West Richmond Preschool

Happy New Year Everyone! Hopefully the holidays brought the opportunity to spend time with family and friends.   Here at preschool, the children seem to be enjoying the continued experience of exploring and learning alongside each other, as they did last year. We are pleased to welcome new friends, Andrew and Tristan to our class, and have been grateful to see the boys and girls involve and include them in our program in many ways.   As an early childhood educator, it is always wonderful to watch the children assist one another in caring, compassionate ways.   However, it has also been interesting to see new friendships forming amongst some of the children who have already been attending preschool alongside each other since September.   Perhaps the combination of their personal growth and development has caused the changes in their social choices.   It could also be attributed to the play opportunities they are seeking, which influences who they are choosing to collaborat

The children were given one piece of white construction paper, with a rectangular foam sheet glued on top, and... a “dot”. “What are we supposed to draw?” multiple children “Absolutely anything you feel like drawing.” teacher We, the teachers, were curious to see how each child would respond to the concept. Once the children started, each child's vision expanded. Some incorporated the dot into their drawings, while others ignored the dot completely.   “When I turn the paper around, you can see the orange, but the black disappears.” Charlie   “It looks like a whale, not a shark and its baby” Tiffany “It's a dad spider and a baby spider.” Iris “I did a smile through his eyes.” Magnus     Until next time :) Barbi 

We had the sorting box and the foam stacking activity out last class. These were two separate experiences that the children played with. While I was busy helping the children at the snack table, I suddenly heard 3 continuous loud sounds, then I saw the foam rings flying up in the air.   When I looked up, I saw Aiden and Era picking up the foam rings and stacking them on the wooden dowels. I continued to watch them in their play. Era opened and closed the sorting box that created a popping sound. After the popping sound was made, Aiden lifted the foam rings off the wooden dowels. This happened two more times and I decided to ask them what they were doing. Aiden was quick to reply with “We are making fireworks”. The children were able to apply their understanding of what fireworks are in their play. A loud sound and different colors in the air were present.   This play required Aiden and Era to play cooperatively and communicate with each other to successfully make fireworks.

I am a HUGE Christmas fan.   I love the music, décor, and all-around joyous spirit that fills the air during this magical time of year, which is why I get so excited to bring any Christmas-themed activity into our classroom. So, during the first week of December I thought that it would be a neat idea to write a letter to Santa Claus as a class.   At circle time we wrote a fun letter to Santa, his elves, his reindeer, and of course Mrs. Claus. Instead of writing him a wish list, our goal was to fill the letter with questions. This was a good way for us to practice the skill of asking questions as well as brainstorming.   This was challenging at times for some to hold back their magical wish list items however we all did it and the letter was done!     Unfortunately, Santa's response arrived after our last day of class however it was still exciting because we got to open and read it on our first day back. The letter answered some of our questions and described Santa's an

Happy New Year! We hope you have had a restful winter break with family and friends. January onwards is a milestone for many of the preschoolers in the 3 year old class. They have settled into a routine and are more comfortable moving from parallel play to social play.   At our last staff meeting we had discussed what areas of the preschool were often visited by the children and all staff agreed on the sensory table which we change weekly from ice cubes, to shredded paper, sand, play dough, etc. We decided to purchase a large sensory tray for the preschool classes to share. The sensory tray arrived and we decided to put some colourful pellets in it for the children to explore.   Ching Ching lays in the tray while A.J stands in the tray.  I wonder if A.J thinks he could squash the pellets with his boots.     Siya, Scotia and Ching Ching all play together in the sensory tray.     Ching Ching is using fine motor skills. She has found a hole on the edge