Utopia Preschool

2012-01-31T16:09:00.000-08:00

Extending Writing Experiences

As children have become more familiar with materials and experiences in the writing area they have been extending experiences as they create their drawings and tell stories about them. The children are aware of the expectations of the writing area and know that after they draw they talk about their work and write their words.

It has been a great experience working with the children at this table as I can see their work evolving and their knowledge of literacy flourishing. Each child takes their time with their drawings and is excited to write their stories to explain their pictures. We often revisit their drawings and writings in the children’s portfolios and they have a deep sense of ownership of their work because they can see the respect that the teachers have of their work.

We encourage parents to visit their child’s portfolios and file folders to also respect the amazing work that the children are accomplishing this year!

Bridget Perez

2011-12-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

December has arrived! We only have two weeks of school left. These last two weeks of school we will be working on our top secret Christmas gift for families, making ornaments, and practicing for our holiday performance on Tuesday December 13!

Some of the highlights of the past couple of weeks:

Preparing for our Stone Soup Party!

Thank you to everyone who brought in vegetables to create our two delicious soups. The kids were so excited to go into our brand new kitchen and help chop the vegetables. Liane (Jack's mom) assisted the children in cutting the vegetables.

Our Stone Soup party was a success! On the menu that day was a butternut squash based vegetable soup and a spicy meatball soup! Thank you Teacher/Utopia Chef Jenny for putting them both together!

Christmas Present Wrapping

Last week Mia, Benny, Aditi and I decided to go over to Little Utopia to get some Christmas books. Mia noticed we had Christmas wrapping paper and asked if we could use it. I told her we could come back later that day and use it.

When we returned later that day we instructed the children to draw a special picture for someone.

When they were done with their drawing they went to another table, chose their wrapping paper,and use scissors and tape.

It was interesting to see how the kids would use these tools. They had to measure how much wrapping paper they would need, measure and cut the tape. After wrapping it they were asked to make label on it so we knew who it was for.

Utopia Wish List

Last week Utopia teachers put together a wish list of school supplies we need for the classroom. Thank you to all who have donated items! So far we have received sidewalk chalk, watercolor paint,sharpies, black ink, tissue, colored pencils,metal rings, and sheet protectors!

The kids have enjoyed using all these new supplies!

Feelings

A topic we have been discussing in class is feelings. We have been talking with the kids about how they should treat their peers and what they should do if someone is mean to them,hurts them, or what they should say if they do not want to play with someone. We have been discussing how it makes their peers feel when they are not kind and asking them how they feel when someone is not kind to them. So that the kids know how to respond to these situations we have been role playing and the kids really love acting out different scenarios! We will continue discussing this topic in class!

During group time I've been asking the kids how they are feeling that day. Every day there are different responses! When your child gets home you should ask them how they feel and ask them why they are feeling that way.

On this day I asked the kids how they were feeling and then to show me that facial expression.

Advent

This past Tuesday we met with our 5th grade buddies! They talk to us about advent. They told us that advent is the preparation for Christmas. Only four more Sundays until Christmas when advent begins. Then they showed us how to make an advent wreath! We cut out the wreath, candles, and then glued them together. After gluing and decorating we wrote numbers on each candle.

Gingerbread Houses

This past Friday Alleen (Austin's mom) and Abby (Ava's mom) came in to make gingerbread houses with us. Some of the other classrooms had saved their milk cartons for us so we could decorate them. Alleen and Abby brought in graham crackers,frosting and special goodies to place on our houses!

Updates/Reminders

Tuesday 12/05 Julie will come in to make pine cone ornaments

Wednesday 12/06 Ivon will come in to make applesauce cinnamon ornaments

Friday 12/08 Rose will come in to make marshmallow snowmen

Tuesday 12/13 Holiday Program in the Gym. Please have your child in our classroom by 5:45. Children should be dressed in festive clothing. The actual show begins at 6:30.

Friday 12/16 Minimal day and Potluck party! We invite everyone to join us around 10:30. School dismisses at 12.

Winter Break December 19- January 3. School Resumes Wednesday January 4.

Utopia October-November

2011-11-19T15:01:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple of weeks we've had many exciting things happening at Utopia:

We re-started our Chef of the Week in October! Parents have signed-up to come in on a Friday and with the assistance of the children whip up a delicious dish!

On October 21 Michelle (Sasha's mom) came in and made turkey tacos with the kids! The children cut the tomatoes and lettuce while Michelle cooked the turkey. Then they put the turkey, taco shell, lettuce, tomato, and cheese together to make a taco!

On October 28 Robert (Mateo's dad) came in and made Halloween cookies with the kids! You will be able to see some of the pictures on the slide show at school on Tuesday November 22.

On November 4 Ivon (Elisa's mom) made ice cream yogurt with the kids! The kids each cut their own fruit into small pieces. When the ice cream yogurt was ready they topped it with their freshly cut fruit!

On November 11 Charles (Gaby's dad) made different kinds of roll sandwiches accompanied with apples, oranges, and grapes. The kids were able to choose from tuna, hummus, and various other rolls!

On November 18 Kari(Lily,Viva, and Gus' mom) came in and made colorful pancakes! The pancake shapes she made were: whales, butterflies, hearts, squids, and rockets! She also brought in strawberries, which the children cut, and blackberries.

Our Pumpkin Patch fieldtrip to Lemos Farm was so much fun! Thank you to all the parents who came with us. Before going to the the farm we prepared the children for the bus ride and what they may see there. When we arrived we split up into 4 groups and attempted to do all the activities such as the train ride, hay ride, pony ride,bounce houses, and petting zoo. Then we ate lunch together and celebrated Denis' birthday there with cupcakes! After that we each chose a pumpkin and hopped back on the bus!

On October 31 we had our Halloween parade! We marched through the school into each classroom showing off our costumes. Then we went to the St.Thomas More Church and then made our way to Alma Via where the residents were expecting us. The residents there were so friendly and gave each of us a treat!

An on-going activity we have recently started is meeting with the 5th graders every other Tuesday. This past Tuesday they came into the classroom and made handprint turkeys with us! Then they asked each child what they were thankful for.

Some of the responses were:

"my family"

"turkey"

"food"

"my teacher"

Reminders

Tuesday November 22: Stone Soup Party- We are inviting all families to join us around 10:30 to enjoy our soup! This day is a minimal day. School ends at 12 noon. We will be closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in observance of Thanksgiving.

Tuesday December 13: Holiday Performance- We will be performing a song along with K-8 grades. Song and time of performance will be announced soon. (Performance will be at night after 6)

Welcome!

2011-10-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all of our new Children and Families!

It has been an exciting four weeks here at Utopia with all of our new friends joining our community.

The children have been exploring the classroom and many that returned this year noticed all the changes the teachers worked on before the new school year began. Teachers have offered many different materials in all the interest areas hoping to observe the children’s interests. One of our newest additions is our letter box and the children are so excited to visit the writing table everyday to continue their work!

We look forward to learning more about the children and their families through the children’s “All About Me” books that teachers have started to offer to the parents to make for their child! This is a great way for the children to make deep relationships in the classroom in order to be fully successful in our program. We believe that young children’s learning begins with relationships and these books are an important tool for all of us. Teachers will also have a book where children and their families can learn more about us.

Our Journal Wall is also a great tool for parents to learn about what is being offered to the children everyday! We encourage all families to visit this space so that the connection between home and school is a strong one. Teachers will work on these journals along with their observations with the children. This is a work in progress and we appreciate your patience as we begin this journey with the children.We look forward to this new school year with all of our children and families as we are very excited to begin this journey in entering into the children’s world of learning!

*Few Reminders:

Monday October 10 No School

Saturday October 22 Fall Carnival

Monday October 24 Staff Development Day (School Closed)

Tuesday October 25 Pumpkin Patch *Please remember to turn in the permission slip and $23

Monday October 31 Halloween Parade- Time to be announced

Hello Everyone! Hope you are enjoying your summer break! Our blog will be back in the fall!

2011-07-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sunny Days in San Francisco!

2011-06-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

The sun was out and beaming at the beginning of this week. We made sure to get our daily dose of Vitamin D by spending more time outdoors.
On Monday we decided to go on a nature walk. We each wrote our name on a brown paper bag and collected leaves and flowers.

After our walk we went back into the classroom and counted how many flowers each child had collected. Some children didn't pick up any flowers and others counted up to 14 flowers. The children glued most of their findings onto paper and the rest they decided to take home.

What's gonna work? Teamwork!

Our Utopia students are such great helpers!Each child took a chair from our classroom to the yard. The teachers provided sponges and soapy water. Each child took a turn scrubbing their chair. Now our chairs are sparkling clean!

After all the fun, but hard work the teachers set up a new sprinkler. The children loved running through it. Because it was so hot outside we dried up quickly afterwards.

Kindergarten is getting closer!

There has been a lot of talk about kindergarten as we inch closer to our last day of school. So we decided to reflect on what our favorite thing about preschool was and then paint a picture about it.

Some of the responses were:

"The sprinkler"

"Nothing"

"Painting"

"Everything"

"I don't know"

When we woke up from nap on Friday one of our students mentioned that they would miss preschool so we used this opportunity to have the children draw what they will miss about preschool. These drawings were very detailed and each child took their time on the work.

On this day the responses on what they would miss about preschool were:

"Umm...Talia and Timothy...and playing."

"Doing circle."

"Nothing."

"Nap time."

