ELC Pre-K

2012-01-17T09:42:00.000-08:00

Mad Science

Mixing vinegar and baking powder together.

OH WOW!!! It fizzed up!!!

Observing how oil and water do not mix.

Now let's shake it and see it mix together.

Adding water to the color tablet.

It fizzed up just like the vinegar and baking powder did.

Adding water to the color tablet with a pipette.

Beginning to mix the color water to flour mix.

Stir, stir stir

Almost there. A little more water, a little more stirring.

PLAY-DOH

COOL CRITTERS

2011-12-07T08:11:00.001-08:00

Last month the pre-k class enjoyed a special visit from COOL CRITTERS. From their website: Cool Critters Outreach, LLC (CCO) is a fun, interactive, and educational way of looking at reptiles, amphibians & invertebrates. It is an opportunity to get an up-close, personal look at the fascinating world of snakes, lizards, dragons, alligators, spiders, and more.

The kids were very curious and very brave!

Western Hognose Snake

The Bearded Dragon, "Sergeant Stubbs"
(he lost most of his tail in a fight with another dragon)

"Peepers," the African Tortoise

American Alligator. He isn't so scary with his mouth taped shut!

"Venus" the boa constrictor!

Venus is demonstrating how she can wrap around trees (and other things).

To see more picture from the Cool Critters visit go to our Facebook page.

Costume Party

2011-11-10T11:37:00.001-08:00

Visit our facebook page to see more pictures.

Merlin the Magician

2011-10-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Merlin the Magician stopped by to entertain us with some magical storytelling!

The kids listened to Merlin tell exciting stories
about pirates, caterpillars, and space.

He was very silly! The kids loved volunteering
to go up on stage and help out with the tricks.

"Reynaldo the flea" is holding up one side of the rope. How does he do that?!

Will the right pirate flag come out of the bag?

The pre-k class, listening to Merlin the Magician telling a wild tale!

A volunteer from the pre-k class helps Merlin with a trick during his story about a trip to space.

Want to see more pictures and video of Merlin's visit
to Endeavor Learning Center?

Check out our Facebook page.

Heritage Village School Program

2011-10-12T10:47:00.001-07:00

The students at Endeavor really enjoyed a visit from Heritage Village! They were able to experience what a day was like in the life of their 19th century counterparts. A time when children really had to work.

Everyone also got a chance to practice sewing with a large plastic needle and comb out sheep's wool. But we got to play with some of the toys and games from the 19th century and that was pretty fun!

It was also fun dressing up in some of the kinds of clothes that they used to wear back then.

It was very hard to carry the water buckets.

The buckets were heavy and they didn't even have any water in them!

Field Trip: VOA Park

2011-07-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

2011-07-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

2011-07-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

Playing the harp!

2011-06-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

Harpist, Sabra, with her harp. It is about 6 feet tall!

Listening to harpist, Sabra Thomas, talk about how the harp makes sound. She played several songs for the children, including "Clair de Lune," a piece about a swam, and a storytelling piece about fairies!

Everyone who wanted a turn got a chance to strum the harp. Sabra shows them how to use their first finger and point it down while moving it across the strings.

A visit from Marvin's Organic Gardens

2011-05-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last month Wes Duren, from Marvin's Organic Gardens, stopped by to chat
with the group about gardening. He told the kids about the importance of
worms in gardens and brought lots of soil for the kids to touch.

The soil was very soft and fun to squish in our hands!

Mr. Wes passed around several different types of herbs for the kids to
touch, smell, and even taste! The lavender smelled very nice.

Tasting one of the herbs.

Mr. Wes will return next week to help us start our
edible forest (the first phase of our nature playscape).
We will be planting eleven fruit trees!

Arrowhead Reptile Rescue

2011-03-25T10:41:00.001-07:00

In honor of National Wildlife Week one of our favorite special guests, Arrowhead Reptile Rescue, stopped by last week with many of their very interesting friends!

Two volunteers from Arrowhead show off a Burmese Python, "Big Al."

They brought some of their rescued turtles, lizards and snakes. Members of the nonprofit reptile rescue rehabilitate and “foster” displaced and unwanted reptiles and promote herpetological education in local schools and educational centers. The kids are always eager to get a close-up and hands-on look at these creatures, even "Big Al."

2011: A Space Odyssey

2011-02-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

The pre-k group just finished up a unit on space. Ms. Lu Ann helped transform the dramatic play area into a spaceship (thanks to some huge cardboard boxes from Ikea)! The kids used paint to decorate their ship.

The finished product:

Less Than, More Than, or Equal To

2011-02-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

Sorting dry pasta into groups

Ms. Lu Ann challenged the pre-k class to sort noodles by counting them out into various piles and comparing the amount of noodles in each pile.

Say cheese!

2011-02-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

Two of the pre-k students asked Ms. Lu Ann if they could take a picture of their work in the block area. Ms. Lu Ann showed them how to use the camera. They took pictures of their structures and each other...and didn't stop there. They decided to take pictures of their friends and other things in the classroom.

What other things in the classroom caught their eye?

Mad Science of Cincinnati

2011-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

We excitedly welcomed Mad Science back to our school earlier this month. The program they presented this time was "Mad Mixtures," an interactive program that consisted of hands-on activities to introduce mixtures and the science of chemistry. The lesson began with a mini volcano to demonstrate how mixing things together can create something new!

Our "mad scientist" then focused on the mixing of colors. The kids examined tubes that were filled with colored water and oil. The oil and colored water separated when left alone and mixed together when the kids shook them up!

Next, everyone was given a baggie filled with several different colors of a jelly-like substance. They were instructed to softly press on the baggies to mix the colors. As they pressed the colors together they mixed to make new colors.

Finally the Mad Science instructor let the kids pick out a color and she added that colored water to some homemade dough in a bag. The kids smashed the bagged dough to mix their color into the dough.

