Trinity Preschool Mount Prospect

Trinity Preschool Facebook Page

2018-01-12T10:00:00.004-06:00

Trinity Preschool has a Facebook page at "Trinity Preschool Mount Prospect" that is worth checking out. The teachers post the daily "tidbits" and pictures of the daily activities on it. I am not posting as much on the Blog because it is not supported by Google to upload as easily form the I Pad, so we do more from Facebook now. Check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/Trinity-Preschool-Mount-Prospect-109801952436447/

Sept 6, 2016 tidbits oak room

2016-09-06T21:15:00.001-05:00

This is the today's tidbits that was posted to show today's activities to the parents of the children In Our Oak Room, which is a pre k class that meets 5 days a week. I am posting each day's tidbits for all of our classrooms on our school Facebook page.

Just search for. "Trinity preschool mount prospect" on Facebook to see them. I will post here too, but maybe not each day.

Hand washing soap

2016-09-04T07:55:00.001-05:00

We use regular liquid hand washing soap at Trinity Preschool, we stopped using antibacterial several years ago.

Stop buying this product NOW.

You may have heard on the news that the FDA is no longer allowing certain chemicals to be used in anti-bacterial soap starting next year. The good news is they are doing this, the better news is, you can buy regular liquid hand soap that does not contain those chemicals now. Just purchase the one that says "hand soap"or "liquid hand soap", NOT the one that says "antibacterial hand soap".

Another way to tell is that the antibacterial ones have a " drug box warning" on the back.

View of the room

2016-09-01T18:20:00.001-05:00

Today's little tidbit....

A good view.... At Trinity, we have our classrooms and our program set up so all children are in sight at all times. We have three teachers in the classroom so there are plenty of adults to provide supervision. If a child even needs something from their coat in the hall, they are accompanied.

When children go to the bathroom, which is down the hall, a teacher goes along. In our school, the outer door to the bathroom is kept open, the children use the stalls and can close stall doors. But, they are not just sent from the room to find their way there and back.

The classroom designs are set up to allow a clear view of each area of the room, so children have plenty of play space and quiet areas, but are still easy to see.

Read to your child every day!

2016-08-30T10:22:00.001-05:00

Read, read, read, and read some more!

Children who are read to daily have a much larger vocabulary by the time they begin kindergarten than children who are not read to as often. They also are more inquisitive, prepared to learn and do better in school.

We read to the children every day at preschool, in our story time, often in small groups or just to a child individually.

Parents should read with your child every day, and yes, they love repetition and they love to have the same book read over and over again. These books get tiresome to parents, but children love them because they are familiar, they know what is coming next and can follow the story.

When you read with your child, move your finger along under the words, and if there is a book with a word that is repeated over and over like " hops", have your child " read that word" when you come to it.

Talk about the pictures and the story, ask questions about what they see or what they think might happen next. Rather than test questions like " what color is the car? Or how many boats are there?" Ask questions your child can think about, like " where do you think the boat will go? Or what do you think he and his friends will do at the park?" Or even " what do you think will happen next?"

Model reading for your child, let them see that you read for information, but also for enjoyment.

Utilize your local library. We are so fortunate to have many wonderful libraries in our area and most of them allow you to check books out if you have a library card to any local library. You can get a library card free with proof of residency. The library has computers, books, some toys, puzzles, cd's and movies, plus so much more. The librarians are a wonderful resource to help you choose appropriate books too.

We also have a small lending library at our entrance door. Please feel free to borrow a book, take it home to read and bring it back.

Large motor time

2016-08-28T07:35:00.001-05:00

The children at Trinity Preschool have "large motor time" every day, which could also be called gym or playground time. This is an important developmental activity which helps children develop their larger muscles which help with movement, body control, sitting , and help their neurological system develop as well. There are so many reasons why it is important for children to have time and space to move their bodies freely, including helping them learn.

Many programs and schools pull back or drop gym, recess, large motor time to allow extra "learning time" , but we understand that this time is "Learning Time" as well and include it in the schedule every day.

Music time

2016-08-28T07:34:00.001-05:00

Music is another brain booster and we have music time at school every day. Finger plays, songs, movement songs, music instruments like shakers, drums, bells, rhythm sticks and more are used each day during music time.

We also use CD's to sing along and move to and some of our favorites are Jim Gill, Miss Carole, Greg and Steve and Dr Jean.