Our last day of school is coming up! Hopefully everyone will be joining us for our end of the year potluck on June 30th!

Finally, Summer!

2011-06-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

The weather was perfect for the outdoors this week. The children maximized the use of the yard by riding the bikes, building sand castles, watering the plants, and playing in the play structure. Hopefully, this warm weather stays!

Lately, the children who stay after 3pm have been obsessed with paper airplanes. Today was no exception. With the children observing how their planes turn left and right, and spin around before making a perfect landing, I thought it would make the experience more scientific by making them record their observations.

Butterfly Cards: Before we released the butterflies last week, some of the children wrote thank you cards for the butterfly. Read on.

Goodbye Butterflies!

2011-06-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

More Academy of Science Fieldtrip pictures!

Best Friends Forever!

Writing and Exploring!

All but two butterflies came out of their cocoons this past week! Everyone was so excited to see our beautiful butterflies! While we still had our fluttering friends we made observational paintings of them. Instead of using paintbrushes though, we used q-tips and some of us even used our hands! We made very detailed paintings and then told about our butterfly painting.

Family Drawings and Paintings

This week we also drew and/or painted our families. We did this so we can compare these to the drawings from the first month of school. Many of our paintings and drawings have become more detailed. We've come a long way!

The most exciting event of the week, by far, was the release of our butterflies! We safely walked across the street to find a nice home for them by the church. We found an area with a lot of flowers and then prepared for their release.

Before letting them go we decided to each say something to the butterflies. These are some of the heartfelt messages:
"I hope you have a nice flight"
"Take care of your friends"
"I hope I see you again"

As soon as we were going to release them, one of our friends came up with the idea of saying a prayer for the butterflies to keep them safe.

On Thursday the "pre-k-ers" who are attending kindergarten at St. Thomas More had the opportunity to visit the kindergarten classroom. Before heading over there each child came up with a question they wanted to ask the present kindergarteners or teacher. Some of the questions were:
"Do they let bring toys?"
"If I can bring my stuffed animals?"
"When will we start kindergarten?"
"Do they draw butterflies with caterpillars?"
"Do they play catch?"

When we were actually in the kindergarten classroom a few of our Utopians did ask their question and recieved a response from the teacher and children.

On Friday we had the opportunity to meet our new kindergarten teachers! They introduced themselves to us as Mrs. Heidi and Miss Megan. The children were so excited to meet them!

Mrs.Heidi and Miss Megan asked us what we would like to learn in kindergarten and we had so much to say! A few of the responses were:
"Math"
"How to read"
"How to spell"
"Draw paper butterflies"

Reminders: We will be closed on Tuesday June 28th for a Staff Development Day.Thursday June 30th is our last day of school and our bbq potluck. If you would like to bring in something for the party, the sign-up sheet is next to the sign-in binder!

Complete Metamorphosis

2011-06-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Day 14: Butterfly Emerges

We arrived in school this morning to find one butterfly out of its chrysalis. It was truly an exciting event. Everyone huddled together and "ooohed" and "ahhhed" at the resting butterfly. It took 14 days for the first butterfly to emerge.

By the time the children woke up from their nap at around 3pm, we saw a chrysalis break open and crumpled wings trying to break out. We were excited and watched in awe. It took only about 15 minutes for the butterfly to be completely out of its cocoon. It was a beautiful event. It happened right at pick up time too, so there were moms who witnessed the birth.

After half an hour, the paper that the chrysalis was attached to had red droppings. The children wondered what it was. A couple of children thought it was blood, another thought it was poop. We read the pamphlet that came with our caterpillars and learned that the red liquid is a waste product left over from the butterfly's metamorphosis. It is called meconium.

We also learned that it takes 2 hours for the butterfly's wings to be full-sized and completely hardened. In our butterfly's case, even after 3 hours, our butterfly was still not ready to take flight.

Field Trip to the California Academy of Sciences

In the tropical rainforest where the butterflies were free to roam, pollinate, sip nectar, and mingle with birds and people, we spotted one Hecale Longwing making full use of its proboscis.

On the other side of the pretty orange butterflies, there were Giant Owl butterflies feasting on fruits.

Wandering Utopians at the Academy of Sciences

Stage 3: Chrysalis

2011-05-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

This was a sign written by a child who learned that for our caterpillars to survive, they needed to remain undisturbed.

The child sounded out each letter for this sign. For the letters he did not know how to write from memory (but he knew what they looked like), he got a book to copy the letters from.

If you were able to read this sign, there is no denying that you are a preschool parent! If you can't read the sign (or at least a part of it), the translation can be found at the end of this blog.

When we came back to school on Monday, most of our caterpillars have turned into chrysalis. There were a few that were not quite there yet, but getting there. We learned during our research that caterpillars hanging shaped like a "J" at the top of the cover (or leaf, if they were in the wild) will soon turn into chrysalis.
Not wanting to miss this important event, the students were quick to make observational drawings of the changes happening to our special creepy crawlies.
For good measure, I taped all the little cups with individual caterpillars/chrysalis so they don't get "accidentally" knocked off from their hold of the cover.
The million-dollar question: What is this black speck at the bottom of the container on top of the caterpillar's food? We had lots of guesses--from poop, to spiders that opened the lid to keep the caterpillar company, to a part of the caterpillar that fell off.

The million-dollar answer: It is the skin which the caterpillar sheds as it grows bigger. In its lifetime (not that it is that long), the caterpillar sheds its skin (molt), 3-4 times. Obviously, the bigger the caterpillar gets, the more substantial the size of the skin is.

The day has come! As soon as the chrysalis attached itself to the cover, it was time to transfer it to the butterfly pavilion. How long before the butterflies come out? The guesses have been from 2 weeks to 7 years. We'll see.

I'd like to share an excerpt of a conversation that I overheard in the yard. Backstory: this happened the day we transferred the first batch of chrysalis to the pavilion.

One child commented on a hair clip that was about to fall. She said, "Look, your hair clip is hanging like a pupa on your hair!" Talk about very vivid imagery!

Dance Festival

We hope you enjoyed the preschool's version of the Maori dance. Thank you parents for doing the costumes and to Charlie for sewing all the headbands. The elementary teachers who watched our dance for the first time couldn't believe that we only started practicing the dance 8 weeks ago, for half an hour each week. Thank you Teacher Ayla!

*Translation of the sign: Please do not touch

2011-05-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was such a comfy pajama day! On this day we had the privilege to go upstairs to the science lab to see and test out the marble mazes the 8th graders created. We were amazed at how different they all looked. One in particular that stood out to the boys was the one named Marvelocity, which had different super hero figurines around it. The 8th graders were so nice and helpful!

As the week went on the children continued to talk about the mazes and asked if we could make our own. So we decided to go back upstairs on Friday. We looked at the mazes, drew pictures of what we would want ours to look like, and then wrote a list of things we may need.

The list the kids came up with was:

"Toys"
"Wood"

"No, not wood metal"

"Super man"

A suggestion from one of our students was to turn our shoe store into a construction area. Hmmm....we'll see what develops from this....

On Thursday we had a Utopia parent come to school in his police officer uniform and car! He talked to us about safety and let us get in his car.

The day before, we talked to the kids about having a police officer come in and visit us. We decided to prepare questions to ask him. Some of the questions were:

"What does a person do when they go to jail?"

"How come when bad guys come to your house and see money they steal from you?"

"I'm going to ask a police officer he arrests somebody."

Practice Makes Perfect!

We're almost ready for our dance performance! This week we were able to practice in the gym so that we know where to stand for the actual performance. Don't forget the Dance Festival is this Thursday May 26th at 7 pm. Have your child at school by 6pm.

They're growing! Our caterpillars have almost tripled in size! Everyday our students are so excited to see their caterpillars and notice any changes. Any day now they should start attaching to the top of the cups and then we will transfer them to their new home, which is a big net that is in our science area.

Each student has their own caterpillar journal in which they have been drawing what their caterpillar looks like now. Here are some examples of their journal entries:

Reminder:Our field trip to the Academy of Science is coming up on Thursday June 2nd! If you plan on coming with us please let us know as soon as possible so we know how many adults will be joining us.

Dancing, Shoe Store, and Caterpillars!

2011-05-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

As always, it has been a very exciting week at Utopia Preschool! We have been practicing our song and dance moves for the always exhilirating dance festival. Teacher Ayla was back on Wednesday, and worked separately with the boys and then the girls. There is a part of our second dance where the boys pound their chests and say "Hee!" four times and the girls turn to the side and clap four times.

Hopefully, the hula skirts we sent home with you are coming along well! Remember if you need any help please let us know and there are parents who have volunteered to work on more than one if needed.

Here is an image of Maori women in their skirts, from a book we have in class. Notice the blacks beads on the skirts, on your child's skirt feel free to get creative and add black tape to different parts of the skirt to make a unique design.

Reminders for the Dance Festival:

*Please have your child at school by 6pm already dressed. We will open the Utopia sidegate for families to enter.

*Girls are wearing a red top and boys are wearing a black top. Everyone is wearing black shorts or leggings under their hula skirt.

*Next week we will be sending home a head band and wrist band for each child to wear.

*The show starts at 7pm!

Yet again, the hot spot of the classroom has been our amazing shoe store. Each week the children think of something to add to it and/or a new role for people to play in it.

