up the end of the year assessments and didn't get nearly enough photos of the kids today.

Preschool in May is so much fun.  We have fun playing, reading and being together.  The weather is warmer (most of the time) and we get to be outside.  Lessons start wrapping up and we get to enjoy each other's company and relax.  Everything becomes organized with end of year assessments and goal setting for the summer.  We get to have oodles of fun!

May Preschool: Using Tape and Building Responsibilities

What a super fun day in preschool today!  We enjoyed reading all of the different books for our reading lessons and then doing a special read aloud story time with "Giraffes Can't Dance".  I've read the story to them before, but was able to get my hands on a copy for each of them so we read it together today.  It is such a cute story and we talked about how what we do can affect another person or animals feeling and we should always try to be respectful and nice.  We also had a ton of fun wrapping our Mother's Day presents.  I LOVE letting preschoolers use tape.  It's a relatively tricky thing to do and they LOVE to use it (in bulk amounts even) to wrap their own presents.  Today was the first day of one-on-one assessments where I sit with kids individually to compile a folder of everything they learned in preschool for the end of the year.  While I work one-on-one with kids the others get to enjoy playing outside.  These kids have really bonded and play so well together!

Helping build hard working kids!

Spring has finally sprung!  We're in a great rhythm with our reading, writing and math lessons and we get to spend some wonderful time outside learning and growing!  Today we talking about being a person who cares for other people and things.  We can show that we care by helping, listening, and being a friend.  We can show that we care to people, animals, and even things by being respectful to them.  The kids all had tons of stories of helping their mom unload the dishwasher or their dad do yard work.  Helping and doing chores around the house helps build hard working kids, so keep up the good work at home!