Happy Full Moon! All of the babies were feeling the moon’s pull and were a bit off kilter! Ms. Brenda did get Stella, Grady, Logan & Rex out on a walk in the Big Red Buggy, as it was another beautiful sunny day! Stella sang “Ahhh” most of the way and Rexy got a little nap in. Later, the babies did a lot of exploring, including Matt checking out our Potty book with his mouth:)
Aziza, Edith, Olive, Rory, Sophia and Van
We had a wonderful day. In the morning when we opened up the room we played with wood blocks, Olive, Sophia and Rory had a lot fun fun banging the blocks together and laughing, we also played in the kitchen area. Edith played with the car toy and looked at the Baby Beluga book. Van and Aziza joined us just in time for snack, everyone enjoyed the bagels and cream cheese. After snack it was time for morning meeting today we read the book “One”. today we talk about the color red aways picked on the color blue and how that made him feel and how the other colors tried to make blue feel better. After the morning meeting we played with the star blocks and worked on putting them together and on puzzles. Then we went outside to enjoy this beautiful day, everyone was busy playing and exploring in the wood chips, playing with the balls and in the climbers. When we came inside we got ready for lunch and nap everyone did a great job. This afternoon we will work on are art project, we are going to use markers and color with the colors that were in are book.
Eli, Zane, Ben, Brooklyn
What another gorgeous day! It was just Brooky, Ben, and Zane when I got in so we got right into the sensory tabe as promised and added water to the flour and cornstarch which made for quite a gooey, doughy experience. Zane said it was “sticky, messy” and Ben thought it might be yummy so he sampled a taste then gave me the funniest yucky face when he found out it was not what it looked like. Brooklyn was relatively dainty when she handled the goo which surprised me because I’ve seen how she eats her lunch, not afraid to get down and dirty:) Zane let me know when time was up because it started to dry on his hands and he quickly flung his hands about slinging it everywhere myself included. After we washed up we headed out front with the waddlers for a long recess. It was so warm that I almost didn’t put coats on but didn’t want to get into that battle before the weather really starts to warm up. Eli showed up a little bit later and joined play time with Ms. Tobie and I. Back inside lunch was great and naps were awesome. Don’t forget to wear pink, red, or purple if you have them for Tuesday Feb. 14th.
We have been reading the book,The Earth and I. It is illustrations with simple wording. Throughout the story a little boy uses the Earth and it's elements to dance, sing, play and grow. He also give back to the planet by helping clean it up and planting flowers. We asked the class what makes the Earth sad today. Lincoln looked to the illustrations for answers. He said, "When there is a big mess." The story once again brought many back to The Lorax. Eamon made the connection that the Lorax felt bad when things happened to the planet. Zoe mentioned the fish could no longer swim. It is very exciting seeing the kids make these connections. We will be planting bean tomorrow to watch them grow. Today we will paint our own cups for planters.
Today in the 3's room we really took advantage of the gorgeous weather! We played outside until they asked to go in--it was a very nice morning! I think all of the extra time outdoors really wore these guys out. Everyone took a decent nap today which gives us a very nice afternoon. We had circle time after snack, and we discussed The Lorax a little more. We asked the kids "How would you feel if all of the trees were gone?" These are the responses we received: Aliza: If they were all gone I would feel sad. Milo: But I have lots of trees at my home. Michael: Mommy cuts down all of my trees. Ellie: I would feel angry because it isn't a nice thing. Georgia: The baby birds! They won't have a place to live because somebody cuts the trees off and they go BONK! Charlie: When the trees get chopped down it makes a CHOP! Micah: The Lorax feels sad and mad because someone cuts the trees down.