Snow Day!

2010-12-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ms. Lu Ann got everyone in the pre-k class all suited up this morning to go play in the snow! The property around the school looked beautiful, all covered in white.

The boys made snow angels, rolled down the snowy hill, and ran through the snow covered trails. It was quite a winter wonderland!

Cincinnati Museum Center's Program-on-Wheels

2010-12-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

Stuffee: The Amazing Anatomy Doll

Meet Stuffee, a seven-foot-tall, blue-haired, smiling doll that unzips to reveal what is inside a body! This helps show children what’s inside all of us. The kids were able to feed Stuffee food and use stethoscopes to listen to their own beating hearts.

Everyone had a chance to pull something out of Stuffee's body and examine it. Ms. Deann from the Cincinnati Museum Center gave a brief description of all of the organs inside Stuffee and talked about what those organs do and how they help our bodies.

Snow!

2010-12-01T11:06:00.001-08:00

Everyone was excited to see some snow on the ground today and lots of flurries blowing around outside! After getting all bundled up we went outside just long enough to throw some snow around, taste it, and slip and slide around on the slippery grass. December is off to a great start!

Wild About Animals

2010-11-11T15:28:00.001-08:00

The Cincinnati Museum Center stopped by this week to present one of their programs, "Wild About Animals," to the preschool and pre-k classes. Ms. Deann led the group on a virtual safari, beginning in Africa. She talked about elephants, lions, giraffes, and zebras. The kids already knew some facts about elephants, like how they use dirt to protect their skin from sun. They learned the different uses for trunks.

Ms. Deann told them that male lions have manes to protect their necks from bites and also to help attract girlfriends. The kids thought that was hilarious! They also thought it was funny that giraffes have purple tongues to protect their tongues from getting sunburned when they are picking leaves from tall trees.

Ms. Deann handed out zebra finger puppets to everyone and they acted out what zebras do when they see a lion coming too close...the lookout lions call out "Woop woop!" to alert their friends and the zebras run away.

Everyone touched a pelt of real zebra skin. The fur was very smooth and soft.

We looked through the viewfinders to see other animals from Africa.

The next stop on the safari was Antarctica! Ms. Deann discussed emperor penguins with the group. She passed out baby penguins to everyone.

The kids tried to waddle around while keeping the baby penguins warm on their feet. It wasn't very easy!

Everyone huddled closely together just like penguins do to try to keep each other warm.

The final safari destination was a much warmer place...Australia! Ms. Deann taught the kids about koala bears and kangaroos. She let everyone smell eucalyptus since that is what koalas eat. The kids gave a thumbs up or thumbs down to let her know if they liked the smell. About half of the kids thought it smelled good. Ms. Allison thought it smelled yucky and gave it a thumbs down.

The last animal that we learned about was the kangaroo. Everyone loved the kangaroo toys with the joeys in the pouches. The kids learned that some kangaroos can jump 30 feet in one jump! They tried to jump that far but discovered that it took us a lot more jumps to go 30 feet :)

In the Zoo...

2010-11-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

Here are more pictures of the "zookeepers" hard at work, caring for the animals in the dramatic play area.

Costume Party 10/28/2010

2010-11-03T10:19:00.001-07:00

Senor Doug started off the day with a special Spanish lesson! He taught the kids how to say words like ghost, costume, pumpkin, and candy in Spanish. Then they played a fun game where they passed the "calabaza" around in a circle and told Senor Doug one of the new Spanish words if they were holding the pumpkin when the song ended.

In the afternoon the kids dressed up in their costumes and marched around the Big Room, showing off their great outfits!

Following the costume parade they went outside and searched along the trail for treat bags filled with bubbles, bracelets, and stickers. Everyone was so excited when they found their own little treat bag :)

The World of Animals

2010-11-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Pre-K class is learning about animals!

They have been working together on this large puzzle. The butterfly part is finished now!

The dramatic play area has been transformed into a zoo. The kids are able to take care of the animals here. They take the animals out of their cages to care for them. Some of the animals were sick and needed shots. It is hard work caring for animals and keeping them healthy.

Ms. Lu Ann read Actual Size by Steve Jenkins to the class. This fun books allows the readers to see the actual sizes of an elephant's foot, a tiger's face, shark teeth and more. Everyone traced their hands and feet, cut them out, and compared them to the the actual size of an elephant's foot and a gorilla's hand.

The kids were amazed at just how large an elephant's foot is! All of the kids' footprints fit on just one elephant foot. They talked about how an elephant is so large that it would be too tall to fit in their classroom.

Let's Measure with Mad Science

2010-10-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

Last month Dr. Discovery from Mad Science of Cincinnati stopped by to present the "Let's Measure" workshop to the preschool and pre-k classes. The kids learned about measurement through a hands-on program that focused on mass and length. The pre-k class was particularly interested in this subject as they had spent the first couple of weeks in September learning about measurement. They had been measuring all sorts of things, including themselves and objects they found in the classroom and outside, so this was a fun extension of what they had been working on with Ms. Lu Ann. Dr. Discovery was quite impressed with their enthusiasm about measuring!

The kids used the balance to determine that the mass was greater with more toys and the same with the same amount of toys. They used string to measure all sorts of objects inside, including their own legs!

Dr. Discovery passed out rulers to everyone before she left.

Blocks

2010-09-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

This is a playground.

The figure to the right is an addition to the original playground.

This is a star (for the people to walk on).

Turtle

2010-09-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Ms. Lu Ann found a turtle in the parking lot a few weeks ago. She thinks he was probably looking for some water since it has been so hot and dry lately. Ms. Lu Ann placed the turtle in a box with some water and apple slices that were leftover from our snack. Everyone got a chance to peek in the box and get a closer look at the turtle.

After the turtle got a chance to rehydrate himself we set him free into the tall grass next to our school. The kids helped coax him out of the box and then gave him a happy send-off!

