The Preschool Buzz This Week

In the Beehive Preschool this past week, students have been busily working on many projects, such as matching colors, shapes, and objects, making bread dough, practicing counting, and phonics. The picture below was taken while working on matching colors, shapes, and objects.

The next activity students had the opportunity to experience was baking bread. This was part of the whole school interdisciplinary unit on Autumn and Harvest. First, the teacher explained what ingredients were needed in order to make bread dough. Flour (comes from wheat, which is harvested and then ground into flour) water, salt, sugar and yeast. The students were then able to use their sense of smell while pouring in the yeast and kneading the dough. Students were then asked the following units of inquiry:

• How many sausage like shapes do you need to form your name?
  
• Trace along the letter of your name, count how many pieces you need.
  
• Touch and form the dough into sausages by rolling it in between the palms of your hands and then form the letter of your name.
  
• Place the letter onto a baking sheet. The teacher then puts it into a hot oven.
  
• Students learned opposites such as the dough they just made is cold, and the oven is hot.

The students really enjoyed this activity. There is really nothing like the smell of bread baking in the oven and knowing that you created it yourself. Way to go preschoolers! Below is a picture collage of that activity.

Next, students spent time practicing counting. In circle time, they sang one little, two little, three little fingers until they reached the number ten and then did the same backwards. They were then expected to find three items that are in the classroom: acorns, chestnuts, and apples, for example, pointing to each object as they counted.

Lastly, students have been focusing on phonics. They practiced phonics by drawing numbers in the sand. Using their finger, they traced over the sandpaper number 3. Then, they tried to write the number 3 in the sand. Their vocabulary words this week were hat, horse, hair, helicopter, hedgehog, harvest and Halloween. The children had to put their hand inside Mr. Frog’s mouth, take out and name and the the item which Mr. Frog had eaten. Students were asked to name the item with emphasis on the “H”. They then were asked to trace along the “H” with their finger and then trace over the "H, h" on their worksheet. Here are some great photos of them hard at work.

Can't wait to see what they will be up to next week. I am sure there will be great photos from their Halloween celebrations.