After adding the "closed" sign last week, one of our classmates noticed that we needed a way to notify people when the shoe store was open, so he took the initiative to write "open" on our sign. Now that the children have an "open" and "closed" sign at the entrance of the shoe store the children now close the shoe store, which is usually when a teacher announces it is clean-up time, and then open the store when it is free choice time. This week, the "manager" would usually open and close the store.If a customer was spotted in the store during closed hours they were warned that if they didn't exit the shoe store immediately the employees would call the police!

New friends joined our classroom: Caterpillars!

These little critters have captivated the hearts of our Utopians! Thank you to the Girarde family for having them delivered to us this week. 2 containers filled with 30 caterpillars each arrived and so we gave most of them their own home by putting them each in their own little cup. Each child chose their own caterpillar so they can observe their caterpillar each day and notice any changes. Many of the children even named their caterpillar! Some of the names given to our new friends are: Fido, Stella, Star Wars, and Toilet. Look for updates next week on the amazing transformation of these fascinating caterpillars!

Teacher Sonja was back this week and as always, we had such a fun time!

We started the class by sitting in a big circle and followed what Teacher Sonja asked us to do. We watched her very carefully as we clapped our hands over and under one leg at a time.

Then we chose a partner and were asked to identify different body parts and put the named body part on our partners body part.

Oh and just as a reminder: Monday May 16th we will be closed for a school holiday! See you next week!

Happy Mothers' Day

2011-05-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

Shoe Store
We got back from Spring Break and our shoe store was still the hang out area. This time around, more children pretended to be workers in the store. Here is a Utopian trying to clip a rope by the entrance of the store. He said he was doing this to let the people know that the store is closed.
The store was a mess at the end of this business day. The customers did not return the shoes. They were everywhere!
It was a good thing that this volunteer helper was eager to lend a hand. He worked with a partner and between the two of them, was able to accomplish the task. As a "shoe liner", he lined up the shoes while his partner, collected the paired shoes for re-stocking.
When everything was put back in its place, the store was officially closed with this sign.
Survey says....

The children were surveying the shoes worn. After looking at each shoe closely, they came up with three categories: shoes with velcro, shoes with laces, shoe with neither.
After careful deliberation and consultation with peers, each one figured out where to put their names.
Everyone was eager to see which category had the most number of names.

Happy Mothers' Day!

Step 1: Get paper with color. Gather the paper at the center.

Step 2: Tie a pipe cleaner to hold all the paper together.
Step 3: Put in a vase.

Scientists and Dancers

2011-04-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Scientific Inquiry

Observation:
1. The green egg is empty.
2. The purple egg has marbles.
3. The green egg is lighter than the purple egg.

Making a Hypothesis:
What do you think will happen if we rolled an empty plastic egg and a plastic egg filled with marbles down the ramp?

1. The green one will reach the bottom faster.
2. The purple one will get there faster.
3. The empty egg will be fast because it is light and empty.
4. The egg with marbles will roll faster because marbles roll.
Results of the Experiment:
1. The purple egg with the marbles got down the ramp faster than the green egg.
2. The purple egg stayed on the ramp until it rolled away at the bottom. The empty green egg sometimes rolled off the ramp.
3. The color of the egg doesn't make it roll faster or slower.
4. The heavier egg gets down the ramp faster than the lighter egg.

Despite the short week, Utopians had their fill of dance instructors. We have a performing arts dance teacher who comes every Monday and encourages the children to make shapes with their bodies.
Children are challenged to make high and low shapes, tall and small figures, and soft and strong shapes. Audience members are expected to watch and comment on the performance. Thank you, Teacher Sonia.
To add variety, we have Teacher Ayla who also comes once a week to prepare the class for the Dance Festival of STM. If you have been hearing your child sing "a- hakama, haka-mana-para-tawa-nga-fa" while moving his hands, he is practicing the Maori alphabet and dance.
Save the dates:
May 26, Dance Festival at 5pm. Sample costume is on display in the classroom.
June 2, Field trip to the California Academy of Science

Shoe Design and Math

2011-04-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

We had a very unconventional way of learning about mathematical concepts. We learned about graphing, sorting, comparing, finding the sum and difference of numbers, all with the use of shoes!
First, we sorted the shoes according to the way they fasten to the foot. We had several categories: zipper, toggle, elastic strap, velcro, buckle, and shoe laces.
Then, we counted how many pairs are in each category. From there, we compared the difference between velcro shoes to non-velcro shoes; laced shoes to zipper shoes; elastic straps to toggle. We also computed for the sum of shoes with buckles and shoes with no straps. If I have to say so myself, it was an ingenious way to teach and learn math!
Visiting Shoe Designer: Kari

Utopians were treated to a presentation from a real shoe designer. We learned that the mold to form a shoe is called a last.
The children got to see up close a firefighter's steel-toed boots. There is steel in the toebox!
Some also got to try the last with the fabric they decorated for their sandals. Did you know that sneakers were put in an oven!
Here is a sample of a sandal slipper sole that was traced last week.
The children had a myriad of accessories and fabrics to choose from to decorate the upper sole of the sandals.

With a little elbow grease from the teachers (the sides were hole-punched and then sewn to attach to the sole), ta-daaaaah! The sandal slipper is ready to be worn! My guess is this looks just like the very first shoes that Jimmy Choo created when he was 5!

Visiting Expert: Cycling Shoes

2011-04-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

The week started with the children helping each other trace their feet on a piece of cardboard. Last week, they designed their shoe on paper and this week they started making the sole for the shoe. Hopefully, we'll have the completed shoe on display by next week.

Utopia was treated today by the visit of Gabriella's dad. He came as a visiting expert on cycling shoes. He came with two bikes, 2 sets of cycling shoes including cage pedals, and a wealth of knowledge regarding biking as a sport.
Here is a Utopia student making an observational drawing of the cage pedal.

Students also tried walking around wearing the cage pedals.

According to our shoe expert, the cage pedals evolved to what is now known as cycling shoe cleats.
Charlie had extra cleats (not attached to a shoe yet) for the children to make observational drawings of.
After the visit, the children concluded that Charlie's cycling shoes are like their regular shoes because his cycling shoes also have three straps. But unlike their sneakers, cycling shoes have cleats attached to the sole.

Week of Footwear

2011-04-01T22:17:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the Utopia shoe month. We had tons of fun activities for the kids this week.
First off, we arranged our slippers into two categories: soft slippers and rubber slippers. After arranging them, we compared the number of slippers. We used simple graph using post-it notes.
We also surveyed different shoe types - those with and without laces. We used the process of writing tally marks to get the correct total number. For this activity, the objective was to practice using the tally mark to represent an item. There were no two surveys that were the same, but we were focusing more on the process rather than the actual number of shoes.
Paint! We love colors in our footwear!
We also did fun art/design projects for the shoes.
Here is a copy of a tag that a child found still attached to a shoe. From this, the class learned about bar codes, sizes, and prices.
And we even put sticker prices on the shoes. Notice the dollar sign. This was something that was new to some children.
As you can see, we also spent time arranging the shoes - a section for children and for adults.
Here are some shoes with price tags
...and bar codes that the children hand-made and tagged on themselves.
Next week, we will create shoes using cardboard as soles. Buttons, beads, and findings will be used to decorate.

Our next project is designing our own flip-flops or old sneakers. Please bring flip-flops or old sneakers by Thursday, April 7. We'll provide materials to personalize footwear.

Picture day on Monday. No need to preorder. If you don't usually come to school on Mondays, and you are interested to have spring photos taken, you can still come just for the photo shoot.

Have a warm April ahead!

Getting Ready for Shoes

2011-03-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

Our exciting shoe project will start on Monday, 3/28. For our first class, please have your kids wear any footwear that they normally wear at home - slippers, slipper socks, flip flops, etc. Please do not buy anything new for this day. Don't forget to also bring regular shoes that can be worn for outside play.

On Wednesday 3/30, please have your children wear their favorite footwear - boots, ballet shoes, sandals, etc. Bring regular shoes for outside play if their shoes are not appropriate for the outdoors.

Please volunteer to be our visiting expert on shoes. Your kids will love to hear you speak to the class. The sign up sheet has already been posted.

If you are wondering what these pictures represent, look closely again. Our students traced their feet on the concrete with chalk. Some even wrote their names and shoe sizes. Can you spot the size 10?

Some kids also made face portraits using objects from nature. How creative!

Other reminders:

Our student-made Utopia directory is now complete. The kids wrote their names, addresses, phone numbers, and nuggets of information that they wanted to share about themselves.
Please bring shoes to donate to the school's shoe drive.
The parent conference sign up sheet will be posted on Monday, 3/28.

Have a dry week!

A Musical Treat!

2011-03-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

The highlight this week was certainly our trip to the San Francisco Symphony. The kids and parents loved hearing live orchestral music on such a grand acoustic stage. The theme of the musical experience is "telling stories through music." Image is from http://www.sfsymphony.org.

Of course, everyone was thrilled to hear the grand finale - the music from John Williams' Star Wars soundtrack. Nostalgic parents and action-loving kids couldn't help but hum the familiar tune along with the Symphony. Image is from www.amazon.com.

Upon returning to the classroom, we asked the kids to draw their favorite part of the field trip. Most of them chose the extremely adventurous (and safe) school bus ride.

We are in the process of making a "Class Book," a small directory for this year's class. Each student will create his or her own page and add in some pieces of information.

Stay dry! Spring is just around the corner.

