by Sarah Segall | Jun 4, 2016 | Preschool
This week we worked with our camping theme. The kids love this theme! They were really interested in it. I used some camping ideas and activities for teaching the children all about the outdoors and having fun spending the night outside sleeping in tents and walking about the sounds of nature, animals, and more. I taught them about campfires and how be safe with them. We talked about using campfires to stay warm, or using a fire to create light at night, for cooking, and roasting marshmallows. We also use a campfire for sitting around and singing songs and telling stories for fun, such as (caperucita roja). We did activities with the firefly and marshmallows that I used for our bulletin board. They were very excited, pretending to roast marshmallows in our campfire.
Letters
This week we learned all about la letra Ll. Be sure to point out the letter that we practice when you are reading any Spanish books. This letter is not in the English alphabet. While the Spanish alphabets the pronunciation is Ll(elle). As example:
lluvia/rain
llave/key
silla/chair
llanta/wheel
llama/llama
We sang songs and did different activities related with the letter Ll, as example; outline the letter, find letter Ll and round it.
Numbers
This week we started working with number 20. We had a fun time playing and using some items for sorting and counting, as cupcakes number matching. This activity helps kids practice counting and number recognition.
Have a good weekend
by Sarah Segall | May 28, 2016 | Preschool
Agua, Luz y Aire
This week we were working with light topic (solar energy). It was a really interesting for the kiddos! I taught them that the sun gives us a natural energy and it help plants grow and thaws ice. They learned that solar panels help to maintain warm houses, dry clothes, give us heat. We talked about how solar energy is everywhere. The sun gives off more energy in one second than people have used from the beginning of time. Without the sun the earth would be freezing cold. The sun also makes the wind blow and the ocean currents flow. It’s heat makes clouds, rain, snow, and all the weather on our planet too. They also learned about sun refraction (deflection of light) too.
We did activities such as “light box magic”. This was a fun science experiment. The kiddos love painting the magic box and at the end they enjoy watching the light. When light from the sun hits a solid object, like the cup, it is absorbed. When light hits the water in the bottle, it bends in all different directions. It bends because the water makes the light slow down. This is called refraction. The water makes the light spread out in the box. I also gave the example of being by the pool. I told the kids we have to wear lots of sunscreen by the pool because the water makes the light spread out and we can burn easily from the light.
Letters
This week we learned all about la letra Ññ. Be sure to point out the letter that we practice when you are reading any Spanish books. This letter is not in the English alphabet. While the Spanish alphabets the pronunciation is Ññ (eñe). As example
Ñandu/rhea
moño/ ribbon
leña/firewood
piña/pineapple
niño/boy
We sang songs and did different activities related to the letter Ñ, as example; outline the letter and matching letters.
Numbers
This week we started working with number 19. We had a fun time playing and using some items to sort and count. The kiddos really like our counting game with beans and muffin cups.This activity helps the kiddos practice counting and with their number recognition.
by Sarah Segall | May 15, 2016 | In The Loop, Preschool
School Spirit Week 2016
Monday 5/16 – Crazy Hair Day
Tuesday 5/17 – Silly Sock Day
Wednesday 5/18 – Twin Day
Thursday 5/19 – Favorite Book Character Day
Friday 5/20 – School Spirit (Colors) Day
by Sarah Segall | May 14, 2016 | Preschool
Aqua, Aire, Luz
This week we started work with the water cycle. We learned all about how the water cycle works. I was really surprised how they absorbed the information. At the end of the week they used the information they received to explain to me how the water cycle works. Everyone had their own particular way to explain this topic. We used facts that helped them to understand this process in a way that’s easy to follow.
For example;
Evaporation:
Heat from the Sun causes water on Earth (in oceans, lakes etc) to evaporate (turn from liquid into gas) and rise into the sky. This water vapor collects in the sky in the form of clouds
Condensation:
As water vapor in the clouds cools down it becomes water again, this process is called condensation.
