Monthly Archives: January 2014

Grandmother’s Visit!

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This week was a very fun and different week for the Crawling Caterpillars´ class. We experienced a very special day with our students´ grandmothers. They made a spice vinegar bottle with their grandmothers and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. We wanted to thank all grandmothers and special family members for taking the time to come and share the morning with us. We all had a great time with them!

During the week we reviewed winter sea animals: baby beluga, wally the walrus and shamu the killer whale. The kids enjoyed reading, dancing and singing the baby beluga song. In our creativity class, the Caterpillars modeled a polar bear using a special clay and glitter. The children had the opportunity to touch ice and melt ice as a science project, too.

Next week we will welcome February with the following topics:
Tuesday:Love & Friendship: Valentine/ Friends
Wednesday: People in your Neighborhood: Rescue Team comes to kinder
Thursday: Garbage Collector
Friday: Review love & friendship, Baker

Here are a few pictures we took this week. We hope you enjoy them!

February Newsletter

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OBJECTIVES

Theme: Community Helpers and Transportation

Topics: The people in your community:  their jobs, uniforms and work places.

Friendship and Valentine’s Day

Air, water and land transportation

Values: Love, Friendship, Cooperation and Safety

 

 

Knowledge:

Language Patterns: I love … / … is my friend / May I help?

Vocabulary:

 

Bicycle

Bike helmet

Fire fighter

fire station

smoke

alarm

hose

fire extinguisher

teacher

chef

gardener

garbage man

dentist

mail carrier

post office

police officer

police car

traffic lights

badge

whistle

signs

doctor

nurse

hospital

ambulance

siren

stethoscope

friend

heart

love

work

help

deliver

make

Land transportation: cars, trucks, motorcycle, bus, tractor

Air transportation: airplane, helicopter, hot air balloon, rocket

Water transportation: sailboat, ship, boat

Space

Planets

Moon

Sun

Stars

Astronaut

 

Concepts: full/empty, over/under, above/below, fast/slow; be careful and be safe

Books and Stories:

Just Going To the Dentist

Arthur’s Valentine Countdown

Jaime Visits the Nurse

The Magic School Bus

Let’s Visit the Doctor’s Office

Mr. Charlie, The Fireman’s Friend

Corduroy Goes To the Doctor

Math: numbers 1 to 6, introduce 7, rote counting and basic word problems

Colors: red, white, pink

Shapes: heart, star and diamond

Science discoveries and manipulatives: Learn practical examples of simple machines: lever, inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, wedge and pulley

 

Motor Skills:

Fine Motor Skills: holding a crayon properly and prewriting exercises

Physical development: Fire Drill (stop, drop and roll)

Locomotor skills: running, marching, climbing a ladder, pedaling a trike

Non-locomotor skills: hanging/swinging on the monkey bars & tugging a hose

Coordination skills: reaction exercises & balancing

 

Fine Arts:

Drama: Role-playing community helpers such as mailman, doctor, nurse, policeman, firefighter

Creativity: Healthy Mouth, Doctor’s Bag, Chef Hat, Transportation Track prints, Firefighter’s helmet, Letters for Mom and Dad, Build a Life-size Cardboard house

Music: The People in Your Neighborhood, Red Valentine, My Valentine is Red, Flying in an Airplane, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Be

 

February B – Days: Romina – Feb. 9 and Sophie – Feb. 27

 

Bye Bye, January!

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Dear Parents,

We have finished talking about winter topics! The kids really enjoyed learning the new vocabulary words and songs. They are now able to relate their new winter vocabulary words with actual objects, such as sweaters, jackets, cold, snow , etc.

 

Thank you for your efforts in better planning your childs’ lunchboxes. We have seen positive outcomes when the kids eat healthy food. We highly recommend sending healthy snacks such as: carrots, fruit (they are more likely to eat it if it is cut in small pieces), bread with jelly, yogurt, cereal & raisins. On the other hand, we encourage you not to send  chips and candy as these become “troubled” items at the tables since the rest of the students want to have some too, creating conflict between them.

We had lots of special events this week! Two “super kids” were celebrated! Carolina Rodriguez and Carolina Cruz had their special celebration at school. Their moms brought cupcakes and shared with everyone else. Of course, Mr. Mike joined the celebration, singing the “Happy Birthday” tune with his accordion and helping the birthday girls make their special crown.They are both now 3 years old!

We also had the wonderful experience of having some of our students’ grandmothers here at school. It was very nice to see the kids work together with them and spend this quality time together.

 

Next month, (February)  the Terrific Tigers class will be learning about community helpers, friendship and love. We always have so much to learn from these never ending topics!

 

 

Have a nice weekend. We hope you enjoy our weekly pictures here at Terrific Tigers group!