The Final Touches

2011-03-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

Our Utopia gallery is now up on display. Though a number of students are still adding finishing touches, most of our kids are now published artists!
The experience of creating one's self portrait was meant to teach the kids to follow a structured process. We all enjoyed brainstorming, planning, producing, and publishing our work.
The students also had fun adding different colors and textured items to make their unique pictures come alive.
The children used various materials in their portraits. This includes objects from nature such as acorn caps, pistachio shells, flower petals, and small leaves. We also utilized store bought materials such as yarn, beads, gems, and pipe cleaners.
Our field trip to the San Francisco Symphony is this Monday, 3/14. Remember that this Friday, 3/18 is a school holiday. Enjoy the long weekend!

Self Portraits

2011-03-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

This week, our young Utopians focused entirely on themselves. Not in a selfish manner but for a creative art project. Our students made their very own self portraits. The kids drew the different parts of their faces which we put together at the end of the week.

The nose was the last part of the face that was drawn. Our students learned to identify the parts of the nose - the bridge and the nostrils.

Watch out for our new and improved gallery next week. We will decorate our space with our embellished portraits, which we will be the focus of next week's brainstorming sessions.

The children also assembled intricate ramps. They tried rolling marbles, magnet balls, cars, unifix cubes, and practically anything they can think of. The different ramp models that they have come up with made the balls roll down, go up, turn left, turn right, and even jump. Without them knowing, they were learning about physics!

Reminder: our field trip to the San Francisco Symphony will be Monday, March 14. Utopia will be closed during that day. If you will not be joining us for the field trip, we will see you on Tuesday.

Finally, please check the St. Thomas More website to register for Utopia's fun-filled summer program. We can't believe it - summer is already around the corner!

Chilly February

2011-02-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

We hope that all of you are keeping warm during these last few nippy days. The teachers and students of Utopia are certainly feeling snug because our days are just packed!

We have spent a lot of time at the gym this week. To get us warmed up, we exercised by sitting on rollers and bouncing on exercise balls. We also played the all-to--familiar games of duck-duck-goose and freeze dance. It is great that our school has such a nice facility for physical interaction.

Our science focus this week dealt with the parts of the face. We got the children to notice the mouth and expressions of anger, happiness, and sadness. So the next time your kids are observing your lips, tongue, and teeth, it's because our curious little Utopians have been taking our classroom exercises back home.

For Art, we used medicine droppers and paint to create colorful projects. The children practiced their fine motor skills by squeezing and releasing the doppers and medicine droppers. Visit our classroom to take a look at their marvelous works of art.

Stay warm and we hope to see you at the Cioppino Night.

Brainstorm, Plan, Create!

2011-02-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

The days leading to Valentine week was filled with excitement. Parents, teachers and children were focused on getting the valentine treats (all 36!) sorted, taped, glued, and distributed. Aside from sharing sweet treats, the primary objective of the activity was to help the children practice writing their names multiple times.

Thank you to Kari G, Charlie, Maria, Julia for celebrating the valentine week engaging the students with different activities. If you have not signed up to be our featured reader or Chef of the Week, please consider volunteering. It makes a lasting impression on your child when you come in and be the "teacher".

This week the Utopians learned the process behind creating a piece of art. The objective was for the children to notice the eye and its different parts. Most of the time, we see dots or circles as eyes in children's art. We hope to move past that and make them come up with a realistic representation.

The fist step was a brainstorming session. The children talked about the different parts (eyelashes, eyeballs, eyelids, and eyebrows). Once they were aware that there is more to an eye than a ball, the next step was to plan. They were asked to create a picture in their head on how to draw it on paper. When they were ready, they got a pencil and drew. Some chose to work with a partner drawing his/her eyes, while others chose to look at a mirror and draw their own eyes. This step is called creation.

We value positive feedback so we asked our friends what they noticed about the drawing. We focused on the actual drawing and not on whether they liked it or not. After the feedback, it was back to the table to improve on the drawing by including the suggestions of friends.

Come visit our classroom to see our art. We will eventually do a self-portrait.

More Sensory Learning Technique:

"Pretend Hotdog: Have the child lie between two cushions (pretend bread). Ask the child what goes on the hotdog (mustard, ketchup, onions, pickles). Use your hands to put condiments. Pretend to eat.
(Copyright 1988 by Alana Freeman)

Pete's a Pizza by William Steig is also a good book to read and act out.

Sensory Learning

2011-02-11T22:52:00.000-08:00

Last Friday when the school was closed, the teachers had a fruitful seminar with an educational therapist, Julia Harris, OTR. According to her teaching philosophy, "learning takes place as a result of all your senses working together."

Here are two strategies that you can use to enhance your child's learning at home:
1) To improve your child's visual perception, encourage your child to build with blocks.

2) For touch and movement, encourage finger painting, shaping play dough, and fiddling with clay.

This week we read the famous book by Eric Carle, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? Check the bulletin board for Utopia's very own version of the book.

This is our third week into the Monday Journal, whose objective is to reinforce the students' sense of recall. The kids drew and attempted phonetic writing when remembering last weekend's activities.

We engaged in a fun game of Shape Hunt in the classroom. Some children were extremely engaged in the activity that they initiated their very own creation - a shape reference book. Ask the teachers to take a peek at it.

Have a happy Valentine's weekend. Cioppino is two weeks away!

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

2011-02-04T22:51:00.001-08:00

The Utopians had such an excellent treat for Chinese New Year. This week was all about celebrating the new cycle in our lunar calendar.

First of all, we'd like to say a heartfelt xie xie to the Collier family (Scarlett's family) for preparing sumptuous noodles and bringing lucky round oranges to our classroom. They also arranged for the kids to experience a one-of-a-kind kinetic activity: The Lion Dance! Some of our students were able to get into vivid dragon costumes while Owen and Fiona took turns pounding the drums. The children had such an (educational) blast!

Continuing our exploration of crystals, we actually saw our sugar crystals materialize! We discovered that boiling water and sugar simultaneously make crystals grow faster than simply dumping sugar into water that was already bubbling.

To reinforce our math skills, we integrated our science lessons (crystals) with our number concepts (counting). Aside from counting and recording how many teaspoons of crystals could fit in a measuring cup, we also counted various items in the classroom.

Some of the children had so much fun tallying the furniture of our classroom.

We hope to see you in this Sunday's Family Mass and Open House. Once again, Happy Chinese New Year to all!

A Sweet End to January

2011-01-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

January has certainly been an eventful month for the students of Utopia. We ushered in the end of the month with a sweet surprise - making our very own sugar crystals!

The procedure was simple. First, in a glass jar, we dissolved some white sugar into hot water. Then, we dipped a paperclip on a string into the sugary mixture. We tied the other end of the string to a pencil, which rested on top of the mouth of the jar. Though the kids were ultra curious, we had to leave the experiment undisturbed for a few minutes.

As you can see, some groups even decided to color their sweet solutions.

Some kids were able to see the colored sugar re-crystallizing on the paperclip. What an thrill! We plan to repeat the experiment next week. In the meantime, if you and your kids would like to do this at home, please don't hesitate to ask us for details.

For Language Arts, we began identifying some common food and random items that begin with the letter "C". You can certainly try it at home with your kids - carrot, corn, cabbage, crayon, cotton ...

The Scholastic Book Fair will be on Monday, Jan. 31. Next week, we will be visiting the library, so expect a nice little wish list from your children. They may even see a giant red dog (Clifford) in costume to greet them.

One last reminder - the school will be closed on February 4, Friday. Enjoy the long weekend!

Happy 2011!

2011-01-22T00:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome 2011!

As we start the New Year, we also welcome three new friends: Alessandro, Maia, and Santino to Utopia. If you see them or their parents at drop off or pick up, please introduce yourself.

Crystals

We came back from the break well rested and very interested to learn about crystals. We’ve done several experiments including growing crystals from a kit. The outcome wasn’t what we expected, but we’ll try again. Hopefully, we figured out where went wrong, and the next time will be a success.

We were very fascinated with the effect of the ice cream salt rocks when placed on top of a huge block of ice. For a more dramatic effect, we added food color. We saw how the salt made the smooth surface of ice become rough really fast. We observed too that if we didn’t remove the salt, it made the spot where it laid melt faster. It was interesting to see how the salt “bore” holes into the ice.

Crystals don’t only grow from store-bought kits. Next week we’ll be making sugar crystals and experimenting with salt crystals.

If you have books on crystals or some curio items that can be brought to school for sharing, please label them and send them with your child. We promise to take care of them, but please don’t send anything precious.

Monday Journals

Next week we will start with our Monday Journal. This is a weekly project that would allow each child to record his/her weekend activities. The challenge here is for the child to remember what happened during the weekend and to actually draw something about it. We’ll keep you posted.

Gingerbread Homes

2010-12-10T23:54:00.000-08:00

What a great way to end the week—we were up to our neck this morning with assorted candies, marshmallows, pretzels and royal icing decorating our gingerbread houses. It was really interesting to see the children create the roof, windows, and even the landscape of their edible homes. Come visit our classroom to see the colorful gingerbread houses. Thanks, Denise for supplying all the materials!

We have a week to go and we are off for the next two weeks for the Christmas holiday. But before then, here are some important dates and events to remember:

Dec 15^th, Wednesday at 7pm—Christmas program at the gym

Dec 16^th, Thursday—Utopia closes at 5pm

Dec 17^th, Friday—Christmas potluck, everyone is invited (even those who don’t come on Fridays!) School closes at 12:15.

There have been several students who have been out sick. Let’s spread love and not germs; so don’t forget to always wash hands. Stay healthy!

