Post Office/Bakery

The OLES post office and bakery are open for business!  Over the last few days, the preschoolers have been carefully writing their names on holiday cards & letters and addressing their package labels so that postal workers can deliver them to their friends.  It is exciting to watch their communication, literacy and dramatic play skills increase as they take on the different roles in this center.  While the two centers seem very different, they actually complement each other nicely.  In the preschooler's eyes, the bakery gives purpose to the post office.  Since many of the preschoolers have had minimal life experiences with the post office or receiving mail, the concept of sending packages/goodies to their loved ones helps to bridge this gap of understanding.  Our aim is to focus on the language behind these types of jobs and to encourage the preschoolers to interact with each other in a positive manner.  Sending and receiving packages to their friends encourages just that.

In the bakery, the preschoolers are able to make many delicious baked goods.  First, we have them choose a recipe card to follow.  Then, they collect the ingredients that they will need to make their food item.  Lastly, the preschoolers are encouraged to bake the dough, batter, etc. and then package or prepare it so that they can mail it to someone else.  It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

                                        

                           

 

Bears/Forest

                                        
 

During our Bears/Forest thematic unit, the preschoolers learned about nature & the animals that live in the forest.  Each day, they were able to explore a dark cave, fish like a bear and help the chipmunks & squirrels to hide nuts for the upcoming winter months.  The preschoolers learned what different kinds of bears eat, what they look like and why they hibernate.  As the preschoolers were actively playing in the forest, they were also learning many new vocabulary words & practicing their social/communication skills.

The preschoolers were also able to observe real items from nature such as fall leaves, acorns and pine cones in the forest.  They loved using the magnifying glass tools in this center.  The best part was that their excitement for learning led to many great discussions about the forest and season of fall/autumn.  In fact, the preschoolers were so excited to observe items from nature that they began looking for seeds, leaves, sticks and other items from nature everywhere they went!  They were bringing me items from home, the playground, etc. to add to the center daily.  We used this opportunity to have them practice their talking.  When they would bring something in, they would give their friends clues about what they had brought.  Their friends had to listen to the clues and guess what it was.  

During the last week of the thematic unit, we focused on the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  We read various versions of the story and compared the stories' similarities and differences.  The preschoolers favorite part was acting out the stories and using their "Big Papa" voice or "Baby Bear" voice.  This was exciting to see because it showed that they not only had comprehension of the story through listening, but that they were hearing the differences in my tone of voice & emulating it.

 

 

 

The Apple Orchard

The apple orchard has encouraged many fun conversations over the past few weeks.  However, it has also given the preschoolers many opportunities to practice a variety of math skills.  They have been picking apples and sorting them into groups by color, shape, size, real/pretend apples & even by stem/no stem.  The preschoolers have also been counting apples, graphing apples and making ABAB patterns with real and pretend apples.  Lastly, the preschoolers have enjoyed using a balancing scale  weigh the apples & compare them as well as to sell the apples to their friends. 

Last week, we had an apple/apple products tasting party.  We tasted over 14 different apple products as well as a variety of fresh apple slices!  Their favorite apple items were the apple slices, the applesauce and the apple juice. Yum!  Overall, it's been a delicious learning experience for all.

    

  

  

  

  

Howdy folks...here are some pics from the farm

   

 

        

There is something special about the uniqueness of a child's artwork

Each week in preschool, we work on various areas of development.  One area that is extremely important for the preschoolers to practice is that of fine motor control.  Fine motor control is imperative for accomplishing self care skills independently.  (Some examples of self care skills are:  opening a lunch box, zipping/unzipping a coats, buttoning buttons, tying shoe laces, holding eating utensils or writing utensils independently, etc.) 

While we work on these skills in a variety of ways around the classroom, we always work on these skills when completing our weekly, visual arts projects.  In preschool, we choose our art projects based on the students' language targets.  We model and use appropriate language structures during our visual arts lessons.  However, we are also working on important, functional communication skills and social skills during this time.  Additionally, the visual arts lessons give us the opportunity to expose the preschoolers to variety of art materials, textures and smells that they might come across in their environment. 

After the art projects are completed, we encourage the preschoolers to give their friends positive feedback or compliments.  We try to focus on the efforts of each child, not necessarily on the finished product.  However, this is a learning process that takes time to master.  Lastly, we hang their artwork around the classroom to show that we appreciate their efforts, their uniqueness and to give them another reason to talk to one another.  Don't worry, at the end of the month, you will receive your child's original works of art to display at home.  :)

In the end, I truly love looking at the artwork of young children.  A child's artwork can highlight their uniqueness, their strengths, their emotions and it can also tell you a lot about their overall development.  While the preschoolers may not paint like Monet at this point in their lives, we can encourage them to do their best & to work on their fine motor control in the process.
 

 

 

Language Experience

  

  

In life, it's easier to talk about something that you are familiar with or about something that you have done, than to talk about something that you have never experienced.  This is exactly what we aim to accomplish in the oral preschool class.  During an activity that we call language experience, we aim to give our students, real-life experiences that they can talk about at home or anywhere else.

Each experience provides the preschoolers with an activity that will encourage them to communicate effectively with their peers & other adults using spoken language.  During the activity, the preschoolers are exposed to the language of many different smells and tastes as well as other sensory input.  We also model our language in a way that encourages our students to communicate with others effectively.  In the end, because our students have actively participated in this activity, they should be able to talk about the experience with others.

While the activity is the same for each child, the instructional goals are individualized so that the entire experience is purposeful and challenging for each student based on his or her current language level.  The speech pathologists and I carry out these language experiences in a small group on Wednesdays & Fridays.  The lessons are planned to compliment our class's monthly themes so that the preschoolers have extra exposure to our targeted vocabulary words.  While we don't always have a tangible product at the end of the experience, we take pictures of the process to include in a book that will go home with each child.  Please read this book with your child and see how much he/she can tell you about the experience. 

Here are a few examples of some of our preschoolers' finished products.  Remember, it's all about the process and the learning experience itself, not the final product.  :)