Apple Orchard

 Today we are going to the Apple Orchard!

On the way we came across an enormous pumpkin!

There were so many apples on the trees and on the ground!

Way up high in the apple tree, two little apples were looking at me, I shook that tree just as hard as I could, down came an apple and yum...it was good!

 We learned how the workers picked apples and how they get to the store where my mom and dad buy them for me to eat!

"I Cannot tell a lie"

                             What does it mean to you 'to be honest'?

            Honesty means you tell the truth...even when it is hard!

We discussed the story told about George Washington that showed his honesty. George made a bad choice and knew he had done something to make his father angry, yet when his father asked who had damaged his prized tree, young George told his father "I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my ax, father."
Telling the truth is important, so others learn to trust us and believe in the things we say.

Our classroom tree is growing! With love, sunshine and water, our seed has sprouted roots and we now have a full fledged tree trunk on our wall.

(That is not a spider under the tree...it is the seed and it's roots.)

We are branching out!

today we pretended we were apple trees.

Jude with his strong branches reaching toward the sun.

Monday, October 8th is our walking field trip to the apple orchard. Make sure you have a coat or jacket that is weather appropriate.

In following the Alpine school District's calendar, there will be

 no preschool Friday, October 12th and Monday, October 15th.

Parts of a Tree

This week we are exploring the various parts of a tree:

                  The seed is the beginning of a tree. It needs water, love

                                               and sunlight.

The roots grow from the seed and help the tree stay strong and tall.

This is Mia's Gorgeous Autumn tree. Look at those strong roots!

The roots of a tree, spread out almost as far as the branches. 

The trunk holds up the tree,

 tells its age and holds the bulk of the weight.

One of the new found loves during free time is making the highest domino tower. These kids have some serious balancing skills!

Best Buddies Noah and Bridger help each other learn!  

Heather and Alyssa have been working extra hard this week on the number 3.

We use Body Language

We use body language everyday. We practiced using happy body language, sad body language, angry body language, and even surprised body language.

We discussed the fact that humans are not the only ones that use body language.

We pretended we were cats today.

We learned how they use their bodies when they are happy, 

when they are sad,

when they are interested in something,

and when they are scared.

   

We have also become very good at team work!

I made a mistake but I like myself!

Today we read another adventure of our friend P J Funnybunny. Today he decided he just didn't like being a bunny anymore. He tried being a bear, a beaver, a moose, a dirty pig, a possum, and a stinky skunk, but he realized he made a mistake and realized he liked himself! He liked being a bunny. Sometimes we make mistakes, but we need to fix it and move on and be happy and like ourselves. We learned today to say 

" I made a mistake but I like myself!"

just like P J Funnybunny.

We are busy learning to write the numbers 1 and 2 this month. The number 1 was a breeze, the number two has been a little harder to master. Keep practicing at home and we will keep working on it at school.

In our homework folder today these two rooms are coming home. Ask us to explain to you how many kids sleep in the bedroom and how many kids play in the playroom. Then ask the big question -if you have two kids and you add one more kid how many kids do you have?

We designed our very own purple,blue patterns today. Each one of the children came up with some very unique designs.

One of the play stations this week is ABC sugar cookies. The boys have loved these. They are so amazed  that they recognize many of the letters in the jar!

Another popular station has been the dots. This takes a lot of thought and group discussion, I enjoy watching them work together.

My Circle of Friends

We can have many, many friends. Today we learned that there is always room for one more in our circle of friends.

Today our circle of friends made some beautiful purple and blue things together.

Ff is for Flamingo. We think Pink Flamingos are ffffunny!

Mia

 We are learning to use scissors. Heather is going to show us a few things to ease your child's frustrations at home:

 Make sure your child holds the scissors in his or her writing hand with the thumb up towards the sky.Your child’s thumb should be in the smaller hole and the second and third fingers (or pointer and long fingers) should be in the larger hole of the scissors. Then make sure that your child holds the paper with the other hand.

When cutting the hand that is not holding the scissors is called the Helper Hand. Make sure that your child uses the helper hand to turn and adjust the paper rather than moving the scissors around the paper. If your child is cutting with his or her right hand cut counterclockwise. If your child is cutting with his or her left hand cut clockwise.

                             Remember: Thumbs to the sky

                                                                                   

The Grouchy Ladybug

Today in our quest to learn more about feelings we read a wonderful story about an unlikable ladybug that will not share.  She is confrontational, ill-mannered, and just plain grouchy.  The story begins very early in the morning with two ladybugs arriving to feast on a bunch of aphids covering a leaf.  The grouchy ladybug will not share so she heads off angrily to pick on someone bigger to fight.  She travels for twenty-four hours and ends up right back where she started only somewhat more contrite and a little wiser for the wear.  In this entertaining story, there are lessons about the passage of time, relative sizes, and the importance of manners and being nice. 

Each child had a chance to decide whether they were more like the grouchy ladybug or the nice ladybug. We found several grouchy ladybugs in our preschool room today...let me introduce you:

                                   Grouchy Bridger

                                   Grouchy Heather

                                     Grouchy Gage

                                    Grouchy Haley

                                    Grouchy Alyssa

                                   Grouchy Zaden

                                   Grouchy Mia

                                  Grouchy Cayson

                                  Grouchy Noah

Playing games like match the number of spots on the Ladybug and making Patterns with Ladybugs and flowers made most of our grouchies go away.

Today, we also received our very first homework folders. Tonight we have real homework. We get to practice making patterns with mom and dad, we need to write Ff four times and return it to Miss Julie on Friday, and oh-boy, we get to count the eggs in the refrigerator.