Countdown starts!

2010-12-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

It’s beginning to look and smell a lot like Christmas in Utopia. Cinnamon is in the air and sparkles and glitters are everywhere. We have been working like little elves doing holiday decorations decking the tree in and out of the classroom. The bulletin board is filled with eye-popping trees all hand-made by the children.

We are truly grateful for the parent participation. Thank you to everyone who signed up to make crafts.

On Dec 15th at 7pm, our very own Utopia children will be with the rest of the STM students singing Christmas carols in the gym. Hopefully, this website will help your children learn the song faster and sing with more gusto!

http://www.links2love.com/christmas-songs-chipmunk-song.htm

See you all on Sunday for the STM Winter Faire. Skip breakfast at home and fill-up with free pancakes before or after the 10AM Family Mass. Join us for this special STM Christmas tradition.

Stone Soup

2010-11-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

The Thanksgiving preparation in Utopia is in full swing. The crockpots are waiting and the children are excited. We have most of the ingredients we need for our stone soup. Thank you to everyone who brought them in. We are planning to make three different kinds of soup—chicken, tomato, and butternut squash. Please plan to come on Wednesday at 10:30. Remember Utopia closes at 12:15 that day.

Last weekend, the teachers attended a conference that focused, among other things, on the advantages of Self Talk. This strategy is found to be effective for children who need help developing expressive language. Self-Talk is when the adult describes what he or she is doing without expecting the child to answer. This is especially helpful in building vocabulary.

For example:

Let’s make hot chocolate for breakfast. I am getting milk from the fridge. I am pouring it in your favorite cup. Here is our powdered cocoa from the pantry. I’ll get 2 scoops of powdered cocoa from the jar. I’ll stir it and then put it in the microwave. To make it really fancy, I’ll put a dollop of whipped cream. Cheers!

Watch out for more strategies in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for today?

2010-11-12T22:33:00.000-08:00

Do you want to know what your children are thankful for? Check the Utopia bulletin board to the left of our classroom door in the first floor hallway. Our students jotted down the specific things that they are thankful for. Their written thoughts will be very timely for our long-awaited family get-togethers during Thanksgiving week.

Earlier in the week, our young marine biologists played with crab and mussel shells along with fresh seaweed in our water table. They also explored miniature sea anemone and hermit crab toys with their curious little fingers. This is to prepare them for next week’s activity of constructing our very own tide pools.

For Language Arts, we have already begun activities that deal with phonemic awareness, which is “the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds (or phonemes) in spoken words.” For example, the kids have to identify the beginning sound of the words “chair” (ch) and “table” (t). The emphasis is on the sounds of the letters of the alphabet.

We hope to see you in Saturday’s Polynesian Night!

Salty Ocean Water

2010-11-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

Our young Utopians remain fascinated by our lessons on tide pools. Our ongoing discussion this week focused on using different senses to identify different types of water. We separated one gallon of ocean water from another gallon of tap water and asked the kids to perform a simple experiment. They looked, smelled, and tasted both types of water and identified each of their sensory characteristics. We certainly had fun taking that mini plunge with them in the classroom.

Another highlight this week was the dental screening. A dental hygienist / nurse visited our classroom and talked to the children about the proper way to brush their teeth, emphasizing brushing frequency (3 times a day), toothbrush texture (soft bristles), and brush size (children’s size). The representative also discussed the importance of eating healthy and exercising frequently. At the end of the day, our kids had a healthy goodie bag that they took home – complete with a kids’ toothbrush and a tube of travel toothpaste.

What a euphoric month it has been for the San Francisco Giants! Last Wednesday, the entire school shared in the citywide celebration of the Giants’ victory parade. Along with most Bronco teachers and students (a lottery-picked contingent was lucky enough to actually go to the parade), we sat in the gym and watched a live broadcast of the Market Street celebration. Thanks to Timothy’s parents for contributing some goldfish crackers for the children to munch on while watching the big screen.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

Because of the excellent turnout and cooperative weather, this year’s Halloween parade was a huge success. There were so many superstars that graced the Utopia contingent – Princess Tiana, Iron Man, Bumblebee, Yoshi, Snow White, Spider-man, Thomas the Train, Jango Fett, Batgirl, Daphne, and so many more! We had fun walking around the playground, out to the sidewalk, and into Alma Via, where we visited our dear friends. Thanks to all the residents for filling our homemade goodie bags. The parade ended with thirty happy Utopians returning to the playground and back into the classroom.

Piggybacking on last week’s science lessons, we continued our exploration of tide pools. Our scientific inquiry focused on the students’ ability to notice details and wonder about future outcomes. Once again, if you happen to visit any Bay Area beaches (although this might be tricky due to the unpredictable weather), please take home any shells and bring them to school. Also, if you have any books that feature tide pools in your child’s home library, please bring them to class as well.

Let’s go Giants! Two more wins to go. We love seeing the kids in orange and black.

Pumpkins Everywhere!

2010-10-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

Come one, come all. Everyone is invited, in costume or not (preferably in), to join the school wide Halloween parade on Friday, Oct. 29. All Broncos, from Pre-K to 8^th grade, will be garbed in spooky and funny outfits, and our parade should be a hilarious spookfest! Remember, this will be a regular school day for Utopia. The parade will begin at 1:05.

Last week’s lessons on birds have provided us with memorable teachable moments. We have now left the skies and turned out attention to the seas. Our focus this coming week will be on tide pools and the creatures that inhabit them. The children will learn about these bodies of water that are quite common in the numerous beaches of the Bay Area. If you have the opportunity, please visit our beautiful beaches and observe the tide pools with your children. Collect seashells and seaweeds, and have your kids bring them to class.

The trip to the pumpkin patch was a success. We went on a hayride and took the train around Postorino. We had a lot of fun with our decorative pumpkins in school---we rolled them on the floor, built a ramp and rolled them down the ramp, threw them like a ball, traced them on paper, arranged them according to size, arranged them according to beauty…It was a great experience on listening, talking, convincing, and even building ramps using blocks.

The STM Carnival is today! Please come and join us in this community event. Entrance is free, and food is plentiful. Some of the older students plan on coming in their Halloween costumes. In preparation for Friday’s parade, you can have your kids dress up as well. We don’t have a booth but we contributed to the event by having the children’s pumpkin artwork be put on display in Carrol Hall.

Individual parent conferences are coming up. Please return the conference forms. We look forward to discussing our fun-filled first quarter with all of you.

Have a great weekend. Stay dry, and go Giants!

U-to-pia

2010-10-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

We began the week by learning a new skill – syllable counting. The students had fun clapping and chanting the syllables of their respective names:

“Ti – mo – thy”

“Scar –lett”

“Ni – cho – las”

By playing this syllable counting game with them, the children recognized that a word is composed of different sounds that are put together. These sounds are called phonemes. You can certainly play the same game with your kids at home. Just chant and clap to the different syllables of your favorite words.

As an art project, we asked each children to decorate the first letter of their names. Taking it a step further, we asked them to think of other words that began with the same letter. Though we talked about these related words, we focused on the sound each letter makes. Expect cute little works of Ms or Ys in your child’s compilation of work.

What would our week be like without food? This Friday morning, Charlie Maranon, Gabriella’s dad, graciously shared his culinary talents with us. He whipped up an awesome quesadilla buffet that the kids, and yes, the teachers too, gobbled up in a matter of minutes. We hope that everyone will have the same appetite for Saturday’s Utopia Potluck.

Thanks, Ivonne (Elisa's mom) for being our Mystery Reader (for the second time!)

Birds and Nests

2010-10-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

During the week, teachers Tina and Michelle took their Pre-K students and worked in their respective small groups. The children are becoming accustomed to their little families in school.

Birds! With help from the California Academy of Sciences, we were introduced to a brand new curriculum focusing on our avian friends. The activity in which the kids were engrossed was focused on nest building. They collected dried grass, twigs, and dried leaves from the yard. Then they combined these natural materials and constructed bird homes as part of our arts and crafts session. We also discussed different characteristics of birds while doing this hands-on activity.

Mud! Also part of our science curriculum, we experimented with mud. Our curious apprentices gathered soil and mixed it with water. They hoped to use that mud to make sure that their natural materials – grass, twigs, and leaves – would stick together and solidify their aforementioned nests. The smiling faces and enthusiastic responses from the students were extremely encouraging.

Pasta! We had a culinary treat this Friday. Lillian and Victoria’s mom (Keri) shared her culinary expertise with us and treated the children to a fettuccini feast. Armed with a pasta maker, she made a batch of fresh pasta for our kids to enjoy. The children enjoyed kneading the fresh dough. After boiling the fettuccini, she served the noodles, which was with butter and Parmesan cheese, to the hungry children. The students loved it so much that they did not even touch their packed lunches. What a wonderful way to end our (Giant) week.

Junior Scientists

2010-10-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Junior Scientists

Utopia and California Academy of Sciences

A consultant from the California Academy of Sciences is working closely with Utopia in building the basic skill of scientific inquiry among the students. For the next few weeks, we have on loan from the Academy of Sciences materials that would inspire the children to make observations, ask questions, make and test predictions, and share the learning with other people. Out first unit is Busy Birds.

Here is an excerpt of a big group discussion conducted by Lee, the consultant from the Academy of Sciences:

Teacher: How do birds move?

Children flapping wings, “I’m a carnivore”

T: Where do birds live?

Children: nest (as they are still flapping wings)

T: What do birds do in their nests?

