Welcome to Discovery Room
April 12 -16, 2010

We will continue to celebrate our spring season with a focus on plants and gardens.  We will plant seeds in clear baggies so the class can see how seeds sprout.  The lessons will be further developed with vocabulary words such as root, stem, and leaves.  We will discuss what seeds need in order to grow and thrive.  The gardening theme will also be developed with literature and songs.  Let's hope for some warmth and sunshine so our plants and seeds can grow!  Have a great week!


March 1-5, 2010

We enjoyed our canine friend last Thursday.  The children watched as the police officer gave several commands in French. Our canine friend was born in France.  He spent his first few years in his native country and then the Petaluma Police Department put in a request for the dog.  Europe is noted for having very well trained police dogs!  This week Mrs. Molinaro will cook with the children on Tues. and make mini pizzas.  Mrs. Gilstrap will come in on Thurs. and show the children how to make spring rolls.  We will be talking about nutrition and healthy foods.  We would like to remind all parents of the importance of a good breakfast before school.  We serve snack at 10:45 and a bulk of their morning is fueled by their  breakfast food of that morning.  Please continue to send children in boots or have a pair available in their cubby.  I apologize for our muddy yard--it just does not drain well with all the rain we have been receiving.  Mrs. Mollison, Mrs. Mason & Mrs. Molinaro.


February 1 - 5, 2010

This week the children took ownership of helping a new student with our classroom routine.  It also demonstrated the strong classroom community that has developed.  This week many children demonstrated an important milestone in child development.  They are now moving past the scribbling stage (a fun kinesthetic activity) to the "preschematic" stage of drawing.  They are making some of their first representational drawings and the first attempt is usually a drawing of a person.  The drawings usually have a circle for a head and two vertical lines for legs.  Check out the door as you leave the classroom.  There are several examples of these drawings on the door.  It's exciting!!  Don't forget to bring in Valentines so that we can put the cards in their bags by Wednesday.  Several children will not be at school the following day and we would like for all children to receive their cards by Wednesday.  We will have a small celebration on Thursday.



January 18-22, 2010

This week we will read Jan Brett's, "The Mitten."  It is an old Ukrainian folk tale that Jan Brett has illustrated so beautifully.  The children will use wonderful stick puppets to enhance an oral retelling of the story.  We will learn new songs and fingerplays to go along with our mini author study.  In Mathematics we will sort different mitten with different color attributes and we will make a graph using different color mittens.  In Science we will have frozen blocks of ice and watch them melt over the course of the week.  We have begun music with Mrs. Lee on Thursdays and the children are learning about the different instruments and marching to different selections.  Try to stay dry this week!


November 16 - 20, 2009

We will be learning about Thanksgiving and family for the next couple of weeks.  Nursery rhymes and songs focus on this season of harvest.  We will make thank you cards and turkey placemats.  Please talk to your children about how you will celebrate Thanksgiving this year.  We are sure they will share this in class during circle.  We will also learn about the letter E.  On Tuesday, November 24th, we will have a feast in our room during snack time.  A sign up sheet for the feast is available in the classroom.


November 2 - 6, 2009

Our children have always been curious about puppets and have been playing different roles with them.  Our curriculum this week supports their curiosity and discoveries through the art of puppetry and music and what is real and make believe.  Children will be engaged in listening to stories, music and movement activities, fingerplays, working with hand puppets and making their own puppets from materials available to them.  They will create characters to make up their own stories.  For art, we will begin making our class turkey for the Food Drive.  Thank you parents for the nice Halloween treat.