| PreschoolFirst Trainings in January 2012! |
Looking for a little help to get started with PreschoolFirst in the New Year? Do you have any questions about PreschoolFirst User Cycle?
We will be offering free online Training Webinars
on PreschoolFirst User Cycle to all
Current Subscribers!
Subscribers, keep an eye for registration emails in early January.
Any questions regarding the PreschoolFirst Training Webinars OR if you would like to schedule a customized training for your program, please email us.
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Update: Using PreschoolFirst On iPads & iPhones
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 Read the advantages and current challenges of using this great device with the PreschoolFirst system!
Find this information under Your Resources, click on the Implementation Guide selection on the drop down menu, look at the bottom of the page and click on the text Update: Using PreschoolFirst On iPads & iPhones.
If you or your teachers have any feedback or want to share experiences using the iPad that is not listed in this document, please email us.
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| Slip & Slide Salt Truck Experiment | |
 When January arrives in most parts of the country it brings with it cold air and for many of us snowy and icy roads resulting in canceled days of the school or program. Here's a "scientific" investigation to do with preschoolers. Help them learn about the importance of salt on ice and why we stay off the roads until they are treated that is fun for children wherever they live.
Here's what you'll need for your oldest toddlers and preschoolers:
- Baking Trays
- Water
- Toy cars with rubber wheels
- Two cups
- Two sheets of wax paper per child along with room for skating
- Fresh snow*
- The book- Ice is....Whee!by Carol Greene
- A CD of waltzing music and a player is optional
Here's what you'll do:
You'll need to freeze two large baking trays (with low sides) filled with 1½ inches of water overnight.
Plan to do this activity on a snowy morning when the start of the day has been delayed or on the day children return to the school or program after it was canceled due to dangerous road conditions. For those of you living in temperate climates, pay attention to weather elsewhere in the county and if there is a big snow or ice storm reported on the news or newspaper, do this activity. On these days, trucks spread salt everywhere on the roads and the children may see them and/or hear adults talking about them driving through neighborhoods to "treat the roads."
Gather a small group of children together on the rug or group meeting area and read the book Ice Is...Whee! by Carol Greene. We suggest you help the children safely experience the feeling of slipping and sliding. If you do not live in area where ice and snow are a regular occurrence, the children may not realize how it feels to slip and slide on a slick surface. To help them better understand the feeling, let the group take off their shoes and slide carefully around on the bare floor or show the children how to stand on two pieces of wax paper and "glide" on carpet. We recommend that you do this with only a small group at a time and remain close by to "spot" and catch any children who really do slip.
During the open play time, center time or the "work period" in the day, invite small groups of children to visit an activity table and experiment with salt and slipping toy cars. Set the frozen tray on the table with the bowl of salt and the toy cars. Ask the children to help sprinkle some snow on top of the trays and let each child touch it. Encourage the children to talk about what they know about ice and snow and discuss how it feels, looks, and what happens when cars drive or people walk on it. Ask if the children have noticed salt trucks on the road or heard anyone talking about them.
Let the children help "clear" a road on each tray and give the children turns pushing, sliding and driving the toy cars on the roads. Then once all children have had time to explore, ask them to help sprinkle salt on one tray (but not the other) - just like the salt truck do! As you watch the salt sit on the ice, ask children to predict what might happen, and talk about what does. Let the children drive a different car on each tray to compare the slippery roads. Ask them to guess why trucks drive around spreading salt on snowy and icy days. Help them understand that it helps melt the ice and make the roads safer for cars.
Extend the Slip & Slide Salt Truck Experiment by placing both baking trays outdoors, let the children continue to play and pretend to drive the car on them. Check the trays periodically with the children to see what happen to each as they remain out in the cold. After an hour or so (the rate of melting depends on many things, including the amount of salt used), reconvene the group. Ask them what has happened to the ice and if the salt made a difference.
* If you live in an area that typically doesn't get snowfall, simply make snow with several ice cubes chopped up finely in a blender if necessary. Help children think of words to describe how snow looks and feels and add their words to a Wintry Word Wall!
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| Safely Slip & Slide with Infants and Toddlers | |
Although infants and toddlers may not fully appreciate the salt truck portion of this activity, they will be interested in the movement part. Read a simple picture book about penguins and imitate the way penguins walk and waddle. Help infants waddle in your arms and show toddlers how to hold place their feet side-by-side and move.
Here's what you'll need for infants and toddlers:
- A very simple board book such as Penguins, by Fiona Watt
- Wax Paper
- Tape
- Fresh snow* in a bowl
- A flat metal baking tray filled with water and frozen
- A CD of waltz music and a player
Here's what you'll do:
Cuddle up and read the Penguins book to the children. Be sure to let them touch the "feathers" and bellies and of the chicks in the illustrations. Imitate a waddling penguin and stand a child on your feet and let him or her safely experience the feeling of waddling. Give each child a turn to waddle with you.
