While preschool is a big part of our life, I haven't posted any pictures because, well, I try my best to avoid posting pictures of other people's kids online. At least ones that don't have blogs themselves. So here are some unidentifiable kids in photos from some of our activities.
Being in charge preschool has been a challenge and a stress for me. It definitely isn't something that has come naturally. The first few sessions I felt like I was holding my breath for 2.5 hours, worrying about what might go wrong or annoyed that I totally misjudged what would be interesting. But over time, I am getting to know the kids and am becoming better at judging what/how many activities to plan.
Best activities so far:
- building a volcano
- talking about hot/cold then making popsicles and popping pop corn.
- reading the 3 little pigs then acting out the story with puppets
- "sensory tank" See #3 picture above.
Worst so far:
- Painting noodles
- Learning parts of a tree
- Nature walk in which one kid hit another kid in head with large stick
- Cleaning pennies with a toothbrush. I got this idea from a book and even with the salt/vinegar solution they proposed, the pennies did NOT come clean. Loss of interest in 9.2 seconds.
Looks like great fun to me! Love the 'peaceful' nature walk. They're cooking in the 1st picture, right? On a white board? Good idea.
ReplyDeleteThis is my second year with Lillian in a co-op. The first year, I saw it more like glorified babysitting, so I never worried to much about what she was learning and/or what I was teaching. This year, with her set to start Kindergarten in 7 months, I'm trying to ramp up the academics, and after 6 months, she can write 2 letters (L & O), so...
ReplyDeleteHere's a tip for the pennies - Taco Bell hot sauce. Works quickly and very effectively. I know this because I've done classes for kids slightly older in which we try a variety of solutions to see which will best clean dirty pennies. Coke works pretty well too, but Taco Bell sauce wins every time. Just remind the kids not to lick their fingers...
ReplyDeleteI can definitely empathize with feeling overwhelmed by the task of entertaining preschool-age kids. I taught that age in primary and the "holding your breath" analogy was a perfect description:) Note to self: do not do the penny project when Ezra's doing preschool someday.
ReplyDeleteI love the first picture with the kids doing their project!
Heh heh. Cleaning pennies. "C'mon kids! This is gonna be great!"
ReplyDeleteBut I would love to come and play at your house, any day, penny cleaning or no.
Maybe the taco sauce would help Annabelle stop biting her nails... Hmm. I love your ideas, I definitely want to try building a volcano in our co-op. One of our best activities has been making crowns... glitter, stickers, markers, Ooo La la. And the same day we did a 'slay the dragon' activity with paper swords (like pin the tail on the donkey). So fun!
ReplyDelete