September 2014!

Welcome back to many students! I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful summer and I can't wait to see the eager faces at my door.

There are a few changes in our classroom this year. We have a word wall that we will add new words to each week. As we work through our alphabet with our weekly letter, students will brainstorm words that begin with the weekly letter.

Our sight word wall is filled with 12 words each month. Students will learn 3 new sight words a week. Under our sight word wall is our library. Our library is organized by category or author and just keeps growing. We are bursting at the seams but what better way than with books?

Our number wall. Students will be able to look at our number wall and see the number, the written form of the number and what that number represents. As we work through counting we will practice one-to-one correspondence.

I hope everyone enjoys the last of their summer holidays and I can't wait to learn with all of our new little friends.

See you soon,
Chantal :)

Hewitt's Fun Farm Adventure

Last week Building Blocks Preschool went on an adventure to Hewitt's Fun Farm! We played for over 4 1/2 hours and it was hard to convince the kids to leave! The sun was shining and there was so much to do!!! Here are some pictures from our adventure. If you are in this area (Coldwater/Warminster) this is one spot to check out! It also offers lots of activities in the Fall seasons and is open all summer!

 Visiting the animals!

 This slide is huge!!! Super fun and super fast :)

 Looking down the slide!

 Visiting the little houses at the Fun Farm!

 Enjoying the Bouncy Cows!

 There is a castle, a spooky house and two others that the kids can go inside to play. They loved these!

 Hewitt's Bus all aboard! So many spots to take fun photos!

 Girls in their castle!

 Climbing the tires. They did an awesome job, there were lots of laughs too!

 The cow coral! I have to say the kids love bouncy on the cows and lining them up! I hope they remember to feed them!

 Sorting the produce! The kids get to pretend to have their own Hewitt's Produce stand. This was the favourite place to play!

 My junior farmers!

 Checking out the animals. The goats have a new walkway that crosses over the path of the wagon ride.

 Just relaxing inside the tires!

 The Hewitt's Junior Farm Market! There is toy produce, cash register, pretend money and bags to give to customers. The kids played in here forever.

 Jumbo snakes and ladders--fun for kids and parents :)

 

 The sand pit! Lots of toys to play with and tires for the kids to sit on. This sand pit is huge and the kids had a blast playing here!

 How tall are you?

 Working hard in the produce stand!

 Can you see me? This slide is seriously huge!

 Fun in the sun and sand!

 The kids were selling me produce! Their cute smiles sure did upsell!

 Hours upon hours of fun. I wonder if I can move into that castle they have? I am pretty sure my kids would live here if I let them! I guess it just means we will have to get here as many times as possible this summer!

 The race track

 The "HUGE" and I mean "HUGE" tire swing! This was way too fun! I wonder if I can fit one in my backyard?

It was a perfect day and a perfect adventure. The kids were asking to go back as soon as we pulled out of the driveway. They also loved going into the Farm Market and Bakery for some yummy cookies. Countdown is on until our next visit!

www.hewittsfarmmarkets.com -- Hewitt's Fun Farm is located at 3331 Townline RR #5 Coldwater, Ont. It is open all summer and offers daily wagon rides! During the weekend it also has pony rides and a corn bouncy castle!

Fun in the sun!

The weather has been beautiful and we are taking full advantage! Going for walks, water play, play in the backyard, bouncy castle and even outside play doh creations have been some of the activities we have participated in! The children are enjoying the sunshine and we are so excited to work on some
outdoor painting, bubbles, new games, parachute fun and lots of exploration!

Some of our indoor fun has included setting up a store and having students play customer, cashier and working together to set up the shelves and products. A lot of the ideas came from the students and it proved to be imaginative play at its best!

Music has been all about trying new instruments, listening to different sounds and learning new songs. The children enjoy being able to explore the instruments and work on keeping the beat to the music.

Exploration with Water!

This week with the nice weather our preschoolers will be exploring through water play. We will fill up the small kiddie pool, two water tables and buckets. Some of the buckets will be filled with water and soap and the children will have sponges, scrub brushes and paint brushes to wash small toys. The other buckets will have measuring cups and things to pour the water with.  We can't wait to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather!! It's going to be a fun filled week with lots of outside time!

OPENING FOR JULY 1, 2014!

One full time position is available for July 1, 2014. Currently conducting interviews so please feel free to email me at missnelson08@gmail.com if interested. Spots do go fast and this is the first opening we have had in over a year. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions!
Thank you so much,
Chantal -- Building Blocks Preschool

Adventures

A day full of library story time and play time at the local gym was an exciting Friday for my preschoolers! I highly recommend Barrie public library (if you are local) and their wonderful story time! We joined in for songs, dancing, counting, reading and an activity! The instructors are wonderful and the children adored them!

After the library we headed to a local gym for preschool drop in! Lots of toys,
Lots of space and lots of energy- the kids had a great time. The area is perfect for toddlers to wear off that extra Winter energy, in addition to trying new things and meeting new friends!

My preschoolers were wonderful and very well behaved! We can't wait for our next adventure!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, wishing you a Happy Monday!!

Happy Monday

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

It has been a busy Monday at Building Blocks Preschool. As our "Construction Theme" begins we built an igloo fort and brought flashlights in so we could see. The adventures that came out of this construction were fantastic, imaginative play at it's best.

Afterwards we focused on time with our busy bags. Matching numbers, letters and shapes, each child worked on their own activity doing their best to problem solve and asking for help along the way. This independent work was a success and I am so proud of the kiddos!

Next we moved onto Dance and Music! We listened to the soundtrack from "Frozen" and worked on beat, movement and different sounds of instruments. The children had so much fun dancing with each other and thought it was fun to try new instruments for each song.

For lunch the children tried something new "falafels" and seem to truly enjoy these. I always love introducing a new food and hope that it is welcomed into our menu depending on reactions. I am lucky as these children seem to try everything, seaweed included- different foods are so important to introduce at such a young age!

Now the kids are tired out and it's time for clean up and prep for the afternoon and rest of the week. More busy bags are well under way and it looks like we will have a collection of 15 bags by tomorrow. The children find them so exciting and can't wait to find out what adventure awaits them as they are given a new activity.

Enjoy your week! As the weather gets sunnier here we look forward to the ice on the sidewalks melting so we can venture out for a winter walk!

Busy Bags

Toddler busy bags is one of our new goals in 2014! Creating new activities where toddlers can work independently learning new skills are what we are working on at Building Blocks Preschool. An opportunity for teamwork, independence, problem solving and quiet work time allows students to not only master the activity but essential skills that will allow them to excel as they move towards kindergarten and working in a classroom.

http://mysmallpotatoes.com/2012/07/21/a-busy-bag-round-up/

My Small Potatoes has brilliant ideas. If you have any great suggestions for Busy Bag activities please comment on this post. The more creative ideas the better!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Activities at Building Blocks

2013 brought new adventures, amazing friendships and lots of learning! The fun of 2014 has only just begun and we can't wait!

In 2013 Building Blocks preschool introduced new extra curricular activities offered during the day! Joining in on kindermusik and dance class, the students enjoyed the fun instructors and exciting activities together! In addition to a field trip to Hewitt's Fun Farm, Smart Moves and the gym for preschool play, our classroom grew with new learning experiences. As 2014 begins we look forward to welcoming Kindermusik for monthly lessons and are excited to find new adventures that allow the students to explore the world around them!

Happy New Year everyone! We currently have one part time spot available. If interested please contact Chantal at missnelson08@gmail.com