At the art tables, we worked on our literacy skills as we stamped letters using a variety of brightly colored ink pads. We also had the chance to decorate our very own postage stamps for the Trollusk to collect! These tiny masterpieces will be displayed on the animal print walls of our classroom so come check out the display next time you’re in. Just as we incorporated the Trollusk’s hobby (stamp collecting) into our curriculum, we also found a way to work in Reggie McCleod’s profession as well. You see, just like so many of our friends, Reggie loves dinosaurs and as Will reminded us, a person who studies dinosaur bones for work is called a “Paleontologist.” So in honor of Reggie, we get to play with the Dinosaurs this week!
At morning meeting, Miss Becca re-read our story and this time we focused on the Trollusk’s lunch, the pot of “Tango Soup” that he was working on when Reggie’s missing hat blew through his open window and right into the soup. For sensory exploration this week, we decided to make our own batch of the Trollusk’s favored lunch meal in the form of “Tango Playdough.” Since none of us know what exactly goes into “Tango Soup,” we decided to make it up. This morning, Miss Becca mixed up a batch of colorful fruity-scented playdough and after reading the story, we all shared our ideas for what ingredients we could add to our playdough to make it something the Trollusk would be proud of
No write up today, Miss Laura was out with a sick hazel Jean, so Miss Elisa was subbing for her.
Happy Monday! It was a beautiful day and we took full advantage of it. Ms. Brenda gathered Logan, Charlie and Oliver into the red buggy for a nice walk outside! Back inside, it was a super active day and we all were introduced to our newest addition, Jack! He is a super cutie that is awesome with naps and bottles. We don’t think he will have any trouble acclimating to his new classroom! In the morning, we saw a lot of toy challenges. First, we saw Oliver and Rex have a tug of war over a set of rings. They ended up both winning with the rings separating and each of them having a ring in their hand. Very funny! Later, Oliver decided to nab all of Charlie’s toys, but Mr. Eric came to the rescue and returned them to their rightful owner. The next time Oliver tried, Charlie put up more of a fight, giving him a run for his money! Logan was non-stop as usual. He did a lot of standing and had lots of fun walking around, pushing the big box around the room. Noah is making great strides on floor, doing long stretches and even rolling onto his tummy! And our Leah enjoyed her morning but was excited when her Grandma Suzie came to pick her up early! Rexy had an absolutely amazing day today! He has been very reluctant to spend time on his belly, but today really marked a turning point for him. He had a great time rolling around, slapping the floor and holding onto toys while on his tummy. Great job Rexy!!
Aziza, Edith, Olive, Rory and Sophia
We had a pretty good Monday. When we opened the room we played with legos, and in the imaginary play kitchen. Rory borrowed a car from the big classroom and was playing with that. Aziza and Olive were handing legos back and forth. Then it was time for snack. Everyone liked Kix and Milk. After snack, we built with the star blocks until morning meeting, Sophia was pushing hers on the floor. Olive took out the puppets and was handing them to Edith. Next, it was time for morning meeting, we started our new book “One”. We introduced our book by reading only a few pages while we talked about how in the story the color blue is a quiet color and how he felt like he would like to be like the other colors. We will continue reading this book through out the week. Then we went outside for a little bit to enjoy this beautiful day. When we came inside we did our art project today which consisted of painting with the color blue to follow our curriculum. Everyone had a lot of fun painting, some of my kids were sad when painting was over, but soon recovered when then saw their lunch boxes. Everyone ate pretty well, went down a little early because it seemed to be a sleepy kind of day.