Then everyone wanted to pretend to be a turtle :)

Picnic

2010-09-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

The preschool and pre-k class were having such a lovely time playing outside recently. It was a perfect day outside so we had a picnic! The sun was getting in our eyes so we grabbed some of the hats from the dress-up bins and enjoyed eating lunch outside.

Bike Day

2010-08-31T12:32:00.001-07:00

Everyone loved riding their bikes at school!

When they were finished racing each other and riding around the cones they decided to go to their bike shop (which was located in between the pine trees) to work on their bikes. They pretended to fix their bikes and had a lot of fun being bike mechanics.

A fun recycling craft project with shoes

2010-08-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

The class has been learning about parts of the body. They were talking about feet and that led to a discussion of shoes.

What to do with old shoes? Let your kids decorate them and turn them into ART!

The pre-k class had a blast taking these old shoes outside and working their magic. They painted the shoes and covered them with glue, little jewels and various colors of glitter.

Below are a few of the finished shoes:

Owls, from Raptor Inc.

2010-08-26T10:59:00.001-07:00

Raptor, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of birds of prey through rehabilitation, education and conservation.

Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl

Last year they came to visit our school and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to welcome them back this summer! Susan, from Raptor, brought the little Screech Owl and the Great Horned Owl back this year. She also brought one of the owls that we have not seen before at our school...the Barn Owl. It was gorgeous! The Barn Owl was a bird that was rescued from a local farm. It had an accident and lost one of its wings. It was a very vocal bird too! He was doing quite a bit of loud screeching. Some of us had to cover our ears because he was so loud!

The other owls were not as chatty but we were able to listen to their calls on a recording that Susan played for us. We also looked at some feathers, claws, and owl pellets. We could not touch the birds because they are too dangerous to us but it was a joy to be able to see (and hear) them up close!

For video of the some the owls go to the Toddlers Blog.

Highfield Discovery Garden

2010-08-25T11:43:00.001-07:00

Our last field trip of the summer was to Highfield Discovery Garden in Glenwood Gardens. There were many interesting things for the kids to check out and explore. If you decide to go for a visit be sure to give yourself plenty of time to visit all the different areas.

The kids started out at the treehouse. They loved going in and out of all the tunnels and they even found some (pretend) bats in the cave under the tree!

There were several different model trains running on the tracks.

The Tea House...a perfect place for an impromptu tea party.

One of our favorite things to do at school is water the gardens. The kids were excited about watering the plants at the discovery garden too. And they got to take turns using the pump to fill up their buckets with water!

Looking for frogs...

Lots of neat things to see in the Fairy Garden!

Digging for Dinosaurs

2010-08-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

Last week we enjoyed another "Program-on-Wheels" from the Cincinnati Museum Center. Our little paleontologists uncovered fossils in their own dinosaur dig. The program also brought along touchable fossils from some of our favorite dinos such as Tyrannosaurus and Stegosaurus!

Pretending to be a Triceratops. Digging for fossils.

Making a mold of a fossil.

Playing with dinosaur toys and books.

Gorman Heritage Farm

2010-08-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

Our first field trip of the summer to Gorman Heritage Farm in Evendale, Ohio was a lot of fun. The weather was lovely, the kids were happy, and we saw many interesting things at the farm.

(and we RODE A BUS!!!)

After seeing the animals we headed over to the garden and then to the woods where the kids discovered a small creek and a neat hut made of out sticks!

Cincinnati Nature Center Field Trip

2010-08-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the porch at the education center with the volunteer guides.

Looking at some of the interesting orange summer flowers on our nature hike.

We were looking for birds, squirrels, and chipmunks.

We had to quietly approach the frog pond as we didn't want to scare the frogs away.

Our guide, Ms. Beth, caught this frog with her net! After getting a closer look at him we released him back into the pond.

Looking for frogs and other critters in the pond...

Can you see the frogs?

Ms. Beth scooped up tadpoles and baby salamanders!

Worms!

2010-08-10T07:59:00.001-07:00

Last month we were excited to have a visit from Mad Science. The topic during the visit was "World of WORMS!" This workshop provided the kids with an opportunity to get their hands dirty while learning all about worms. We were able to handle a kind of large earthworm called a night crawler. They were pretty big and slow-moving. The kids learned to identify which end of the worm is the anterior and which is the posterior. The special word that we learned to describe a worm was invertebrates. They felt cold and squishy.

The kids also had the chance to check out waxworms. They felt very soft and were super fast! The waxworms kept crawling off the plates and up the kids arms.

After the program the kids released the night crawlers and wax worms into one of our gardens.

321 Blast Off!

2010-07-23T08:50:00.001-07:00

Learning about the planets: their names and where they are placed.

Remote control space shuttles

Crayon rubbings of a space shuttle

The Reptiles that Came to Visit

2010-07-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

Puppet Show

2010-07-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of the summer camp girls created a puppet show for us. It was about a girl who wanted to get a dog and a cat as a pet. After the show the campers asked the audience if anyone had a dog or cat as a pet. The audience also shared stories about their pets.

Newport Aquarium -- Penguins!

2010-07-02T13:26:00.001-07:00

Our friend from the Newport Aquarium stopped by to talk about penguins. Several of the children brought their own favorite penguin toys to join in on the fun. We saw penguin feathers and eggs and stood up against some life-size penguin cut-outs to get a better idea of just how tall some penguins are. We were surprised that Emperor penguins can be as tall as a summercamper! But the African penguins are shorter than the pre-k kids and the toddlers.

Who needs a paintbrush? We have FEET!

2010-07-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

The pre-k and summer camp kids made a huge colorful mural with their feet!

Snoopy's Visit

2010-06-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

A short video of the kids trying to guess Snoopy's favorite food (pizza!).

