Speech Weekly Notes from Stacy Torrence:

Wow! The children are doing an amazing job in the language groups. It is also great to see the teachers work on speech sounds in the classroom as well as carry over language activities. This week I saw teachers working on the animated alphabet, using sign language, and addressing speech sounds that needed a little extra help. Speech and language skills are emerging at Bright Beginnings!

Toddlers and young 2’s

We began by reading a “Noisy Story” to practice our speech sounds. Noisy Stories are simple stories that very young children can “read” because they are asked to make a specific sound in a repetitive manner. We read the Noisy Story about a “Beautiful Coat”. We worked on the following sounds /m/, /t/, /sh/, /s/, and /o/. Please ask your child to name the sound that rain makes /t/, /t/, /t/ and the sound that the wind makes /sh/, /sh/, /sh/. The Noisy stories are definitely a hit! We had a ladybug pop toy that the children really enjoyed. They had to say at least 3-4 words to get a turn or use sign language. Becca Bunny came to visit to work on specific language concepts shapes and counting. We also did some simple categorization with animals and food that we eat. In some classrooms we were able to read the Hungry Catepillar with our flannel board.

Older 2’s

We also read also read the noisy story about the beautiful coat and really focused on /s/ and /sh/. We also categorized animals, foods and clothing. The children were given several small pictures and they had to place the picture in the correct pocket. We made a graph of our categories. They also had to name their picture and tell their friends where they were placing the picture At home, be sure to ask you child to name animals that live on the farm or at the zoo, name five food items, name 5 things you wear at the beach, or five things you wear when it is cold. You can categorize anything! Finally we worked on the concepts of up and down using a pig that moves up and down the silo and barn.

3’s and 4’s

We reviewed comparatives/superlatives this week, reviewed our animated alphabet, and worked on serious categorization. We categorized transportation, clothing, animal, foods, and toys. We made a graph of the items we grouped. I asked each child to name 3-5 items in a specific category on their own. They were asked to name things you wear when it is hot or cold, things you would find in a classroom, and things you would find on a playground. Buddy Bear came to visit again and we focused on using correct grammar by using comparatives and superlatives in sentences. We worked on the following comparatives/superlatives:

Close, closer, closest

Tall, taller, tallest

Fuzzy, fuzzier, fuzziest

Short, shorter, shortest

Narrow, narrower, narrowest

Bight, brighter, brightest

Thin, thinner, thinnest

Stacy Torrence M.S. CCC-SLP

The Penguin Class

Snow, snow,snow!

This was a really super fun week. The Penguins enjoyed lots of art projects and activities. We played in our boat in the gross motor room, as we sang, “row, row, row, your boat!” We did cotton ball art and made a snow scene. We made a Christmas ornament, a wreath, and a yummy holiday cookie out of construction paper and painted a big “M” on the front. For family living skills, we played in housekeeping, baby play, and made a road out of blocks. We also pretended to drive our cars to work! The students really enjoyed music time this week and freeze dance! This week was wonderful as you can see. Catch you next time, same place, same time!

From Ms. Danielle and the Penguin Class

The Sea Turtle Class

Hi! Nice to see you all again. This week was a fun and exciting week. We made a snow storm using cotton balls, which they really enjoyed doing. For Project Green, we learned about the evergreens. We also measured with ice cubes! For art this week, we made ornaments, our own gift wrap paper, wreaths; we made our own placemats, and made snowmen. We have begun to read Christmas stories, and this week we read, The Polar Express, My First Hanukah, and What is Kwanzaa? The Penguins also learned to jump up and down. They made a pretend puddle and we jumped in and out of it! What a week. Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday!

From Ms. Erin and the Sea Turtle Class

The Starfish Class

The Starfish have been learning about the altruism of the holidays. Every day this week, we have given holiday hugs to our friends in the Sea Turtle and Penguin rooms! Our activities in humanities have focused on this central theme. We made candy cane ornaments for a friend and baked sugar cookies on Thursday to share with other classes. In our math studies this week, we continued with graphing by using our counting bears—how many were there and in what colors and sizes? Our art projects were much fun! The wrapping paper we sponge-painted and winter wonderlands we created were beautiful. Our puzzle piece wreaths turned out great and make for the perfect ornament. In science, we did our favorite thing…we went bug-hunting on the nature trail and, trust us, you never know what you might find if you flip over a rock! In having made these walks a habit, we’ve been able to see the activity ants exhibit as they secure food for the winter. Proudly, all the starfish know that the ants make tunnels and live there (because we saw them moving in and out of their hole-in-the-ground homes many times!). This week, we did not see any ants moving and learned that this was so because they sleep all winter! It was a neat process to follow.

