Rivendell Preschool

Deserts, reptiles and SNOW???

Our deserts and reptile unit is in full swing. Reptile reports are trickling in and being shared daily. It is so exciting to learn about these fascinating creatures. This week, we will learn that there are deserts all around the world. We will also discuss the different plants and animals that make their home in the desert.

We have officially had our first snow of the year. Thank you so much for sending your child with all of the cold weather gear. We head out for recess whenever the temperature is above 18 degrees. Gloves are essential. Our preschoolers little fingers tend to get very cold!!!

Welcome Fall!

This week we finished our journal writings about what we know about Ancient Egypt. We also finished our King Tut cutting projects. What hard workers!
After wrapping up Egypt, we have started introducing things about Fall. The weather has turned cooler, and we have noticed that some leaves have started turning different colors.

We are starting a new unit, Deserts and Reptiles! There was a research paper sent home with a different reptile. We hope there is a lot of discussion at home about these different reptiles, and can’t wait for them to be shared at school!

This will be a short unit that will be wrapped up right before Halloween!

We enjoyed seeing all of you at the back-to-school night Food Truck rally. Thanks for being apart of our Rivendell family.

Wrapping up Egypt

Hello Preschool Families,

We are wrapping up our mummies, pyramids, and pharaohs in the preschool classroom this week. As we finish our last projects, we look forward to our next unit-deserts and reptiles!

Two of our final projects are our journal pages and our cutting project. Our first cutting project focused on the skill of bilateral tearing. Now, we are practicing how to snip paper. Our journal pages help us to remember what we have learned about Ancient Egypt. We also get a chance to practice our handwriting skills.

We are enjoying projects in Art, making new friends, and trying new activities in the classroom. We are having fun!

And speaking of fun…thank you to EVERYONE who came to cheer us on at the Fun Run! We are so proud of our runners.

Have a great week!

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Working on beginning sounds.

Working hard!

 

Drawing cactus in art class.

 

Working on classification.

 

Friends working together to carry a heavy load.

 

Working on classification.

 

Friends working together.

 

Friends working on building a block structure together.

Pyramids, pharaohs and hieroglyphics, oh my!

This week we jumped right in to ancient Egypt. Our circle time and small group time has been dedicated to furthering our understanding of this fascinating period of time. We have answered questions like, “What was life like for children?” and “Did the Egyptians play games?”. By answering these questions, we are able to make connections from our own lives to people who lived in ancient times.

Dates to remember:

  • September 27 Fun Run 9-9:30
  • October 3 Food Truck Rally 5:15-6:45
  • October 4 RPA Meeting 8:30 am
  • October 10 Picture Day
  • October 11 & 18 Parent-Teacher Conferences
  • October 18 Fun Fest

Balancing Our Way Into Preschool

Using the Balance scale
Writing our names
Playground time!
Spanish with Brenda

                 This week we started to introduce the word “Balance.” What does that mean? How can we do that with our bodies? Can we achieve that with toys or a balancing scale? Our curiosities took us to some pretty fantastic discussions.
                 With our third week wrapped up, we have our classroom routines down pretty well. How to line up to go to Spanish, Art, Music, and PE.. How to set up our rest mats, open our lunches, and clean our classroom. We have Balanced with blocks and building towers and have Balanced out meals in the kitchen center. We have learned to Balance our day through play, and working hard! 
                We have completed (most of us) writing our names, maybe even for the first time, and drawing self-portraits. And, they look fantastic! Can’t wait to see what the next week brings!

Balancing some quiet time
Building with Blocks

Week 1 of School is Done!

Hello Rivendell families,

Can you believe that first full week of school is over? Time has flown by this week as we have been learning all sorts of school routines. We have routines for the bathroom, cleaning up from centers, coming inside from recess, and the list goes on. These preschoolers are doing a FANTASTIC job of learning routines and following directions. And this is just the beginning!

One project that both classes worked on this week is “The Kissing Hand Project”. We read the classic book The Kissing Hand. This is a story about a young raccoon overcoming his worries to go to school for the first time. This project is the first in our preschool cutting curriculum which focuses on the skill of bilateral tearing. As we progress in our curriculum we will move from tearing to snipping.

It wasn’t all work this week, we also did a LOT of playing out on the playground. Outdoor recess is an important time in our day. We go out whether it is rain, snow, or sun. On the playground we practice many important skills. We might be learning how to negotiate the use of the wagon. We might be strengthening our legs on the bikes. Or, we might be going down a tall slide for the first time. The preschoolers enjoy their outdoor recess and the teachers enjoy watching these new experiences unfold.

We can’t wait to see what we learn next week!

Finding our Footing

Students took time last week to learn about each other and about their school.

The first job in the mornings when coming to class is answering the “Question of the Day”. Here one student searches for her name and then answers the question.

Next, preschoolers wash hands before playing with toys.

Some of the preschoolers like to wave goodbye to moms and dads before starting to play.

The students are beginning to make friends and explore the different centers in the room.

On Friday, Both preschool classes went on a gingerbread man hunt! The gingerbread man left us clues around the school which we needed to find.

Then back to our room!!

Thank you so much for choosing Rivendell!

Time Flies…

Hello Rivendell Families,

We cannot believe that we are so close to the end of the school year. These last weeks are even busier than normal and filled with many exciting events.

One of these exciting events was Colorado Day. Colorado history is our final school wide thematic unit. We will be talking about all things Colorado-geography, the flag, and state symbols. We are working on our last cutting project during this unit. We are challenging the students to complete this project independently using all of the skills they have learned so far. We are also working on the skill of cutting out a circle. Colorado Day was our introduction to this thematic unit. We went around to amazing stations and then ended with a picnic lunch outside together. Enjoy some photos!

The preschool teachers want to say thank you to all of the parents who were a part of Rivendell Readers this year. The students very much enjoyed having a parent join their classroom to share a love of literacy. The students have been read over 50 books this year! That extra time that our students have experienced literature in the classroom is invaluable to their learning. So, thank you for spending this special and meaningful time with us!

Stay tuned for more exciting end of the year events!

10 Teacher Appreciation Breakfast
20 Spring Program 5:30 PM-please arrive by 5:15- no aftercare that day
22 Field Day-all students are welcome
24 Last Day of School-students must be picked up by 11:30 am- no lunch service

A week in the life of the Rivendell Preschool classes

Reminders for upcoming events:

Monday April 22nd, 5:30pm-7:00pm Dickies BBQ Rivendell Restaurant Night

Wednesday, April 24th 2:30pm, preschoolers perform musical for students/staff

Friday, April 26th, 9:00am, preschoolers perform musical for families

Friday, April 26th is also crazy hat day for the preschoolers as well as Egg Drop ( please bring your egg drop creation in the morning during drop off ).

A week in the life of the preschool rooms….

The preschoolers have been practicing their songs, lines and movements for their musical. They are excited to share their talents with their Rivendell peers and families this week. The musical will be performed on Wed, April 24th at 2:30pm for the staff and students and again on Friday, April 26th at 9:00am for their families.

Last Tuesday, the students were provided the opportunity to learn how to extract the DNA from a strawberry.

The week concluded with a celebration of our Earth on Friday. The students were involved in 6 activities throughout the day. The students started their day by decorating a reusable bag, continued with a trash/recycle sort, worked with some volunteers from the city about how we recycle, reused materials to make something new to play with, reused caps to make some signs, and gathered together to sing songs with our Rivendell family.