Millbrae Nursery School » learning through playing

Field Trip to Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch in Half Moon Bay

MNS — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:12:55 +0000

Field Trip to Farmer John’s of Half Moon Bay

Tuesday, October 19^th

850 N. Cabrillo Highway, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

(650) 726-4980

Cost is $7 per child, it includes a hay ride and a small pumpkin to take home.

Below, please find a map and directions to this location.

Dress in layers, the weather is unpredictable. Wear old clothes and comfortable shoes.

The 2y – 3y Class and 3 y – 4y

Our classes must arrive at the farm by 9:30 a.m. that day.

Please be at school NO LATER than 8:45 a.m. We will leave school promptly at 9:00. If you are late coming to school, please meet us at the pumpkin patch.

The PreK Class

Our classes must arrive at the farm by 1:00 p.m. that day.

Please be at school NO LATER than 12:15 p.m. We will leave school promptly at 12:30 p.m. If you are late coming to school, please meet us at the pumpkin patch.

Directions from Millbrae to Farmer John’s via 92
Get on 101 S (toward San Jose) at Millbrae Avenue
Take exit 414B for State Hwy 92 W toward Half Moon Bay (stay right at the fork)
Go over the hills, over 280 past the lake and onto the small winding road
At the intersection with Hwy 35 at the top of the hill, go straight and down to Half Moon Bay
In Half Moon Bay, turn RIGHT onto CABRILLO HWY (CA Hwy 1 northbound)
About one mile North of Highway 92 the lanes merge into one and Farmer John’s is on the frontage road immediately on the left.

850 Cabrillo Hwy N
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019-1513

Pre-K Carwash

MNS Parent — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 05:39:03 +0000

I always admire the skill building activities activities our teachers come up with. One hot day in June, on my workday we had a “carwash” – all tricycles, cars, ride-on toys and other vehicles were washed by the preschoolers.

It was a real low-work day for the working parents, all the kids were so busy and fascinated by this new activity. The children worked so well in teams and they stayed surprisingly dry too.

If you think about it, there is so much the kids can learn from this fun activity. Teamwork, sharing, taking care of and being responsible for their own needs and their own stuff, cleaning. Just like out motto: Learning Through Playing!

And it wasn’t just that the kiddos loved it – everything was sparkly clean at the end.

Pre-K Carwash June 10

Pre-K Train Ride Field Trip

MNS Parent — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:11:16 +0000

We had beautiful weather for our field trip, the kiddos were very excited. We took the train from San Bruno to Burlingame and walked to Washington Park. The playground with monkey bars and big sand-water tables was new and exciting to the children and they really enjoyed their little adventure.

What a fun field trip!

When we wanted to leave the train was almost 15 minutes late and we sat and sang for a while. I also filmed some of the singing, I hope I’ll get around to posting it soon, stay tuned…

See the images in the Flash Gallery below. These galleries do not work on most smart phones – for sure not on the iPhone – in case you use one of these please click here to see many of the photos

Pre-K Train Ride Field Trip May 2010

Click SL to start the slideshow and FS for full-screen.

Kids photographing Kids

MNS Parent — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:29:15 +0000

Leilani took her camera to school and shared it freely. I took a few, a few photos, elementary school aged kids took a few, but almost all of the photos were taken by the Millbrae Nursery School preschoolers, the Pre-K class. I am a little sad, this was one of their last days together, this fall most of them will be in Kindergarten

Most of the photos were taken in the beautiful and spacious playyard, it is the biggest playground I have ever seen at a school. I always admire how happy the children look, this is especially true if they are taking pictures of each other, and no adult prompts them to “smile for the camera”.

That was among the photos, I thought it makes a good alternate title for this post. “What I See”

Playing a ball game

See many more images in the Flash Gallery below. These galleries do not work on most smart phones – for sure not on the iPhone – in case you use one of these please click here to see all the photos

playyardmay10

Learning, Exploring and Working Cooperatively with Each Other.

MNS Parent — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:06:25 +0000

What a school year it has been. WE started out with 15 boys and less then 5 girls. It was hard to get the kiddos to walk inside much less try to sit at the table. And now the growth in these kiddos, each year it always amazes me. The THREE’S are enjoying extended conversations at circle time, taking turns and playing board games until the game is completed.

Participating at the art table is another area now explored. Story time, predicating the outcome of the stories we read, they have done a wonderful job learning, exploring and working cooperatively with each other.

They all are effective learners. Continue to work and expose your kiddos to learning lessons through the summer months. The learning lessons never stop. These little ones are so inquisitive. It is because of your support and love that they continue to blossom. Well done FAMILIES!! Have a wonderful, restful, renewing summer. Thank you for this opportunity to work with you and your kiddos.

Always, Teacher Brigidan

Pre K Graduation followed by Picnic for all

MNS Parent — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:46:08 +0000

Pre K Graduation

Saturday, June 12
At Millbrae Nursery School
For the Pre-K families at 11am

If you would like to photograph your child wearing a Cap and Gown, please see sign-up sheet posted in class.

Limited appointments available between 9-10:30 am, 2 kiddos every 15 minutes.