Fun fact: Music uses a different part of the brain than spoken language uses and makes learning easier. We often see children who speak limited English able to sing and understand songs. We also have many visual props we use with the songs. If you want your child to learn something faster, put it to music.

Play dough

2016-08-28T07:31:00.001-05:00

Play dough

We make a great home made version of play dough that is soft and pliable, but not crumbly. I will post recipe later.

Why do we do play dough? The full answer is rather lengthy, but I will put an abbreviated version here. Play dough offers great sensory input, the softness, pliability, scent, and color all make play dough an activity that can sooth an anxious child, and help calm their sensory overload too. It is a great activity to bring a child in to when they first come in the room and are unsure what to do first. It can give them the time to organize their thoughts so they can choose their next activity.

Play dough is great for fine motor development, those fine finger muscles which will need to hold pencils to write. I have also seen children who could not write their name be able to form the letters out of play dough and then immediately become able to write their name.

Play dough is a great social, communication activity, between children or an adult with a child. They also build their confidence as they are able to make something. Children who may not comfortably engage in conversation can talk about the butterfly they made or the cookie and adults can extend that conversation into what kind of cookie?, do you bake cookies? What is your favorite kind of cookie? Let's count how many we made....etc.

You can use play dough for letter formation, a math activity, such as counting, adding, subtracting, even patterning.

We make play dough to go along with colors and smells for various seasons too, orange pumpkin scented in fall, peppermint white play dough in January.

It is easy to make play dough at home and just give your child cookie cutters, straws, any small kitchen utensil, plastic knives, Legos, or other small easily washable toys. You can put it on a tray or cookie sheet while you make dinner and your child can happily play nearby.

Large motor gym time

2016-08-28T07:30:00.001-05:00

Gym time

When we have a rainy day, ( or cold or snowy), we have our large motor time indoors in our "gym". The children get large motor time every day. Some schools go outside in inclement weather, but we don't. We are lucky to have great space indoors and rather than using the time to get everyone prepared to go outside, we spend that time in our gym. We also have many children who do not have the proper clothing to play outdoors in bad weather. We go outside if it is generally above 40 degrees and dry.

We have a variety of equipment we can bring out so we can vary it quite a bit.

We have:

Low style Trikes of different sizes

Basketball net and balls

Hula hoops

Ball targets

Bean bag toss

Balls

Balance beams ( low on the floor ones)

Balance boards

Rocking alligator

Rocking boat

Stairs

Tunnels

Mats

Tunnels to ride trikes or scooters through

Scooters

Parachute

Mini parachutes

Hockey/soccer nets.

Plus a large open space to play action, movement games.

Plus all those things I am forgetting. While we love our great playground, we are grateful to have this space right in our building and available each day we can't get outside.

Attendance board at preschool

2016-08-28T07:26:00.001-05:00

Arrival time

Welcome to our classroom.

Each day when the children arrive, they come into the room, are greeted by a teacher and find their name which is printed on "something". They take their name and move it to the " I am here board, can, magnet board". This takes on different forms in each room and changes as the year goes along.

Usually in September, the children just find their name and put it in the "arrived" spot. Later, in the year, in the older age rooms, they spell their name, it changes to last name, it changes to address and to phone number. In the younger age rooms, just helping the children recognize their written name is the goal. By about mid year, most of the children can recognize everyone else's name too.

The format changes for the attendance board too. In the oak room it might be little astronauts and they add their name to a rocket ship attendance board. In the willow room last year, the children's names were on an envelope shape and they put them in a mail box.

Another reason we greet this way is that it gives the teachers a minute to say good morning and welcome to each child.

In the pre k room the attendance board is taken to circle time and the class helper counts how many children are at school today and how many are absent.

Read to your child

2015-10-04T07:35:00.001-05:00

Read to your child every day. Reading to your child is the best preparation for school readiness. Choose books that have rich vocabulary and great illustrations. Sit and cuddle while you read, make this your special time together. Focus on your relationship, concentrate on your child for those 10 -20 minutes.

Children you are read to daily come into school with a bigger vocabulary , better comprehension and more confidence. They are also better listeners.

Let your child see you read as well, whether it is a newspaper, magazine, or even your e reader. Help your child understand that reading opens the door to knowledge.

