19th Day Hurricane Centers

Hello, hello, hello!!! Welcome to the 19th day of the theme of the month for Mother Goose Time..... HURRICANES!!! It was so exciting. We Made Hurricane art and we did our science experiment and made a hurricane in a bottle. 

Since I use centers for the children so that we can get the most out of the Mother Goose Time curriculum, we mostly get through any table activities in the morning.  Day 19 our centers were Art and Writing.  

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Art Center Observations 

Art center was the Hurricane swirl. To introduce the center, I showed the children the hurricane art work, and we listened to the sounds of hurricanes from an Amazon Prime video I found. We talked about the colors of clouds the sky and what shape they saw in the picture and the video. 
What I was assessing during this activity was how the children used the supplies, language and vocabulary used during the conversation about the hurricane picture. 

It is important to me that during these times, I am helping them develop their social skills and vocabulary. This is a good way to help children with these skills because I am asking open ended questions and they are answering me back. Some of the kids attempted circles and swirls and others just wanted to move the brush across the table. But I was able to note the way they held the brush and if they had difficulties. These observations, will help me to develop new plans for them and work on how to either start a new skill or continue to improve. 

Writing Center 

I personally, do not see a reason why these sheets can not be a useful tool. Not all children are the same, some become overwhelmed with the idea of writing letters or numbers on a blank piece of paper. This is where these coloring and writing sheets come to be useful. It provides a way for them to practice pencil/crayon grip and a good way for them to see the letters and numbers so that they can recognize them in different print. 

The writing center is about helping the children develop hand grip and writing their names, letter and number. This part of the center I try not to hover. The reason is because depending on the child, me hovering can actually stop them from wanting to improve their skills. So I work with other children and just come back to the table to check on them.
Day 19 was easy because it involved coloring the letter U. There has been worry in the education community about giving preschool children coloring pages and books. 

These types of activities, are good for children and for the adults. They are able to build confidence and increase their skills. These hands on activities are crucial assessment note taking moments. Without these types of activities we would not be able to accurately determine where a child needs extra help. 

Something I have discovered as of late, is that Play doh is an excellent way to increase fine motor skills. Teaching them to roll balls and squeeze the play doh will help with pencil grip and stability with writing. 

Whelp! I need to go to bed so keep teaching!! 

​Ms. Tessie 

*I receive Mother Goose Time in return for an honest review*