IT'S FALL, Y'ALL!

IT'S FALL, Y'ALL!
This week closed out the month of September, and it also closed out a two-week "All Things Fall" thematic unit in our preschool department. Mrs. Dixon's and Mrs. Burrow's classes had some fun with apples and fall harvest-themed units this week, and the kids had a great time!

There was much excitement in our 2's preschool room as Mrs. Dixon celebrated an Apple Exploration day in class! She showed the kids several different types of apples and gave them the chance to see if apples would float or sink when placed in water. Several of the kids were surprised to see them bobbing at the top of the water as they were confident the apples would sink.

Each child had the chance to help peel and slice the apples so they could taste and compare each of the different colors. They counted aloud as they used their muscles to turn the handle on the apple peeler, and they did a great job waiting patiently for their turns. While sampling the red, yellow, and green apples, they talked about flavors and textures and how different colored apples have different tastes. Mrs. Dixon explained sweet and tart and crunchy and mushy to the kids, giving them language to describe what they were experiencing. There were some obvious favorites, with the kids gobbling up the red apple slices quickly.

When the kids had finished peeling and tasting all the apples, it was time to vote for their favorite! This gave the kids a chance to practice making a choice. They chose a colored apple and then stuck it to the poster to graph their favorite apple choice. Mrs. Dixon's Wednesday class chose red apples as their favorite. Since not every student in 2's preschool attends every day, the voting continued on Thursday, with that class also picking red apples as their favorite!

Mrs. Burrow's five full-day preschool class spent time talking about fall harvests over the past two weeks and learning how farmers grow fruits and vegetables and then sell them. Mrs. Burrow transformed her dramatic play area into a Farmer's Market. It is no secret that children learn from play; while they act out different situations, like customers and cashiers, they experience social and emotional growth while having fun with friends. Dramatic play also promotes language development and mathematical thinking while allowing the children to move from parallel play to interacting together.

Mrs. Burrow’s students enjoyed taking turns playing in the Market in groups of 4 so that everyone would have a chance to participate. They could choose what role they wanted to play: a customer, a cashier, or a bagger. The customers made a list of items they wanted to purchase and would shop and put the selected items in their baskets. The customer then paid the cashier for the fruits and vegetables with play money. Finally, the bagger packed it all up and finished by saying, "Have a good day!" Once the customers finished their shopping, the cashier and bagger got to restock the shelves for the next group. The kids were so enthusiastic and eager to be part of the fun!

Mrs. Dixon did a great job leading the 2's through some apple exploration! Mrs. Burrow set up a fantastic Farmers Market dramatic play center for the kids. There were so many smiles and so much excitement in the preschool classrooms while the kids had a great time playing and learning with their new friends. What a great way to close out the month of September! Happy Fall!!