The Seals Class

Hello again from the Seal room! Hope everyone had a great weekend! The holiday season is on our door step. During this time of the year I would like to incorporate some of your family’s traditions in my classroom. Please email or talk to me sometime with some of your traditions you use during this time of the year. My email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please feel free to email me anytime.

This week we reviewed how we act when we play with our friends. To demonstrate cooperation we made a friendship chain. We also learned a new rhyme; Hickory Dickory Dock. I sent this home with your child along with a song we learned last week. We learned Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear. I read them some fairytales and asked them questions about the story. We made Kwanzaa necklaces and I told them Kwanzaa is a holiday some people celebrate this time of the year. We also made Latkes and I told them that people who celebrate Hanukkah traditionally eat them. We also graphed how many relatives each child had. We reviewed our letters, using words, and gentle hands.

In art we made snowflake ornaments and reindeer ornaments. By making these we worked on fine motor skills and following directions. We even used glitter on the snowflakes! We made some homemade wrapping paper again. This time we used stamps, paint and bubble wrap. The children practiced listening skills and reviewed their colors by doing this. We also made Kwanzaa placemats. Making the placemats helped the children with fine motor movements and reviewing their colors. We also started making something parents cannot know about yet. We pretended to make cookies and decorated them as another ornament. By doing this they are practicing fine motor skills and there colors.

For gross motor we did a number of fun activities. We played follow the leader and pretended we were skiing and ice skating. This helps the children practice their coordination. We also played ring around the rosy. This helps the children practice cooperation and coordination. It also practices social skills. We also pretended we were playing in snow and used cotton balls to pretend it was snowing.

Hope everyone had a great week. Have a great weekend! See everyone next week. Remember parents we will be closed December 24, 2009 to January 3, 2010. We will re-open January 4, 2010.

The Dolphin Class

This week the Dolphin Class slid into holiday activities this week! We did everything from ornaments to candles, Christmas carols to making latkes! This time of year is such a fun time for celebration and family!

Everyone celebrates this time of year differently and I would love to hear how some of your families celebrate the holidays. We will incorporate this into our classroom over the next couple of weeks and talk about some specific traditions. Feel free to write some things and leave it in your child’s cubby or email it to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I look forward to hearing about all the fun things people do!

In math, we estimated how many penguins would fit on our iceberg (blanket); we did a rust experiment with water and vinegar, and talked about evergreens for Project Green. We also made a graph of what relatives we will see over the holidays and measured things around the room with unifix cubes.

In letters, we talked about pictures versus words and summarized during our read alouds. The students also practiced writing the letter “M” on our easel, as well as in their journals, and learned Little Miss Muffet!

In art, we decorated ornaments, made homemade gift wrap, weaved Kwanzaa placemats, painted cardboard candles and put together beaded snowflakes.

In humanities, we made a friendship chain, beaded Kwanzaa necklaces, put together a Christmas chain, sang Christmas carols, and cooked Jewish latkes!

This week has been packed with fun, and we look forward to what next week will bring us!

From Ms. Kimberly and the Dolphin Class

The Walrus Class

Hello to everyone from the Walrus Class!!

The snow is coming early this year and the students and I discussed why it snows, what snowflakes actually are, and what the weather conditions need to be for it to be able to snow. We continued sorting from largest to smallest and using descriptive words with leaves that we collected on our nature trail! For project green this week we talked about what evergreen plants are and were able to find some right around the school! The students set up an experiment this week and it involved different kinds of screws and nails. We put them in water to see how quickly they would rust and we are still counting the days! Ms. Fisher, our reading specialist, had asked us to continue the "name game," which helps the children with their vocabulary. A students name is drawn from a cup and we write it out on a piece of paper and think of words that start with each letter of the child's name. The children really enjoy this activity. Kwanzaa is a holiday that the children learned about this week and they were able to make a placemat and necklace to help them remember some of the things we talked about. Puppets played a big role this week in the classroom as Ms. Jennifer and I made some scenarios up that had to do with sharing and taking turns to help show the children the right ways to share. The students are continuing to grow, and we have had a great time so far! 

Have a great weekend! 

From Ms. Ryland and the Walrus Class