Journaling is an important part of our day here at Wee Friends. Our kindergarteners and older preschoolers journal every day after large group time, while our younger friends are often invited to journal during the morning, or whenever they choose to!
Although it is easy to dismiss young preschoolers’ drawing and writing as only “scribbles,” this is the first stage of learning how to write! These scribbles help children develop the necessary fine motor skills to be able to form letters later. Scribbles turn into drawings of basic shapes/pictures. Eventually, letter-like forms appear within children’s drawings.
The most important thing we are trying to do during journal time is to foster a love of writing. We want our children to understand that writing is a way to communicate their thoughts and feelings. For younger friends, after they finish their picture a teacher will help them write something about their drawing. As they get older, friends begin to write more on their own, eventually using “kid-spelling”.
Friends truly enjoy the process of creating a picture and then sharing what their drawing is about.
The first word most children gravitate towards is one that is important to them: their name! After learning to identify the individual letters in their name, children begin to try and write those letters. This is a process that takes time! Below, Eren has written an “N for Eren,” while Elizabeth, who has been working on journals for years, is able to clearly write her name in upper and lower case letters.
Please feel free to take a look at your child(ren)’s journal and see what they are writing about! All journals are kept on a bookshelf in the art room. Let us know if you have any questions about the writing/journaling process.
Kindergarten: Today kindergarteners played a shape game using dice and dot stampers. Besides identifying shapes, this game worked on counting, identifying numbers on a die, and graphing. It was a race to see which shape was landed on the most!
Have a wonderful Wednesday! –Jessica
Wee Sprouts: Tomatoes. Breakfast: Hot wheat cereal and fresh strawberries. Lunch: Farm fresh egg casserole with whole wheat flatbread, fresh green beans/tomatoes and cantaloupe/strawberries. Snack: Homemade popcorn and bananas.
