In the Orca Class...

The Orca class is an interesting mix this year of returning Orcas, children who have moved up from the Dolphin class, as well as some children who are brand new to our school. These first few weeks are all about learning about school and each other.

The first day of school we made our Portfolio Pockets, where we will keep our special work from class. Some of us chose to write our names, and some of us chose to use letter stickers. All of us know the letters in our names, but we are at different stages of being able to write them.

The dress up area has been very popular.

A large part of preschool is spent learning how to be good friends. Telephones can help with this a bit. The children have had to learn how to use a phone shaped like this...

At ICP it's so much fun to have our parents come and play, imagine, and learn with us.

We are learning about quiet reading. This gives us an opportunity to look at the pictures in books, think about what the story is that goes with the pictures, and become excited to have them read to us.

Of course, outside play is important, and there is still lots of room for pretending there, too.

The first piece of work to go in our portfolio is our first self-portrait. Even our parents drew theirs. Many parents apologized for their drawing, but the children all think you are amazing! We will make several self-portraits throughout the year, giving us an opportunity to see how our image of ourselves, as well as our observation and drawing skills, has grown and changed.

When we engage in dramatic play we have a lot of opportunities to play what we see modeled each day, and to try on different roles in life.

These girl's thumbs were busy on these phones...

We met our preschool pets. These are the walking sticks.

They are intersting insects, and we went into the Wildlife Sanctuary to get ivy for them to eat. We also met our newest pets, two baby sister rats that we named Rosie and Bluebell.

This shaving cream experience was not only a great tactile exploration, but a fun social experience with our new friends.

Where are my hands?

The Orca class works together a lot as a class. Here we are working to make mud together in the dirt pile by the mud kitchen. It was so much fun!

This was our Question of the Day: What Do You Like To Do Best at Preschool? So many ideas, so much fun! It's going to be a great year!