As part of the Snoopy's Million Fans program from Kings Island, Snoopy and his friend stopped by ELC to make some new little friends. Snoopy's pal read two books to the school and then stayed long enough for Snoopy to give plenty of hugs and high fives!

Museum Visit: Learning about Frogs and Toads

2010-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Monster Truck

2010-03-24T10:33:00.001-07:00

A friend of an ELC parent surprised us with a Monster Truck visit! The kids came out to have an up close look. They couldn't believe it actually had steps on the side of the truck. Everyone got a chance to touch the truck and hear its loud horn. Awesome!

One World, Many Cultures

2010-02-17T10:24:00.001-08:00

One World, Many Cultures

Several times during the year we invite the Cincinnati Museum Center to bring their Program-on-Wheels to our center. They offer an array of educational and entertaining science, natural history and social studies programs that are designed with teaching standards in mind.

On February 5, 2010 the Cincinnati Museum Center visited with their "One World, Many Cultures" program, which was originally developed by the Cincinnati Museum Center for a national traveling exhibit, Children Just Like Me. They used maps, clothing, crafts, games, celebrations, music, and more to explore other cultures on many different continents.

Let it snow!

2009-12-23T06:11:00.001-08:00

November Videos

2009-11-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

"Ten Little Fingers"

Trucks!

2009-11-04T10:18:00.001-08:00

Before our costume party we went outside with the toddlers to watch the trucks tear up the road in front of the school. We saw several different trucks. One big truck was taking up the old road and putting it into a dump truck. It looked like dirt. We saw a lot of construction workers and a few of them waved at us. When the workers were waiting for another dump truck to arrive we played in the leaves. It was a lot of fun!

Pajama Day!

2009-10-16T10:16:00.001-07:00

Nature Trails

2009-10-16T05:53:00.001-07:00

In his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv writes "Nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and the full use of the senses." Time spent in nature is essential for the physical, mental and emotional health of all children. Upon the recommendation of Bill Hopple, executive director of the Cincinnati Nature Center, we expanded our outdoor play area to include several new nature trails.

The preschool class has been very excited about the new nature trails that Mr. Shaun mowed for us in the tall grass. The kids love having a new area to explore outside! They have been making up new games to play on the trails and have found all sorts of interesting plants and bugs.

Below is an art project that the kids worked on together. They collected various items that they found during a nature walk and created a beautiful collage to hang on the wall!

Owl Pellet Investigation

2009-10-12T07:20:00.001-07:00

Last month the preschool class purchased an owl pellet kit. They made some very interesting discoveries when they examined the contents of the owl pellets. The class discovered that owls eat mice (a lot of them!) because they found hair, tiny teeth, bones, and even a few mouse skulls inside the pellets! Some of the items were so small that the kids had to look at them under a magnifying glass.

Below is a short video of one of the owls that came to visit our school in March. In the clip you can hear the recording of various owl sounds. The owl kept looking around, trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from.

Lesson Plan (September/October 2009)

2009-10-08T10:21:00.001-07:00

The preschool class will take advantage of the falling leaves for several special projects including leaf collages and classifying. The St. Jude's Trike-A-Thon is scheduled for October 9th. Don't forget to bring your bike and helmet to school that day!

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - blocks, cars, Little People
Dramatic Play - housekeeping center
Manipulatives/Math - squirrel gride game, apple math path game, sorting seasonal items on a grid
Creative Art - assortment of items to glue, color, and cut
Library/Literacy - books about Autumn
Science and Nature - finding leaves outside and matching them to a picture in the leaf book; identifying leaves by name after looking them up
Music & Movement - finger play & foot play CD; The Leaves on the Trees song; Roly Poly Pumpkin song
Outdoors - easel painting with natural items found outside; leaf collage

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - morning song; calendar activities; letters of the week (E and F); apple tasting & graphing; SpanishFUN with Senor Doug
Small Group Activities - "E" and "F" activities; pumpkin life cycle sequence cards; working with the sorting graph
Story Time - Now It's Fall; Foggy Day; Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf; Where Do Butterflies Go When It Rains; Oak Trees; Pine Trees; If You Take a Mouse to School
Special Activities - painting with items found in nature on the outside easel; finger-painting/cutting out butterflies; assemble butterfly projects; collecting leaves to make a leaf collage (glue, paper, leaves); contact paper leaves/tissue paper; Trike-A-Thon

The very mysterious caterpillar

2009-09-30T12:43:00.001-07:00

Last month one of the preschoolers found a very large green caterpillar outside. We put the caterpillar in a bug jar and left it on the table in the preschool class. The next morning, we had quite a surprise! The caterpillar had made a cocoon inside the bug jar. The children enjoyed checking on it each morning to see if there were any cracks in the cocoon. We waited and waited. We even heard it wiggling around inside the cocoon. Two or three weeks later we were even more surprised when a huge Luna moth finally emerged from the cocoon!

Ms. Lu Ann took the moth outside and released it. The kids were able to study the Luna moth up close. Some of the kids through the spots on the wings were the eyes. It did not fly off right away. But it was gone when the class went to check on it later.

A visit to Perfect Petals Florist in Mason

2009-09-30T12:32:00.001-07:00

In July the summercampers were able to visit Perfect Petals in Mason. Since recycling is an important part of our daily routine at Endeavor Learning Center we took some old glass flower vases to the flower shop. In exchange for the vases they gave us some lovely flowers to take back to school! The kids got a behind the scenes look and watched the florist prepare the bouquets for the class.

Snakes, Lizards, and Tortoises, Oh My!

2009-09-02T10:41:00.001-07:00

Another one of our August visitors brought in amphibians. We got to pet several snakes, a lizard, and a cool looking tortoise. A lot of us were brave and touched every one of the animals.