Precipitation:
Water falls from the sky in the form of rain, snow, hail, or sleet, this process is called precipitation.
Collection:
Oceans and lakes collect water that has fallen. Water evaporates into the sky again and the cycle continues.
Also, the kiddos were fascinating by how Clouds Make Rain they learned that when water droplets and ice crystals continue to collect in a cloud, they get heavier and heavier. They will eventually become too heavy to float on the air. Water droplets will fall to the earth as rain. We did an easy science experiment with a shaving cream (foam kind), a jar, water, and food coloring.
The little ones enjoyed what they were learning and especially enjoyed the crafts and a mural.
Letter
Our letter of the week was Y. The kids practiced handwriting on paper and we played games looking into the letters soup, we sang songs, read a book of the letter Yy, and identified the letter in our daily reading. The English letter Yy, can be pronounced (uai). While the Spanish pronunciation is (I griega). Examples:
yema/yolk
yak/yak
yoyo/yo-yo
yogur/yogurt
Numbers
This week we continued working with number 18. We had a fun time playing and using items for sorting and counting. We used the cycle water topic to do different activities, such as counting water drops and counting clouds. It was a simple activity to help kids practice counting and number recognition.
by Sarah Segall | May 7, 2016 | Preschool
Plantas, Aqua, y Sol
This week we started learning all about plants. The little ones learned about what the plants need to grow (sun, water, soil, and air), and plant parts (root, steam, leaves and flower). We also learned about the life cycle of plants from seed to plant. The kiddos were fascinated by the notion that a tiny seed can emerge from the ground as a plant. The little ones enjoyed what they were learning. We had a great time doing crafts and song (las plantas necesitan…tierra, aire , agua y sol…)
Letras
We reviewed the letters we have been learning in the past weeks ( L, V, B, K, R, C, G, H, J, Q, W, X). We played games to find letters in books. We also enjoyed looking into letters soup, with the kiddos who had more letters winning a price. This gave them good motivation to find the letters.
Numeros
This week we started working with number 18. We had a fun time and played and used some items sorted and counted. We used the plants topic to do different activities such as counting seeds. This was a simple activity to help kids practice counting and number recognition.
Have a good weekend!!
by Sarah Segall | May 1, 2016 | In The Loop, Preschool
Animales
This week we continued work with the animal’s habitat. For instance, we did a theme week on deserts and one fun and
successful activity was sand art. It’s a great way to add some texture to kid’s work. We did desert landscape pictures. They learned that desert animals have adapted ways to help them keep cool and use less water. Camels, for example, can go for days without food and water. Many desert animals are nocturnal, coming out only when the brutal sun has descended, to hunt. As well, we did activities with snakes and, finally; to close this awesome animal habitat topic, we did a Venn diagram activity, this activity helped them to learn more about animal’s habitats while they developed math skills!
Letras
We incorporated our touch investigation with the letter/letra Xx. The kids practice handwriting in paper and we used our fingers in salt draw it. We also used playdough to make a letter X. We sang songs, read a book of the letter Xx, and looked for the letter in our daily reading. The English letter Xx, can be pronounced (ex). While the Spanish pronunciation is (equis). As example:
México/Mexico
xílofono/xylophone
xilografia/xylography
rayos x/ x-ray.
N
úmeros
This week we continued work with number 17. We had a fun time playing and using items to sort and count. Sorting helps children make comparisons by seeing the differences and similarities in quantities. We used a cactus to count and we played a game choosing a number and then we placed the number of items that correspond to that particular number. Games are a great way to practice numbers as well as practice important sequence and taking turn skills.
by Sarah Segall | Apr 16, 2016 | Preschool
Animals and their Habitats
This week we started work with the animal’s habitat, with this topic we are
introducing preschoolers to natural animal habitats and animal homes. We learned how animals need homes much the same way people need homes. I was surprised how my little ones have a curiosity about animals and their habitat. I Explained why certain animals can only live in certain habitats. This week we specially worked with aquatic animals, animals that live in freshwater, and marine animals. We did some nice projects with different kinds of aquatic animals, for instance, we made a paper bag jelly fish, nice bright rainbow fish craft, and we created our own octopus out of a construction paper. Adding the Cheerios to the legs turned out to be great fine motor practice for the kiddos! This is one of my favorite activities so far 🙂. They enjoyed doing these projects.
