Our community helpers theme has been a great success so far! The free choice time has been a great time to try out new activities and pretend to be helpers in the community.
Grocery Store!
The children are learning that food and dishes cost money! They are using the play credit cards and coins to pay for their groceries, dishes, and utensils.The children put on rubber gloves and used droppers to make a rainbow of colors. They were pretending to be scientists, using their imagination to what the liquids were and how the colors would mix together. (I hope that this project cured the ailments that were going around in the classroom!)
In the balcony area, it has been transformed into a doctor's office. The children took care of each other, gave each other shots, and listened to heartbeats. At the light table they were able to investigate real x-rays. Also, they were able to operate on Buzz Lightyear. Some very successful surgeons!
The JK students built an airport, constructed railways, and put together tall buildings in the construction zone!
We also had our JK firefighters putting out fires all day! And we were so happy to have Captain Fochs from the Evanston Fire Department come in and teach us about fire safety and how his job helps the community!
Officer Ron from the Evanston Police Department came in too. He showed us his uniform, talked to us about stranger danger, and told us about how he protects us and keeps us safe.
Thanks to Macy's mom for coming in to read us a special St. Patrick's Day story! The kids loved it and we loved the special treats in our mailboxes from Macy!!! Thank you and we hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick's Day.
We spent some quality time outside! We welcome Spring with open arms. The kids were so happy to be outside on the tricycles and we will do a safety town next week if the weather stays this nice!
Centers this week focused on a variety of skills!
In the math center, the kids explored coins. They learned to identify the penny, nickel, dime and quarter. We made a list of what each coin looks like and the size of the coin. We sang a song about how much each coin was worth. Some kids were able to add multiple coins together to find the total value! We talked about all the things we can buy with money, which tied in nicely with our theme.
In the Language Arts center, the children read a book called, Helpers. They tracked the words, found popcorn words, and made a list of community helpers!
In the Fine Motor center, the children used their small motor skills to operate on Buzz Lightyear! This was a very fun way for them to strengthen their finger muscles, use patience, take turns, follow directions, and learn more about how a doctor operates:)
In the technology center, the children listened to Bob the Builder on tape, and they used the Leap Pads to interact with Bob the Builder, Tad the Farmer, and Thomas the Train books.
We really have been enjoying the exploration of the community helpers! We look forward to visits from some of our parents in the next few weeks.
Because of Palio and the community helper visitors next week we will not do center activities but we will work in small groups on reading skills, and social studies projects.
