Weekly Update February 13 - Exploring France, Celebrating the Olympics, and Sharing the Love

Reminders:

• February 16-20 - February Vacation - NO SCHOOL

This week at Fox Hill School was filled with travel, creativity, fine motor practice, friendship, and fun! From continuing our journey to France to celebrating the Olympics and Valentine’s Day, we were busy exploring the world in meaningful, hands-on ways.

Traveling to France: Art, Culture, and Imagination

This week, we continued our exploration of the beautiful country of France. We read Philippe in Monet's Garden, a story that introduces children to the artwork and gardens of Claude Monet. Through this story, children were exposed to impressionist art, famous gardens, and French culture in an age-appropriate and engaging way.

• We played a French-themed matching game to strengthen memory, visual discrimination, and vocabulary development.

  
  

• We also wrote about our favorite things about France in our classroom passports.  This activity encouraged early writing skills, expressive language, and reflection.

  
  
  
  

Olympic Excitement: Teamwork, Art, and Fine Motor Skills

With the spirit of the Olympic Games in the air, we dove into our own preschool-sized Olympic celebrations! We read Okapi’s Ode to the Winter Olympics by R.E. Skibiski and had fun learning all about the winter games.

• Clay gold medals – We finished the clay medals we made last week by painting them gold and adding a ribbon.  We asked everyone what they thought they would win a gold medal for, and everyone wore their medals with pride! 

  
  

• Painting Olympic rings at the easel – We explored color recognition and large motor control by painting the five Olympic rings at the easel this week.

  
  

• Paper Olympic rings – We used the paper strips we cut last week to make chains representing the 5 Olympic rings.  This was a great opportunity to practice counting, problem-solving, and sequencing, since we had to string and tape the strips into a chain featuring each color.  

Valentine’s Day Fun: Creativity, Math, and Friendship

We ended the week celebrating Valentine’s Day with so many heart-filled activities!

• Valentine collages – we used doilies, stickers, and paper hearts to make beautiful Valentine’s creations

• Pink playdough with heart cookie cutters – we had fun strengthening our hand muscles, making hearts out of our pink playdough.

  
  

• Heart connectagons – we used our creativity and problem-solving skills to make structures using heart-shaped connectagons.

  
  

• Hearts with Pattern Blocks – we built hearts using pattern blocks this week.  This was a fun way to build foundational geometry skills, develop spatial awareness, and encourage problem-solving and critical thinking. When children manipulate shapes to create designs, they are learning about symmetry, composition, and mathematical relationships — all through play.

Our Valentine’s Exchange

We wrapped up the week with our sweet Valentine’s Exchange. The children proudly handed out the valentines they brought from home. This was a fun way to practice turn-taking, social confidence, and generosity, and who doesn’t love taking a fun bag of treats home! It was a beautiful celebration of friendship and community — something we value deeply at Fox Hill School.

Science with Dr. Beeker

This week’s Science class was all about Valentine’s Day. We explored static with balloons and our hair! After getting a good laugh about everyone’s crazy hair, we extended our learning by seeing if static could lift up our paper hearts. We made love potions using combinations of water, oil, food coloring, and glitter. We also tested our building skills by making hearts out of magnatiles.

Join the Parade!

This week, we finished our Join the Parade unit. We moved, sang, and played sandblocks and rhythm sticks. We identified and discriminated between piano (quiet) and forte (loud) aurally, visually, and physically. We played echo games and explored different ways to use our voices. We played a finger number game and listened and identified the sound of a piccolo.

Looking Ahead

Reminder:  next week is February Vacation. We hope all of our Fox Hill families enjoy a restful, fun-filled week together!

Thank you for being part of our vibrant learning community. We can’t wait to continue our adventures when we return!

.