This second week in March we will be exploring clouds, colors, science, and colloidal suspension (a big word for messy fun at the art table).
Colloidal Suspension:
– A mixture having particles of one component, with diameters between 10 −7 and 10 −9 metres, suspended in a continuous phase of another component. The mixture has properties between those of a solution and a fine suspension.
– A colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid.
Cloud Week
As we talk about clouds outside there are several ways you can bring that learning inside. One of them is to make ‘goop’ to explore – as we will at the art table. By combining cornstarch and water you get a mixture that is both solid and liquid – and lots of fun to play with. It is both a messy, sensory experience as well as a clean, messy project to clean up. The cornstarch just brushes off clothing, wipes up off floors and disappears off of hands when they are dipped in water. Clean, messy, fun!
We will be discussing shapes, texture and colors at school this week. Our story will talk about different shapes you see in the cloud formations. Ask your child what they see in the sky, in a reflection in a puddle or in a nature book. You can increase their vocabulary with ‘big’ scientific words as well as adjectives that describe shapes, textures, and colors. At home you can make the goop mixture with color and make a rainbow in the clouds.
We will all read It Looked Like Spilt Milk…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Looked_Like_Spilt_Milk…during Circle Time. The Pre-3s classes will be talking about what they see when we read the book Look, Look, Look at Circle Time. This book has them look close at a picture, then with a verbal cue try to figure out what the ‘big’ picture is. At the art table they will be using eye droppers to drop white paint onto blue paper then fold the paper in half to make clouds in the sky. We will be asking them what they see in the cloud shape.
Focus is one of 7 Essential Skills in Mind in the Making by Ellen Galinsky…https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mind-in-the-making/id360624694?mt=11.
Looking at things closely helps children develop focus. True focus means they are alert, engaged and able to stay attentive during the activity. As they experiment with the goop this week they will be focusing on shape, texture, and design; and then during circle time they will be focusing on similar shapes in the story It Looked Like Spilt Milk. This will encourage their working memory. ‘Working Memory’ allows you to take information you already have and connect that information with new information or experiences. This happens when they sing a familiar song, remember what comes next and can make a prediction based on existing information. They will use both focus and working memory at preschool this week.
Songs:
Did You Ever See a Cloud?
Did you ever see a cloud, a cloud, a cloud?
Did you ever see a cloud that looked like a bear?
A big one, a little one, a quiet one, a loud one?
Did you ever see a cloud that looked like a bear?
Did you ever see a cloud, a cloud, a cloud?
Did you ever see cloud that looked like a plane?
A big one, a little one, a fast one a slow one?
Did you ever see a…?
Clouds
The clouds are passing by,
The clouds are passing by,
Way up high in the sky,
The clouds are passing by.
The clouds are passing by,
Way up in the sky,
Sometimes fast, sometimes slow,
The clouds are passing
5 Little Clouds
Five little clouds up in the sky,
Drifting, floating way up high,
One disappeared from the sky so blue,
When a big gust of wind came blowing through.
Everyone make blowing wind sounds
Four little clouds…
Three little clouds…