Eli, Abby, Ben, Brooklyn, Zane, Ella, Luke
Today when I walked in everyone seemed to be in cleaning mode. Ben, Zane, and Eli had the brooms going in full swing while Ella was working the mop. Brooky and Luke were playing under the table laughing and Abby seemed content with the play kitchen. I then sent Eli to the potty and was so proud again when he went #2. Next we all moved to the round table for art and funny Luke went to grab a chair and go to his private table where he has his meals but I assured him we were going to paint and not eat. This time I pulled out all the paint jars and asked what colors they were and got a whole bunch of answers except for the right one so I see we need to practice those some more:) Once I put a dab of each color on a paper plate and passed out orange paper I took off everyone’s shirts to let them get started. Eli sat there patiently waiting further instruction because I had not put out utensils to paint with. I dipped my finger in his paint then put a dot on his paper and didn’t say anything. They all seemed to take the hint and dove right in. I was shocked to see the one who got the messiest from head to toe literally was also the one I thought would stay the cleanest, Abby had me fooled:) After a long cleanup one by one I sent them over to the carpet with the magnetic builders instead of books and again was surprised to see how focused they were. It’s a good reminder for me to change things up a bit to keep them stimulated and not bored getting into trouble. We fortunaley had just enough time to make it out front to play by ourselves. Abby and Zane climbed up the ladder to slide and kept saying “up high.” Ben said this as well but I told him again if he wanted to try he was going to need to drop the shovels. He however did not feel that way and moved on. Lunch was good, naps were alright. Reminder for Tuesday Feb. 14th we will be having a movie party with the waddler class. Please wear your red, pink, or purple if you got them!
Happy Monday everyone, Is hope all of you enjoyed the amazing sun we had this weekend. I know it put me in great sprites. We sure are having a good time here in the 3′s classroom as we start our final week of exploring the amazing world of Dr. Suess. We kicked of morning meeting with some fun songs and a reading of the The Lorax, a book that make us take a close look at the environment. The kids really seemed to like the story. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this book it is a story of a man (The Onc-ler), he finds a beautiful forest and builds his business there. Unfortunately he is not looking out for the environment and he ends up destroying the forest and all the animals that lived there must move away. The Lorax Speaks for the trees and warns the Onc-ler throughout the story that he is harming the forest, but in the end it is to late. The forest is destroyed and the onc-ler must come to understand what he has done, and realize what he must do to fix it. It is a beautiful story with a massage of hope at the end. We chose this book for the week to get the kids thinking about taking care of the planet. We have focused a lot on caring from each other, Mallary and I thought it would be fun to look at the bigger picture. Today for science we placed white carnations into colored water. We are doing this project to teach the kids about water pollution. We want them to see that what goes into the water affects our plants, trees, and bodies. Later this week after the flowers have taken on color we will extend the experiment by adding vinegar as a acid to some of the flowers, salt to other and leave some in pure water to show the effects when air pollution mixes with the water supply.
-Kincaid: “Because it wasn’t his” -Maren: “I think the hat was stuck. And I don’t know” -Cameron: “Because some trollusks are nice and this was a nice one” -Aran: (no answer) -Niko: “‘Cause he knew Reggie wanted to wear it” -Clara: “I don’t know” -Samantha: “Um, maybe because he knew it was his (Reggies)” -Analise: “Um, because he knew Reggie wanted to wear it again” -Lucy: “They trollusk wanted to give it back so he (Reggie) would be happy again”
Welcome back to Monday! Again the 5′s class enjoyed this spectacular weather and we started a new book: “The Rainbow Fish”. This story focuses on friendship and we will be exploring this throughout the week by making a friendship fish and friendship chain. We will also be doing a cooking project where we give our cooked goods away to another class. We will also be doing experiments with sinking and floating using salt water! We did the usual this morning, we filled in our calendar and assigned jobs then we had a great discussion about our weekend. Ben was really excited to talk about his birthday weekend and even brought in a book called “Awesome Man” to read to the class. Everyone had something to share and most stories sounded the same as everyone got outside and enjoyed our beautiful weather.
After circle we practiced math by measuring to make play dough the color of the sea: blue! After making it we used the shell molds to make the play dough into sea shells just like in the book. We put water in the sensory table then added all the shells we could find along with little colored tiles just like the rainbow fishes scales! Later this week we’ll introduce tin foil that look like his shiny silver scales too. The sensory table was popular, but the boat is still number one. Today the kids made the boat into a floating classroom. So cool! Beni got the Chutes and Ladders game out too and we all took turns learning how to play. Mason, Samara, Beni and Sawyer decided that we were going to celebrate Miss Meghan’s birthday today even though her birthday isn’t until July! They used free draw time to draw balloons, make birthday cards, and draw a cake! Such great imaginations they have.
