New Friends, New Lessons And Lots of Fun!

This past week in Jr. Kindergarten our class visited Mr. Murphy's office.  He welcomed us with gifts!  The children were delighted to meet him, hear about his job in the school, and receive the sweet little puffin statue he offered to his new Sunny Sea Friends.  Puffins just happen to be Mr. Murphy's favorite bird.  He told the children a story describing what amazing birds they are and we all decided that a puffin, because they live in and around the sea, would be the perfect addition to the Sunny Sea Friends classroom.
The curious children were also excited to use their senses to explore a very special rock that Mr. Murphy keeps in his office. This rock is made of crystals, looked shiny, felt bumpy and cold, and tasted like the beach...according to the children. Wow! Great descriptions! As it turns out, the rock is from Poland and is made of salt. We left Mr. Murphy after he promised to visit our classroom  to share a book and another story about puffins very soon.  We'll enjoy our little puffin statue gift where it stands proudly next to the Flag of America and a Shorecrest bowl in our Circle Time area.

It was a week of special visits! The Sunny Sea Friends visited Mrs. Smay in the Library for the first time on Thursday. Our fabulous Media Specialist introduced her friends Mr. Clean Hand and Mr. Dirty Hand, much to the delight of the children. Mr. Clean Hand knows just what to do and taught the children the rules to keep books safe and in good reading order.  However, his neighbor Mr. Dirty Hand is not as careful when handling books.  He needs lots of help and practice!  Our Sunny Sea Friends know just what to do!  They promised to help Mr. Dirty Hand to handle the books in our library safely. Ask your child about the lessons he/she learned in order to be a Mr. Clean Hand with books. Every Thursday we will visit the library at 10:30am.  Mrs. Smay will give a library lesson every other week.  We would love for parent volunteers to visit us on the weeks that Mrs. Smay is away, in order to be mystery readers for the class.  The children love to listen to clues and try to guess who will be reading to them from teachers around campus, student friends, and parent volunteers just like you!  The children will also have the opportunity to check out one book with the class on Thursdays.  They may keep that book until the following Thursday, or return it to our classroom at any time during the week before our next library visit.  You are welcome to take your child to the library on campus any time during school hours to check out more books, if you wish to do so.

The children focused on the letter Ll this week in Exploring Centers.  They learned the song, "One Luscious, Two Luscious, Three Luscious Lollipops" during Circle Time. Along with learning to make the uppercase L with big line and little line, the children air-wrote the letter and "punched" it too.  "Punching" is using an extra large pushpin with the correct grip (Claw fingers! Ask your child) to punch holes along the lines that create the letter.  You should have seen this "holey" L in your child's folder early in the week. This is a great fine motor activity for practicing  grip and control. The children heard the story about Lu Lu Lamb and how she laughed, which taught a great life lesson about being sensitive to the feelings of others.

 We all enjoyed "senseriffic" activities this week! The children explored their sense of touch.  On Tuesday they worked with partners to play with a feely box.  The feely box was filled with all sorts of familiar items, including a seashell, pinecone, mini football, etc.  There were pictures of each of these items.  As one friend wore a blindfold and reached into the feely box, the other read the picture card and asked his/her friend to feel for that particular item. No peeking allowed! :) The children had to use only their sense of touch to feel and find each thing as it was read off.  After making their own Science Journals during one Exploring Center this week, the children used them for another "touch" activity.  Four mystery bags were filled with different things from around the center.  The children all had the thrill of reaching in each bag one at a time and describing what they felt.  They made a guess about what was in the bag and drew a picture of it in a box labeled with the same number as the bag. The children soon found out whether they guessed correctly, as the contents were revealed in the end! I loved hearing the descriptions that came out as the hands went in! Ask your child about it. :) On  Fun Day Friday we explored clay...using our feet!  What a "senseriffic" experience that was!

Of course, we used our hands and creative minds too!

