Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

This week in Preschool, we celebrated American Heroes! We had a visit from a local police officer, we made Flat Stanley letters to send to soldiers and had an American Heroes Parade with some real American Heroes, dads and grandpas who are or have been soldiers! We made Yankee Doodle hats complete with feathers and tambourines from paper plates. In honor of our country, we even did a red, white and blue science experiment. I found this experiment on the internet at www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/35948.aspx. 

 

 We created a density stack by pouring liquids of different densities together to see if they would mix. What we got was a red, blue and whitish (ok, it was yellow) stack. 

For this experiment, you will need:

 A clear jar or vase. I used a Dollar Tree vase. 

1 cup of light or clear corn syrup mixed with red food coloring.

1 cup of vegetable oil

1/2 cup of water mixed with blue food coloring

1/2 cup of bleach

 First I showed the children how thick the corn syrup was and then poured it in the vase. Next I added the vegetable oil. As you can see, it stayed on top of the corn syrup. Next, I poured in the blue water.

It went through the oil but still stayed on top of the corn syrup. There we had our density stack. To take our experiment a step further, we then poured in the bleach to see what would happen. We discussed that bleach is something that the children should never touch and that it would make you sick if you drank it and takes color out of things.

The children watched in awe as the bleach went through the oil and the color disappeared from the water but the red corn syrup didn't change.

 Next, one of the teachers asked what would happen if we put blue food coloring in the vegetable oil instead of the water. I hadn't thought of that and wasn't sure what would happen so we tried it. I put a small amount of vegetable oil in a cup and added a few drops of blue food coloring. The food coloring did not mix with the oil even when we stirred it. Then I poured it on top of the density stack we had already made.

 This time the oil stayed with oil but the food color went through to the water. Ah, but we had previously put bleach in that water, so guess what happened to the blue food coloring again! Yes, it disappeared, too.

We had a great time celebrating the Red, White and Blue and our American Heroes! And our first science experiment of the year was a huge success! Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" file ~ Back to School

We have been back in Preschool seven whole days and what a seven days it has been! Last year, I frequently commented that I had the class of a lifetime. It was not because the children were much different individually from any other 4 year olds. It was just the particular blend of personalities and skills that came together just right. This year I have a NORMAL 4 year old class! We have a wide range of ages. Trust me, when they are four, several months can make a major difference in abilities and maturity. We also have a few that have never been in school before. And then there's the girl who refuses to sit on the chairs because they are "dirty". She just props on the edge. Yep, we have our fair share of challenges this year. Luckily they are REALLY cute!

So... for incidents from THE FILE. On day one I realized that I had made a major error when typing up our daily schedule and we almost missed our assigned playground time. In circle time after playground, when I asked the children if they remembered the teachers' names, one young man spoke up and said "You're [boaf] Idiots." Fortunately, the other children immediately recognized that as one of the words we don't say in preschool and called him out on it. He responded, "Well, Captain Hook said it in Peter Pan and you almost made us miss playground." Can't argue with that!

At lunch the same day, one fellow said "School is way harder this year!" When I asked what we had done that was so much harder than his 3 year old class, he said "Well, it's much harder to poke your friends and not get caught." Hmmm. Maybe I am doing something right!

The rest of week one and most of week two went along fairly smoothly after that rocky beginning. Day seven, however, was another thing altogether! Thankfully, we end an hour earlier on Fridays and today, it was not a minute too soon!

When we first arrive each day, we say a prayer and  the Pledge of Allegiance. I love working in a religious environment! However, one little guy didn't want to stand up. When I asked him what was wrong he said, "My feet feel like flat tires so I can't stand up." Really? I feel that way sometimes at the END of the day but even I can make it through the prayer and pledge. In circle time, the same character piped up and said "I don't want to end the song with cha cha cha. That's for old people. I want to end with "boom boom sshhh". Did I mention that he is a character?

I had a dad stop by to drop something off for his son. He told me that his son answered every question he asked about school with "I don't know." Later, said son is repeating the story we listened to yesterday verbatim so I asked him why he always told his dad he didn't know when dad asked about school. His response, "I don't know!" However a helpful friend said, "I say I don't know to my mom 'cause I don't want to 'splain about it."

When I stepped out of the classroom for a minute to get something copied, my co-teacher heard giggling in the bathroom. When she looked in, there were 3 little boys sharing the toilet. Two got to go home in their extra clothes. One decorated the wall. When I explained the change of clothes to one grandmother, little guy said "It's not my fault. That is a baby toilet and I couldn't hit it. You need to get a bigger toilet by next week!" I think Grandma will be handling that one this afternoon!

On the playground, I walked to up to a sweet little guy who had his fingers in his mouth and said "Those look like really tasty fingers. I think maybe I should eat one, too." He looked at me with great big eyes and said "You will have to chew your own fingernails. I need these for when I woowwy!" (worry) Ewww! Never mind!

Seriously, you really can't make this stuff up! And yes, it's a good thing they're cute! I'm tired and my feet feel like flat tires!