West Richmond Preschool

During circle time, we came upon a discussion of the foods that we eat. We discovered that many of us eat eggs. So, the next class, we brought in some eggs to further our discussion and investigation. We talked about the many uses of eggs in the foods that we eat. We discussed about egg sandwiches, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, fried eggs and so on. We also talked about foods for which we may not see the true form of an egg -- breads, cakes, pasta, cookies and soup. We had a scrambled egg taste test in class. The children observed the difference between a brown egg and a white egg. We also examined the egg shells and the membrane inside the egg shell.   Looking at the difference between a raw egg and a cooked egg.   Investigating a cracked egg shell. "It's smooth inside." From cracking eggs to scrambling eggs. Ready to be cooked and eaten! Too hot to eat at the moment. "Steam coming out" shouted the children excitedly. "It'...

Colour is everywhere. Even if not expressing it, when children look out a window they notice all the colours they possibly can. Recognizing their colours helps them learn to categorize the world around them.   Our Preschoolers experimented in class and learnt about colours using different mediums. They poured, stirred, squirted, glued, manipulated and splashed!   Children learnt about shading and hues using little more than tissue paper, cooking oil and wax paper. They further explored comparing the various shades on colour palettes.             The preschoolers were asked what their thoughts were when shown a specific colour. Some of the responses were:   Red Cade :“I think of strawberries. Mmmm, I love strawberries.”  Kris: “Red is a red fire.”  Chelsea: “Red makes purple. I mean red and blue make purple.” Blue Ava: “The blue is the colour of Ryleigh's eyes.” Lily: “Blue makes me ...

Welcome back! We hope you’ve had a restful winter break and spent some quality time with family and friends. The children are much more confident after returning from winter break, and were eager see their friends again. We began the week talking about what causes things to sink or float, and the children then went into a conversation about water. I then asked the question, “Where does water come from?” Here is what the children said: Lily - Hose  Taya - Fountain Ava – Whale Chelsea – Water Table Ryleigh – Sink Kai – Sea  Aleah – Fridge  Emma – In the Tub Cade – Glass  Anthony – Water Bottle Mia – A Well and Ice Matthew – Spouting Shark Kris – Big Water Table     We did an experiment to see if an orange would sink or float, and then what would happen if we peeled the orange.     We did another experiment to see what dissolves in water.       Taya is mixing oil into the wat...

Before we left on our winter break, our kids started talking about Africa, and when we came back to class in January, we began exploring the topic from different angles. Our journey began during a circle time where I asked the kids what they knew about Africa. We looked at an illustrated map, books and photographs together and the kids shared their thoughts on a variety of topics: The shape of the African continent Village life Animals The Shape   We looked at different maps of Africa.     We drew the continent shape and other shapes in sand.     We did pin pricking of the shape of the African continent caption. Look! I have TWO Africas!    What did the kids think the shape of the African continent looks like? Madeleine: “When I turn it upside down it looks like the letter ‘J’” William: “It looks like a fish!” Kieri: “It looks like an octopus to me!” Elisia: “It looks like there’s lots of sea there…” ...

This week our class had one full day inside, one full day outside and one day with a bit of both! While we were indoors we: Made some new space mud - yellow, with silver glitter We used rollers, moulds, a masher, duplo and our imaginations, of course! We did art with paint and yarn We put the paint covered yarn on the paper... ...folded the paper in half... ...and pulled the string out!  It made really beautiful designs on the paper. They will be hanging on the wall in the classroom - if you'd like to check them out! In the kitchen area we pretended to have a restaurant Adam did some cooking and also organized a group of friends to straighten up the kitchen - It was very neat and tidy afterward! We built marble tracks We played with the straws And the Duplo  Matthew worked on a puzzle And, of course we did some reading! Taking a moment for himself, Adam reads this book about the H...