We have had a very busy week learning about what animals do in the fall to get ready for the winter! We talked about big concepts like hibernation and migration. We learned that birds and butterflies fly somewhere warm (south) for the winter. We also learned that not only bears, but also animals like groundhogs, bats and beavers hibernate (or go into a deep sleep) in the winter, so in the fall they have to eat A LOT! We loved learning about squirrels, and how they spend the fall gathering up acorns and other nuts for food in the winter. Our fall bulletin board is really shaping up! Next week we will add some beautiful fall leaves! Our art table was a busy place: we marble painted squirrels, we painted and assembled a bird, cut and pasted to make an acorn and used finger-paint to make a monarch butterfly. Our acorn project had the children cut with us for the first time. Cutting with scissors is a great way to promote fine motor development by exercising the muscles in the hands and honing hand-eye coordination. At around 3 1/2, most children can cut straight lines, staying within a half inch of a guideline, and may even be able to cut out a circle. It is also a great way to keep your child busy while you are getting dinner ready! We would love if you would offer some cutting practice at home! Here are some practice hints for you: Start with a pair of blunt, child size scissors. In the beginning, just let them cut. As long as they are holding the scissors correctly (thumb on top), it is a great experience just to get the open-shut movement down. Some children may find it easier to cut through thicker material at first (cardboard or manila folders) and then move onto construction paper and regular paper. Alternately, you can just let them go at your recycle bin papers! :>) Once they gain control, you can draw thick, straight lines and simple shapes on a piece of paper for your child to follow. We had a new sensory experience this week which was all sorts of roly poly fun! We had a huge bin of water marbles. It was fun to watch them grow from teeny tiny beads into the water marbles....and they are all sorts of fun to scoop and measure. We even put in our handy scoopers to pick them up with (and to sneak in some pre-scissor skills)! We also worked on number recognition and one-to-one correspondence with our squirrel and acorn game. The children had to identify the number of squirrels (or count them if they weren't sure what number it was) and then "feed" an acorn to each squirrel! *Please remember to send a jacket or sweatshirt EVERYDAY! The weather has been unpredictable, and we do try to go out everyday! But we have had some children without appropriate weather gear...and they have been CHILLY outside!
**Little Scouts will be closed on Monday, October 10th in observance of Columbus Day.
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AuthorMrs. Cunnie, Ms. Monzingo and Ms. Ally are three teachers who think that learning provides us with a rainbow of possibilities! Come enter our wonderful world of exploration, learning and discovery! Archives
June 2021
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