Pre-K 3

Pre-K 3 Announcements

• June 3, 2013

  Posted June 3, 2013

  Last week, we enjoyed our time with Ranger Jay at the Tawes Garden in Annapolis. He took us on a sense adventure around the garden, helping us to observe the sights, sounds and smells of the garden. We saw so many types of flowers, herb plants and trees that are popular in the state of Maryland. We also learned about the wild animals that live in the natural habitats of Maryland. We were excited to see a raptor bird’s nest high up in the tree, and hear the baby raptor call for food. We also learned about how the “duckweed” plant travels from pond to pond to grow. Ask your child to tell you! Click to read letter.

• May 28, 2013

  Posted May 28, 2013

  We have immersed ourselves in spring planting and gardening. We enjoyed letting our butterflies go in the butterfly garden and planting seeds in our Pre-K 3 garden! To learn more about how gardens grow, we read the books The Tiny Seed and Inch by Inch. Have your child sing you the “Inch by Inch” song! It really reinforces the necessities of what a plant needs to grow. Click to read letter.

• May 20, 2013

  Posted May 20, 2013

  Our senior friends surprised us this week during their “senior prank” by creating castles out of our blocks and hiding treasures in the sandbox for us to keep! We were especially delighted to see the new mural they painted on the Activity Building. If you have not yet seen it, have your child show you the newest addition of the Key School Senior tradition. Click to read letter.

• May 13, 2013

  Posted May 13, 2013

  We have been eagerly waiting for our butterflies to hatch from their chrysalis. We learned that the chrysalis stage of the butterfly life cycle is like the “pupa” stage of the ladybug. There is a lot of growth and change that happens in this stage in order for the caterpillar to grow into an adult butterfly. We cannot wait to see our fully grown Painted Lady butterflies and release them into our Butterfly Garden! Click to read letter.

• May 6, 2013

  Posted May 6, 2013

  This week our caterpillars arrived from the caterpillar farm! We learned about the life cycle of a butterfly and sang a song to help us remember it―“Eggs, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly” to the tune of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” We have been patiently watching our caterpillars to see when they make their chrysalis! We also read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and made our own caterpillars from beads and pipe cleaners. Click to read letter.

• April 29, 2013

  Posted April 29, 2013

  On Monday, we celebrated Earth Day by spending the day with our friends from the senior class. We made our own bird feeders to hang on the tree in our Pre-K 3 garden, we went on an Earth Day scavenger hunt, and we completed a recycle relay race with our buddies. Click to read letter.

• April 22, 2013

  Posted April 22, 2013

  We had such a busy week learning about the job of a zookeeper and how they take care of the animals by feeding them, grooming them, giving them water to drink, and making sure they have the right medicine. The children loved playing zookeeper and zoo animal in our transformed “dramatic play zoo!” We talked about what baby zoo animals are called and how big they are. We even measured ourselves against a baby giraffe! Did you know that baby giraffes are six feet tall? Even the teachers were not as tall as the baby giraffe! We used all kinds of items to measure the baby giraffe! Click to read letter.

• April 15, 2013

  Posted April 15, 2013

  On Friday we had so much fun working with artist, Cameron Bach to create our own clay wall pockets to display at the Key School Art Show on May 10. We pressed antique lace into our clay to make designs and cut out the shape of the wall pockets ourselves! Click to read letter.

• April 9, 2013

  Posted April 9, 2013

  Before the break, we reviewed the concept of sequencing. By reading From Chick to Egg, we learned about the life cycle of a chicken and realized there is a special order in which a baby chick is born. First, a hen needs to make a soft nest and lay her eggs. Next, she needs to sit on them and keep them warm! Then, a baby chick cracks out of its egg using its egg tooth. Finally, a baby chick eats insects and seeds around its nest and grows up to make its own eggs! The children had fun exploring this concept with our own plastic eggs and baby chicks. We reinforced sequencing by creating our own “Egg Book” to take home and reading the story What Happened at Rabbit’s Pajama Party? and remembering the order of Rabbit’s sleepover activities. We thought it would be silly to get in a sleeping bag first, then put on pajamas! Click to read letter.

• March 25, 2013

  Posted March 26, 2013

  We talked about how important it is for small pets to have a cage that fits their size. We reviewed this concept when we read A House for Birdie, and matched the different birds to the appropriate-sized cages. Some cages were tall, some were thin, some were small, and some were wide! Birdie needed a cage that was “just right”! We were able to match Birdie and his friends to the right cages. We also practiced the concept of capacity when we measured how many turtles could fit on a log! Click to read letter.