Blooming Minds and Busy Feet

This week has been full of excitement and discovery in our Pre-K classroom! The children had so much fun as they explored new topics and strengthened important skills through hands-on activities, creative play, and group discussions. Whether it was working together with friends, expressing ideas, or building on what they already know, each day brought new opportunities to grow and shine. We’re so proud of all the progress they’re making—and most of all, how much joy they bring to learning!

Goodbye Shishani!

Large group

This week in our large group sessions, our learners dove into a brand-new digraph: CK, which comes together to make the /k/ sound! We had fun exploring words like block, brick, and stick—not only do these words include the CK sound, but they also rhyme, which added to the excitement. We also explored more rhyming words, focusing on words that rhyme with “book”, such as look and took. It’s been amazing to see how much stronger they’re getting at hearing and identifying rhymes!

In addition to our language fun, we introduced a new 3D shape this week: the triangular prism. The students were very curious about its flat faces and pointed ends, and we also took time to revisit previously learned shapes to help strengthen their understanding. It’s been a fantastic week of connecting sounds, words, and shapes!

Our morning discussions were filled with thoughtful conversations and joyful sharing! We continued our discussions about the parts of a flower, and the children loved identifying and talking about what each component does. They also had a great time sharing stories about their long weekend—from family outings to relaxing at home, it was heartwarming to hear their experiences and how excited they were to tell their friends about it. Another highlight of our discussions was talking about canvases and brainstorming creative ideas for upcoming art projects. The students are already bursting with imagination and can’t wait to bring their ideas to life!

Art/Science 

This week, our young scientists and artists combined creativity and observation in a special art project! We began by painting the canvas background white to create a clean, bright space for our artwork. Then, we gathered tissue rolls and cut them into flower-shaped stampers. The students were so excited to dip their rolls into different colors of paint and stamp vibrant flowers onto the canvas.

After the flowers were stamped, another group of students focused on drawing the other parts of the flowers—carefully adding stems and leaves. We even included a sun in our artwork, because as one student thoughtfully shared, “Flowers need the sun to grow!” It was a wonderful blend of art and science, and the final piece reflects both the students’ creativity and their growing understanding of how plants grow.

Literacy 

This week in literacy, we focused on review and reinforcement through small group activities that targeted different skill levels. We had three groups, each working on important literacy concepts we’ve been building throughout the year.

The first group reviewed digraphs we’ve already explored—th, ch, and sh—by identifying pictures and figuring out which digraph sound comes at the end. They did an excellent job listening carefully and matching sounds to the correct digraphs.

The second group worked on reading various CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, finding the matching picture, and then coloring it in—a great way to practice both decoding and comprehension. Meanwhile, the third group focused on letter identification and phonics, sounding out individual letters and coloring them as they recognized their sounds.

It was a great session filled with confidence-building and skill reinforcement, and we’re so proud of how much progress everyone is making!

Math

This week in math, we focused on reviewing and strengthening our addition skills. During our first session, each student had the chance to solve an addition problem on the board, which gave them a fun opportunity to show what they know and build confidence in front of their peers. In the next session, we continued practicing with a worksheet activity that helped reinforce number concepts and addition strategies. It’s been wonderful to see how much progress the students are making—their number identification and understanding of addition are growing stronger every week!

Gymnastics

This week’s gymnastics session was extra exciting as we took it outdoors to enjoy the fresh air and open space! We began with a warm-up that got everyone moving—walking, jogging, and running in a circle to get our bodies ready. The students were full of energy and suggested we have a pair race, which turned into a fun and friendly competition that brought lots of smiles and cheering.

Once everyone was warmed up, we moved into a cooperative game that focused on building coordination, gross motor skills, and eye-hand coordination. The challenge was to hop from one musical dot to another, and then carefully carry water using a cup from a bucket to fill a water bottle. It was such a creative and active way to practice balance, precision, and teamwork—all while having a blast!

Next Week’s Schedule:

Small group

Monday: - Science

Tuesday: - Math

Thursday: - Literacy

Our Special

Monday: - Ethiopian center

Tuesday:- Library

Wednesday: - Art

Reminders:

● Every Tuesday is our library day, so we will be sending a book that your child picked from our library, which will be returned after a week on library day.

● Every Wednesday is our art day so please send your child with art-appropriate clothing.

Thank you for your time!