The children have been learning about pets in class. It has been a wonderful topic in which the children have loved exploring.
We covered many curricular concepts such as:
Biology - the animals bodies, how they move, how many legs, etc.
Math - counting animals, counting animal body parts, categorizing farm pets vs domestic pets
Social studies - how animals communicate, where they live, what they need to survive, how we can help them
And so much more...
The children enjoyed many open ended art experiences such as painting with tiny aniamls.
This really helped us explore the differences between each animals body parts such as how many legs they have or how their ears work, and how their bodies move when it comes to a snake vs a cat.
We read many classics such as Pete the Cat and his groovy buttons which made us want to make button collages.
This craft was so rewarding to many children where they desired exploration.
Some children enjoyed math while using the buttons to make a pattern, while others enjoyed counting their buttons.
Others strengthened their social skills sharing buttons and taking turns with the glue. Needing to wait till someone was done with it, only using it for as long as they required it.
My favorite was the children who used it to strengthen their fine motors skills or just enjoyed the science of watching the glue pour from the spout, covering the cardboard as it spead out. Almost therapeutic just watching the white goo leave the Orange spout and cover the area of the activity.
We spent some time categorizing domestic house pets and farm pets. It was very silly to think about pigs in the bathtub or a horse in our kitchen!
It was also funny to sing "down on grandpas farm" about "big blue ducks" and "tiny pink sheep".
We felt the most silly when we used rubber gloves like cow udders to paint our pictures.
The children have loved the dramatic play areas. They have been pets, owned pets, cared for pets and saved pets lives.
On the radio this month families were discussing the appropriate age to begin "chores". Every family is very different and it is important to always do what is best in your house hold.
Beginning in February I asked the families to begin helping their preschoolers find ways to make money, cleaning up, helping out or selling items.
I personally believe teaching children the value of money is best taught young. Money is earned by hard work.
When you come across money you are very fortunate and lucky (which was a big conversation during St Patrick's Day).
You can make more money if you need it.
That you should also understand how hard money can be to come across, especially if you cannot make it like a dog or cat.
The money that families helped their children earn was then donated to the classroom into a mason jar. It is also important to teach children how important it is to donate, and be involved in our community.
The money the children collected was organized by the children. We organized them into colours, sizes and pictures on the money.
The children collected the money to donate to the animals at the Edmonton Humane Society.
Last week we went to the Humane Society for a field trip. While we were there we were able to present the money to them. Together the children raised over $200. It really helped the children see where the money was going. The staff explained to the children what they were going to use the money for (food, toys etc).
Ms Asha