Letter
We incorporate our touch investigation with the letter/letra Qq. The kids practiced handwriting with paper and pencil. We also used corn flour and our finger to draw the Q. We sang songs, read a book of the letter Qq, and identified the letter in our daily reading. The English letter Qq, can be pronounced (kiu../pi:/). While the Spanish pronunciation is (coo, always followed by “u”). As example
queso/cheese
quetzal/quezal
quitasol/parasol
Numbers
This week we continued work with the number 16. We had a fun time playing “counting fishes.” Be sure your child is touching the objects as they count! This makes for more one-to-one correspondence rather than the numbers just being a recitation.
by Sarah Segall | Apr 2, 2016 | Preschool
El sistema solar
This week we finished the solar system topic. The kiddos learned that The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor planets, and dust and gas. Everything in the Solar System orbits or revolves around the Sun.
We started our week doing an art project of how the earth rotates and orbits the sun, and how the moon does this to the earth too. We did a fun science experiment by making Jupiter fizz and dissolve. The kiddos were really exited doing this amazing science experiment!!!, and to finalize the week we did funny games related with to 
our solar system, we sang songs, reviewed the planets. Children chose a planet and orbited around the sun. We also we made a very fun Alien space hat.
Letras
We incorporated our touch investigation with the letter/ letra Jj. The kids practiced handwriting, we sang songs, read a book of the letter Jj, and identified the letter in our daily reading. The English letter Jj can be pronounced (hei). While the Spanish pronunciation is (jota, sounds like “h”). Examples we worked with this week were: jirafa/giraffe
jaula/cage
jugo/ juice
joya/jewel
Numeros
This week we worked with the number 16. We had a fun time playing educational games counting numbers with a die moving around of our solar system. The start counting activity, this was a great recognition and sequence number.
Have a great spring break !!!
by Sarah Segall | Mar 26, 2016 | Preschool
Sistema Solar
This week we continued working with the solar system. I am surprised how much my little ones can absorb. We learned that the sun is the center of our universe, and the sun gives us light and warmth. We started our week doing an amazing art project of the sun!! The kids place a big circle on a black construction paper, adding three different colors they mixed it. They used a perfect combination that seemed to be similar colors of our sun. They enjoyed mixing colors and making the sun rays. Also they learned that the moon and the earth are always together and that the earth spends 1 year to go around the sun. We reviewed that in our solar system we have 8 planets that orbit around the sun. The four planets nearest to the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the farthest of the sun.
Next week we are going to work describing each planet as the earth is the only planet with liquid water and Jupiter has more than 60 moons. Another project that we did this week was the name space rocket. The kiddos enjoyed making their names in each square, and placing stars around the rocket space. This also provided an opportunity to compare length of names. Some students had really short rockets while others had tall rockets.
Letras y Números
We incorporated our touch investigation with the letter/ letra Hh. The kids practiced handwriting, we sang songs, read a book of the letter Hh, and identified the letter in our daily reading. The English letter Hh can be pronounced (eich ). While the Spanish pronunciation is ( hache, while the “h” is silent ). Examples we worked with this week were: hilo / thread, hueso / bone, hoja / leaf, hormiga / ant, hada / fairy.
This week we continued working with the number 15. We had a fun time playing “moon rock throw”. The children were asked to throw 15 moon rocks (aluminum foil balls) into the can, this was a great eye coordination fun!! and sequence number.
Have a great weekend !!!
Macky
