S is for Scared

Tavion's Q-tip Painting

Today we started learning about the letter ‘S’. We are also starting a new theme of friends & feelings. We read the book, Scaredy Squirrel by Canadian author and illustrator, Melanie Watt. The children talked about different things that they are scared of and learned that everyone is scared of something at some time.

In music, the children played their rhythm sticks to the song, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea. First we played a steady beat, then we played only on the music cue of “sea, sea, sea”.

In art, we used Seurat as inspiration, and the children tried out pointillism by using Q-tips to create dot paintings.

REMINDER: Wednesday – Friday are beach days. Wear beach clothes!

Our Version of The Mitten

Today we read the book, The Mitten, adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett. After listening to the book, we made up our own story, but we used puppets and a t-shirt. Each of the children had an animal that crawled inside the t-shirt (except Zachary’s crocodile, which wanted to keep wandering around). We ended up with a pig, frog, tiger, horse, giraffe, duck, and two dogs inside the t-shirt, until and elephant came along and tried to squeeze in. The duck’s feathers tickle the elephant’s trunk and when it sneezed all of the animals flew out of the t-shirt!

Today was also Taylor’s special day, and she brought her stuffed puppy and her ballerina Barbie doll to show the rest of the class. Then her dad read a story about a little dinosaur who finds his voice. Thank you, Ian, for you help today and for the yummy veggies and crackers!

Renoir & Recorders

Cassidy's painting in the
style of Renoir.

Today we also read the story, When will it be Spring? (see Wednesday). Then we pretended to hibernate, but every time we woke up it was still winter outside. Finally the little ‘bear cubs’ looked outside and saw flowers and butterflies, which meant it was spring time!

The children played their colourful rhythm sticks to a steady beat in music today. Then they each had a chance to try the fingering on a recorder. We talked about woodwind instruments, and how we have to blow into these instruments and move our fingers to make the sound.

In art, we looked at The Parisian, a painting by Renoir. We noticed that he used dabs of paint and the children tried using this style with thick brush strokes to make their own paintings.

When Will It Be Spring?

This morning we read the story, When Will it be Spring?, written and illustrated by Catherine Walters. After reading the book, we pretended to be hibernating bears. If the little bear cubs woke up and it was spring, they needed to wake mama bear (me) up. Amazingly, it was a very short winter!

In music, I dug out my recorder and played a song for the children. It took a few tries! The children noticed it was a lot like a flute, so we talked a bit about woodwind instruments. Since we can’t share a woodwind instrument (those icky germs!), I blew into the recorder, while each child took a turn on the fingering.

We also continued to play a steady beat with our rhythm sticks. After exploring different ways of playing, we sang the song Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, while tapping a steady beat. Then the children added a second coat of paint to their rhythm sticks. Each one is a masterpiece now!

Hibernation Time

Today the children learned about bears and the letter ‘R’ (see Monday). We made another bear den, and the children gathered newspaper ‘leaves & sticks’ to stuff into the den so it would be warm and cozy for winter hibernation. The children took turns trying out the den, but today we only fit 5 little bear cubs in at one time, probably because they decided to put Mr. Bear (our big teddy bear) into the den too.

In music, the children experimented with different ways of playing their rhythm sticks. Then we practiced playing a steady beat all together before playing along to the song Run, Run, Run. After playing, the children had a chance to paint their rhythm sticks.

We also sang a new song, Little Rabbit Foo Foo, while getting ready for home today.

Sleepy Bears

This morning we started learning about bears, hibernation, and the letter ‘R’. We read a non-fiction picture book called Bears and Their Dens. Then the children made their own bear den! We used a large cardboard box and a lot of newspaper. It was cozy and warm and we could fit six children in the den at a time. Some of the children thought they could stay in there all winter, but after a few minutes, they decided it would be more fun to have snack and play.

After snack, we played rhythm sticks with a steady beat to the song, Run, Run, Run. Then the morning ended with the children painting their own set of rhythm sticks, which they will take home at the end of the year. While getting ready for home, we sang the song, Little Rabbit Foo Foo.

This morning Claire also picked out her artwork for her art show. It will be up all week.

The Biggest Thing in the Ocean

Briana's blue collage

This morning we read I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean, a book written and illustrated by Kevin Sherry. A giant squid thought he was the biggest thing in the ocean, but he and the children both learned that whales are even bigger. The children also learned the new song, Ten Little Fish.

After snack, we sang If You Are Wearing Blue, and then we went on a little trip up the stairs and down the hall to see the large ocean mural which is painted on one of the school walls. The children enjoyed pointing out all of the different types of fish they have been learning about.

For blue day, the children made blue collages in art. They ripped and glued all kinds of materials to make their collages: paper, feathers, buttons, foam pieces, pipe cleaners, wool, buttons, beads and more!

Blue Day!



Jasper's sumi-e painting.

Today we continued to learn about the ocean
and read Tickly Octopus (see Wednesday). We got out all of our large sea shells and the children had fun looking at them (and many other things) with the magnifying glasses. We also learned a new song, Ten Little Fish.

For blue day, we sang the song, If You Are Wearing Blue, and each of the children had a turn picking an action for the class to perform.

We looked at The Great Wave off Kanagawa by the Japanese artist Hokusai in art today. Then the children used sumi-e brushes, Kool-Aid watercolours, and rice paper to make their own paintings.

