Learning in a Winter 'Wonder' Land: St. Thomas of Villanova Preschool Explores Snow & Science
The thrill of the holidays may be over, but the 3- and 4-year old preschoolers at St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic School are still bright-eyed with wonder as they begin new units revolving around that fluffy, frozen phenomenon: snow.
In Preschool 4, students enjoyed a found object snowmen project. Starting with a blank canvas of three, white, graduated-size circles that they helped sort by size, the preschoolers made creative choices for the snowman's eyes, nose, mouth, buttons and arms using found objects. For example, the eyes could be Mr. Potato parts, puzzle pieces or small car tires; the arms could be bowling pins, pinwheel flowers, or even bubble wands.
"Is there a wrong choice?" Leanne Kotlarz, Preschool 4 teacher and Preschool Coordinator, asked the students when explaining the assignment. "No way!"
Kotlarz-who worked one-on-one with her students to design the snowmen while aide Lisa Nix promoted free-choice play options including a snow and ice sensory table, playdough station, and block building site, to name a few-said originality was at the heart of this project.
"I want them to have their own creative process," she said. "And not compare their work to what another kid chose to do."
For the students, it was just a whole lot of fun. But Kotlarz noted that a range of learning occurred behind the scenes.
"The found object snowmen project blended math, science, writing and fine art with creativity," explained Kotlarz, who boasts a degree in Early Childhood Education from Concordia University. "And the creative process encouraged critical thinking, problem solving and following a procedure, step-by-step."
Once the snowmen were completed, the students wrote their name on a chalkboard nametag and the creations were captured with an iPad camera. These photos went on display, where they will be viewed during two Catholics Schools Week Open Houses scheduled for January 27 and 31. But they also serve as a means for further learning, as Kotlarz created a slideshow of the completed snowmen and showed it to her students on an Apple projector.
"We had so much fun creating our snowmen and seeing how each was unique, just like us!" said Kotlarz, who also promoted discussion about shadow and light reflection using the photograph.
Winter was the focus this week in the Preschool 3 classroom as well. Students took part in a science experiment making crystallized snowflakes using boiling water and borax, a combination that creates crystals when it cools.
Students watched in awe as the crystals formed throughout the day.
"Oh look, bubbles!" one student exclaimed.
"Those aren't bubbles; those are crystals," Preschool 3 teacher Anne Fisher noted. "Good observation."
The snowflakes allowed for tactile manipulation; the inner shape was created with pipe cleaners, which students noted directly contrasted the end product, which was hard and rough. Students enjoyed being scientists by observing their snowflakes under a microscope.
"In Preschool 3, we are introducing the preschoolers to science," explained Fisher, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana, a top-ranked school for education programs. "We want to spark the preschooler's interest in the world around them. We made observations before, during, and after the experiment and made some hypotheses too. We used our senses to explore our snowflake before and after the experiment. We found out if our hypotheses were correct."
Other winter themed fun in Preschool 3 included creating a "name" snowman by filling in each white circle snowman body part with a letter from the child's name. Preschool aide Janice Loster patiently worked one-on-one with each student on this project, allowing for a guided but fun and relaxed approach to letter recognition and formation at this young age.
The unit will also include "ice skating" on the carpet using wax paper. Soon, Preschool 3 will read The Mitten by Jan Brett, which will coincide with a mitten matching game and animal sequencing activity
These winter units in Preschool 3 and 4 are prime examples of the themed learning units the St. Thomas of Villanova Preschool curriculum boasts. The program blends academic staples like Jolly Phonics with specials like music, library, P.E. and even Spanish.
The end result is the true goal of what parents expect after sending their child to preschool: creating students who are academically, socially and emotionally ready for next school year.
"Preschool is an amazing time to be a kid," Kotlarz summarized. "And I love joining my class on their journey to Kindergarten."
St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic School offers full and half day preschool programs for three-and four-year-old students, as well as full day kindergarten through 8th Grade.
See what the school has to offer at two upcoming Open Houses: Sunday Funday, featuring Wonder Woman and Spider-Man, on January 27 from 11am-2pm; and STEAM Night & Science Fair, featuring Dave DiNaso's Traveling World of Reptiles, January 31, 6-7:30 pm.
The school is located at 1141 E. Anderson Drive, Palatine, IL 60074. Over $150,000 of scholarships funds are specifically earmarked for St. Thomas of Villanova through Empower Illinois. For more information, call (847) 358-2110 or visit the school's new user-friendly website, www.stvschool.org