Children: sit on the eggs

T: Why?

Children: to keep warm to hatch

T: What do you know about nests?

Children: made of sticks, wood
Children: birds eat worms
Children: little nest
Children: Where are the eggs?

T: What do they do in the nest?

Children: they eat in the nest

T: What do you do in your house?
Children: I cook, play in the house
Children: I think baby birds like to play

T: how do birds make their nests?

Children: they use their feet;
use sticks;
they work together;
use wings to carry the sticks;
put in the hole in their butt (to bring the sticks)

Children: some birds live under rocks

If you have materials (books, CD, DVD, etc) that you think would help our inquiry process, we would like to borrow them. Any taxidermists in the house? We would love to have you visit. We would really be grateful if you can bring in a real nest that the children can actually touch and see.

Pumpkin Patch, October 18, Monday

Utopia is going on a field trip to Pastorino Farms in Half Moon Bay with the Kindergartners. Parents are welcome to meet us there. The scheduled activities begin at 10 AM and end at around noon after we eat lunch. If you are interested to carpool with other parents, please let us know. Bring packed lunch on that day.

Parent Socials: October 16, 10-12

Dora (Nicholas' mom) will get in touch with you regarding this event. Although we are hosting it, the main objective of this event is for families to get to know each other.

Bring Baby Pictures

What am I Feeling Today?

2010-09-26T23:29:00.000-07:00

We talked about the different kinds of emotions. Students shared what makes them happy, sad, mad, and excited. Being happy, sad, excited, and mad are emotions that are normal. It was interesting to note that the children thought that being mad was not okay. We talked about it in class, and we concluded that being mad is normal and is okay. Hurting someone because you are mad, however, is not acceptable. As we continue to explore our feelings, we will continue to talk about different emotions and behavior.

Play Dough

We made our very own play dough in school this week. The children measured, poured, and mixed the ingredients, and the teachers cooked the dough until it was soft and pliable. We enjoyed kneading and shaping the dough into different shapes.

Garden Harvest

We harvested several ears of corn from our vegetable garden. They were cooked and served for lunch last week. The children are eagerly anticipating the harvest of the other garden vegetables.

Parent Socials: October 16, Saturday 10-12

This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know the other families in the program. Potluck sign up sheet is posted in the classroom.

Great Helpers

Thank you to Matt Cahill and Nathan Lay for helping out in school this week. Matt assembled extra tables for our garden out in the yard. He and Nathan also read to the class.

Fun at School!

2010-09-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

The play structure was finally ready to use this week. The Pre-k students had the opportunity to use it and they loved it! It was challenging for most to swing on the monkey bars, but that didn’t stop them from trying. For safety, I check if the child knows how to fall on both feet with knees bent, before I let them try the bars.

Chef of the Week was a success. Yvonne (Elisa’s mom) helped the children prepare Elmo pizzas using English muffin, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Olives, cherry tomatoes, and cheddar cheese were used to make Elmo’s eyes, nose, and mouth. If you are wondering why your child’s lunch seems untouched today, the pizza was prepared right before lunch and some children ate their very own creation. With the cooking success today, we are looking forward to our regular parent cooking activities. YUM!

For the first few weeks of school, we will talk about how to be a good friend and how to be safe in school. This week we talked about the importance of having rules and following the rules. The children had a very good understanding of what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior that they were able to “write” their own rules. A rule that I thought was very interesting that they came up with was, “no potty talk”.

The children are slowly getting the routine down.

Enjoy the weekend!

Welcome Back!

2010-09-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

We apologize for the delayed posting. We tried posting this last week and we thought we were successful. We only found out later that it didn't make it to our pre-k blog. Hopefully, the second try is a charm.

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Happy first week of school!

Going back to school can be both exciting and overwhelming for young children. It will take some time for them to adjust to their teachers, their classmates, and the new environment. Please help them with the transition by dropping them in school on time and picking them up on time.

Making Good Choices
Independence is one of our goals in Utopia. Please consider this when helping your child choose the clothes to wear and food to bring for lunch. The teachers will always be there to assist but we want to empower your child by allowing him to choose what food to eat and how much food to eat. Small portions of a variety of food from the different food groups work best.

Curriculum
We use emergent curriculum in class. Emergent curriculum ideas come from observation and careful planning of the environment. As themes emerge from play themes and interests of the students, they will be incorporated in the curriculum planning process. We will do a lot of observation and assessment for the first few weeks to help us understand their interests and preferences. We are excited with this process. We will let you know when our very first curriculum emerges!

It was wonderful to meet all of you this week. We are looking forward to a great partnership with you this school year.

New Staff:

Tina Baluyut is one of our new lead preschool teachers. Prior to joining Utopia, she was a Pre-K teacher at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center in Foster City. She was a first grade teacher at Convent of the Sacred Heart before deciding to return to preschool teaching. She has a daughter in the program and a first grade son in STM.

Dates to Remember:

Picture Taking _September 17, Friday
Parent Socials--October 16, Saturday, 10-12 Noon

June 28th!Last week of school!

2010-06-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

End of the Year Potluck Luau

Our end of the year potluck is only days away! Our party will start early so feel free to join us as early as you would like! We will eat around 11:30. We would love more people to join our decorating committee so sign up if you can help out! See you June 30th!

*Summer session begins July 6th*

Spirit week was so much fun! We were all so comfy on pajama day! On backwards day we had a special surprise! Alex’s dad Ted is a police officer and he and his partner came in a police car and motorcycle! We sat in the police car and on the motorcycle! We had so much fun!

Alex and Austin on the motorcycle

Our new friend Logan

Our special snack on pajama day

Watch the road Talia!

Our Group Police Shot

2010-06-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

June 4th, 2010

- This week we started putting together a classroom cookbook. Each student told a teacher about a recipe that they love to eat and know how to make. The titles of each student’s dish is posted on the parent board. Every family should have received a recipe form. We are asking all families to return the form with either the recipe for the dish your student told us OR a family-favorite recipe. PLEASE RETURN YOUR RECIPE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE – NO LATER THAN TUESDAY 6/8. We only have a few weeks left and we need to put the book together and ensure that all families receive one.

- We made a classroom quilt this week! Each student decorated a piece of felt with fabric markers and puffy paint. All students were asked to draw something that made them happy – many chose to draw their families. We are planning on putting the quilt together and hanging it by the end of the year potluck.

- Starting Wednesday June 9th drop off and pick up will be through our side gates. One of the teachers will open the gates right before the designated times. Please call us if you need us to open the gate for you. The elementary grades will start their summer vacation June 9th so the front door will be locked.

June 14th –18th we will have spirit week! That Monday it will be pajama day so send your child to school in their favorite pjs! Tuesday will be backwards day so they can wear their clothes backwards! Wednesday will be crazy hair and/or hat day! Thursday will be dress up clothes/costume day!(Please no play weapons). For the final day we will have beach day! You can dress your child in shorts and a tank top or t-shirt and if the weather permits they can wear a bathing suit!

June 30th is our final day of school before summer! We are having a potluck so a sign-up sheet will go out very soon so that everyone can participate. The potluck will begin at 11:30. We will have an early dismissal of 12:30.

May 28

2010-05-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone enjoys their 3 day weekend! Memorial day is Monday May 31st!Only one month left of school for Utopia Preschool!

Thursday June 3rd we will have a special breakfast for those kids who will not be here for our end of the school year potluck!

Our end of the school year potluck will be on Wednesday June 30th at 11:30 am! Everyone is invited to join us this day even if it is not your child's regular school day. We hope that everyone will be able to bring in something to share with the class! This day will be a minimal day. School will dismiss at 12:30!

Summer session begins Tuesday July 6th! Please make sure to fill out the summer registration form if you plan on having your child attend any of the sessions.

Please remember to return your book swap bag!If you lose a book please notify us right away.

Have a fun-filled weekend!

2010-05-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

May 21, 2010

* This week we started our Utopia book swap. The book bags were sent out on Thursday and need to be returned by TUESDAY. Each bag has three books in it – please ensure that the bags are returned on time with all three books inside. Also, when returning the bags, please write the bag # on your students checkout card.

*Our Dance Festival was a success! Thank you for joining us! All the children were so excited to perform in front of their parents and the “Big Kids” of St. Thomas More. Everyone couldn’t wait to wear their special shirts that we made ourselves and worked so hard on all week!

* This week we began drawing family pictures. We took down the family pictures that were hanging on the branches and put them on the table so the children could look at the pictures while drawing! We are going to continue working on this art project next week. We have posted the completed ones in our dramatic play area.

* Thursday June 17th we are going to have an end of the school year art auction! This will be an after school event in which “special” artwork by your child will be auctioned! If anyone would like to help organize this event we would truly appreciate the help!

* Garden update: This week we planted asparagus seeds next to our sunflowers. The sunflowers are only a few inches tall right now but hopefully they start growing quickly! Our apple trees transplanted successfully and already a few tiny apples are growing on each tree.

* The students have shown a lot of interest in making books. Several students began making their own books. Many drew the story, wrote the title, wrote their names, and wrote the date. We will continue making books next week.

2010-05-14T16:05:00.001-07:00

Thursday May 20th at 7 pm we will be performing at the Dance Festival! We have decorated special shirts that we will wear the night of the performance! We are hoping that every student will be able to participate in the performance! During our performance we will be lying on the floor and rolling around so keep that in mind when choosing what bottoms your child will wear. If you plan on your child wearing a skirt make sure that you put leggings or short underneath.

