Bonjour! Spring is finally here! I love seeing the warm sunshine and the colorful flowers in bloom! This month has been super busy getting ready for the International Festival and learning about all of the different continents and countries. The children also enjoyed our guest speakers from different backgrounds and cultures.
The first week I introduced the seven continents to the children by showing them our continents puzzle. We discussed the four main countries in North America, which are The United States of America, Mexico, Canada, and Greenland. The children also learned about our flag, which consists of 13 horizontal stripes, which are red, white, and blue and represent the first colonies and states in the union. The flag also has 50 stars, which represent the 50 states in the Union. The children also learned about Christopher Columbus, the climate, and cultures of North America.
The second week we focused on three countries from Europe. We learned about Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. First I Introduced our map of Europe to the children. I then showed them were Italy takes place . We then talked about their flag and what each of the colors represented. Green means hope or the hills, white means faith or mountains, and red represents charity or for the bloody wars. We then colored our own flag. The next day we talked about all the different kinds of food that come from Italy. We talked about the famous pizza and the history behind it. We then had so much fun creating our own pizza out of construction paper, scissors, glue, and marker’s. We then enjoyed learning about Germany. I started out by showing the children where Germany was located in Europe. I then showed them the flag and went over what each color represents and then they were able color their own flag of Germany. The next country we talked about (which is one of my favorites) was the Netherlands. I showed them a short video on the world famous tulips and windmills. We then created our own tulip made out of different colored tissue paper.
The third week we went over the two countries Spain and France. I showed them where both countries were located on the map and what each of their flags looked like and what they represented. Both Ms. Ame and I showed them short clips about the Eiffel Tower, French food, and the importance of family. The children loved learning about the different traditions they celebrated, festivals they have, and the different languages that they speak. We had fun coloring an Eiffel tower, learning about snails that they eat. It was such a fun week! Throughout the week we also had fun learning about Ireland and why we celebrate St. Patrick’s day, and the meaning of the shamrock. We also lead a discussion on the country Belgium and made a beautiful windmill for our International Festival!
Our last week was all about Farms. We first discussed why it is extremely important that we have farmer’s. We read a short book then we lead a group discussion about all the things that they learned from our book. I loved that they really payed attention and were able to talk amongst each other about farmer’s and what they do. The next day we reviewed all about farmer’s. We then moved on to the machine’s that they would find on the farm. As a group we talked about what each machine did and how it helped the farm, animals ,and crops. Throughout the week we did different activities that talked about the different typed of farms you can find such as, crop farms, poultry farms, dairy farms, and grain farms. Ms. Ame had a blast with them talking about the different animals you would find on the farm, then the kids constructed a barn out of colored popsicle sticks, and glue. Lastly, we discussed the food we get from the different animals and farms, and where they go to. We had such a busy but fantastic month! I’m so very proud of how hard the children worked and their songs and lines!!!
Academic Enrichment Group Time | Kindergarten
with Mr. John
We started out the month by looking at the pronoun. We learned the pronoun takes the place of the noun and at times makes our lives a bit easier. I stressed NEVER call a person “it” because it is rude. Moving forward we discovered the adjective. The adjective describes nouns but we did not leave out the verb(what describes the verb?) an adverb of course. That is it’s main job but it can also describe adjectives and other adverbs. We closed out April with learning about the conjunction. It serves as a bridge for two separate sentences bringing together these two sentences as one.
Ask our Kindergarten Students about adjectives and adverbs!
Handwriting Enrichment
with Ms. Kristen
This month in handwriting, we have continued to focus on forming complete sentences. The Kindergaten students also enjoyed correcting my capitalization “mistakes” in example sentences. We continued journaling together. Our kindergarten students continue to impress me with their handwriting and creativity!
Reading Group | Kindergarten
with Ms. Kate
For the month of April we focused on a poem called Seashell. This poem came from Spain and is spoken by someone who has been given a seashell. We had fun talking about what happens if you hold up a huge seashell… you can hear the light sounds of the ocean. We first read the poem in English and then lead a short discussion on what they think it meant to them. We also went over any vocabulary words they weren’t sure of the meaning. Next, I read the poem in Spanish. Seashell in Spanish is “ Caracola” After the poem was read, the children then drew a picture of themselves walking on the bottom of the sea and what they think it would look like. The children then stood up and shared their drawings with one another. I can see such a difference in their confidence with standing up and sharing in front of their peers. We then had such a fun time acting out our drawings! It was such a fun poem!
Music Enrichment
by Ms. Faith
In April, Ms. Lisa focused on singing songs about our character. The students sang and did motions to songs about telling the truth, about cooperating, saying please and thank you, and about being kind. The students participated in partner dances, and even learned a new song from Africa called Roll and Rock. Ms. Lisa always incorporates gross motor movement into her lessons. She sang Have You Ever Seen a Lassy, and the students picked a movement, such as skipping, galloping, and hoping to move around during the song. Another activity Ms. Lisa had for the students was to review what Staccato and Legato mean. Staccato notes are short and jumpy, whereas Legato notes are smooth and long. The students were given a castanet and a scarf to walk around in a circle while listening to a song. When the music played Staccato notes, the students played their castanet and ran on their tiptoes. When the music played Legato notes, the students moved in slow flowing motions with their scarves. Thank you Ms. Lisa for sharing all of your instruments for us to learn!
Science Enrichment
by Ms. Kathleen
Our favorite science experiment from the month of April was the Tea Bag Hot Air Balloon! These are some of the questions Mr. John and the scientists asked themselves: What will happen when you set an empty, unused teabag on fire?
We had many hypothesis given by our students! Mr. John cut open the unused tea bag and dumped out the tea. Then he made the tea bag into a cylinder. Next, he put the cylinder shaped tea bag on a kitchen plate and set fire to it. As the tea bag burns, it floats up into the air. WHY? When the tea bag burns down it gets lighter and the air around the flame gets hotter. Hot air rises and once the burnt tea bag is light enough it gets carried up with the hot air. All the children giggled with delight during this experiment and asked Mr. John to do it again. This is one of our most favorite experiments of the school year!
Art Enrichment
by Ms. Faith
Ms. Michele had students finish their wooden frames that they painted one color, or monochromatic. To finish their frames, they picked out objects and painted them the complimentary color of the color they chose for their frames. Once the paint was dry, the students glued it on the frame to create an abstract piece of art.
The next week, Ms. Michele introduced Pablo Picasso to the students. Pablo Picasso is known for his Cubism art works. He wanted to draw facial features from different angles and that is why the features on his people look different. To create their own Cubism inspired art works, Ms. Michele printed out pictures of facial features for the students to cut out and glue onto faces. Some of them had two noses, an eye looking sideways, and an eye looking forward. The students let their creativity flow, and created some great Picasso style faces.
To close up the month of April, Ms. Michele reviewed the color wheel with the class. They reviewed warm and cool colors, primary colors, secondary colors, and complimentary colors. The young artists drew an owl using different shapes, and they had to use primary and secondary colors to fill in the shapes. After the owls were finished, the students drew details on their pages like a branch for the owl to sit on, or the moon in the background. We always look forward to what Ms. Michele has planned for art each month. Thank you for your hard work Ms. Michele!