Transitional Kindergarten News

Here is what is happening in our TK classroom…

Handwriting (morning TK) - We continue to work with frog jump letters .This week we practiced writing the letter D. We’ve now practiced writing F, E, and D in our handwriting books.

Language Arts (morning TK) - We are working on rhyming words, blending compound words, separating compound words, beginning and ending sounds, and identifying letters and sounds. We specifically worked with the letters Mm and Ss this week. Students sorted pictures that begin with these letters. We Read the book Sheila Rae, The Brave by Kevin Hanks and drew pictures of something that scares us (spiders and tornadoes were popular choices!). Afterwards, we shared our pictures in our whole group circle.

Math (afternoon TK) - We are working on identifying and writing numbers 1-10. We broke into small groups and played some dice games. We learned short poems to help us remember how to write numbers 1-5.

Science (all TK) - Color/Rainbow - Students mixed liquid watercolors with eye droppers. We also performed a “water walking” rainbow experiment.

Social Studies (all TK) - We are making friends and making connections as we share our "Me Bags"

Religion (this week we did this in our afternoon TK class) - God Made Me Special. Students drew pictures of what makes them special. We looked at our unique fingerprints.

Art (all TK) - Our art center is busy with paint sticks, daubers, watercolors, scissors, glue, markers, crayons and colored pencils. Hope you have been receiving lots of handmade treasures! One student made a “dot book” in the art center this week. Many students were excited to make animal books by cutting out pictures of animals and gluing them onto construction paper. Students are encouraged to make their own art during this time.

Benefits of process art

Independence: Process art naturally puts your child in control so instead of expecting direction from an adult, they get to go wild! As students grow older, they won't expect directions and can easily dive in all on their own. They will learn to trust themselves instead of seeking external help.

Self-regulation: Process art is incredibly soothing and a GREAT source of learning self-regulation. Some children even seek out process art for sensory needs.

Creative thinking: The nature of process art means students have to get creative and think of what to do next! This can mean using materials in a new way, seeking out new or favorite materials, and choosing what to create. Product based art can be creative too of course, but not nearly to the level of process art.

Learning: While this approach to the art process seems so simple, kids are learning everything from what materials are available, the limitations and use of those materials, as well as cause and effect... kids minds are at work during this time! Depending on the activity, they may also gain new science or math skills without even realizing it.

Experimentation: Students get to learn all about the materials they use. But this also extends to experimenting. They learn about different possibilities, cause and effect, ask questions, experiment, and so much more. For example, if you give children a selection of paint and paper, they may experiment by mixing different colors to see what happens or ask you about how to make different colors.  Did you get a painted paper that was all brown this week? Students learned that when you mix all the colors together, it makes brown.  It may not be pretty, but learning is taking place!

Confidence: Through engaging in process art, kids will learn to trust themselves and their own ideas. Over time you will notice them becoming very proud of their work as they gain confidence in what they create.

Motor skills: Both gross and fine motor skills are being practiced at this time. As students learn to hold a paint brush or crayon, children are practicing fine motor skills. When they are working with a large space, such as an easel, they are also developing gross motor skills as they gain muscle control.

So, all those little treasures that fill your child’s folder are signs of great, creative learning taking place!

Students now know all 6 classroom rules! 

If you have any of these valuable things at your house and would like to send them to school, we would love to use them in our classroom...

Things We Collect

Old magazines

Non fiction picture books

Yarn

Ribbon

Paper lunch sacks

Water bottle caps/milk jug caps

Cardboard tubes

Bubble wrap

Smooth rocks

locks/keys

Nuts/bolts

Newspaper

Stationary/envelopes

Stickers

Craft items

Cardboard egg cartons

Baby food jars

Cardboard inserts from electronic/Amazon packaging

 

Reminders - Don’t forget your child’s gray folder every day!

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Click here for general TK information.