hum “i’m a little teapot” and then use these words:
i’m a volcano wide and tall (arms wide, then tall):
i am so strong, i will not fall (show big arm muscles).
when i am ready you will see (crouch down and tremble):
lava bursting out of me (jump up and use arms as exploding lava):
at the first circle time i invited preschoolers to start thinking of something they wished they could do. about an hour later we gathered again and wrote down the ideas. then there were paper strips to glue (a bit like new years fireworks?). these are posted in our display cases, so i want to have them here for families who don’t make it down to the classroom.
happy new year.
p.s. we have a few more preschool friends to hear from, we’ll get there!
more than half of our current preschoolers were here last year and had ms. viliya as a teacher.
with limited success, we skyped each other. it was nice to see a glimpse of each other and hear that familiar voice.
after all, i is for indonesia!
i’ve started bringing some of my home playmobil pieces to preschool. we’ve had good luck keeping them in their own space. no lost pieces yet.
it is encouraging for me to watch children play with teeny tiny pieces in slow and small movements.
i made a photocopy of some items for the children to match. oh, they like this.
for ice week, i brought the ice bergs.
i was surprised at the strong desire for flags. straws, labels and crayons suited just fine.
i’m not sure who is more excited….them or me.
edited to add: it seems that this post takes extra long to load…sorry!
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i told my preschool classes i would post photos of the fire we made inside an “igloo” in our yard two winters ago.
we gathered the snow from around the yard (under trees where it hadn’t melted: a corner of the lean-to roof still in shade, under the trampoline…), dropped it all into a big mound,
dug out a hole with a hoe,
used the handle to make a “chimney” vent,
had sally bring us the fire starters,
and built. a. fire.
it didn’t melt!
it was magical.
then we came out after supper with blankets and jammies.
magical
magical
magical
if we get enough snow at preschool, we’ll do it! you can at home, too!
two sheets and some duct tape made a cozy igloo for the week. 
inside were “cold weather” books and more white sheets.
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labels as “ice blocks” from the thrift shop were stuck on pre-cut igloo shaped paper.
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we used lots of glue and white things to make a big igloo. once dry it found a home at circle time with some big books. the children moved white sheets over to cover up in snow. : )
get one.
add a duct tape strap if too many rock start moves are happening, nearly breaking the instrument.
friday morning jam session using real instruments: ukulele, accordian and hands
my valentine to preschoolers this year was an i spy bottle.
inside there are white beans, heart beads, mini valentine erasers, jewels and mirrors.
plus a secret message.
i’m counting on the preschoolers leaving the bottles taped up tightly! : )
preschool families and friends have been collecting milk lids for us.
thank you!
since it is m week we’ve been sorting by color. we’ve noticed that in the tens of milk lids there are, there is only one brown lid. come on, let’s drink some chocolate milk!
the next phase of this activity is arranging them into words, letter groups, abc order, etc. for some of our kids we explored spacing between letters. learning that when there is a “finger space” between letters that means they are different words. sometimes it was fun to do that on purpose. like a joke. hee hee hee.
we noticed how many letters can become other letters simply by turning them.
kevin can become keviz and can easily become kevin again! more funny stuff.
keep bringing those milk lids…we have more projects in mind!
