Even though the weather can't make up it's mind, the TMO Thursday/Friday class is focusing on cold wintry weather in our classroom. We have started the new year talking about everything related to winter - snowflakes, sleet, snowmen, different cold weather animals (polar bears, penguins, hibernating animals), cold weather clothes, and cold weather.
During Circle Time the children have been dressing our "weather bear" paper doll for the cold. They always insist that he wear his "cool" sunglasses.
THE JACKET I WEAR IN THE SNOW by Shirley Neitzel has been a great compliment to our talk about appropriate cold weather clothes. This class loves books and other books we have been reading are: AMY LOVES THE SNOW (Julia Hobain), COLD WEATHER (Melvin and Hilda Berger), SNOWY WEATHER DAY (Istelle Feldman) and HOP TO THE TOP (Helen Lester). We try to get the children to talk about the stories and guess what will happen next. This helps them use new words and begin to organize their thoughts.
Since we have snow on our minds, we have been painting snowflakes and doing our "snow dances" - so beware!
To the children's great delight, we have introduced the sensory table (a large table filled with rice). They have enjoyed measuring and pouring and searching the rice for hidden items. This is a great place for all kinds of activities - fine motor, eye/hand coordination, exploration, sharing, group dynamics and fun! (They may come home with rice in their clothes and shoes!) As we continue our winter theme through this month and into February, we will also be talking more about the ideas of friendship and feelings. Since holiday break we have noticed your children wanting to play more "with each other". They are noticing each other's feelings more and are concerned if someone is upset. We always try to get them to use their words to identify their feelings and their friends. Two books we will be reading are: FRIENDS (Rachel Isadora) and THE FEELING BOOK (Todd Parr). THE FEELING BOOK is great. This colorful stick figure book depicts many different emotions and sets the tone that we all have different kinds of feelings and that's okay. Imitating the feelings and being silly is fun and gets everyone involved. We will be making Valentines to share.
Snack time continues to be enjoyed by all. We are now having fruit and cheese prepared by the snack room moms. Any donation of fruit will be greatly appreciated and we still encourage you to send in other healthy snacks. (The children love pretzels and Nutrigrain bars.) Thank you so much.
Please remember to send hats and gloves (please label them). We will go outside unless it's realllllly freezing. Like Amy, in AMY LOVES SNOW, we might have to go outside to catch snowflakes on our tongues! We are having so much fun with your children.
Nancy and Christine
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