Hello Parents
It’s hard to believe that the Holidays are almost upon us. Thankfully the weather has been mild and Fall has given us many opportunities to explore our beautiful surroundings. The Park Shore campus is so lovely and colorful at this time of year.
We started October with leaf collecting walks. We had fun finding the perfect leaves. After collecting them we brought them back to class where all of my friends enjoyed learning how to make leaf prints. Our older classes learned how to sort and graph with our freshly fallen leaves, while our youngest students simply enjoyed touching and feeling the different textures of the leaves.
We enjoyed using the pinecones we collected to make interesting paintings. Each picture was different and unique based on what child liked to create.
The children were happy to welcome our new Park Shore mascot, Mr. Hoppy, our praying mantis friend. Each class has had the opportunity to hold and observe him. Most of my friends were thrilled to watch him jump and said it tickled to have him walk on their hand. Even my friends who preferred not to hold him found it fascinating to observe him.
The children enjoyed making bag bombs and blowing a balloon up with gas from a chemical reaction. Little did they realize at the same time they were learning different states of matter. We combined a solid (baking soda) with a liquid (vinegar) to form a gas (the reaction) which in turn inflated both the balloon and the baggie. They may not have realized they were learning but they did enjoy the reaction!! We made a small hovercraft to demonstrate air pressure. It was fun to watch our CD glide along the table. I was surprised so many children knew what a hovercraft was. They informed me that there is one on Paw Patrol!
This month our Kindergarten class has been busy learning the states of matter also, but in addition we expanded on the lesson by learning density, volume and capacity. We used cups, jars and pitchers to demonstrate capacity and volume and a density column and a sink or float activity to learn density.
We will end the month with our unit on germs. We will grow our own germs and observe which parts of our classroom have the most germs. We will learn how quickly and easily germs can be spread to each other and ways to reduce them. The children will learn the proper way to wash and cover in order to protect themselves. Finally right before we break for Thanksgiving we will do some fun candy corn science and make our own cranberry paint.
As we look ahead to December and the colder weather, we will begin investigating why frost happens, why we wear jackets and how they keep us warm. We will grow crystals and shine pennies. Although the weather will get colder and we will be indoors more, I have many fun activities planned to help the children busy and learning through the winter months.
Until next month dear parents, enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday and the family time it allows.
Sincerely,
Miss Tina
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