The Greater Cincinnati Herpetological Society (GCHS) is an organization committed to increasing the understanding of reptiles and amphibians. For more information about GCHS go to http://www.cincyherps.com/

Learning About Bugs

2009-09-02T10:23:00.001-07:00

The Cincinnati Museum Center brought their "Snug as a Bug" (Program On Wheels) lesson to teach us about bugs. We got to put a bug together and learn about the parts of a bug. We also got to wear fun glasses so we could see how a bug sees! That was cool. Our visitor brought a hissing cockroach for us to pet if we wanted and some of us heard the cockroach hiss! Then we played with bug puppets and looked at bugs that were no longer alive in some glass boxes.

June Field Trips

2009-07-14T10:41:00.001-07:00

Heritage Oak Park

Southwest Golf Ranch

Having Some Outdoor Summer Fun!

2009-07-04T13:36:00.001-07:00

Reduse, Reuse, Recycle!

2009-07-04T13:25:00.001-07:00

On June 24th we had a recycling program teach the summer campers about recycling. The children were invited to pick a piece of trash and decide whether it can be recycled, reused, or if it was trash. They learned that they could use jugs to water plants, or boxes for crafts. They also learned that plastic containers have a number on the bottom to help us know if the container can be recycled or not. In our area #1 and #2 plastics can be recycled.

Mason Health Care Center

2009-07-04T13:14:00.001-07:00

On our second visit at the Mason Health Center, the summer campers each brought their library book to read to the residents. Cece and Drew read their books to everyone! We got a chair and microphone for them and they read their version of the story to us. Great Job Guys! When they finished sharing thier books, each summer camper shared their books with a smaller group of residents.

A visit to Mason Health Care Center

2009-06-10T07:34:00.001-07:00

On June 9, 2009 the preschool class visited with some of the residents at the Mason Health Care Center. The kids played "Noodle Ball" (with swimming noodles and balloons) with the folks at MHCC. As you can see below, everyone had a great time!

Birdwatching

2009-06-01T12:45:00.001-07:00

Mike Busam, president of the Cincinnati Bird Club, stopped by last week to give us some tips on how to attract butterflies to our school and safely catch and release them. He talked to us about some of the birds that we saw and we showed him several of the nests that are around our school.

2009-05-25T09:05:00.001-07:00

The preschoolers planted seeds in their garden and some toddlers came to help too. They will take care of the garden and wait to see what grows!

2009-05-25T08:54:00.001-07:00

Cece is singing a version of 'Peter Cottontail' where she was replacing a name of one of her friends with Peter's name and then they would "hop down the bunny-trail". Cece's friends would wait until their name was called before hopping down the mulch hill. What fun!

Lesson Plan (May 2009)

2009-05-04T10:05:00.001-07:00

During the month of May the preschoolers will learn about life on the farm and farm animals.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - blocks, cars, ramps, Little People
Dramatic Play - grocery store
Manipulatives/Math - Farm short math path game, Owl Babies long math path game, puzzles, sequencing cards, lacing cards
Creative Art - farm pictures, variety of art materials in art center, paint/paper at easel, chalk/eraser at easel
Library/Literacy - farm books
Science and Nature - nature collage; collecting natural items around the school grounds
Sensory - Play-Doh
Music & Movement - Farmer in the Dell, Old McDonald
Outdoors - transporting wood chips to the infant playground, weeding flower garden, digging a hole for the new tree

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - morning circle time (calendar, weather, question & answer discussion), gathering materials from outside for nature collage, discussion: what happens on a farm?, charts: animals at the zoo/animals at the farm, SpanishFUN with Senor Doug, learning the names of the 12 months of the year
Small Group Activities - each child will work in the "Fun Thinker" book, each child will play the animal grid game with Ms. LuAnn
Story Time - Big Red Barn, Owl Babies, The Barn Owls, Farm Animals
Special Activities - watch a video about farm animals, make a nature collage, paint a farm mural, coloring and cutting out farm animals for the mural, guest speaker: Mike Busam (president of the Cincinnati Bird Club)

Painted Lady Butterflies

2009-04-16T10:39:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago the preschool class received a "Live Butterfly Garden." They put the larvae in a container with special food and watched them grow. Everyone was excited when the larvae quickly developed into little caterpillars. Right now we are watching closely to see the butterflies peak out from their chrysalises!

Update: All of the butterflies are out now! The first one came out on Friday, April 17, and the remaining three came out over the weekend. We will release them outside on Earth Day.

We "adopted" a bobcat!

2009-04-16T10:25:00.001-07:00

During National Wildlife Week last month the preschoolers voted on which animal they would like to adopt from the Cincinnati Zoo through their A.D.O.P.T (animals depend on people too) program. The bobcat was the big winner. We received a special package from the zoo that included pictures of the bobcat, a certificate, and a fact sheet about bobcats.

Bird Houses Continued

2009-04-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

Ms. Donna took some pictures of us putting our bird houses up. We asked her to share her photos with everyone. Enjoy!

"Green" Birdhouses

2009-03-31T06:21:00.001-07:00

Have you noticed the empty boxes and milk jugs hanging in the trees outside? No, our recycling bin did not blow over and scatter these items around the property...they are our "green" birdhouses!

The kids love to watch the birds from inside the classrooms or when they go outside. During National Wildlife Week the preschoolers gathered up old boxes, empty milk jugs, and other recyclable items and fashioned them into birdhouses, with Ms. Lu Ann's help. Lu Ann cut the holes and the kids decorated the birdhouses and filled them with old dryer lint for the birds to nest in and birdseed for the birds to eat. The preschoolers have been going outside regularly to refill the houses with birdseed.

Are there any items in your trash or recycling bins that could be reused or recycled to make something new?

