Welcome. Nature and Nurture is a Preschool Age Class offered in collaboration with the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District. On our website, you can find this week's lesson plans, this month's snack menu, upcoming events, our policies, and more. Please have a look around.







Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Lesson Plans 10/29/12 - 11/2/12

Songs:            Falling Leaves
                        If you want to be an owl

Sensory: Play dough

Monday
Book: Mouse Paint

Circle: Mixing Colors   

Art: Marble Paint

Wednesday
Book: Franklin’s Pumpkin

Circle: Animal Dice Game

Art: Pumpkins

Friday

Book: Pumpkin Baby     

Circle: One of these things is not like the other     

Art: Leaf Print Painting

Songs 10/29 - 11/2

FALLING LEAVES
Tune: "London Bridges Falling Down"
 
Pretty leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down.
Pretty leaves are falling down, all over town.
Some are orange and some are brown, some are brown, some are brown.
Some are orange and some are brown, watch the leaves fall down.
Some are yellow and some are red, some are red, some are red.
Some are yellow and some are red, leaves fall on my head.

IF YOU WANT TO BE AN OWL
Tune:  “If You’re Happy And You Know It”
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
Then you get to sleep all day
And at night you get to play.
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Photos!!

These photos are in no particular order but they highlight some of the unique and engaging activities we do in our classroom. Enjoy! 
This is the tree that all the children worked together to create over several days.

This is ice melting using colored (plain) water and clear salt water. The children were able to experiment and see that the salt water melted the ice better but that the colored water was easier to see on top of and in the cracks and fissures in the ice.


Spontaneous story time.

Group play - the children decided on their own to play together on the seesaw and came up with their own way of letting everyone fit.

This project teaches both sorting and fine motor skills and uses simple household materials like a muffin tin and tongs. You can do this at home with beads, buttons, or even dry pasta dyed with food coloring.

More science fun! The children made a mountain in the sand box and I showed them how baking soda and vinegar combine to bubble and froth like a volcano.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Important Dates

Monday 10/29/12

Kristin will be out of town. Michelle will be here and Dara, a preschool teacher that Kristin used to work with, will be substituting.

Wednesday 11/7/12

We will be having our first field trip, to Bookworm, a small bookstore here in Camarillo. We will need parent volunteers to drive. Please let Kristin or Michelle know if you will be available that day. If you are not driving, you MUST leave a carseat for your child to use on the field trip. We will not have extra carseats available.

Monday 11/12/12

Veteran's Day - No Class

Friday, October 19, 2012

Lesson Plans 10/22/12 - 10/26/12

Songs:    Twinkle twinkle little star
              Ten little fairies

Sensory: Cornstarch and water

Monday
Book      Room on the Broom
Circle     Patterns
Art         Splatter Painting

Wednesday
Book      Alice the Fairy
Circle     Science Experiment
Art         Make a Magic Wand

Friday
Book      The Gruffalo
Circle     Dice Game
Art         Crayon Resist Painting

Ten Little Fairies

One little, two little, three little fairies
Four little, five little, six little fairies
Seven little, eight little, nine little fairies
Ten little fairies dancing!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are

Friday, October 12, 2012

Letters!

For the children who are interested in it, we will begin introducing how to write letters. We will be using the D'Nealian Alphabet because it lays the foundation for learning cursive later.

We will begin by having cards at the drawing table with each child's name handwritten using D'Nealian letters. As children wish to write more words, we will add cards with common words on them. Please note: your child may not be ready to learn handwriting yet and we will not push this activity on them. It will simply be available to them, should they wish to participate.

