Mrs. Hannah's Kinder-Prep: All About Me

It's been a great start to Kinder Prep at LAP this year! We've had so much fun making new friends, learning new things, and playing together this week in our little class. Our theme for the week was, "All About Me," so we talked a lot about all the things that set us apart and make us special from each other. We also talked a lot about our rules and routines in the morning, on the carpet, during class play, during class work time, during our green room (Minds in Motion) time, and our outside play time. Since we have some friends who have never been in a classroom environment, it's been a little tough to sit still on the carpet for some, but we'll get there! :) Due to rain, we didn't get to play outside each day as usual, so they were SUPER excited when we had extended playtime on the playground on our only dry day last Friday! Normally, we try to go outside each day whenever possible. I hope you enjoy a peek at our week as we started our new year at LAP! :)

We started our day doing a "First Day" color sheet, and I'm so glad to see so many kiddos that looked like they color at home! That's awesome! Coloring practice is SO important to develop those fine motor skills in their hands to prepare them for writing. :)

We already have some friends who are working hard to stay inside the lines! Fantastic!

By the way, I had to say thanks to one of our sweet Mommas that brought Mrs. Andrea and me these delicious personalized cookies. So thoughtful!

Mrs. Andrea asked kiddos some questions about themselves for our "All About Me" pendants that will go outside on our board.

We read "The Kissing Hand" on our first day, and Mrs. Andrea helped get everyone's hand print on our poem sheet. Hope you appreciate this little first day memorabilia. Those hand prints change so quickly as they grow up!

We wrote and drew a little about our first day as well by drawing a picture of ourselves, our favorite colors, and some of our favorite things.

These are the morning Table Top Centers that students normally do when they come in in the morning. They will soon have a nametag by the bag they're supposed to do, so it's their job to find their name when they come in and get started.

Mrs. Andrea and I both read a variety of books to these kiddos this week including, The Kissing Hand, Chrysanthemum, and Wemberly Worried. Mrs. Andrea often reads to our kiddos at the very end of the day on the carpet.

We've been working on spelling and writing our names. I sent home this activity this weekend for you to keep at home for practice. Have them sort through the letters to decide which column the letters need to go into. There's no need to return it to school, so just keep practicing! :)

During class, we have rotations where we go from Mrs. Hannah's table to Mrs. Andrea's table to the independent table to playtime in the back. Everyone gets a turn at each station, and we talk a lot about finding the balance between playtime and work time. (Though they would love to play ALL the time if they could, of course! :)

I love to see kids looking at books voluntarily during their playtime. It warms my heart.💗

Playing with "Pete the Cat"

Playdough building with friends is such a great way to strengthen those hand muscles to get ready for writing.

Building with Magna Tiles

So many sweet smiling faces. Looks like we're starting to make some friends too!

These kiddos loved the dress up clothes.

I feel so much safer having superheroes in our classroom! :)

We had loads of fun learning about our different stations in the Minds in Motion Room (green room). We work at each station for one minute before we rotate to the next. We try to do this every day to get our minds and bodies moving.

We have a bowling station.

The blue surfboard is for sitting or standing to find balance.

We practice going up and down the steps and even jumping onto the blue mat.

We sit on or put our bellies on the green jelly bean and bounce or roll.

We hop in and out of the circles.

We jump on the trampoline and try to make baskets in the basketball goal.

When we sit on the blue ball, we trace the race track with our fingers.

We rock back and forth on the yellow rocker.

We sit down and rock or spin in the green seat.

We step and find our balance on the colored river rocks.

We sit or stand on the red Sit and Spin.

We find our balance on the brown balance beam.

We do our best to climb the rock wall, and if we struggle, we can ask for help or hop across the blue mat.

These cuties are lining up to head outside to play. We put a 'finger on our lip and a hand on our hip' to get us ready to go!

We were ready for some much needed sunshine and wiggle time outside by the time Friday came around. Sometimes rainy days are rough, so they were excited!