January Week 4

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Our sincere thanks to all our dearest Grandparents who visited the Big Bears class at Toddler Tree. It was such a pleasure to have you! Your grandchilden were delighted. They performed the little rhymes to their very best with all their love. We truly appreciated your  enthusiastic work on the project, too. It was a unique and unforgettable experience for all of us. Here are pictures of what we did this week:


Next week, Big Bears will start learning about several community helpers. As a group we will be able to learn about the different activities each one does in our community. Toddler Tree will have visits from the San Pedro police officers, firefighters, mailman and rescue team. Our Big Bears will have the chance to experience and meet them.

As you know, February is the month of love and friendship. We are ready to learn another rhyme called “Valentine´s”.

We remind you that there will be no classes on Monday, February 3rd, 2014.

Hope you enjoy your long weekend!

 

February Newsletter

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OBJECTIVES

Theme: Community Helpers and Transportation
Topics: The people in your community: their jobs, uniforms and work places.
Friendship and Valentine’s Day
Air, water and land transportation
Values: Love, Friendship, Cooperation and Safety

Knowledge:
Language Patterns: I love … / … is my friend / May I help?
Vocabulary:

Bicycle
Helmet
Fire fighter
fire station
smoke
alarm
hose
teacher
chef
dentist
mail carrier
post office
police officer
police car
whistle
signs
doctor
nurse
hospital
ambulance
siren
friend
heart
love
work
help
deliver
make
Land transportation: cars, trucks, motorcycle, bus, tractor
Air transportation: airplane, helicopter, rocket
Water transportation: sailboat, ship
Space
Planets
Moon
Sun
Stars
Astronaut

Concepts: full/empty, over/under, above/below, fast/slow; be careful and be safe
Books and Stories:
Just Going To The Dentist
Arthur’s Valentine Countdown
Jaime Visits The Nurse
The Magic School Bus
Let’s Visit The Doctor’s Office
Mr. Charlie, The Fireman’s Friend
Corduroy Goes To The Doctor

Math: numbers 1 to 5, introduce 6, rote counting
Colors: red, white, pink
Shapes: heart, star and rhombus
Science discoveries and manipulatives: Learn practical examples of simple machines: lever, inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, wedge and pulley

Motor Skills:
Fine Motor Skills: holding a crayon properly, inserting straws in a bottle
Physical development: Fire Drill (stop, drop and roll)
Locomotor skills: running, marching, climbing a ladder, pedaling a trike
Coordination skills: reaction exercises & balancing

Fine Arts:
Drama: Role-playing community helpers such as mailman, doctor, nurse, policeman, firefighter, rowing a boat, yellow bus
Creativity: Healthy Mouth, Doctor’s Bag, Chef hat, Transportation Track prints, Firefighter’s helmet, Letters for Mom and Dad, Build a Life-size Cardboard house, baking heart shaped cookies, pizza, paper mache flowers
Music: The People In Your Neighborhood, Red Valentine, My Valentine is Red, I love you, The more we play together, Flying in an Airplane, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Wheels on the bus, My yellow bus, Row Row your boat, Bicycle Bicycle

Life is a Dance

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Here is a song we enjoy singing and dancing to at Toddler Tree. This is a special request from Emilia. Your kids have practiced it several times now and are able to show you the words and motions.

In class, we stand in the circle and follow the motions to the song. Just in case your child needs reminding, I have included a summary of the lyrics and movements:

Life is a dance, you better clap your hands (clap while singing)

Life is a treat, you better stomp your feet (stomp your feet on the floor)

Life is a breeze, you better pat your knees (pat your knees)

Life is a snap, you better snap, snap, snap (snap fingers- you’ll enjoy watching your toddler try!)

Life is a joy, you better shout “oh, boy!” (jump high with your hands up in the air on the “oh, boy!”)

Every time you hear the chorus: Chickee Chickee Boom, Chickee Chickee Boom, Chickee Chickee Chickee Chickee Boom, Boom, Boom! everybody turns around and flaps their arms like a chicken to arrive in the same place where they started.

The best part is giving each other a great big hug at the end.

We hope you have as much fun singing and dancing together as we do!

 

Winter Clothing!

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This week we learned about winter clothing. We want to thank all of you for participating by sending your children with items to show. They had lots of fun dressing up with scarves, mittens, hats, gloves, coats and jackets.

During creativity we showed the students to paint using different techniques. They experienced paint using rollers, brushes, stamps, golf balls and colors. They also modeled play dough with their hands, using different instruments, as well.

During physical development the children had lots of fun doing circuits, reviewing the concepts of up and down, side to side, jump, run and gallop. We also danced to music using tambourines and following rhythms. The class loved Frosty’s Story Book and song. We role played using a scarf and magic hat just like Frosty!

On Friday, we celebrated Maria Ximena’s birthday. The whole class enjoyed eating cupcakes, participating in making Maria Ximena’s crown and singing Happy Birthday to her.

Next week, the children will learn about forest animals :squirrel, fox, raccoon, picking up new vocabulary words, such as: bear/ polar bear, whales/ beluga, penguins, ice, water and cave.

Here are a few pictures we took during the week. We hope you enjoy them!