This afternoon the class will join Miss Meghan in the puzzle closet to pick out new puzzles for the class and we will be bringing in new colored blocks to build with. Monday is such a transition day and the 5′s class really helped Miss Meghan get things put together. They’re all such great helpers, it makes it so much easier to bring new things into the classroom!
Logan, Matthew, Rex, Noah, Charlie, Oliver
It was an all boy Friday today in the Infant Room. Leah was out, so the testosterone level was super high and the energy was even higher. Rex had a great time playing with daddy (Mr Eric) on the couch and peeking out the window at our rare bright sunshine. Noah showed off that he can roll from his back to his side and from his stomach to his back. Awesome work, Noah! Rex and Logan enjoyed reading books with Ms Brenda. Rex especially liked hearing the book “I Can”. Logan and Oliver both had fun crawling into the big swing box. They both got inside it and Logan wanted to get out so quickly that he crawled right over Oliver to exit. Matthew was very vocal this morning and Noah did some happy squealing.
Aziza, Quinn, Rory, Sophia and Van
We had a wonderful and laid back Friday. In the morning we opened coloring and the kitchen. Rory was pretending to eat the ice cream, Quinn and Sophia were coloring with the crayons. Then it was time for snack everyone enjoyed the apple jacks and milk. After snack Van wanted to color and Aziza played with the lego’s. Rory found the football and Sophia and Quinn played with the puppets. Then we had are morning meeting, today we read the whole book Kitten’s first full moon and and did a Little recall when talking about how the kitten felt because she could not reach the bowl of milk in the sky, how she was hungry and when she got home there was a bowl of milk waiting for her. Then we went outside to enjoin the nice weather, everyone had great time playing and having a lot of fun. When we came inside it was time for lunch and nap everyone did a great job. Next week we will be reading the book One and basing are curriculum on the book. Have a wonderful weekend and see you next week.
Eli, Zane, Ben, Abby, Brooklyn, Ella
Happy Friday! We started this moring with Eli trying out our potty since he is showing interest at home while I tended to a few diapers and let Abby and Brooky finish up our special Valentine’s Day gifts. Eli sat for a few minutes till I asked him if he was done, then we got down to play with some dress up clothes we took form the waddler room, Ella and Abby love the scarves while Ben pulled everything out of the bin, didn’t find anything appealing and moved on to the dinosaurs. We skipped morning circle to go out early since the sun was shining. Out front the boys were amazed again by the landscaping building up the street watching it’s truck bed move up and down for almost 10 minutes. Ella spent her time with Aziza and Sophia from the waddler room we thought lightly tossing woodchips at eachother was hilarious. I waited for someone to get upset but they didn’t. Abby is a big girl now like Zane and Eli and can go up and down the slide by herself. Ben’s got the drive to go up there but not quite the coordination so he stands at the bottom with his many shovels yelling at them:) Brooky was hiding behind the infant room door scratching at it for some reason and smiling. Back inside lunch was great and then I had sent Eli to try potty one more time in which he was still dry. I was changing Ben and we were telling him to push and making grunting noises and much to our surprise Eli did poo in the toilet! I guess I gotta start buying potty treats again:) See ya all next week.
Hello, Friday! And what a beautiful day it is--couldn't have picked a better day for our parade! Once we finished playing outside this morning, the 3's class got to work on their parade banner. It is crazy colorful and looks just like something you would see on Mulberry Street. This morning we spent a little time talking about how the parade should look and it was decided that we needed lots of different animals. We found animal masks to wear and our cubbie toys will join the march! We paraded through the school and around the play yard a few times. All of the classes came out to watch and cheer us on. WE HAD A BLAST!!!