Libraries are a wonderful place to take your child to choose books, the librarians can help you find great books on subjects that interest your child too.

Farm unit, hay in sensory table

2015-10-04T07:26:00.001-05:00

We put straw in the sensory table and had the farm animals hidden underneath. The children had a great time exploring the hay and discovering the animals.

Found object painting

2015-10-03T06:34:00.001-05:00

These are wheels used for painting. One is a single wheel with wire through it as a handle. The other one has 2 fixed roller wheels with a metal base. The children can experiment with how they roll.

Apple tissue paper art

2015-10-03T06:33:00.001-05:00

The children are given a sheet of wax paper, small pieces of tissue paper and glue to create these great apple pictures. After they are done adding tissue paper, we give them an "apple frame" that has been precut by teachers. They place it on their picture where they want it and decide if they want the excess trimmed off or left in place. We use the precut tissue sheets that you can buy in a box.

Great smelling paint project

2015-09-29T19:53:00.001-05:00

We added a little water to kool aid to create great smelling paint. However, it doesn't always make paint with very vibrant colors, so we also added a little liquid water colors to make the colors more vibrant. We used the paint during our unit on the 5 senses. We read "nosy Rosie" by Holly Keller and "the Nose Book" by Al Perkins too.

Slant boards help develop fine motor muscles

2015-09-29T11:16:00.001-05:00

Using a slanted upright surface helps children develop fine motor muscles to hold pencils correctly. They need to grip it more tightly to use it than if the paper is flat on a table. Using easels with chalk, dry erase markers, crayons, or markers are all good ways to help develop these muscles.

It also helps to give them short stubby crayons so they need to grip them rather than let them lean on their hands.

Maple room activities and a fun game using Duplo Legos to do math

2015-09-28T21:19:00.001-05:00

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=900178356732132&id=109801952436447

The link will take you to our Facebook page to see the activities the Maple Room for today, September 28.

Oak room bandaid stories

2015-09-28T21:17:00.001-05:00

The children in the oak room head a story about getting a boo boo and needing a bandaid. They then drew pictures and told a story about a time they got hurt and needed a bandaid.

Maple Room learning about apples

2015-09-24T06:58:00.003-05:00

The children in the Maple Room are learning about apples. Today they read 2 books, "The Apple Pie Tree" and "Tap the Magic Tree" ( one of our favorite books).

They then made their own apple pies that they ate for snack.

At the easel, they painted using corks dipped in paint and pressed onto paper cut into a tree shape (to look like apples).

Science in the pre k class

2015-09-24T06:58:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, the oak room, pre k class began a science experiment to show the children what happens when you put a hard boiled egg in a cup of milk and a second egg in a cup of cola. They will look at them on Thursday to see if they have changed.

They also read 2 books about feelings, being happy and being sad. As part of our all about me series, they are discussing feelings.

The children also worked on the letter A today.

Willow room my class people pictures

2015-09-21T23:02:00.001-05:00

The Willow room class used buttons, ribbon, beads, fabric and glue to decorate people shapes.

They heard a story about wiggle my fingers and wiggle my toes. They had a puppy puppet greet the class today.they also got to paint at the easel.

Oak room made self portraits

2015-09-21T19:57:00.001-05:00

The oak room pre k class made fun self portraits today. The children looked in mirrors as they drew the pictures so they could see what color their eyes are, what clothes they had on, etc. they worked really hard to create great

Maple room Apple prints

2015-09-21T19:47:00.001-05:00

When you print with apples, cut a piece out of each side to create a handle to grip.

They also have started an activity called " manipulative Monday's ", where each Monday, they will have a small group game or special activity at the work table. Today was number bingo.

The oak room pre k class activities for Wednesday, September 16, 2015

2015-09-16T20:31:00.001-05:00

We read if you take a mouse to the movies by Laura Numeroff

We worked in out journals on letter s words and pictures.

We did an experiment with vinegar and baking soda . When you combine water, vinegar, popcorn and baking soda, the popcorn kernels rise and fall. They look like they are dancing.

We enjoyed the beautiful day outside today too.

Trinity preschool Willow room terrific 2's and 3's class

2015-09-16T20:24:00.001-05:00

Today was our first day with all of the children here the whole morning. We read the story " I'll always come back" and we painted. We played outside on the playground for extra time today. The children are adjusting really well.