Today the sand was taken out of the sandbox, and it was turned into a marble box, complete with some Marbleworks!

REMINDERS: Friday is blue day and book orders are also due.

Oysters & Octopus

Carson & Hanan's sumi-e watercolour paintings.

This morning we read Tickly Octopus, another book in the series by Ruth Galloway. The children learned that oysters make pearls, eels are long and have teeth, and an octopus can squirt ink.

We continued to play the conductor game with percussion instruments in music, and we also played with a steady beat today.

In Art, we looked at The Great Wave off Kanagawa by the Japanese artist Hokusai. Then the children had the chance to paint with Kool-Aid watercolours and sumi-e brushes on rice paper. We also looked at Aislynn’s art show today, and each of the children picked out their favourite work of art.

REMINDER: Thursday & Friday are blue days. Wear blue! Book oders are also due Friday.

Sharks and Shells

Nate & Mackenna's Ocean Paintings

Today we read the story Smiley Shark and learned about the ocean habitat (see Monday). Then I shared pictures and videos of my recent trip to the ocean, where I went snorkeling, learned the flying trapeze, and saw some beautiful traditional dancing.  The children also looked at some shells, a sea fan, and a piece of coral that I found on the beach in Mexico. Then they each had a turn trying out the colourful maracas that I bought there.

In art we looked at The Golden Fish by Paul Klee (pronounced Clay). The children tried out Klee’s process, using oil pastels, and then painted over their pictures with water tempera paints. (Artwork will be posted tomorrow when it is dry enough to scan!)

Cassidy’s picked out her artwork for her art show this morning and it will be up for the rest of the week!

Ocean Life

Tavion & Taylor's ocean art.

Today we explored a new habitat, the ocean. We read Smiley Shark, written and illustrated by Ruth Galloway, and the children learned about ocean life: coral, seaweed, sharks, angelfish, starfish, jellyfish, puffer fish and the octopus. Then I showed the children pictures from my visit to Cancun and passed around some shells, fossilized coral, and a piece of gorgonian (sea fan) that I found on the beach near the ocean.

We continued to play the conductor game with percussion instruments in music, and each of the children had a chance to play some maracas that I brought back from Mexico.

In art we looked at Paul Klee’s The Golden Fish once again. The children made their own ocean pictures using oil pastels and tempera paints in the style of Klee.

Going on a Jungle Trip!

Aislynn and Niko's wet pastel art.

Today we packed up our imaginary backpacks with water, snacks, blankets, extra clothes, cameras, binoculars and our favourite toys (of course!) and headed off to see the jungle. We read the story We're Going on a Lion Hunt, adapted by Margery Cuyler. After the story, we sang our own version as an echo song. We saw a lion, but luckily we made it back home before it could eat any of us!

We continued to play with the percussion instruments in music and also played Popcorn, a movement game that uses a drum and listening cues.

The children used chalk pastels once again in art, but today we used wet paper, which alters the appearance of the pastels to look more like paint.

Percussion & Pastels

Marina and Denton's explorations in chalk pastel.

On Wednesday & Thursday, we continued learning about the Jungle as well as the letter ‘P’. We read Over in the Jungle, a book with beautiful polymer clay illustrations by Jeanette Canyon. Then we learned a new song, Look at the Monkeys.

In music, we continued playing the conductor game with percussion instruments. The children were introduced to musical terms piano (soft) and forte (loud).

The children explored chalk pastels in art, and enjoyed mixing colours and smudging the medium around with their fingers.

Exploring the Jungle

Some of the children's wild jungle artwork.

This week we are learning about the letter ‘P’. We also started learning about different animal habitats, beginning with the jungle.

On Monday & Tuesday, we read the book Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter. After reading the book, we sang and danced the animal boogie, with a shake, shake, boogie, woogie, oogie!

In music, we explored percussion instruments, which are played by hitting or shaking (drums, maracas, cymbals, triangles, etc.). We played the conductor game, and the children learned the hand signals for start, stop, loud and quiet.

Henri Rousseau, a French folk artist who liked to paint jungle scenes, was our inspiration for art. The children made their own jungle pictures using construction paper, foam animal stickers, crayons and markers.

Oboes & Ostinatos

Some of the children's funky snowmen.

On Thursday & Friday we read the story All You Need For A Snowman by Alice Schertle. Then we listened to the song Frosty the Snowman, performed by the acapella group Hoja. Even though Hoja does not use instruments, the children could still hear ‘drum’ sounds, which the singers make using only their mouths. (Listen to a clip: Audio/Ho Ho HOJA/Frosty the Snowman) After listening to the song, we pretended to build our own snowman.

Our letter of the week is ‘O’, so we learned about the oboe in music. We listened to the oboe section of Ravel’s Bolero (Listen here), which also happens to be one of the most well-known examples of an ostinato. An ostinato is a phrase of music or rhythm that repeats over and over. Then we used scarves to dance to Bolero.

In art, the children used chalk, cotton balls, wool & pipe cleaners to create snowmen.

Happy New Year!

The calendars will now be linked to the blog! The link is in the right-hand column at the top of the page.

Preschool resumes on Thursday, January 6th. I will be soaking up the sun in Mexico for the next week and will be back at school on January 11th. Lora and Alison will be in while I'm away.

This month we will be learning about animals and will explore different animal habitats.

Looking forward to a fabulous new year with the children!