April News: Week of April 10th
Memorial Day Parade
Sproutlings will once again be taking part in New Providence Memorial Day Parade on Monday May 29th. Please mark your calendars so that you can join us as we march to honor those who have served our country. More details will be sent via email closer to the date.
St Jude’s Trike-A-Thon
Our 2023 Trike-A-Thon will take place on Sunday, June 4th. The St. Jude Trike-A-Thon is a fun, service learning program for daycares and preschools that teaches trike and riding toy safety while helping the children of St. Jude. The week leading up to our event, children will be learning all about bike safety in their classrooms. More details on how to sign will follow soon.
Peapods
Peapods
What a beautiful week we had. Some of us were lucky to get outside. We love watching the “big” kids play.
We had so much fun playing with the tunnel. It’s our first time and some of us actually went through it. Such fun! We didn’t know what we were missing! Some of us are learning to sit up with a little support and some are scooting backwards. We sometimes get stuck under a crib because we can’t see where we’re going! We are all making such progress with our gross motor skills.
Ms. Laura loves to sing songs to us. One of the songs she sang was “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Ms. Hana brought out the puppets which we love, and Ms. Lu read Is It Passover Yet? By Chris Barash and Split! Splat! By Amy Gibson.
Peapods II
We can’t get enough of this warm weather! It’s been a great two weeks in Peapods II. We’ve been spending our days going outside twice a day. We love getting the fresh air and exploring everything the outdoors brings us. As much as we have been loving going outside, we had something added to our classroom that we are thrilled about. Since one of the weeks we talked about pets, we’ve been admiring everyone’s pets on our pet wall.
We love looking at the different pictures and learning the names of the pets. Thank you to everyone who sent in a picture! We are looking forward to what the next two weeks will bring!
Seedlings
What a busy bunch we’ve been!! We were so excited about our egg hunt and had a great time searching for the hidden eggs in our classroom. They were in the silliest of places. Some were even hidden by the sea creatures!
While outside, the Seedlings always have lots of fun making a pathway with the BIG puzzle pieces. We learn to be patient by taking turns and we love to see see how fast we can put them together
We had a lot of fun working on our fine motor skills this week by placing stickers on different animal pictures. Even though there are circles for our stickers, we like to cover the whole picture with the stickers – it is so much fun!.
And a BIG thank you to everyone who sent in pictures of their pets. We had so much fun hearing all the pet’s names and we really enjoy looking at the pictures together!
During circle time, we read Dogs by Emily Gravett and sang “How Much is That Doggy in the Window”.
Little Sprouts
Little Sprouts had a busy two weeks, we enjoyed using dot markers to make butterflies, and used our toy animals to make animal tracks. We enjoyed having Ms. Amanda come to visit and read a special book to us! We had so much fun on our egg hunt! We loved to being able to run around outside without our jackets on!
We were lucky enough to see a K9 dog in training while we were outside on the playground. During circle time we enjoyed singing our Good Morning song, ABC’s, 5 Green and speckled Frogs, Old Mcdonald, and talking about the weather. We enjoyed reading Clifford: The Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell and Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
Beanstalks
Beanstalks had lots of fun this week learning about recycling and how to keep the earth beautiful. We painted our very own planet earth using cotton buds! We played a fun recycling game, we sorted items to be recycled and put them in the correct bin – it was lots of fun!! Our favorite activity this week was to play outside in the beautiful sunshine.
Beanstalks II
Earth earth earth that’s all we have been talking about last week and this week!! Last week we learned all about recycling and this week we focused on how to keep the Earth clean and beautiful. We also had fun making art projects and singing songs for Easter and Passover. We have has also been focusing on how to use scissors safely, as well as practicing shapes, colors, and numbers.
Pre K 3
In Pre K3 last week, we continued our theme and learned more about pets. We learned what pets like to eat, and how to care for them. We made our own little chicks and we had a special treat when the Easter bunny left us eggs in our classroom!
This week we have started learning about recycling! We’ve learned what people recycle, what goes in the trash, and that littering is not okay. In small groups, we sorted recycling by categories and also built our names using bottle caps. We reused egg cartons by turning them into ladybugs! We drew our April self portraits this week and practiced our handwriting. Our favorite stories this week were I Stink! by Kate and Jim McMullan, and Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel.
Pre K 4
The children in Pre k 4 focused on learning about pets. They learned about proper pet care and different types of pets. They learned which animals would make a good pets and which would not. We also spent some time learning about plants, flowers and gardening. We talked about the parts of a plant, its life cycle and which foods we get from plants. The children had an opportunity to paint a still life picture by looking at a real bouquet of flowers. Our favorite books this week were Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Montchev and The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
We finished our work in the Handwriting Without Tears workbook, the children started writing their journals using upper and lowercase letters. We will continue reviewing letters and numbers to ensure proper formation of each. The children worked on phonological awareness skills by practicing letter sounds, rhyming words and sounding out syllables.
The children learned how a plant gets water from rain enabling it to grow. We conducted a science experiment using water which we colored red and a carnation. The children observed the flower over time looking for changes of color in the flowers petals. This would indicate that the colored water had traveled up the stem to reach the petals. We continued working on math skills such as number sense, spatial awareness and patterns.
Next week the children will be learning the many ways in which we can help take care of our planet!