At 1pm, all families are invited to the End of Year Picnic

Come join us at 1pm for our end of year picnic.

We will BBQ burgers and hot dogs and families will bring items for the potluck.

Please see sign-up sheet in your classroom for side dishes you can bring.

First San Bruno Posy Parade Flower Crafts

MNS Parent — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:37:55 +0000

On Tuesday, we got together and made craft flowers for the San Bruno Posy parade. Everybody had fun, we got a lot of flowers made, and are ready for even more people at the next event tomorrow.

The Flower crowns require a lot of steps. Olivia and Alyssa got theirs completely finished, Leilani put 4 more flowers on the one she had started at home, and there are a few in progress.

We used a lot of recycled materials – cut up cereal boxes and magazine paper.

We almost forgot to feed the kids… Liselle reminded us and Bigal and Olivia helped her to get the snack ready. Watermelon, veggies and cheese sandwich – Yum!

Thanks for the photos, Maria and Sonja.

Pre-K May Curriculum

MNS Parent — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:36:37 +0000

Theme/Focus: Animals that live in the water and rhyming words.

Parent Activities: Provide a sign that says your kiddos’s whole name. Incorporate games to your family time together.

Special Skills: Writing names with upper and lower case letters. Using full sentences in conversation. Participating in activities from the beginning to the end.

LITERACY

ART

MUSIC & MOVEMENT

VISITOR: Story Teller Olive

Letter Bingo

Combining three letters

Underwater

An Extraordinary Egg

Fidgety Fish

Commotion in the Ocean

Turtles

The Gas We Pass

Teasing

White board

Cutting along a line

Writing names (upper & lower case letters)

Red, green, and white triangles

Mother’s Day Gifts

Pinata

Turtle Shell Collage

Rainbow Fish

SONGS:

Dance Freeze

Instrument Parade (Friendship March)

Hulla-baloo

If You’re Angry and You Know It!

Under The Sea (Little Mermaid song)

Slippery Fish

MATH & SCIENCE

HEALTH & SAFETY

Number Bingo

Checking on our seeds (Are there sprouts?) 2^nd try. What happened to our seeds?

Ten Little Fish

Bead Patterning

Bubbles

Car and Toy Wash

Dress for weather (Why do we need sunscreen?)

Fire drill

Traffic Signs

Making fresh tortillas

It’s Much Too Hot!

Dressing for the Weather

Lucky Glasses

Changes to the Environment:

Themed books in quiet and reading areas

Whales Passing, I Wonder Why Fish Don’t Drown, I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean, The Shark Who Was Afraid Of everything, A House For Hermit Crab, Ellen And The Goldfish, Baby Whale’s Journey, Swimmy, The Rainbow Fish, Under the Sea

Observations/Notes: Look at Desired Results Measures

1 & 2 Identity of Self & Recognition of own skills and accomplishments

7 & 8 Conflict Negotiation & Awareness in self and others

16 & 17 Curiosity and initiative & Engagement and Persistence

19 & 20 Cause and Effect & Engages in Problem Solving

22 & 23 Number sense: quantity, counting and math operations

30-33 Letter & word knowledge, concept of print, phonological awareness

35 Fine Motor Skills

The Birth of The Bag Kite

MNS Parent — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:29:30 +0000

Do you remember the day it hailed in Millbrae? One windy Winter Friday outside in our yard, I noticed several kiddos frightened by the howling wind. Many people enjoy every minute of our outside time, (rain or shine.) Still, many kiddos, parents and teachers had hoods on which would not stay put, and many of us spent those windy days hunched over with our foreheads scrunched. It was as if we were mad that it was windy!

I looked in my car’s trunk, where I kept two kites, (just cause.) And I was determined to show the kiddos that we do not have to be afraid of or mad at the wind. My small kite flipped around and crashed so much that it broke, plus my big butterfly’s long tail got tangled as Teacher Megan and I tried to make it fly. The kiddos were curious to see a kite, and that diverted their attention from being scared, but crashing kites was not what I had in mind! Across the street, I saw a piece of paper fly off the ground and my determination was set. I thought, “something is going to be airborne today!”

Later on in the day, I tied a plastic bag with yarn with the pre-k kiddos and crossed my fingers that it would work, and tah-dah! It flew… Bag Kites were born! The look on the kiddos faces when they were able to fly their own kites was priceless. The sound of their giggles still rings in my ear today. For weeks, the kiddos asked if we could fly our Bag Kites!

Luckily, Amy Maschio-Baksheeff was able to capture some pictures on her phone, click here for more. It was so simple and environmentally friendly! Oh, and free! Try it sometime!

Teacher Liselle

Summer School – Summer Camp

MNS Parent — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:06:22 +0000

MNS has a great summer program for preschoolers and kindergarten aged kids in Millbrae.

Each year we begin accepting applications March 1st until classes are full. For families who are interested in attending please submit an application, if enough interest is generated we will have a second class.

These photos were taken last summer.

Summer 2009

As always on the galleries: SL means slide show, FS means full screen.

One question from the webmaster to the readers of the website / blog: These galleries do not work on iPhones and many similar devices. How important is it to you that they show up on the iPhone as well? Please email me or comment on this post.