It's Friday and we couldn't have asked for a nicer day here in the 4s class. The sun is shining brightly, the air has a certain warmth to it that forces a smile on even the grumpiest face. Luckily, there is little of that today, just a sweet group of kiddos ease to learn and play and grow. We started off the day with cereal and milk, welcoming friends as they strolled in, as yet unaware of the gorgeous day ahead of us. Friends gathered at the art table to construct their own paper dragons in honor of the recent Chinese New Year. Lucy was feeling particulry generous and decided to give her finished dragon to a friend. Aran, Caid, and Daniel tried to convince Miss Jo to cut theirs out for them; seeing how much work the other's were exerting they weren't sure they were up for the challenge. After a bit of frustration with my insisting they try it on their own, they sought assistance from their friends. Clara, Elsa, Analise, and Cameron proved to be wonderful little teachers indeed as they explained how they used the scissors to cut, crayons to color, and tape to add streamers for decoration and popsicle sticks for a handle. It has been a laid back Friday and Maren (with a few friends) opted to gather on the couch to listen as Miss Becca and Miss Jo took turns reading stories of the kids' selection. After Sadie and Skye got in some time at the writing table, where Skye practiced reading (with much success!) the words she traced on the white boards, they joined Niko, Finn, and Evan who were building a giant bridge of wooden blocks. Then Tallulah joined the writing table to work on her letter "V" words. To celebrate this glorious day, we got to roll our chocolate chip cookie dough into balls (the kids all did this part almost entirely unassisted!) and bake them up. We can't wait until they are done, yum!!
No write up
Aziza, Olive, Quinn, Rory and Sophia
We had a great day. In the morning we played with the legos and in the kitchen before snack. Everyone enjoyed the Life cereal and milk. After snack it was time for our morning meeting, we sang the good morning song and finished reading the book Kitten’s first full moon. Today we read about how the kitten felt about being wet, hungry, tired and sad about not being able to reach the bowl of milk in the sky but when she came home there was a bowl of milk waiting for her on the porch. We discussed how it must have made her feel happy. For art today we used white crayons on black paper. Then we got our coats on and headed out doors for some fresh air. Quinn, Rory and Sophia were playing in the wagon and the older kids would try to pull them. Olive was excited to see Lincoln, she also played in the castle. Aziza crawled around and explored with the wood chips. When we came inside we got ready for lunch and nap everyone did a wonderful job.
Eli, Ben, Zane, Ella, Brooklyn, Luke
Today we started with some art where Luke and Ella got to work on a special Valentine gift while everyone else sat at the table working on white boards and had the sensory table open with the flour and cornstarch which I think we will keep for one more week but add water to it and see what happens. Next we moved on to a round of diapers and headed out front to play which I was excited to see Luke loosen up a bit and go around playing with the shovels and scooping out the water on top of the bottles lining the garden. Zane and Eli have gotten really good at climbing the ladder slide by the parking lot but what makes me laugh is when Zane goes down he kinda pushes his feet to the side maybe to slow down but ends up catapulting himself forward, landing rough but gets right back up to do it again. Inside we are really working on being independant and instead of me always taking off everyone’s coat I am encouraging that they do it themselves. If they can’t get the zipper down I will do that but want them to shake it off. Ben is super great at doing the whole thing himself that now I ask him to help others like Luke who is more than grateful for the assistance:) Lunch was good, naps were descent. In the afternoon they were so calm for circle time that we got through 6 books straight and several songs before it was time to join the the 2′s class for the evening. See ya all tomorrow.
If you went traveling what would you pack to take with you? Isaac: ummm a T-Rex! Maple: belly button (lifts shirt and points for clarity) Knox: a pumpkin (why a pumpkin!) because I want a big one. A big one for my mommy and daddy. Eamon: uhhhhhhmmmmmmm strawberries I had to go back and check but sure enough today's answers where the same for those three boys. I guess they are just efficient, bringing home what they take with them.
