Kids learn through play

Children at Green River Co-op Preschool were busy settling back into the groove of things Monday afternoon.

With the long, holiday weekend, employees at the preschool were not sure what to expect. Sometimes after a long break, it is almost as if the students completely forgot all of the rules, but Monday all of the classes were adjusting better than expected.

Director Heidi Lund was busy teaching the children about a violin. She said it was her son's instrument, but she felt comfortable enough to share her knowledge with the students. Lund told the students that later in the week they will be able to try and play it.

During this group time, the students also went over the letter of the week, which is Y, and the weather conditions outside. After determining the weather was cloudy, the students later discovered it was snowing and told the teacher they needed to change the weather again.

When the large group time was over, the students broke up into smaller groups to work at one of four different stations.

To make the transition smoother, Lund divided the groups up and sent them to each project station. When it was time to switch stations, the children were asked to freeze, the students then stopped what they were doing immediately and froze. Then they were asked to move to a different station.

The first station had a place for students to paint a yoyo. At this station, students were instructed to write their name on the back of the yoyo, before turning it over to paint it.

The second station, was all about counting bears. The students would take a paper plate, turn it over to see what number they had; and then counted out the bears they needed to match the number. They would do this over and over again.

At the third station, the students were gluing Ys and yoyos to a piece of purple paper. When the preschoolers completed the task, they could go and play in the indoor sandbox.

The fourth station, was free play. Students were asked to go into a plastic house and play. Of course, this was one of their favorite stations.

Lund said when the students are not working on letters, numbers, shapes or colors, they are working on their fine and gross motor skills. This preschool follows the Houghton Mifflin curriculum, which is the same as what Sweetwater County School District No. 2 uses.