A visit from the Mason firefighters 3/27/2009

2009-03-30T11:37:00.001-07:00

Three firefighters from the city of Mason paid us a visit on March 27, 2009. They talked to the kids about basic fire safety, such as going low in smoke, not hiding during a fire, stop-drop-and-roll, and calling 911 for help in an emergency. The kids practiced stop-drop-and-roll and asked the firefighters questions about what they had learned. The highlight of the visit was getting to go outside and check out the firetruck! Everyone got a chance to sit in the back seat and to sit in the front seat and pretend to drive. The firefighters gave all the kids their own firefighter hat and a few other goodies from the firehouse. Thanks firefighters!

National Wildlife Week

2009-03-20T12:35:00.001-07:00

On March 19th, Susan from Raptor, Inc. came to visit the children at Endeavor Learning Center. Raptor, Inc. is the association for the protection and treatment of raptors/birds of prey in southwest Ohio. Susan brought 3 special birds: a screech owl (Angel), a peregrine falcon (Lucy), and a great horned owl (Sylvester).

The children had many questions about the birds. They were curious about what the birds ate, what they sounded like, and how they got hurt. Susan did a wonderful job of answering all of our questions and teaching us many interesting things about Angel, Lucy, and Sylvester. Thanks Susan!

More pictures and videos of the visit from Raptor, Inc. can be viewed on the other ELC blogs (listed in the margin to the right).

What a tangled web we weave!

2009-03-20T06:47:00.001-07:00

It started with one of the preschoolers rolling a ball of yarn across the room. Then another child rolled their ball of yarn across the room...and before we knew it, we had THIS:

Everyone had a blast making the web as large and as tangled as possible and then had more fun trying to untangle the big knots.

2009-03-18T11:32:00.001-07:00

On March 17th the toddlers joined the preschool in making bird feeders using pine cones, soy butter, and birdseed. Then the preschool hung their feeders on the trees in the front of the building.

Community Helpers month - Officer Tanner

2009-03-10T07:45:00.001-07:00

On March 9th, 2009, the toddlers and preschoolers met with special guest, Officer Tanner. Officer Ryan Tanner is a D.A.R.E. Officer for the City of Mason. He talked about his role as a community helper and gave the children some ideas on how they can be great community helpers too.

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February 2009 Lesson Plans (part 2)

2009-02-27T06:42:00.001-08:00

The preschoolers will continue to work on letters and numbers for the remainder of the month. The class will also touch upon healthy food for our bodies and teeth in order to prepare for two special visits from a dentist and a nutritionist.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - cars, ramps, wooden blocks, people
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies)
Manipulatives/Math - ABCs board games, matching games, magnetic blocks, puzzles
Creative Art - art center open (choice of materials)
Library/Literacy - number/counting books
Music & Movement - ABC song; using maracas to keep the beat

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discussing letters in the alphabet and brainstorming words that begin with specific letters; compare numbers (greater/less than); counting steps; "number cloud" board game; discuss/chart foods that are good and bad for our bodies and our teeth
Small Group Activities - working with numbers 1-5, the children will count out the correct amount of Cheerios into a jar; show greater/less than with beans; charting Skittles by color and determining more and less than by amount and color
Story Time - number/counting books
Special Activities - A visit from Dr. Morris (dentist/orthodontist) and nutritionist Barb Lattin.

Video from 2/26/2009

2009-02-26T10:28:00.001-08:00

This is a short video of a typical "Circle Time" in the preschool/pre-k class. The children sit with Ms. Lu Ann for about 15 minutes each morning to complete the calendar activities, talk about the letter of the day, brainstorm words that begin with the letter of the day, discuss activities that will happen on that day, and sometimes read a book together that pertains to the current lesson plan.

A visit from Dr. Morris - 2/20/2009

2009-02-23T10:10:00.001-08:00

February is National Children's Dental Health Month. We invited Dr. Kinnith Morris, from Northeast Orthodontic Specialists in Landen, to come in on Friday to speak with the children about caring for their teeth.

The kids were excited to talk to Dr. Morris and to meet his friend, Chompers! Dr. Morris used a giant toothbrush to brush Chompers' teeth. After everyone got a chance to help Chompers brush his teeth they talked about which foods are good for your teeth and which foods are not good for your teeth. Dr. Morris taught everyone how important it is to take good care of your teeth.

Thank you Dr. Morris!

Happy Valentine's Day 2009

2009-02-13T11:11:00.001-08:00

The preschoolers had a blast playing with heart-shaped balloons in the big room this morning.

Love is in the air...and on the wall! The kids discovered that they can make the balloons stick to the wall if they rub them on their shirts or hair really fast!

February 2009 Lesson Plans

2009-02-10T07:25:00.001-08:00

The preschool class will be focusing on the alphabet for the next few weeks.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - cars, ramps, wooden blocks, people
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies)
Manipulatives/Math - ABCs board games, matching games, magnetic blocks, puzzles
Creative Art - art center open (choice of materials)
Library/Literacy - letter and alphabet books
Music & Movement - ABC song; using maracas to keep the beat

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discussing letters in the alphabet and brainstorming words that begin with specific letters
Small Group Activities - play the A-B-"Seas" board game (fishing for letters); play the beginning letter sounds board game; upper and lower case letters
Story Time - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Special Activities - interactive chart for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Snow!

2009-02-10T06:46:00.001-08:00

January 2009 Lesson Plans

2009-01-19T10:35:00.001-08:00

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - cars, ramps, wooden blocks
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies)
Manipulatives/Math - path games, puzzles, magnetic blocks, matching game, numbers game
Creative Art - markers, crayons, glue, scissors, yarn, paper, rules; at the easel - car track art
Library/Literacy - books about various vehicles
Science/Nature - car ramps (various heights to see which cars go farther)
Music & Movement - "Good Morning" song
Family and Community Involvement - Ask the families to make a map with their children, starting from their house and ending at school.

