Cuyahoga Falls Preschool
It is so quiet in here. It is so calm. This is what I have been hearing from past teachers, parents, and current teachers about my room. Usually it takes a good 3-4 months for my room to become normalized but this year it is on its way to being normalized in about a month. I credit those around me for the earlier than usual success. Miss Kathleen and Miss Dana are wonderful teachers andwork well with the students. They are fun yet firm and know how to handle difficult situations well. When I mentioned “those around me” I didn’t only mean the teachers but I want to give credit to the older students, the leaders of the room. They are showing the newer/younger students how to work with materials and are guiding them through the classroom. Ms. Kelly has been spending a lot more time in the classroom to fulfill her requirement s to complete her Montessori training/certification. It is great to have her in my room.
Children love animals and I enjoy teaching the children about different types of animals. This month we started discussing mammals. I chose mammals because we are mammals. We learned that mammals have hair or fur, are born alive, and drink mother’s milk when first born. We learned that mammals are warm blooded (their body temperature remains constant) and that they are vertebrates (have spines). We learned that dolphins and whales are mammals and that the bat is the only mammal that can fly.
Then we slithered our way into discussing reptiles. We came to the conclusion that the snake is the most popular reptile. We learned reptiles are cold blooded, vertebrates, lay hard shelled eggs, and have dry scales. The children enjoyed feeling our own corn snake. The geckos were just as appreciated.
We hopped into our discussion of amphibians. We all agreed that the frog was the most popular amphibian and that amphibians are cold blooded and vertebrates. We also learned that their skin is moist and soft and that they can live on BOTH land and water. Amphibians lay eggs but the eggs have no shell but are like jelly. The children were encouraged to look for our Pac Man Frog and our Eastern Toads in our nature center.
We swam to our friends called fish. We learned that fish are cold blooded (their body temperature changes to the temperature in their environment) and are vertebrates. We learned that most fish have scales, gills and fins, and some fish lay eggs and some fish are liver bearers (babies are born alive). We introduced a new word, “habitat”. This is where something lives and the fish’s habitat is the water. The children were thrilled to learn that the shark is a fish.
We then flew with the animals called birds. Birds have feathers, are warm blooded, and are vertebrates. All birds lay hard shelled eggs and have wings. All birds have wings but some birds are flightless (cannot fly) such as the penguin, ostrich, and emu.
At circle time we count to ten in different languages. We now know how to count to 10 in English, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, and Russia.
. 
Kindergarten:
The kindergarten class started the month by learning a little more about the world around us. We learned the vastness of the galaxy in which we live, the Milky Way, the solar system, our planet, Earth, the hemisphere, nothrthwestern, the continent, North America, the country,USA, state, Ohio, county,Summit/Portage city,Cuyahoga Falls, Akron, Tallmadge, and Kent, and finally our address. Then my kindergarten students learned about landforms. Ask them what the definition of a lake, island, bay, peninsula, gulf (not the game), harbor, cape, isthmus, straight, chain of lakes, and archipelago. We went over telling time to the hour, half past, quarter after, and quarter til. Time waits for no one, hehe. Your kindergarteners now know how to count to ten in, English, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Japanese, and Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, and Tagalog.
Music:
Ms. Lisa had several new friends join us in music class this month, Jerry giraffe, Freda the frog, and Mike the monkey. The children had a great time welcoming Autumn with Ms. Lisa and her friends. They sang songs and were transformed into autumn leaves with colorful scarves. Freda the frog helped us to use our listening ears when we danced the freeze dance song and used Ms Lisa’s colorful castanets. Another new song and dance combo that was introduced was the jack in the box, and the hokey pokey. Can’t wait to see what great songs are coming for November!
Science:
In science class, Mr. John taught the concept of density. students learned that oil and water do not mix because oil is less dense than water. It didn’t matter how may times they shook the bottle with oil and water every time the oil floated to the top! We knew that the oil and water did not mix because the oil was a lighter color than the water with food coloring. To explore more about the concept of density, the students tried to get a ketchup packet to sink. When the bottle was squeezed an air bubble in the ketchup packet got smaller. This made the ketchup packet more dense so it sank.Students loved this experiment with the “ketchup submarine” floating up and down the bottle. Lastly, Mr. John taught another lesson on the strength of a cylinder. Cylinders are the most structurally sound, strongest geometrical shape. It disperses stress throughout the entire shape. We learned alot in Science Class and had a ton of Fun!
Art:
We began our October in Art with a project using recyclables from home! During the first week, the students glued down their miscellaneous items to popsicle sticks. Then, the second week the students painted these works of art one primary color. To learn the complimentary colors, the students then added objects that were the complimentary color to the color they originally painted with. This was a great way to learn primary and complimentary colors at the same time! Ms. Michelle also focused on artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Georgia O’Keeffe is known for painting close ups of flowers. The students drew and painted flowers using oil pastels, markers, and water. Lastly, Ms. Michele introduced the students to still life art. The students brought in their favorite toys or objects and set them together in the middle of the room, some even brought the best hoverboards for kids, they had so much fun. The students sat around these toys and were told to draw what they saw. Not only did they draw their own personal toys but other toys as well! It was another fun month of Art!