Australia 2022

"Just to travel is rather boring, but to travel with a purpose is educational and exciting. " Sargent Shriver

Our MCP students are travelling to the Land Down Under and learning about Aboriginal Art.

You might want to ask your child:

Why is Australia called 'The Land Down Under'?

Australia is surrounded by water, so it is an....

Can you and your child talk with an Australian accent?   What is an accent?

How would you travel in Australia?  

What animals live in Australia?

Are the children in Australia asleep or awake?

More info---

https://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2020/01/aboriginal-art-2020.html

Penguin Problems 2022

 This penguin is a wonderful winter craft for our preschoolers.  Creative art and crafts are important components to the MCP curriculum. 

The creative art space in our room is provided for the children to make their own personal choices.  There is a wide variety of materials for them to use as they please.  Paintings, drawings and collages all look different.  It is an opportunity and space for the children to explore and enjoy the artistic process. 

Crafts are very different.  We are working on listening and following teacher directions.  All the children receive the same pieces.  With slight variations, all the final products look very much the same.  As the teacher gives directions, we are reinforcing basic concepts.  We discuss shapes, colors and sizes.  We use positional words like top, bottom, inside and between.  

More info and how to:

https://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2020/02/penguin-problems.html

You Would Even Say It Glows

 

Our students are learning a lot about moose, elk and deer.  Simple shapes with teacher directions and we have Rudolph.  He's so cute. What did your child learn about moose, elk and deer?  A lot!

https://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2016/12/our-mwf-prek-classes-know-so-much-about.html

Fun Food Friday?  Moose Munch Mix!

Free as a Bird

 
A turkey is nothing without feathers.  Our friends are busy tracing and cutting out feathers.  Great small motor work!  
Trace and cut...

What are you thankful for?  Make a tally mark and press 'the easy button'. 

Circle Up

 

"The arts are an essential element of education, just like reading, writing and arithmetic...music dance, painting and theater are all keys that unlock profound human understanding and accomplishment."   

William Bennett, Former US Secretary of Education

Our MCP students have learned about the works of Wassily Kandinsky. We have learned Kandinsky was born in Russia and are able to find a Russia on a map or globe.  Kandinsky loved to listen to music and saw his art in the music.  He loved circles and his work is describes as abstract.  

Have some fun at home with Kandinsky!  Easy breezy with crayons and paper!

https://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2016/12/happy-birthday-wassily.html

https://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2017/12/kandinskys-colors-black-lines.html

-Color and add black lines-

Our next Masterpiece Monday artist creates some yummy art!

Starry Starry Night

Vincent

 We are going to study the works of Vincent Van Gogh and paint a sunflower.

More information:

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2016/10/masterpiece-monday-sunflower-sketch.html

This Is England

 

Ask your child what they learned about England! 

Jack-o-lantern Jars

 

Over the years, we have made hundreds of these jack-o-lantern jars with our little ones. These jack-o-lanterns are inexpensive and easy which is an ideal combination for a preschool project.  Whether it's your first child at MCP or your last, it brings us great joy when we hear that they are displayed in your home for Halloween!  

Paint Beautiful Things

 

"As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see."

Vincent van Gogh

The Cat's Meow

 

At MCP, we work a lot on listening and following teacher directions. When we create crafts with students, they need to watch the teacher, listen and follow directions.  The result is a cute Halloween craft. 

We Are Busy Bees at MCP

It's Letter B week. We'll decorate our letter B.  Does your child notice a pattern?

There are so many ways to count in our classroom.  Put the children in the bus, have a teacher check and press 'the easy button.'

 

 

Paint, Paper and Paste-arts & crafts

Arts and crafts are a very important part of our program at MCP.  The two are also very different.  Art is open ended.  We have crayons, markers, scissors, glue, cardboard and much more in our art center so the children have an opportunity to be creative on their own. 

Crafts are about listening and following teacher directions. 

Crafts are done as a group at the tables with the teacher giving directions.  We use this opportunity to work on colors, shapes and spatial relationships (inside, between, top, bottom, etc.).  We also are working very hard on listening to teacher directions.  