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - car ramps/measure distance, collect items form the classroom and discuss if they will roll down the ramps and how far; constructing s vehicle out of cardboard boxes
Small Group Activities - opposites/shapes/matching cards
Story Time - Reading Rainbow CD, The Bus for Us, Boats Boats Boats, Here Comes Kate
Special Activities - SpanishFUN with Senor Doug, tire track art, family activity (map from home to school; Red Light, Green Light, making paper airplanes

January 2009

2009-01-15T10:40:00.001-08:00

Month of December 2008

2008-12-11T09:46:00.001-08:00

Winter is here! The forecast for the preschool class is SNOWY! The theme for this month is snow.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - Legos (small and large)
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies), farm, garage activity centers
Manipulatives/Math - snowman sequence game, snowflake grid game, small math path snowman game, number and recognition card game, "mitten" concentration game
Creative Art - opened art table, paint at the easel
Library/Literacy - snow and winter books, book on tape ("Hunter's Best Friend at School")
Science/Nature - ice cube/salt/string experiment
Music & Movement - 10 Little Snowmen, "Mat Man", "Count on Me" body parts song

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discuss how many days until holiday vacation, 10 Little Snowmen felt board rhyme
Small Group Activities - introduce the new games in the classroom, work individually with the color recognition board game, work one on one with the number recognition game, play the build-a-snowman game with each child
Story Time - Penguin Comes Home, The Biggest Best Snowman, The Little Red Sled, Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You See?, The Mitten, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow
Special Activities - SpanishFUN with Senor Doug

Week of November 17, 2008

2008-11-17T10:00:00.001-08:00

Turkey time! The turkey theme will continue this week and Ms. Lu Ann will also introduce a new theme that the kids have been showing an interest in...photography.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Dramatic Play - house center, farm, garage activity centers
Manipulatives/Math - puzzles, number games, "Mat Man"
Creative Art - opened art table, paint at the easel
Library/Literacy - Thanksgiving books, photography books
Science/Nature - taking pictures with a camera, examine negatives of pictures
Music & Movement - "Mat Man", rhythm sticks
Outdoors - hide & seek, Duck-Duck-Goose, painting on a large sheet with spray bottles
Family and Community Involvement - "Beary Bear" will go home with one of the children for the weekend.

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discuss what they learned last week about turkeys, introduce "Mat Man", explain how the camera works, look at a picture book, talk about the pictures the kids took with their cameras, cook stuffing in the crock pot
Small Group Activities - make a paper turkey, trace hands, thankfulness project, duplicate a famous photograph
Story Time - All About Turkey, Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks, The Great Turkey Race, Over the River: a Turkey's Tale, Understanding Others
Special Activities - taking pictures of our daily activities indoors and outdoors

Costume Party October 31, 2008

2008-11-04T06:45:00.001-08:00

Everyone had a blast showing off their costumes, listening to stories, dancing with friends, and singing songs on the stage!

Week of October 27, 2008

2008-11-04T06:27:00.001-08:00

The theme for the week is pizza as this is one item that all of the kids in the class like. At the end of the week they will get a visit at school from a pizza delivery person and will take a walk to Pizza Hut.

Art/Sensorial - art shelf: markers, crayons, paper, scissors, glue, yarn, natural items, rulers, pencils; easel will have circular paper with brushes/paint; various shapes on the art shelf for pretend pizza pies
Music - "The Leaves on the Trees" and "Roly Poly Pumpkin"
Literacy - pizza books, cassette tape books, "Why Do Leaves Change Colors" and "The Princess and the Pea"
Science/Nature - trace our shadows outside and color them in, sheet painting
Dramatic Play - "pizza restaurant" (make, serve, and eat pretend pizzas)
Fine Gross Motor - puzzles, board games, blocks, string beads
Large Gross Motor - outside play, Duck-Duck-Goose, freeze tag outside

The kids paid the delivery person for the pizzas.

Week of October 20, 2008

2008-10-23T12:10:00.001-07:00

The class will be visiting a farm this week! The Birthday Garden project will also get some attention while we still have a few days of warmer temperatures ahead. Other activities:

Art/Sensorial - dip corn cob in fall colored paint and roll it across paper, make paper spiders, try a paper mache activity with yarn/balloons/glue/water
Music - new songs: "The Leaves on the Trees" and "The Roly Poly Pumpkin"
Literacy - variety of seasonal books, the children brainstorm what they think they will see on the trip to the farm, the children will discuss what they did see at the farm and compare it to the ideas generated when they brainstormed earlier in the week
Science/Nature - planting tulips in the Birthday Garden, placing the completed personalized stones in the Birthday Garden, field trip to the farm
Dramatic Play - housekeeping activities in the home center
Fine Gross Motor - sorting seasonal items such as leaves, nuts, spiders, and pumpkins on a grid, cutting out "legs" for the paper spiders, drawing a scene from the field trip
Large Gross Motor - outside play, Duck-Duck-Goose

Pictures will be added later.

SpanishFUN October 17, 2008

2008-10-17T12:22:00.001-07:00

Lesson: Weather #3

Weather - Tiempo (tee-EM-poh)

Snow - Nieve (nee-AY-bay)
Rainbow - Arco iris (AR-ko ee-REES)
Umbrella - Paraguas (pah-RAH-gwahs)
Storm - Tempestad (temp-ay-STAHD)

The children reviewed the weather words from lessons #1 and #2. Senor Doug introduced the new words for the week and the children were then able to make their very own rainbows with paper plates and streamers.

SpanishFUN October 9, 2008

2008-10-17T11:56:00.001-07:00

Lesson: Weather #2

Weather - Tiempo (tee-EM-poh)

Sun - Sol (sohl) ....................Sunny - Soleado (sohl-ay-AH-d0)
Clouds - Nubes (NU-bays) .......Cloudy - Nublado (nu-BLAH-do)
Wind - Viento (bee-EN-toh) .....Windy - Ventoso (ben-TOH-so)
Rain - Lluvia (YOU-bee-ah) ......Rainy - Lluvioso (you-be-OH-so)

The kids practiced the weather words from the previous week while playing the Carrera de Viento y Nube (Wind and Cloud Race)! Each child was given a nube (cloud/cotton ball) and they were also given their own straw to create the viento (wind). They raced each other trying to use the viento to blow the nube across the designated race area. As you can see, it was a big hit!

