April in the Cottage Preschool

The Cottage Preschool welcomes April, Month of the Young Child, and the warmer weather with open arms! We have many fun activities planned this month to celebrate children and everyone involved in the lives of children. Please view our calendar here.

April

The entire Traver center is participating in a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor. Please view the wish list here for the most needed items.

Ronald McDonald House Wishlist

We will also continue to welcome Mystery Readers into our classroom through the end of the year. Please sign up for a day & time in the parent hot spot.

Thanks for all that you do!

Ashley & Emily

Cottage Preschool’s Trip to the Hands On Museum!

The Cottage Preschool visited the Hands On Museum this March. The children enjoy experimenting in the classroom, so the Hands On Museum was the perfect place to go to learn, extend their interests, and have fun! Enjoy these photographs of our visit!

Cottage Preschool Visits the Post Office!

Recently the Cottage Preschoolers have been interested in writing letters, spelling words, and sending mail. Emily and I added materials such as envelopes, paper, and stickers to the house area for the children to explore.  We’ve also started a word wall, which the children have been using to write frequently used words, as well as new vocabulary they are learning.

During our trip to the Post Office, the Post Master Diane gave us a tour of the entire office! The children learned how to buy stamps, where to put mail to be sent out, where to pick up mail, and they even had the opportunity to meet some mail men and women that were busy sorting mail. Some children also chose to dress up and pretend to deliver a package.

Ashley & Emily

Cottage Preschoolers do Yoga!

The preschoolers in the cottage welcomed Anita Adhikary, author of Y is for Yoga, on Tuesday! The children absolutely loved doing yoga with Anita; they were engaged the entire time and were willing to give all of the different poses a try!

Children’s yoga is a great tool to help children calm themselves, focus, and relieve stress. It also allows children to become more aware of their bodies and minds. Finally, yoga is great for physical development.

Anita will be coming monthly to do Yoga with the children, and between visits, we will continue to practice yoga during large or small group times throughout the day.

If you are interested in learning more about Anita or are interested in buying any of her books, here is a link to her website: https://www.facebook.com/AnitasAlphabetAdventure/timeline 

Ashley & Emily

Small Group Time in the Cottage Preschool

Small group time is one of the most significant parts of the High Scope daily routine. Small groups allow teachers to support the children in their family group by extending their explorations, learning experiences and to introduce children to new experiences. The children are provided with materials that they are able to explore in their own way, and they are selected based on the children’s interests and abilities. Here are a few small group activities we have done this past month!

Magna tiles and blocks are a hit in preschool! These are versatile materials that teach problem solving, geometry, numbers and counting, measurement, and experimenting and predicting. These are also materials that encourage interaction among peers, so children also learn how to play and communicate with others! During this small group the children used blueprints as a way to add more details to their creations.

The preschoolers explored shaving cream with their hands and paint brushes! They began by spreading it out all over the table, then went on to write their names in the shaving cream, draw pictures of their families, as well as draw shapes!

Today we used unifix cubes to make two, three, and even four part patterns! Some children chose to build with them as well, using the cubes to make their families! Unifix cubes are great for strengthening small finger muscles, counting, measuring, and learning the language associated with math and measurement.

Ashley & Emily

Cottage Preschoolers love the snow!

When the first snow of 2014 hit Ann Arbor, the Cottage Preschoolers at Traver could not wait to get outside and play! For some, it was even their first time seeing the cold, white, fluffy flakes falling from the sky! The children enjoyed running and swinging in the snow, but most of all they loved tasting it! Not only did the snow excite the children and inspire talk about the colder weather, but it brought talk about the changing of the seasons and what happens during winter. Emily and I cannot wait to see the questions and activities that this winter will bring!

Enjoy the snow and stay warm!

Ashley & Emily

The Cottage Preschool’s trip to Three Cedars Farm

Last Wednesday the Cottage Preschoolers along with several family members took their first big field trip of the year to Three Cedars Farm! As the leaves started changing colors and the pumpkins and gourds were placed around the center, the children took an interest in everything fall! We explored pumpkins and gourds on the playgrounds, and even opened them up to see what was inside. We’ve been singing songs about pumpkins such as  “5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate” and “10 little Pumpkins” during large group time.

On our trip we saw animals like pigs, sheep, chickens, and bunnies; took a hay ride out to pick our own pie pumpkins; and- the favorite for most- finished the field trip with apple cider and donuts!

Thank you to all the parents who were able to join us on this trip!

Ashley & Emily

Cottage Preschool’s Neighborhood Walk

Hello Families!

Here are the photos from our neighborhood walk on September 25th. The children enjoyed exploring the different parts of our neighborhood; we spotted lots of letters on street signs and numbers on houses and cars. We also talked about what different street signs mean, as well as practiced some safety rules like looking all ways before crossing the street and always walking with an adult. We also talked about leaves, trees, colors and more of what we see in nature. Neighborhood walks are a great way to help your child connect to their community and learn so much!

We visited a pond, then a small neighborhood playground, and finally, the kids favorite–THE TUNNEL!

Ashley & Emily

First Week in the Cottage Preschool 2014-2015!

I can’t believe the first week is done! The transition to preschool is going well for the new cottage preschoolers as they had fun exploring the classroom and playgrounds during their first week at Gretchen’s House Traver. Each day both Emily and Ashley’s family groups explored a different area of the classroom, and were able to play on the preschool and cottage playgrounds. Exploration of the materials is important for the children to become comfortable with their new environment as it can be an overwhelming process. For the next few weeks we will continue to explore the materials as well as get to know one another.

We start each large group time with a “Hello Song” so we can learn everyone’s names. Every day more and more kids are joining in and singing along! We have also started to add songs to our songbook, and so far have sang “Old MacDonald,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and “The Wheels on the Bus.” Singing familiar songs helps children feel more comfortable with singing along and participating in an unfamiliar environment.

Emily and I are very excited for this year, and we have had so much fun already getting to know the children! We can’t wait to see what the year will bring!

Ashley & Emily

The Cottage Preschoolers love fire trucks!

After an exciting month of fun and a field trip to the planetarium, Traver wrapped up the Month of the Young Child with a visit from some firemen and a firetruck. The Cottage Preschoolers have been very interested in firetrucks lately,  so this was a perfect way to end the month! Some of the children asked questions, and most really enjoyed the opportunity to touch the fireman’s uniform. Of course the best part was hearing the sirens at the end!

Have a great weekend!

Ashley, Emily, & Rachel