So much has happened since I posted last.  I'll try to catch you up!

Our new and greatly improved Outdoor Classroom has been installed and is being enjoyed by the kids every day.  There are LOTS of centers out there and we are all having a great time.  Let me show you some of our new areas. 

This isn't new but we've added some more blocks and other loose parts to the playground to use with these amazing interlocking wooden blocks--imagine what you could build with these!

 



 

This is the other side of our building area.  There are LOTS of blocks, bricks, wood pieces and other items on the tables and look at that stage!  (Which my husband built...)

This is our science area--there are a lot of things in here to explore.

The climbing area...

Messy materials for large building...

The music area...

 

 

The dirt digging area....

 

 

The nature art area, which includes two large easels, tables with materials to create art with,

 



 

The garden area has child-sized real tools, buckets for watering, and of course, rotting pumpkins.  Our favorite!

 

In addition to these, there are also sand and water areas, balancing areas, and lots of open space to run.  

Turkey Class Books

Another class book, this one made up by the children in my class.  They are AUTHORS!

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (as told by my preschool class)

 

 

Our class LOVES to make books. Little ones, big ones, whole class ones, ABC books, any kind of books.

 

One day we noticed a bunch of caterpillars on our playground and brought a couple in to live for a while.  After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, I noticed that some of my friends were drawing pictures of the caterpillar and various illustrations from the book.  The rule in our classroom is that if the children are interested in something, we're going with it.  So we discussed (as we always do when we read) the author and illustrator and what each of them do.  I asked if they would like to be authors and illustrators, and they wrote the words the way they remembered them and drew the pictures based on the book.

 

 

This type of activity supports VPK standards and school readiness because they are practicing retelling familiar stories, using fine motor skills while writing, thinking about and planning what they wanted to write about, forming letters and learning from each other.  They are very proud of this book!