Blowing in the Wind

Check out the original poetry on the hallway bulletin board.  Each class worked collectively and created a diamond shaped poem about the wind.  This project was the culminating activity for our week and is full of skills your children will need in Kindergarten and up.  Mrs. Berman and I are both very proud of the hard work your children put in.
This week we are talking more about temperature and the relationship of 32 degrees.  We will be charting each day's temperature and deciding if it is colder than freezing or warmer.  Today was the first charting day and I am thrilled to report that EP said it was warmer than freezing.  Woo Hoo!!

Run Like the Wind!!

Today was Day 4 in our study of Winter Weather.  We talked about the different words we have been using to describe the wind; our two favorites are blustery and breezy.  We discussed different ways to catch some wind today.  ED said we could use a jar and put the lid on really fast.  JG said we could use a bag and then hold it really tight.  I happened to have brought twelve bags to school with me today so we tried that suggestion.
We ran around outside with our bags held open and laughed and bonked a few times and finally we all caught some wind.  Some of us caught our second wind, too.  After we got inside we discovered a scientific principle.  In order for wind to be wind, it has to be moving.  It turns out what we had were only bags of air. 
Some of the children took their wind catching bags home.  Have fun catching some wind in other parts of Hartford.

Fire Fighter Mitch and Why My Snow is Yellow

It was a very educational day in preschool.
Fire Fighter Mitch from HFD came by this afternoon and talked to us about how sometimes he is a little different (his words, not mine).  He talked with us about some of the things fire fighters can do to help us when we are in trouble.  He also brought ALL his gear and showed us how he puts it all on.  He asked several times if he looked the same as when he came in to our classroom.  There was a magical moment about when the protective mask went on that he stopped looking like a man and started looking like a fire fighter.  He showed us how he would be crawling on the floor if he had to come in to our homes during a fire.  We now know that the man in the fire suit is there to help us and we should let him get us out. 
And now the lesson for Mrs. Trombley and Mrs. Paronto:  CC's painting of white snow turned yellow because of his dog!!!!

Welcome Back!

Ahh, the start to a new calendar year.  Everyone seems to have grown so much over break.  All the children wanted to chat about their goings ons over the holiday break (and chat and chat and chat).  We have started a new center-time system.  Some children were okay with the difference and some really wanted the old way back.  Your children are divided in to four "families" that rotate together through the center choices.  Each day they will have two choices, one active and one less so.  They are not grouped academically but socially (social growth is a major goal for our preschool year).  Each day the choices rotate so everyone has a chance to play in each area and I have a chance to work with individuals on an as needed basis.  We will have Free Fridays when center choice is individually chosen.
Tomorrow there will be a visiting Hartford firefighter in our room to talk about Fire Safety.  I'm sure your children will come home with all kinds of new information.
Great to see everyone again.
Mrs Trombley

The Countdown is On

Ahhh,  there is nothing more calming for a teacher than the week leading up to a major holiday.  Except maybe a hurricane klaxon blaring under the bed after a really long trip to the grocery trip.  There are seven days left until Halloween and I already know who is going to be Ninja Turtle, who is going to be a princess, and who is going to be a tiger. 
Halloween is one of those traditions that is really full of hype and anticipation and then has a sugar-infused melt down for days after. 
I think I'll put on my go-to costume....Tired Mommy.

Stay Off the Mountain!!

Really, I am suppossed to keep four and five year olds off a mountain of mulch?!?!  Okay, we will all try very hard but it is so tempting....
Anyway, we did talk about the mountain of mulch (which will disappear sometime before Monday).  We know we can't climb on it because we might fall, we might get buried, we might get hurt...What we don't know is how did it get here!!!! After some brainstorming here is the list of possibilities we came up:
40 dump trucks, 10 dump trucks, some dump truck
10 dumps and some shovels, a tractor
some people working together, Holy Moly!!
maybe a puppy, a gigantic puppy
(they do like to dig) or JoJo
or maybe just a run of the mill stinky truck
In all fairness, JoJo likes to dig as well.

It's Been a Few Days

I apologize that it has been a few days since my last post.  Life has been catching up to me.  Your children are still being awesome little White River Kids. 
We went on a Leaf Hunt yesterday (despite the fact no one showed up with a hunting license).  I did get some good reasons why.  "Mommy couldn't get to the store"  "I forgot it at home"  "The store didn't have any more".  Anyway, we managed to evade the park rangers, maybe they are furloughed, and everyone collected two leaves of different colors.  We returned to the classroom and charted our results.  One color dominated, maybe it is a little late in leaf season.  Ask your child what color fell off our chart.