NURSERY RHYMES - APRIL 2010

Three’s PM

Read, Build, and Play!

It is great to be back working with your children again! They have all grown so much over the short period of time I was away. I missed them all dearly and am happy to say that they have welcomed me back with open arms. Over the past month our class has had an awesome time exploring our current unit on transportation. Trains, cars, trucks, and buses are all modes of transportation your child sees on a daily basis and because of your child’s interest we have begun our unit with trains.
Together the children have enjoyed creating train stations with toy trains and train tracks in the block area. They have also experimented with building trains of various sizes with both large and small Lego blocks. At the art table they have made paintings using trains and cars as printing tools. The children also worked wonderfully together to create a group drawing of a steam engine and train cars.
Individually the children drew different parts of a train using crayons; they then taped their individual works of art alongside each other, and added detail to their drawings to create one work of art.
During circle time we have sung train songs and read many books about trains. Some of the books read in class include: Two Little Trains, The Little Engine That Could, All Aboard ABC, and Freight Train. The children have engaged in interesting conversations about the different types, colors, and sizes of trains, as well as the different purposes of trains. In the dramatic play area the children have organized the furniture to create a train and have pretended to be passengers riding on the train. Also, while outside in the “Train Park,” the children have engaged in pretend play where they created different roles for one another including conductor and passengers.
Now that we are back from spring recess we plan on creating a dining car in the dramatic play area for the children to explore and create wonderful meals for train passengers. We will continue our unit on transportation and with the change in temperature we will take nature walks to explore new sights and sounds in our neighborhood.
If you haven’t already done so please sign up as a parent of the day we would love to share our day with you. We welcome you to read your child’s favorite story to the class or lead a classroom art or cooking activity. Also, please remember to sign up to bring in a healthy snack for our class. Your children enjoy having fresh fruits and veggies for an afternoon snack!
Thank you,
Elaine, Yasmin, and Jan