Little Giants at play!

The "Rainbow Window"



Heike and Kate present "Rainbow Window", a multi-media art piece created by the Little Giants which will be part of the live auction at this Friday's benefit at the Deerpath Inn in Lake Forest.

It's not too late to get your tickets and join us!

 

 

Say Cheese - It is Picture Day!

 

Picture Day is May 2, at 9 am. The photographer, from Small World Photography will take pictures at school then offer a set package for optional purchase about 2 weeks later.

* If would like to be included in the class picture and have individual pictures taken, please arrive by 9 am.

 

Winding up Letter Fun

Our focus on exploring letters has been rich.  We have explored the alphabet via play dough, paint, cutting/gluing, water, chalk, beads and many other ways.   We have been "letter detectives" and have found objects around our room that begin with each letter sound of the alphabet.  We even made our own ABC book!



Mrs. Fieldman reads our very own published ABC book!

Tommy sorts and plays with letter tiles.

The children paint letters to create an alphabet display
 in our classroom.

Elsa and Henry paint the "Z" together.

 

Brooke uses letters that all of the children helped to
 cut out to make her name.

Daniel, magnifying glass in hand, goes on a hunt for
objects as a "letter detective".  He later found a toy
dinosaur for the letter "D".

Using the Art Studio


Recently, we added some materials to our art studio.  The children helped to sort them and organize them so they would have an opportunity to explore them as well as feel invested in taking care of them.  Then we provided a couple of "no glue" days where the children could play and arrange the materials into "non-permanent" art.  By the third day, they were itching to glue!!!  So, they created the fabulous faces you see displayed outside our classroom.  Isn't it wonderful how unique and creative each one is??  Just like our children!!!

NO GLUE DAY ARRANGEMENTS...

                  

TIME TO GLUE...

On to Earth Day and Spring

As a kick-off to new focus, Mrs. Nemcek and the children are doing an experiment!  They put lima bean seeds in plastic bags with wet paper towels and hung them in the window.  What will happen?  Will they grow without soil?  We'll have to watch and see.

In the meantime, we've been reading books about plants and spring, including The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle and Watch Over Our Water. In celebration of Earth Day, we have declared ourselves "Earth Savers" and we will learn more about how we can be kind to the Earth. We've also read The Ugly Duckling and like to help Mrs. Carlson sing "The Ugly Duckling" song.


Next week we plan to do a garden project with some of the HS students!


The Circus

A week ago last Friday, we had the wonderful opportunity to watch "a circus" as the closing event of FOCUS on the Arts at HPHS.  We joined all of the HS students in the main gym to watch acrobats, unicycle riders and jugglers.  We are so lucky to have these neat opportunities at Highland Park High School!

Waiting for the circus to begin...

Daddy and Niko

Outside Play

Our playground may not look like much at first, but you would be surprised what amazing, creative things happen out there!  Our "loose object" building area is always being transformed by the children as they communicate, problem solve and work together to create new climbing and imaginative play structures.  We also just recently filled our boat with sand and now have  a wonderful sandbox!  Within the next two weeks, we will add a 4' by 8' raised garden!  Mrs. Carlson and the playground committee are working on a few more elements.  If you see any small climbing toys (slides, small playhouse, a tire or two, a small picnic table, etc.) or large plastic flower planters/pots during HP's curbside pick-up days, grab them for us!!!

 

 Reminders:

• Please send your child with a sack lunch on Apr. 23 and 24.  We will provide milk.  No peanut products please.
• Picture Day is May 2, at 9 am. The photographer will take pictures at school then offer a set package for optional purchase about 2 wks later.

More pics...

Sweet dreams...

Community Rocks!!!

WE LOVE OUR CHILDREN AND

THAT'S WHY YOU NEED A NIGHT OUT!

 

Support HP Community and come to the Benefit on April 26th!

 

 Mrs. Carlson, Mrs. Nemcek and Mrs. Fieldman

want to party with you!!!!

 

(Wait...is that possible?  Yes, it is!  It is a little known fact that preschool teachers actually live outside the walls of the school, can wear high heels, get the paint out from under their nails and be the life of the party!  Come witness it yourself!)

 

So far, we have only ONE parent who has RSVP'd! (Say it ain't so!)

