Christmas in July!

Preschool 3 celebrated Christmas in July this week with a Christmas party and invited their families to join! Take a look at some of the fun below!

Enjoying Sensory Week!

Preschool 4 explored their sense of smell today by smelling different household items. They smelled black pepper, dish detergent, Italian seasoning, honey, apple cider vinegar, nutmeg, and water. They LOVED some of the scents, and others...well let's just say they were not so fond of those. They also put words to those scents like sour, sweet, smelly, and stinky. Yay for our sense of smell!

The Power of Sensory Play!

This week is all about The Power of Sensory Play at AoSL!

Children and even adults learn best and retain the most information when they engage their senses. Many of our favorite memories are associated with one or more of our senses. Providing opportunities for children to actively use their senses as they explore their world through ‘sensory play’ is crucial to brain development – it helps to build nerve connections in the brain’s pathways.
This leads to a child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks and supports cognitive growth, language development, gross motor skills, social interaction and problem solving skills.
Today our friends in Preschool 1 are exploring their sense of touch! 

Using their sense of touch in Preschool 1

Using their sense of touch to feel things that are wet, hard, and soft.

The Power of Outdoor Play!

This week has been all about the Power of Outdoor Play at AoSL! And we are more than thrilled to celebrate and learn the benefits of playing outdoors. Giving children the freedom of playing outdoor helps them to feel happier and calmer. Being outside means that children naturally get vitamin D, which is proven to help improve moods and create a positive mental attitude. The freedom of outdoor play also encourages children to get rid of built up energy, particularly if they tend to be fidgety when sitting for long periods of time. This leads to them becoming calmer and ultimately helps them to be more focused in the classroom. Additionally, outdoor play equipment has a little more risk than indoor toys. Whether it is encouraging children to use slides they might be a little afraid to go down, or to try challenging play trails; outdoor play equipment can help children to learn to push their boundaries and become good at risk assessment. It also teaches them to explore new games and become confident in learning to try new things without being guided by adults.

Balloon Races

Soccer!

Driving the car!

Counting stick!

Jumping in hoops!

Hopscotch!

Outdoor car races!

The Power of READING!

Reading is an important skill that needs to be developed in children. Not only is it necessary for survival in the world of schools, but in adult life as well. Through books, children can learn about people and places from other parts of the world, improving their understanding of and concern for all of humanity. Reading exposes your child to rich language and diverse content. Additionally, reading to and with your child can enrich family ties and intimacy. We take reading and sharing a good book very seriously every day at AoSL and especially during THE POWER OF READING WEEK! Our classes have enjoyed reading, writing their own stories, learning the different parts of a book, and tomorrow is story book character dress up day!

learning the different parts of a book, like the spine, front cover, back cover, title page, author and illustrator

enjoying a book

in cozy corner, enjoying a refreshing story

twins that read together....

The Power of Nature!

Children are natural explorers. Set some basic boundaries, and let them discover. Children use all of their senses to explore. They look and listen to observe what is happening around them, touch what they can reach, smell the fresh scents of nature, and occasionally taste when given permission.
For a child, everything is new—even the tiniest things are interesting and exciting. In today’s entertainment-driven world, exploring the outdoors is an opportunity for children to actively engage in learning.
Our friends in Preschool 2 set out on a great outdoors adventure this morning and picked out some neat pine cones. They discussed the look, smell, feel, and even discussed what they thought it would taste like. They brought them in and decided to do some painting with them.