It is starting to feel more and more like spring, maybe I’m jumping the gun here, but we have really been enjoying the extra sunshine this week. Today we read Dr. Suess’s book And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, During our morning meeting. For art time we created flags/banners to prepare for our 3′s class parade tomorrow. We thought it would be fun for the kids to march the halls and be a parade! We told the kids they can bring in a stuffed animal from the parade if they like, We have animals they can use if you prefer not to send in an animal from home. It should be a really fun time! Next week we will continue to read books by Dr. Suess, but our main focus will land on his book The Lorax. Using the book we will discuss the environment, being kind to the planet, and talk about ways we can make change for the better.
After once again reading “Bein’ With You This Way” (which touches heavily on differences amongst people), Miss Becca asked the kids a very special question: “What makes you unique?” (unique was a bonus vocabulary word for us too!). Many kids needed a little promoting (it’s a pretty new concept to think of oneself that way), but most everyone came up with something interesting.
Here are their responses:
Oliver:” I can use chopsticks to eat!”
Maren: “I’m a skier. And I was born in Jackson (Jackson Hole, WY)
Kincaid: “I have kind of dark and light skin”
Sadie: “I have only light skin”
Tallulah: “My curly hair”
Finn: “I can hang on the triangle swing outside”
Ainsley: “Well, I have curly hair but so do other people, sooooo….I have a brother!”
Hazel: “In the mornings I get to snuggle in my mom and dads bed”
Cameron: “What makes me unique is that I live in a new apartment. Not in Seattle”
Analise: “I’m five years old now! And my skin”
Elsa: “I get dressed by myself”
Daniel: “I have a different color of skin”
Will: “My blue eyes. Mine are blue and Daniels are not”
Evan: “I have a cat that has dark hair”
Clara: “Well, I’m four and a half”
Aedan: “I have a kitty named Yoda” (he got pretty insulted when HAzel mentioned there was a “‘Star Wars’ guy” named Yoda, he insisted, “no, it’s only my cat!”
Jack: “Just bein’ my own self” (we didn’t prompt that one at all!
Niko: “My hair. ‘Cause it’s dark”
Today we dove right into some math, measuring, and chemistry by making some “moon cakes.” In the book we have been reading, “The Moon Lady” by Amy Tan, the main character eats moon cakes. We also learned that traditional foods are a big part of Chinese New Year’s celebrations. So in keeping with these themes, we made our very own “moon cake” cookies. Each student got to help measure, count, stir, roll out the dough, and help keep track of the baking time. Instead of sweetened bean paste, we filled our moon cakes with jam. Yummmmy. All that work took just about the entire morning time in the 5’s class, but the reward is worth it for sure! We made enough that we were able to give out cookies to each of the fantastic teachers at Bella Mente as a thank you for all that they do for us. So much fun to go around to classrooms and make our teachers smile. The 5’s were beaming with pride!
While all of that took most of the morning, we did manage to slip in a quick circle just before lunch to go over the date. Ben Ryan was excited to share that today is his birthday!!!! Oh my goodness, how can it be that each of our amazing students is really 5 years old? WOW!!! In honor of this big occasion we read Dr. Seuss’s “Oh the Places You Will Go.” After we all ate our lunches we got to finally taste the fruits of our labor and everyone agreed that moon cakes are a traditional Chinese Food worth bringing into the classroom. What a fun way to explore a culture that may have been new to some of us.
For snack today we will be using our chopsticks to eat. This could get interesting. We will be eating carrots and crackers with chopstick. Hey, when have these smart brave kids shrunk from a challenge? We will also work some more on our new Chinese vocabulary and we will have several stations set up with cool art projects. Some we have done before, but we want to give those students who have not been here a chance to try them out.