Next week we will focus on the letter Ff, take our first field trip to Crisp Park (Wednesday), continue to learn about tadpoles and frogs, and explore our sense of sight.  Using our eyes and magnifying glasses we will get up close and personal with the veggie and herb plants that came in last week.  The children will be asked to make observations about what the plants look like, smell like, feel like, and taste like.  They will have the opportunity to plant their veggie plants in the garden boxes on Monday and tend to them as they watch them grow!

Have a great week!  Hope to see  you all at Spirit Night on Friday, and the JK social on Saturday.
Mrs. Carson

Watch Me Grow!

                          Upcoming dates to remember:
September 11 is Picture Day!
September 12, we'll be riding the bus to Crisp Park for some fun in the sun.  Please feel free to join us.  The more the merrier. (Siblings are welcome at Crisp Park.  However, please keep in mind for future  field trips that they are special opportunities for you to have fun and meaningful interactions with your Junior Kindergartener and his/her peers)
September 14 is Spirit Night!
September 15 is the JK social. 


Last week the children dove straight into the All About Me learning fun with investigating their height and weight as well as the height and weight of their friends.  Every child had the opportunity to be weighed and measured by their teachers using a classic household scale and measuring tape. But the fun really started when the children began exploring the weight and height of objects around the center by using balance scales, kitchen scales, unit blocks, inch cubes, rulers, ribbons and more as their measuring devices.  Comparing heights, weighing themselves against stuffed animals, babydolls and more, even teachers...the learning brought on a lot of smiles and laughs.

I am this tall and you are that tall.




As we continue to enjoy getting to know each other, the children will explore and investigate their five senses with many exciting activities.  The herb plants that the children are bringing in this week will be a big part of our "senseriffic" learning fun.  We will begin working with them on Friday.  Monday, the children will plant their vegetable plants in our outside garden.  Planting, tending to and enjoying the vegetable plants as they grow gives the children a real sense of accomplishment and joy.  Just wait until you see the smiles a freshly picked vegetable can encourage!

Have a great weekend!

A Fin-Tastic First Week!

The Sunny Sea Friends had such a wonderful first few days together.  As we settled into our beautiful, brand-new building old friendships were renewed and many new ones blossomed.  There was a lot of exploration and investigation going on, singing and dancing, sharing and play.  We worked together as an early childhood community during exciting beginning assemblies, centers and cooperation activities. If the first few days are any inclination of what's to come, it's time to get EXCITED!!!
Take a look at some of the fun shared this week:

Observing leaves and other nature under the magnifying glasses

Riding bikes is great for building those gross motor muscles....it's fun too!

Investigation and exploration!

The children enjoyed spending "getting to know you" time with the PE coaches playing a game of names and favorites.

"I want to learn about rainbows this year in Jr. Kindergarten."

Making friends at the "moveable parts center".  Say cheese!

Hmmm, there are so many things I want to explore in Jr. Kindergarten.

"I want to learn about art in Jr. Kindergarten."

Learning about how this gear interlocks on this track to move back and forth is really cool!

We love slides!

Building with blocks is a popular choice activity among our Sunny Sea Friends.

As is looking at and reading books in the Book Nook.

Working with puzzles is not only great for focus and concentration, it also sharpens fine motor skills.

Using all sorts of classroom manipulatives, the children explored weight and measurement.  

I wrote the number one hundred!!!

Books make me smile!

Creative designs and building projects emerge from the "Moveable Parts Center".

The sea creature puppets get new homes.

A Sunny, Happy Year In Junior Kindergarten!

Welcome Sunny Sea Friends!  It's going to be a sunny, happy year in Junior Kindergarten.  Together, we will explore, discover, and grow.  Mrs. Cummings and me, along with our class mascot Sunny the sea turtle, are really looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you.  We have many "fin"-tastic things planned for the first days of school so get ready to dive right in and join the fun.

See you soon.
Love,
Mrs. Carson

Mrs. Carson and Mrs. Cummings at Spa Beach

Sunny The Sea Turtle and Mrs. Carson are buddies!

Sunny the sea turtle and her sidekick Sweets

Sebastian, one of our hermit crab pets

Meet Shelly, another hermit crab pet!

They can't wait to meet you!!!