Take off the children's shoes and socks and feel the icy world with their "penguin feet." Encourage the children to touch and crunch the snowin the bowl with their hands and feet. Then hold each child and give him or her a turn to stand on the tray of ice. Use wintry words to describe the way the snow and ice looks and feels. For example: smooth, freezing, cold, shivery, icy, slippery, crunchy, wet, etc.
Next supervise the children closely, hold each by the hands and let him or her try to slid on the tray of ice. Point to the penguins in the book and say, "Penguins live on ICE! They waddle carefully to walk so they don't slip and fall down."
Help the children pretend to be penguins, hold them by the hands and slide carefully around on the bare floor together. Play some soft waltzing music and say, "We're gliding and sliding!" If you have carpet you can wrap and tape wax paper to their feet and "glide" together on carpet. We recommend that you do this with only one child at a time and remain close by to "spot" and catch any children who really do slip.
* If you live in an area that typically doesn't get snowfall, just make snow with several ice cubes chopped finely in a blender. Let children touch & taste the snow! Remeber to use words to describe how it feels, sounds, tastes and what happens when it melts.
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Highlights of the Winter Theme
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 Our Winter theme is filled with investigative hands-on activities that explore the unique nature of cold weather. Children have multiple learning opportunities to use essential concepts such as pattern, directionality, order and position placements, and looking for more than one solution to a problem.
Here are just a few of our favorite Winter Theme Activities!
To locate these and other activities on our site, login, scroll over the red Your Class button, and click the name of your class on the dropdown menu. Look down the class page that appears on your screen and click on the Theme Activities button to bring up the Select Classroom Activities display. Now you can use the selections to browse all the activities for the Winter theme for your class.
Winter Coat and Hat Store- Creative Play Time (18-24 mos.)
Children talk about winter weather and play dress-up at a 'Winter Coat and Hat Store.'
Snowy Play 1 - Project Time (24-30 mos.)
Children use a printing technique and shaving cream to create a picture of a wintry day.
Snoring Bear - Story Circle Time (30-36 mos.)
Children listen to 'Bear Snores On', by Karma Wilson, and imitate the motions and chanting text in the story.
Snowmobile- Game Time (36-48 mos.)
Children pretend a tricycle is a 'snowmobile' and maneuver it around different winter obstacles.
Mitten Matching - Buddy Time (48-66 mos.)
Children sort winter shapes by different characteristics and match designs created with the shapes.
Non-PreschoolFirst subscribers can download a PDF version of one of these theme activities.
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| Head Start Connection: | |
 Our Winter theme has a special focus on the particular attributes of cold weather. This theme directly supports all domain elements from the Scientific Knowledge and Skills Domain; and the Geometry & Spatial Sense and Patterns domain elements from the Mathematics Knowledge and Skills Domain in the 2010 Head Start Framework.
Here's a perfect opportunity for children to practice the concept of patterning, matching like objects, observing and testing common properties, as well as expanding their knowledge of the natural world. Activities such as Mitten Matching 3 (36-48 mos.) and Winter Homes 5 (48-66 mos.) provide many opportunities for teachers to observe domain elements in Approaches to Learning: Initiative & Curiosity, Persistence & Attentiveness; and Physical Development & Health: Fine Motor Skills from the 2010 Head Start Framework.
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| PreschoolFirst Classroom Tip | |
This winter, bring a powerful tool into the center of every activity - Emergent writing! Organize a Wandering Writing Caddy children can use at any center during activity play times. Buy inexpensive plastic caddies such as those typically used to carry cleaning supplies at a local discount store.
Fill each caddy with the following writing supplies:
- Thick scented colored markers placed in a plastic cup that fits snugly in one side of the caddy
- Thick colored pencils placed in a plastic cup that fits snugly in one side of the caddy
- Two pairs of child safety scissors and a one-hole paper puncher placed in a plastic cup that fits snugly in one side of the caddy
- A stapler (use with adult supervision)
- A stack of 3 in. x 5 in. index cards
Place the organized caddy next to a stack of paper on a shelf where the children can reach it. Encourage the children to get the caddy and bring it to an activity center when they want to make a sign, write a note, or use writing in any way during their play. Teach the children how to carefully place the caps back on the markers and keep the writing materials organized as they work with them.
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Any Suggestions?
We're always looking for more ways to make your job easier. PreschoolFirst continues to improve its site for our subscribers. If you have any specific ideas or requests about themes, we'd be happy to hear them! Click here to send us an email. Keep watching the site as we improve our functions. Remember all PreschoolFirst upgrades, improvements, and new basic features are available to all our subscribers at no additional cost. Your annual subscription gives you access to every basic site improvement PreschoolFirst has to offer, now and in the future. PreschoolFirst is always happy to answer all your questions. Call us weekdays at 1-866-584-2900.
Sincerely, The PreschoolFirst Team at
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January