We are starting a new program: Utopia’s Book Swap!
* Here’s the deal: We made 26 bags with three books inside each bag. Every Thursday each student will choose one bag. The student, with the help of the parent, will find his or her checkout card. He/she will then write the number of the bag next to the corresponding date when he/she checks the bag out.
* The bags need to be returned on the following Tuesday. When they are returned, the students need to find their checkout cards and write the number of the bag they are returning next to the corresponding date.
* If your child comes to school only comes to school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, you will check a bag out on Wednesdays and return them on Mondays.

New Reading Area:
Utopia has added a new reading area to its classroom! We placed a soft mat on the floor, and on top we placed a couch complete with pillows, a large squishy chair, and a small bench to create a comfortable atmosphere that is perfect for reading. There is a basket full of books in the reading area, along with new extra large books that can be placed on a stand so the children can read them to their friends. Our new area has only been set up for one day, and the children are already utilizing the area and have made it the go-to spot in the classroom.

Play Dough Project:
Over the course of the week, the children have been taking part in an on-going Play Dough project. At the beginning of the week we made many batches of Play Dough in an array of colors, including green, blue, purple, and yellow. Over the next couple of days, they mixed all of the different Play Doughs together to create a colorful mix. The children then used cookie-cutters to cut out their own shapes, which include hearts, bells, angels and trucks. Next week, we are going to finish up the project by having the children paint their shapes to individualize their play dough cut outs.

May 07

2010-05-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

* HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! Have a fabulous Sunday!

* On Thursday, May 6th, Olivia Jimenez and Liane Louie-Badua (Ryan and Kai’s mommies) cooked us a fabulous lunch. The Jimenez family is from the island of Guam so they cooked us traditional Chamorro (the indigenous people of Guam) food. It included red rice, BBQ chicken, potato salad, and finedene sauce. Everyone had the opportunity to taste each item and several of our students especially enjoyed the red rice. Our class loves learning about different cultures! THANK YOU OLIVIA and LIANE!

* We added two apple trees to our garden this week! One is a Fuji apple tree and the other is a Gala apple tree. They are about 5ft. tall, with lots of buds, and one tiny apple already growing on the Gala. We also transplanted our sunflowers into our biggest flowerbed. These sunflowers were originally planted in tiny containers as seeds. They are about 2-3 in. tall and growing strong.

* Today, Friday May 7th, our class went to see a special opera performance! The 7th graders performed The Pirates of Penzance! Our class watched attentively! It was an exciting performance with pirates, police officers, and women in beautiful clothing singing on stage! Many of the children in our class were amazed that the people on stage were kids from our very own school. We can’t wait to be on stage just like them!

* Don’t forget that on May 20th we will be dancing at the Dance Festival! We have been practicing our special dance for the whole school and our families to watch and enjoy! The Dance Festival begins at 7pm in our gym.

* Also, remember to check the new parent board (above the cubbies) for special reminders! We only have two more months of school left and we want to make sure that everyone is informed about special events and dates!

* Thank you to all the families who enjoyed a night out at Chevy’s and helped raise money for our school!

2010-04-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

April 30, 2010

* This week we have had so much fun making the best gifts a mother could ever want! But we can’t tell you what we made….it’s a surprise! We have also been practicing a lot on our dance festival performance! The performance will be on May 20th at 7:00pm.

* On Thursday we read a story about Anansi the Spider. In the story Anansi weaves a web to catch a warrior’s good dreams! We began making our own dream catchers by painting the cut out rim of a paper plate. Next week we will continue the project by weaving yarn through holes punched in the plate and adding feathers and leaves to the bottom. They will eventually either hang from our ceiling in the classroom or, if your child does not stay for nap, be sent home to hang in your house. These dream catchers will ward off bad dreams and only send us good dreams. We will be a room full of happy nappers!

* Exciting news! Another new addition to our beautiful garden will be a new mural that students from the elementary school will be painting for us! Right now the primer is up and they will start painting soon. Also, Ezequiel Sanchez, our school’s custodian and horticulturalist, has been volunteering his extra time to build us planters for our garden! Thank you Ezequiel!

* Over the past few weeks the children have been bringing their favorite books to school to share with their fellow classmates. The children become very excited and proud when their books are read aloud during circle time and many times choose to sit in front of the class and read it aloud themselves. They sit in the teacher’s chair and instantly insert themselves into the role of the teacher, saying things like, “Please sit down so everyone can see,” and, “I cannot start reading until everyone is quiet.” The children like to show off their books to anyone who will listen and love to see their friends enjoying their book as much as they do. We encourage all children to bring in their favorite books to school; it gets the children excited about reading and exposes them to all different types of literature.

Joeeta reading a book to our students during group time!

Alex enjoying our new reading area!

Lauren and Gabe interested in a banana slug, one of the many creatures found in our garden. This slug captivated all of the children for quite a while!

2010-04-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Reminders:

Please remember to return your re-registration forms if your child is returning to Utopia preschool next school year. Forms are due back April 30th.

We have a new parent board in the cubby area to make sure we are keeping parents informed. Take a look at it when dropping off or picking up!

May 20th we will be performing at the school Dance Festival! The Festival will be at 7pm. We hope that everyone will be able to join us! We will be the first to perform so we will all walk in together. When our performance is over all children will go back and sit with their parents to enjoy the rest of the show.

May 17th we have no school. It is a student holiday. May 31st we are also closed in observance of Memorial Day.

Things we did this week:

In celebration of Earth day during morning circle on Thursday April 22nd the children answered the question, “What can we do to help on Earth day?” Every response was different and unique! In our “bounce area” we have a display of each child’s answer and the words to the Earth day song we learned. As a fun Earth day activity we made our own Earths by coloring coffee filters with blue and green markers and then using eye droppers to carefully put water on them to spread the colors.

Today, Friday, we experimented with citric acid, baking soda, vegetable oil, and different food colors. First we filled a cup half way full with water. Then we added citric acid and mixed it until it was dissolved. Then we added baking soda to the cup and watched the volcano fizzle! For our next experiment, we filled a cup half way full with vegetable oil then added warm water. We watched the large, sluggish bubbles move around the cup then we added blue food coloring, citric acid, and baking soda and watched it bubble over the cup. We did this experiment several times with different colors and the excitement around the table grew each time. Everyone had lots of fun doing this experiment!

An exciting addition to our garden this week was our new barrel compost! We learned about things we can put in it and can’t put in it. On Thursday we each took a turn putting leaves in and taking a look inside the cool barrel! We were very excited at lunch that day to put organic materials aside so we could later toss them in our compost!

2010-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Our Summer school brochure went out last week. If you have not received one, they are next to the parent sign in sheet. Please let us know if you are interested (sooner the better).

The re-registration form for Fall 2010 will be going out this week. There is a $200.00 fee that will be applied towards your child’s first semester tuition fee. There will be a payment box on top of the sign in area for dropping off registration forms and fees, both of which are due by Friday, April 30th 2010. Rather than giving the forms and fees to Sister Patricia, I would like to collect them myself and turn them in together to her.

Earth Day: some of the children (one in particular) are excited about planting an apple tree, so we were hoping that you the parents would be interested in donating any amount to fund the project.

On Friday, April 16th, we visited Alma Via. We walked across the street making sure that we looked both ways and used the crosswalks. We entered into a large room where many of the residents were waiting for us. All of the students were very excited to share our songs and stories with the residents and staff of Alma Via. We read and sang “Abiyoyo” (a classroom favorite) and “We All Sing with the Same Voice”. We also sang and danced to “The Chicken Dance” and our classroom name song “Bumble bee, bumble bee, won’t you say your name for me?”. The name song was particularly fun because the residents in the room participated and shared their names with us. We are planning to visit Alma Via on the second Friday of each month.

We focused on our garden last week and will continue to do so this week. The springtime weather is great for our plants and they are quickly growing. Everyday several new flowers open and develop. The children are very excited about and interested in watering the garden daily. Our tomatoes, artichoke, mint, and beans are growing particularly well.

To go along with our garden theme, we started to make individual mini potted plants. Each child either decorated, or is in the process of decorating, a small terra cotta pot. Then the children took the small, round soil pellets and placed them on a tray. The teachers placed small containers of water and eye-droppers on the table. Then the children dropped water on the soil and watched it expand and grow! This week we will continue filling pots with soil and planting seeds.

Last week we also made rose designs out of a celery stamp. The celery was cut down to the base and placed in different color paints. Then the children stamped their paper. When these paintings dried they looked so beautiful. Perhaps this week we will draw stems and leaves on these roses.

2010-03-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

* This week was our last full week before our spring break. Next school week is only four days. Thursday, April 1st, is an early dismissal at 12:30. All students and parents are welcome to attend school on Thursday for a special Easter egg hunt that will begin at 11am. We will not have a blog update next week. Therefore, we wish all of our families a wonderful Easter break. Enjoy the time off and, hopefully, the good weather! Heidi will not be at school next week. She will be visiting her sister in Hawaii until April 12th (when school resumes). She wishes everyone the best!

* Our garden is looking better and better everyday! We would love for everyone to bring in a plant from their garden to add to ours! We also still have our giving tree up right next to the sign-in area if you would like to donate anything else to our garden! We would really appreciate it if families could donate things for our dramatic play area also!