Last but not least – this afternoon we will be celebrating Ben Ryan’s big day with some fantastic cupcakes! Does it get any better than this???
Noah, Matthew, Stella, Logan, Oliver, Grady, Charlie, Leah
Charlie was working overtime today to reach a nearby giraffe toy. He tried and tried to grab the toy, and finally succeeded. Good work, Charlie! Matthew had a lot of fun lifting himself up on the white toy chest and peeking out at us from behind it. He was also a big raspberry blower today. Leah blew a bunch of raspberries too, when she woke up from a nap in the swing. It was super funny to hear her blast away with her comical noises for about 5 or 6 minutes straight.
Stella gave us lots of pretty smiles as she tapped away on the toy drum. She also loved waving a nubby ball above her head while playing in the excersaucer and squeaking all about something very important. Stella was super vocal all day and she was very gleeful. Speaking of gleeful, Noah continued to do great playing on the floor. He loves to caress his blanket and smile at everyone.
Logan did wonderful eating his finger food in the afternoon. He did soak his shirt with peach juice, so he went shirtless briefly afterward. It afforded him a great opportunity to show off his physique – Rambo style (bare-chested with camo pants!). Your are a little muscleman, Logan!
Eli, Ben, Zane, Brooklyn
Small group today but very mellow:) We decided to go out to play first thing since diapers were already underway and the sun was out. We saw Mr. Eric out front breaking the 2′s class teachers that sent Zane into a frenzy saying “hold you, hold you.” Ben turned into something of a hoarder because he picked up a metal shovel, a red plastic shovel and a car hauler but wasn’t necessarily playing with any of them, just walking around. Brooky tried so hard to walk up the slide but after slipping back down 3 times she gave up and followed the waddler kids around. Back inside we sat down at the round table to use some recycled jars for flower vases. We started with the glueing process and then added tissue paper to it. When they dry I will add a coat of modge podge for a sealing effect. Then we got all washed up for lunch, ate well and went down for good naps.
This week we are reading the book, Gifts. In the story a grandma travels the world and brings gifts back for her granddaughter. We asked the two's about their own travels and it surprisingly brought many back to the museum of flight. Drew-" I went to the flight museum! Zoe-"I went to the flight museum and saw lions." Violet-"I went to the swings." Eamon-" I went to the big planes I ever saw!" Lincoln-"I went to the store." Sophie-"To the store with mama." Knox"I went with my mom. I like the parrot." Eddy was back today. During our planning time we added puppets to our shadow theater. They were a huge hit all day long!
Happy Tuesday everyone! We are having a nice day here in the 3′s classroom. The weather was so nice we decided to spend a little extra time outside this morning. The sun was shining and we all needed the fresh air. We continued to explore the ideas of being a good friend and not excluding anyone while reading Dr. Suess’s book The Sneetches. The kids had a ton of fun yesterday building a star on and off machine using likeable recyclables:) Today they painted it. It was a ton of fun and it look very Suess like if you ask me. This afternoon we plan to do some more reading and begin learning some new songs to help us remember and identify numbers; it should be a lot of fun.
This last day of January brought lots of fun and learning to the fours classroom. After an English muffins and milk snack, we headed outside to start our day together. Below are some observation/comments from the day:
~Ainsley, and Hazel running a starbucks in the house outside. Hey had me order through the outside window and after my coffee order, the very thorough Barista Ainsley asked “So, do you want skim milk with that, or what?”
~Cameron and Tallulah working hard to not only trace letter and practice writing words but also to sound out the words they were tracing…on the way to reading!
~Finn, Aedan and Niko working together to build a very cool cantilevered (a new vocab word for us!) “parking garage” out of the large wooden blocks.
~Samantha, Sadie, Lucy and Elsa and Maren taking turns pretending to be Miss Jo and Miss Becca. They turned the dramatic play area into a classroom and read each other books, practiced writing with chalk and, inevitably, put “the kids down for nap” (Elsa).
