With a "Spring" in Our Step!

Welcome back from spring break! We have enjoyed the warm spring weather this week, while learning about spring! This is the last section in our Season Unit. 

On Monday we learned about birds coming home and making nest in the springtime. Even though God didn't make us as nifty as birds at making nests, we decided to try! We scavenged outside to find some materials for our nest. With the help of paper bags, we used the materials to make our own nest!

On Tuesday we talked about the different weathers in spring. While the rain can be a bit sad, we decided that we love when a rainbow comes out! We explored rainbow colors by making a rainbow ring. 

On Thursday we learned about Benjamin Franklin and how he used the wind to discover electricity. We went outside to fly our own kite. Luckily, it wasn't stormy out. Sorry that I don't have any pictures, I was to busy running!

In phonics we have learned some tricky word families like unny, uddy, and usty. Dr. Flemmingway also came in all the way from Harvard to teach about the word family ight. I sadly missed her lesson, it's funny how we never end up in the same room together!

In math we have been telling time! We began to learn about minutes on a clock and reading digital clocks. We have also been reviewing counting money. 

For a craft this week we used our own wind to make wind streamers. We first blew paint around on a paper using a straw. Then we attached streamers and brought the ends together to make some great classroom decorations!

A Blizzard of Learning!

While the weather was warming up outside, we were learning about chilly winters in the classroom. On Monday we talked about our favorite winter activities like snowman building, sledding, and ice skating. We also went into a small science lesson with what type of clothes is worn in different seasons. One very brave volunteer modeled some appropriate winter clothes (though they may have been a little big!).

On Tuesday we talked about snowmen! The students completed a creative writing assignment about writing about why their snowmen melted. Some imaginative answers were that they drank hot chocolate and came inside!

On Thursday we worked together to take care of winter birds (or really any birds!) by making some bird feeders. They are super simple to make! Just take bird seed and mix in melted lard until they are squishy. They place them in any mold and freeze! I hope you birds enjoy it!

In phonics we have learned more long vowel word families like oat, oad, ow, and o. The student are getting quicker at recognizing these in their reading! It's so amazing to see their progress.

In math we started talking about measuring with centimeters and counting/recognizing 120. We have also finished up memorizing our phone numbers! So be sure to ask your child to give you a call!

Just "Leaf" it to Kindergartners!

This week we've continued learning about the four seasons by talking about fall. On Monday we made a list of our favorite fall activities. Some things that were included were going to school (that was mine!), playing outside, building forts, picking apples, and of course... jumping in leaves! Then, using construction paper we made our own autumn leaves and wrote about them. Some leaves were being jumped in, blowing around, and falling from trees!

On Tuesday we learned about how animals prepare for the cold. I introduced words like migration, hibernation, and adapt. The students had fun acting like they were the animals preparing for the cold. Also, one student had a birthday this week! So, we ate some delicious cupcakes she brought in to celebrate.

On Thursday we learned about another fun fall activity, picking apples! We read about Johnny Appleseed and how he traveled around planting apple trees to feed hungry settlers. Did you know that he also shared the Bible with settlers along with apple trees! We then tasted different types of apples, and shared our favorites. Green was the clear favorite!

In phonics we have begun to learn about the rule, "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking". Be sure to ask your Kinder about the song!

In math we have been continuing to learn about coins and their values. We have just begun to count a variety of coins. So, next time you need to buy something, get your Kinder involved in counting out the change!

For a craft this week, we've made our own fall trees using our fingerprints! The colors are gorgeous!

Sunny Days!

While it may have been windy outside, it was sunny in KA Kindergarten! This week we learned about the season summer. It was fun on Monday to dream of what we want to do this summer. We wrote about what we want to do, and drew pictures. Most of the students can't wait to swim, while one student wants to golf and another wants to go fishing.

On Tuesday we learned more about the heat in summer. We did an experiment using our class gecko;s heat lamp as our pretend sun. We observed a thermometer and how it tells the temperature. Then, we got two bowls of ice cream and placed one under the "sun". Throughout the day we made observations about the melting ice cream progress.

Thursday was the anticipated beach day! We had fun pretending to spend the day in the sun on our beach towels. We played beach games and made sand castles. And of course we had to enjoy our favorite sunny day treat, ice cream! It's amazing how everything is instantly more fun when done on a beach towel.

Fishing for words

Perfect end to a fun day!

In phonics this week we have learned about silent "e" and long vowel sounds. We learned word families like "ire", "ine", "ike", "une", "one", and "ose". We will continue to learn more about vowels and other grammar rules.

In math we talked about symmetry and reviewed solid shapes and patterns. We also began to learn about nickels, and counting them by five.

For a craft this week we made our own "ice cream" paint using shaving cream and glue. The paint puffed up on our paper when we painted ice cream cones with them! They were very fun to decorate.