If your child's craft does not look like a bear, a flower, a pumpkin or whatever---no worries.  We are just starting the year. We know sitting with friends with colorful paper and a bottle of glue is hard.  The children are learning how to use an appropriate amount of glue, how to pick up sticky gluey pieces and soon we will be cutting & snipping shapes together.  Please note---we do not move or relocate pieces that the children place incorrectly. Your child's work is their work.  We are working really hard on listening to teacher directions as a group.

For more information on why art is important-

https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/the-importance-of-art-in-child-development

Now I Know My ABC's

 

At MCP, we strongly believe that children learn best when actively involved in the process and not through worksheets and printables.  We work every day on letter and number recognition. We are always telling the children letters and numbers are EVERYWHERE (so look around with your child and point them out).  For more information check out the label 'Letter/Number Recognition'.

MCP Centers

The first day of school is approaching fast. Your child will discover that the MCP classroom is divided into 'centers'.  We believe in the power of play.  Find out more about each center:

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2019/09/our-room-mcp-centers.html

The Art of Collage

 

When MCP students are in the classroom there are wide variety of materials in our art center including the collage box.  The collage box is a wonderful assortment of odds and ends thrown into a plastic tub.  The children search, dig and glue their pieces and create the most amazing works of art.  Creative juices and glue flowing...it is fun to watch. 

There is no  rhyme or reason to what is in the tub-whatever we pull from our main storage closet.  The child will often ask if we have pipe cleaners, more googly eyes or ribbon and we happily grant their request if we are able. 

Creating a collage box for your child at home is easy.  Get a box with a lid (a shoe box-you don't need a store bought box).  Gather items-buttons, old beads, fun foam, pom poms, puzzle pieces, old playing cards, googly eyes, ribbon, paper scraps. The children glue on cardboard or tag board which is sturdier instead of paper.  Save cereal and cracker box for gluing. 

And They Lived Happily Ever After

In April, the MCP curriculum has a fairy tale unit.  We read books. We compare and contrast the stories.  There are props for dramatic play, countless activities in the Discovery and Art Centers plus our special 3 Little Pig Snack.  

The Gingerbread Man stories are sweet!  

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-gingerbread-man-2018.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2015/04/you-cant-catch-me.html

Simple props and your child's imagination to recreate stories.  If you really want to go all out---

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2015/04/pigmania.html

No sewing skills?  Buy pink t-shirts.  Houses and our 3 Little Pig snack-

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2012/04/little-pigs-little-pigs.html

Book list-

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2013/04/once-upon-time-and-more.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2012/04/ill-huff-and-ill-puff.html

Easter is so Egg-citing

A few ideas to keep the kiddos busy until Easter! Little hands make the cutest keepsakes!http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2012/04/flopsy-and-mopsy.html

Plastic eggs, carrots, soccer balls and more.  Use a sharpie and write numbers or letters for matching. 

Jelly beans make math fun.  Sort, count, create patterns, add, subtract or make a graph.  Ask your child questions using words like 'greater', 'less',  'more', 'equal' and 'zero'. 

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2019/04/fun-food-friday-jelly-beans.html

Hop to it and making learning a fun experience for your child. 

U is for Under

You would never know by looking at our art table but underneath is a hot mess.  It's not old dried out gum but crayon marks everywhere.  It makes me smile.  

It would be Letter U this week at school.  We traditionally tape the letter U under the table, place crayons in a small bin and the children lay on their backs and color (quite a bit of giggling, too.) 

At home you do not need a Letter U.  A piece of paper and some crayons will make your child happy.  Have your child crawl under the table and color up on the table.  Unbelievably simple. 

My Lucky Day

"The harder I work, the luckier I get."

Sam Goldwyn

Next week is St. Patrick's Day.  Simple shapes make a leprechaun.  

Green and orange paint with corks, cookie cutters or fingers! 

"Robot, play Irish folk music."  Music is needed to set the mood.  Here are some more ideas:

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2019/03/st-patricks-day-2019.html