Rivendell Preschool

Nǐ hǎo!

Preschoolers taking turns preparing, ordering, and eating at the Sushi Shop

Preschoolers are learning all about Asia! This week we explored new centers in the classroom with a sushi shop. We will be learning about different countries in Asia such as Russia, India, China, Japan, etc. Theres lots to learn, and more to explore! 

Placing stepping stones and looking for Koi fish in the pond
Making scrape artwork with paint in art class.
Using straws to blow branches to add flowers on Cherry Blossom trees.

Off To Asia We Go

Welcome back from Winter Break! We had a great first week back. We jumped right back into work sessions, projects, specials, and our new thematic unit-Asia.

The preschoolers will be travelling around Asia stopping at many different countries. We will explore the geography, clothing, language, food, architecture, holidays, and more.

In P.E. Jeff challenged us with a New Years’ resolution. We are going to get more exercise! He taught us 6 exercises-plank, tuck jump, burpees, balancing, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers. Each student chose a bean bag, that color represented which exercise they were going to do. We did a lot!

We worked on self-portraits in the classroom. We drew ourselves way back in September and now we our updating our portrait. Students are becoming aware of the parts of their body and portraying their idea of themselves on paper. We will do another self-portrait in April.

We are excited to dive into our study of Asia. Be on the lookout for the signs of our learning in the hallways and classroom!

‘Tis the week before winter break…

when all through the classroom, the children were playing and celebrating for holiday sake. The preschoolers learned about Santa Lucia and the tradition of wearing a wreath of candles and giving cookies to others.

There is a cookie shop set up in the classroom and the students have been baking cookies and even cleaning up afterward!

Students learned about the Tomten (Scandinavian gnome) who secretly takes care of animals on farms and in the wild. Sometimes though, he might choose to swipe a cookie off the cooling rack.

This is a great time of year to play make-believe games and work on our social- emotion curriculum.

Sleeping in the igloo.

Preschoolers got to hear the story of Hansel and Gretal and then decorate a gingerbread house. We also ate it too!

Have a warm and safe winter break!

O Tannenbaum

Hello families,

Winter Holiday season has finally arrived in the preschool classroom. There are signs of magic and holidays everywhere…

Tomten-a gnome like creature who comes out at night and helps take care of animals in your house or barn
Our holiday traditions posters
Paper chains-we worked on the skill of cutting strips of paper to make our chains
Coloring holiday cards
Decorating ornaments for our classroom trees

Other holidays that we will be celebrating are:

St. Nicholas Day, St. Lucia Day, Diwali, Hanukkah, Poinsettia Day, and Winter Solstice.

Hope you have a great week!

Our Week…

As we are leading up to Thanksgiving break, we are wrapping up our five senses unit and preparing to move on to winter holidays. During this unit we celebrate holidays from all parts of the world, tell fairy tales, make and share food, and bring magic into our rooms.

The preschoolers had such an amazing time at the Mercado. We got to practice our Spanish and were overjoyed with our purchases from the market.

In P.E. we have been having relay races. We are getting used to the process of one person going through the obstacle course then coming back and telling the next person to go. Jeff challenged us to go through the obstacle course forwards, backwards, and on tip toe feet!

In Science, we learned about the bones in our ears. We made our own music shakers and tried to guess mystery sounds.

The preschool teachers hope that everyone has a fun and safe Thanksgiving break. We will see you in December!

And eyes and ears and mouth and nose!

The preschoolers have been busy learning about the Five Senses (and that we actually have more than five) that help us to understand the world around us. Here the students are experimenting with their sense of sight, touch, and hearing. The preschoolers also wrote journal entries about their senses.

The Senses

We have jumped right in to our 5 senses thematic unit. We kicked off the unit talking about hearing and sight last week. Alison and Wendy’s class took a hearing and seeing field trip to Edora park on Friday. It was a chance to look and listen to nature. This week we will be learning all about the sense of touch and the sense of smell.

Happy Halloween Week

This week was filled with celebration and excitement with Halloween. In class, we accomplished a lot with small motor scissor snipping to make bats and ghosts. We also were able to paint our own Jack-o-Lanterns. We had so much fun creating decorations for our classrooms, for the Halloween parties! Thank you to all of the volunteers and families that help create such a wonderful experience for our preschoolers.

In art, we created more pumpkins with dots and lines. In Spanish, we have learned about Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and all in which that is celebrated in different cultures.

In science, we did not have class, but instead had a presentation about reptiles! The Northern Colorado Herpetological Society brought in an iguana, a box turtle, a bearded dragon, and a snake. We had the opportunity to touch all of these scaly creatures.

On Friday, we had a PJ, Pizza Party movie day! Thanks for all of the Fun Run donations to make this possible!

Next week, we will be starting our new unit about The Senses. We are looking forward to the new show-and-tell objects, and all we will learn!

Trying New Things in Preschool

Hello families,

In preschool we have been trying new things and working on new skills.

We are finishing up our reptiles and deserts unit. Students have really enjoyed sharing their Reptile Reports! Preschoolers got the chance to experience researching, writing, and presenting information in front of an audience. In turn, their classmates have gotten the chance to practice listening skills, comprehension skills, and how to ask a question.

Some new centers have been incorporated into our classrooms. We are completing tough puzzle projects like putting the entire alphabet in order while working with a small group. We are working with play doh and stampers to build our small motor skills. We are building our imaginations with puppets. And, we have been turning our kitchen area into a full service restaurant. This is a great way to practice our social skills-ordering from a menu, creating new dishes, and dealing with any unhappy customers 🙂 .

Rivendell Restaurant
Completing an alphabet puzzle cooperatively
Play doh creativity
Puppets are useful for many things

Finally, our parent reading sessions are an important and special part of preschool. Thank you to all parents who have read so far and to those who will read in the future.

Have a great week!

A Visit to a Pumpkin Patch

Walking through the corn maze at Bartel’s Farm.

The preschoolers took their very first field trip to a local pumpkin patch! We got to ride a yellow school bus to Bartel’s Farm, take a hayride, and search for the perfect pumpkin to take home.

We made it through the corn maze!

The preschoolers have also been working on their reptile journal pages.

Writing and illustrating

We Painted fall trees.

Stamping leaves!