Week of October 13, 2008

2008-10-16T12:45:00.001-07:00

Art/Sensorial - finger-painting at the easel, open art (crayons, markers, glue, pencils, yarn, seeds), create a sign for the Birthday Garden
Music - make maracas with corn, Fall poem, watching the leaves "dance" when we toss them into the air
Literacy - fall, gardening, and fire safety books
Science/Nature - moving dirt from the big pile to the Birthday Garden and smoothing is out with a rake, collecting different colored leaves for the Fall poem, comparing a pumpkin and an apple on a Venn diagram, planting tulips and putting the birthday rocks in the garden, discussing what might be inside a pumpkin and opening the pumpkin up to find out!
Dramatic Play - housekeeping activities in the home center
Fine Gross Motor - cut and glue the pumpkin sequence cards in order
Large Gross Motor - outside play, kicking the balls, large playground, play croquet

Week of October 6, 2008

2008-10-10T13:06:00.001-07:00

This week the preschoolers have been putting the finishing touches on the plans for the birthday garden. They have been enjoying the season and spending a lot of time outside soaking in the lovely October weather.

Some of the activities from the week are listed below:

Art/Sensorial - finger painting, mixing colors to create new colors, painting a small pumpkin
Music - "Autumn Leaves" song, "Leaves Falling" poem
Literacy - variety of fall books and books on fire safety, DVD on fire safety
Science/Nature - painting (inside and outside on the outdoor easel) with natural paint brushes that we find outside, working on the birthday garden
Dramatic Play - kitchen center with dishes, food, babies, and clothes
Fine Gross Motor - squirrel grid game, making maracas with corn, fall patterning game, fall math game, sorting seeds
Large Gross Motor - playground activities

Fall birthdays

2008-10-10T13:05:00.001-07:00

The preschool group has had several birthdays in September/October. The kids helped each other decorate stones for the birthday garden.

Week of September 29, 2008

2008-10-01T13:33:00.001-07:00

This week the preschoolers will continue working on their garden theme. The plans for our Birthday Garden are coming along well. Thank you, preschoolers!

Some of the activities they have planned are listed below:

Art/Sensorial - "Blocks of Six" (children draw in six boxes on a sheet of paper)
Music - birthday music, garden songs
Literacy - Discuss the Birthday Garden project, read a variety of birthday and gardening books, label the birthdays on the calendar, make a list of what we need for the birthday garden
Science/Nature - look at gardening and landscaping books for inspiration, make clay, make birthday cakes (clay versions)
Dramatic Play - create a gardening center in the classroom with gardening hats, fake flowers, pots, gardening tools, etc.
Fine Gross Motor - play the "Gardening Math Path" game, sorting/counting birthday candles
Large Gross Motor - having fun on our new playground, finding the perfect spot outside for the birthday garden

Apples - the taste test

2008-09-17T21:32:00.001-07:00

The results of the taste test are in...

By two votes GREEN is our winner! Green apples taste better than red or yellow apple according to our preschool class.

Playground pictures

2008-09-12T07:10:00.001-07:00

The playground equipment arrived this week. The kids have been able to watch the progress as the crew used all sorts of neat tools to move the stuff around and place it where it needs to be. Watching the huge truckload of mulch being dumped on the ground was really cool! As of today the playground installation is finished. We are all thrilled with the final project. There is a large climbing/playing gym with a rock wall, several slides, benches in the shade, and a bridge to run across.

Keeping true to our commitment to our eco-friendly philosophy, all of the playground material is constructed of 100% recycled plastic (putting those empty milk jugs to good use!). Another advantage of using recycled plastic is that the playground is completely splinter-free.

Video 9.12.2008

2008-09-12T06:49:00.001-07:00

A short video of some of the kids working on a project this morning.

SpanishFUN (Sept.)

2008-09-12T06:22:00.001-07:00

Senor Doug, our instructor from SpanishFUN of Ohio, will visit the school every Friday during the school year. For the first two lessons the kids learned some school related words (school, pencil, bus, ruler, book, eraser). The class started by looking at a picture poster to visualize the written Spanish words along with a picture of that school item. They then verbalized the words by singing the "School Song" (to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell). The children completed a matching page, matching the Spanish word to its appropriate picture. To conclude the lesson, the kids visualized and verbalized the Spanish words one more time with their coloring pages.

Curriculum - Apples

2008-09-11T11:25:00.001-07:00

The preschool group has been busy learning all about apples, their theme for the month of September. So far this month they have used halved apples and paint to create apple prints and planted apple seeds outside. Will apple trees grow from those seeds? This will be a fun experiment for the preschoolers to keep tabs on!

Other apple related activities for the month include a taste test to determine which color apple tastes the best...red, yellow, or green? The children will also be making their own applesauce with Ms. Lu Ann's help.

Check back later this month for results from the taste test.

Below are some pictures of the kids from the first week of school:

The Big Room

2008-09-02T08:19:00.001-07:00

One of the unique features of our school is "The Big Room." As the name suggests, it is a big room in the heart of the school. All of the classrooms have direct access to this multi-purpose area. The Big Room is the ideal space for a rainy day or when the children simply need a change of scenery. The children can choose from several different large gross motor activities such as ride-on toys, yoga, or playing duck-duck-goose with their friends. For the younger children, it is simply a large space to explore and practice crawling or toddling. The stage, complete with theatrical lighting, appeals to the entertainer in every child!

Take a peak inside the classroom...

2008-08-28T11:51:00.001-07:00

Check out the pictures of the classroom, though it is still a work in progress.