 

Everyone should have gotten invitations by now (in your child's file folder).  Please come for a lovely evening of dinner, live auction and wonderful adult company as we celebrate Community and Jean Wallace-Baker's contributions to our school over the past 31 years. 

 

This magnificent, 40"x48", one-of-a-kind multi-media piece will be part of the live auction.  It was created by ALL the children of Community (including the Little Giants!) with the help of our fabulous art teacher, Heather Lowery.

 

        

                                                     Close-ups of the piece

                                                               

 

The entire piece, a montage of individual 4"x4" canvases,
created by each child in Community.

Please do your best to attend.  Community is a non-profit, 501(C) 3 organization that has been serving our community for over 62 years.  If you aren't able to attend, we hope you will sell some raffle tickets (included in your invitation)--with 10 great raffle packages to choose from, there's sure to be something for everyone!

Need a babysitter?  Mrs. Carlson and Mrs. Fieldman can recommend a few!  Share a sitter with one of the other daycare families and not only will the children have a great time, you can save a little money too!

Planets Galore and More!

 

 

Creating Our Own Planets

 

As part of our planet exploration, the children were invited to design and make their own planets.  First they drew plans in their space journals, then they referred to their plans when spraying paper globes with liquid watercolor.  Then the added details, such as rings, clouds and spots, to their plans and then used studio materials to add these details to their planets.  Be watching for the planets to appear hanging from our classroom ceiling soon!

 



 

 

 

  New Focus: Exploring Letters

Of her own initiative, Brooke writes letters at the light table.

This week we launched a new exploration around letters.  As we begin this new adventure, we're asking that you keep an eye out for when your child is noticing and/or commenting about letters or other symbols (numbers, etc.) in the environment. Make note and let us know. It is completely expected for children in our class to be at all different stages.  Some recognize all of their letters, some only a few.  Some know a lot of letter sounds, some are just learning.  We, as teachers, are offering children play experiences to explore letters at whatever stage they are.  While they play and explore, they learn from the activities and from each other!  If you have any ABC books at home, we'd love for your child to bring them in to share with the class. 

Jonah (left) finds a "J" for his name and Henry (above)
practices the sign language alphabet using a book we
read in class.

Emmett plays with Scrabble tiles, builds his name, then copies it.

Heike figures out how to build everybody's names with limited tiles!

Calendar

Everyday, Mrs. Fieldman leads the children in calendar activities.  This consistent experience is one way to help integrate math into an everyday activity.  The children not only learn to identify the month, day and date, but they also get experience counting and patterning.  Songs help them learn the days of the week and months of the year.  Talking about the weather is also part of the calendar experience.  The class calendar helper is a coveted job and changes every day.

 

The Play Environment

The classroom environment in our school acts almost like another teacher in the room.  It is thoughtfully set up to provide children with a variety of sensory, creative, and/or experiential opportunities from which to learn.  Children learn not only by interacting with and manipulating materials, but also by interacting with each other, comparing ideas and, in many cases, co-constructing understanding about the world around them.  Below are but a few of the recent rich play activities the children have had...

 

Many children enjoy playing creatively with the new Pegasus and Unicorn figurines.

Duplo blocks provide a physical building challenge as well as a
pretend, make-believe element.

Building w/ plastic cups is an exercise in balance, patience, and cooperation.

Brooke and Kate do water color on a large mural paper.

Ramps and cars are always a favorite and a lesson in physics.

 

Gross motor play in the hallway after the HS students have gone home
is good exercise and fun!

Music with Ms. Carol adds music and movement elements.

 

The marble maze toy is challenging and requires problem-solving
and cooperation with friends.

 

Heike has some alone time in this special space.

The light table provides another sensory experience.

Children get practice cutting and gluing and creating at the art studio and table.

 Playground Update

 

The Playground Development Team is trying to regroup and get some new elements on place on the playground this spring.  Be looking for some additions which will include:

• a foot bridge near the boat
• sand filling the boat, making it a sandbox
• more loose objects for creative building
• sound elements on the fence and/or in the trees
• garden elements

Using loose parts like a heavy cardboard tube, a tire, and a bench,
the children built (with careful teacher supervision!) this amazing
one-of-a-kind climber.  They worked together and were so proud!

 

Sometimes we just need to rest...

 

 

 Reminders:

 

On April 23rd and 24th, the HS cafeteria will be closed so please send your child with a sack lunch.  We will provide milk.  Remember, no peanut products, please.