* Kool-Aid Play Dough:
This week we experimented making play dough with a new recipe. We started with the usual ingredients (flour, salt, oil, etc.), but instead of adding food coloring to add color, we added cherry flavored Kool-Aid to add color and scent. Each student contributed to the mix by measuring out the ingredients, dumping them into the bowl, and mixing them all together. The mixture remained a plain white color until the hot water was poured (by a teacher) into the mix. When the water touched the ingredients the children were excited to see that the mixture instantly turned bright red and continued to get redder the more we mixed the ingredients together. Once the play dough cooled, the students were given a chunk of play dough to knead but they were too distracted by the yummy smell of the dough to actually play with it. They could not stop smelling the cherry scented dough and told everyone that they just had to smell the new play dough.

The recipe is fun and easy!
2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 tbls. Cr. Of Tartar
3 tbls. Oil
2 cups boiling water
2 packs unsweetened Kool-Aid
∑ Combine dry ingredients, add oil, then water
Mix, then knead. Add flour if sticky.

2010-03-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

2010-03-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

2010-03-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

Easter egg hunt: on April 1st we would like to invite all parents and children to join us and participate in an Easter Egg Hunt! We are inviting everyone to join us at 11:00 am to hide the eggs in our garden. Then all the children will go on an egg hunt with our hand-made baskets (if you haven’t yet please bring in a milk / juice carton or strawberry basket). After the egg hunt we will have an early dismissal at 12:30 and start spring break! School resumes on April 12th.

Donations for interest area: in order to enhance our dramatic play area we would like all our parents to donate items! These items do not need to be store bought – we would more than love old clothes as well as items from parents who work in the medical, dental, fire, safety, postal, and science fields! We really appreciate all donations!

Student volunteers: over the past few months Utopia has been fortunate enough to benefit from the assistance of two students from the upper grades, Elliott, an eighth grader, and Jonathan, a seventh grader. These students come to our classroom about three times a week for a couple of hours and help around the classroom and work with the students. Elliott and Jonathan help the teachers with the classroom, including washing dishes, cleaning the art area, and organizing the outside play area. The boys also interact with the children. Jonathan has helped the students put together many puzzles and form the plastic marble tubes into a structure that the students had never seen before! Elliott reads multiple books a day to the students and everyday is asked to read the book “Bright Stanley and the Dark Cave Monster” by request of the students. Both boys have been extremely kind and helpful and the students look forward to their daily visits.

Prekindergarten: we have started to divide the children into two smaller groups based on their ages and stages, allowing the teachers to enhance our program by working in smaller groups which allows us to provide more challenging activities and projects.

Our garden: our garden is starting to really come together. The weather this week has been excellent and many of our plants have started to bloom and flower. The children had many opportunities this week to help plant new vegetables, water the plants, and watch the new flowers emerge. So far, our garden consists of: tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peas, zucchini, squash, purple and yellow pansies, marigolds, strawberries, garlic, carrots, blueberries, jasmine, tulips, potatoes, nemesia deep blue imp., cauliflower, lemon balm, chervil, oregano, two baby avocado trees, rosemary, hydrangea, blue wild flowers, mint, spearmint, cucumber, watermelon, corn, artichoke, and dwarf periwinkles.

Many of our plants started from seed so they are just beginning to emerge. Don’t forget about our garden-giving tree! We placed it next to the sign-in area. Our garden wish list consists of: planter boxes (preferably wooden), fruit trees, any kind of vegetables or fruit, soil, lavender, and hardy colorful flowers. We strongly encourage donating something that you already have but may not need. An easy and inexpensive idea is to donate a transplant of something you already have growing in your garden. We want to represent the different family backgrounds in our class – bringing a plant from your home is a lovely way to represent your culture.

2010-03-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

March 12th, 2010

Updates about the past week

Fish Tank Project: after adding four new fish to our two fish tanks, the kids were very excited, and all seemed to express a strong interest in sea life. So: a good number of the children worked with Teacher Michelle to create the classroom’s very own “fish tank” that is now up in the dramatic play area.
We used yellow, green, purple and red paint on blue turquoise butcher paper as the water background. After painting the water, we worked very hard on making a fish stencil. After this, we used scissors to cut them out and presto, our fish were here! After we colored them in – using paint, dobbers, markers, crayons, and / or stickers – we cut tape and taped the fish up on our “fish tank.” Then we thought the fish tank needed more than just fish after reading Ten Friendly Fish, so we made starfish as well as more fish, this time with sponges, and added them with the others.
Making their own fish tank was a great way for the kids to discuss their new fish, express their new interests, and to enhance their fine motor skills.

Rolly polly project: during the past several weeks, many of our students have been very interested in bugs. The bug that has caught the attention of the majority of our students is the Rolly Polly. Our garden, as well as underneath our pots and rugs outside, provides an ample supply of several different kinds of insects and bugs for the students to observe and study. At first, the rolly pollys made our children a little nervous because they did not know what to expect. Now, our students have come to love these animals because of their gentle nature and ability to turn into a ball when picked up. Last week one of our students suggested we build a rolly polly house with an ice cream shop attached. This was a great suggestion and when presented to the rest of the children, the idea came to life.
Students made individual houses with foil as the background, popsicle sticks as the house frame, and paint for added color and texture. Everyone took lots of time and care in preparing their house so the animals would have a happy home. On March 10th, the students continued with the project and made rolly pollys out of foil, pipe cleaners, and googly-eyes. We then placed all of the houses together in the shape of a giant house in the block area, and added the foil rolly pollys to the décor.
This project is still ongoing. Daily discoveries of these animals create a lot of joy and excitement for most of our students. Everyday new rustic temporary houses are made outside for the found rolly pollys to live in.

Upcoming projects and events: after the children read an Easter book with one of the teachers as well having an Easter egg conversation with another teacher, it became very apparent that the children are already very excited about Easter.
Over the next few weeks, will focus some of our activities and projects on this topic as well as see where it leads us. Since Easter is a time of rebirth we would also like to focus on spring and the many signs of rebirth that are all around us. The children have enjoyed working in the garden and everyone seems very interested in continuing to develop this space. In keeping with the spirit of family and community we are asking for your help and support. We will have a Giving Tree in the sign in area with different items we are hoping you would be interested and willing to contribute to our “Community garden”. Another idea we had is for parents to bring in plants from their home. Last year one of the boys brought in a small branch from a rosemary plant from their home that we still have in our garden outside.

2010-03-06T15:32:00.000-08:00

MARCH 4TH, 2009

This week we welcomed two brothers to our classroom, Bradley and Zachary. The boys adjusted quickly to our program and have already made friends. Our kids are awesome at welcoming new people into their lives.

REMINDERS –

* We will be closed on Friday, March 12th for a school holiday.

* Thursday, April 1st will be a minimal day for the start of the Easter vacation.

UPDATES –

* Thursday, March 4th: The children really enjoyed making bread and eating our cauliflower pasta. We also visited the Skylab (a planetarium presentation in our school gym) which was scary for some at first but turned out to be exciting and educational!

* Throughout the past month, several of our students expressed concerns for our solitary black and orange fish. So we purchased two more black and orange fish, an algae eater, and a beta fish. To keep harmony in the tanks, we keep our lovely blue beta fish in a separate tank on the other side of our room. The children have become very interested in marine life and this will be our topic of focus (and possibly long-term project) during the following week. If there are any parents with interests or resources regarding marine life that they would like to share with the classroom – such as books, pictures, posters, stories, etcetera – please let us know!

* Easter break is from April 1st - April 12th: Until the 1st, we will be working on an Easter projects - specifically easter baskets. We need half gallon milk or juice cartons. So if you would like to save and bring some in, that would be awesome.

Welcome

2010-02-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our blog!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

- Thursday (March 4th) ALL children are invited to attend school to take part in the Skylab (planetarium) presentation from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. In addition, we will harvest our cauliflower plant and make roasted cauliflower pasta with the children and fresh baked bread. This will be offered at lunchtime but feel free to send a small snack or a regular lunch with your child in case the pasta doesn’t suit his or her taste. All parents are welcome and encouraged to join us for lunch at 11:30 - please let us know if you plan on coming!

- Some of the staff attended a training workshop at the Presidio this past weekend at a school that follows the Reggio Emilia approach. As the director, I am very interested in most (if not all) of the approach, and am very excited to learn more and begin to implement it within the classroom. More information to follow. However, in the meantime, if you would like to look into this on your own, you can go to www.reggioalliance.org

Some of the projects and activities the children enjoyed experimenting with these past few weeks were:

- Overhead projector: Free exploration with colors and shapes. Some children placed transparent color shapes on top of one another to create new colors. One even placed a plastic lizard on the projector to see what shadow it created.

- World of Insects: The children have been very interested in gathering and inspecting all of the insects that we find throughout our garden. The insect that is the most captivating is the rolly polly. Everyday new insect houses are made from various objects and materials. Each new bug creates lots of giggles, squeals, and curiosity. The children want to create a rolly polly permanent house with an ice cream parlor attached.

- Creating patterns with fruit – this was a big hit that we will re-visit soon. We cut strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and Cutie oranges into small pieces. Children used wooden skewers to make patterns of their choice and then enjoy the fruits of their labor. A few students created detailed patterns and one student explored the idea of making a pattern out of only one fruit.

- Valentine projects: we made Valentines for each other as well as for the residents of Alma Via. When we delivered the Valentines we also sang a few songs. The residences all seemed to enjoy having the children’s visit very much. We will continue to make this a monthly visit on the 2nd Friday of each month.