Here is an example of the D'Nealian alphabet:

Lesson Plans 10/15/12 - 10/19/12

Songs: All the leaves are falling down
           The pumpkin vine

Sensory: Gel

Monday 10/15/12
Circle:  Letters
            Making gel for Wednesday
Book:   When Autumn Falls by Kelli Nidey
Art:      Group Painting Project

Wednesday 10/17/12
Circle:  Guess the Object           
Book:   Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Art:      Leaf Painting

Friday 10/19/12
Circle:  Bug Bug Under the Rug
Book:   Rocket Writes a Story
Art:      October Gift

We will learn the signs for Mom and Dad.
We will make gel for Wednesday's sensory project instead of a cooking project on Monday.
The October Gift will be wrapped and sent home next week.

The pumpkin vine

I looked out my window and what did I find?
Green leaves growing on my pumpkin vine. 
I looked out my window and what did I find?
Green leaves growing on my pumpkin vine. 
Gree-een leaves, green leaves growing
Gree-een leaves, green leaves growing
Gree-een leaves, green leaves growing
Gree-een leaves growing on my pumkin vine.

Repeat with:
...yellow flowers growing
...pumpkins growing

All the leaves are falling down

To the tune of  “London Bridges Falling Down”

All the leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down   (Imitate leaves falling down)
All the leaves are falling down, it is fall.
Take the rake and rake them up, rake them up, rake them up  (Imitate raking leaves)
Take the rake and rake them up, it is fall.
Make a pile and jump right in, jump right in, jump right in,  (Children jump forward)
Make a pile and jump right in, it is fall.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Playdough

OK this is obviously not a snack item but it IS a recipe so I filed it here anyway.
Once you make your own, you will never go back to buying playdough. Homemade playdough is cheaper, less sticky/messy and doesn't typically stain. You can use a gluten-free flour if needed.

2 c flour (plus up to 2 c extra)
1 c salt
4 tsp cream of tartar (actually a powder available in the spice aisle of the grocery store)

1 3/4 c warm water
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
few drops of food coloring (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl
Heat water in microwave for about a minute
Add oil and food coloring to water
Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well
You may need to add extra flour at this point
Turn out onto floured surface and knead
Form a ball and let it cool
Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

You can use pretty much anything you have around the house as a playdough tool. Plastic knives, small rolling pins or cylindrical blocks, cookie cutters, a garlic press, etc. Be creative!

Useful Songs

These are songs we sing often in the classroom. They may help you at home too.

Come on Over

Come on over and sit right down
come on over and sit right down
come on over and sit right down
it is circle time!
(can substitute other words for circle - dinner, bath, etc)

The Clean Up Song

Clean up, clean up
everybody everywhere
clean up, clean up
everybody do your share!

Heigh-Ho

Heigh-ho heigh-ho
it's clean up time you know
put the toys away
for another day
heigh-ho heigh-ho
heigh-ho heigh-ho

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Lesson Plans 10/8/12 - 10/12/12

Songs: Teddy Bear Teddy Bear
           What Will You Do Now?
Sensory: Inside: Playdough with Rollers
           Outside: Dried Beans

Monday 10/8
Book  Brown Bear Brown Bear
           Polar Bear Polar Bear
           both by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle
Circle I Spy
           Make a salad for snack time
Art     Tissue Paper and Starch in the style of Eric Carle

Wednesday 10/10
Book The Big Hungry Bear
Circle What's Missing?
Art     Painting with Bear Shaped Cookie Cutters

Friday 10/12
Book Corduroy
Circle Bug Bug Under the Rug
Art     Bear Painting

We will continue introducing ASL signs. This week we will learn the signs for "please" and "thank you."

Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

Teddy bear teddy bear
turn around
teddy bear teddy bear
touch the ground
teddy bear teddy bear
show your shoes
teddy bear teddy bear
that will do.

Teddy bear teddy bear
go upstairs
teddy bear teddy bear
comb your hair
teddy bear teddy bear
turn off the light
teddy bear teddy bear
say good night.

What Will You Do Now?

Hello _________, how are you?
How are you? How are you?
Hello _________, how are you?
What will you do now?

Let child show off a motion or skill.
Repeat with each child's name.