~Daniel, Kincaid and Oliver played a hide and seek game for a while, taking turns hiding a block and having hte other two try to find it. After that got old, they made thier way over to the puzzle, because as Kincaid said (with a sly smile): “We are the puzzle masters”
~Analise, Jaxon and Evan drawing up a storm! Both outside with chalk and inside during our “listen and draw” afternoon meeting where we read out curriculum book!
Happy 1st day of February! We had a new addition in the Infant Room that turned into a new adventure for Leah, Logan and Oliver. The UPS man was nice enough to deliver us a new swing(Thanks Ms. Lauren)! Ms. Brenda put it all together in record time and Leah was the first to take it for a spin. In the meantime, the super big box it came in became an awesome toy! Logan and Oliver started the exploration and Leah joined them a little later. Logan sped in and out of the box, sometimes forgetting to lift the flap which slowed him down just a little. Oliver ended up being a great helper as he figured out how to lift the flap for Logan. Logan also liked cruising around the outside of the box and using it as a super sized drum. Oliver was very curious, but more reserved in his approach to the box. He stayed at the entrance mostly, checking out Logan fly past him. Leah preferred to stay out of the box all together and watch the boys. Today, Mr. Eric decided to finally let Logan go crazy in the blue rocking chair because he continues to explore it. Pillows were stacked all around and he got his fill. His coolest trick was a “no hands” stand up in the chair, and through it all he never fell! After he got himself out, he hung a little while longer “trapped” in between the couch and the rocking chair playing happily. Meanwhile, Charlie was sitting and playing next to the rocking chair. At one point he kind of keeled over gently and got his body under the chair where he stayed for a while and looked like a mechanic fixing a car! Very cute. Rexy had a very good tummy time session in the morning after he woke up from his nap. He really liked how his hands sounded as they slapped on the bare floor. He also did a lot of rolling back and forth from back to tummy. Keep it up Rexy! Later, he held his own bottle which was pretty cool! And Noah was super baby, playing in the Exersaucer and later, sitting up without assistance and some more in the Bumbo chair. What an awesome day!
Eli, Luke, Ben, Zane, Ella, Abby, Brooky
Today when I came in Ms. Alysa came in for a while I had a little chat with Ms. Lauren so she spent the morning with everyone exploring new animal puzzles that Ms. Lauren bought and coloring with the dry erase markers on white boards. I met them outside later with the waddlers and 2′s class. We stayed out for a little bit longer before I took them in for lunch and diapers, naps were great. When they got up I put out white paper and charcoal sticks which turned out to be really cool. Some realized they could make marks on their paper with what had rubbed off on their hands. When we finished we washed up for snack and read ”Gregory the terrible eater” while we ate our peas and rice cakes. After that we went out front to play with the waddlers and the 5′s class who came out to fly around with their masks that they made for chinese new year. Luke and Brooky were thrilled to have their brothers come visit for a few minutes. Back inside Luke cracked me up when I sat down at the table to do a late writeup because he walked over to the science and math table, grabbed a calculator and a chair and sat next to me as I wrote and typed away. As we did this I saw Zane on top of the bench put a baby doll down then stacked three pillows on top of it and started patting it and sang rock a bye baby:) See ya all tomorrow.
Sometimes there is just too much going on to smile for pictures. Isaac Knox Zoe Violet and Kai sure thought so while we where painting our clay sculptures from yesterday. Most of the kiddos told us they were painting animals of some sort. Surprisingly each one was making a different animal and even more surprising Isaac was not making a dinosaur! He was hard at work making a tiger for Lincoln, who showed his appreciation by making a big dinosaur for Isaac. Our circle time question for today was "what would you bring home from your world travels?" Drew: I went to the farm and I brought back pumpkins...(a while later he answered, "I'd bring back a didgeridoo") Lincoln: I'd bring a pumpkin but I would be a little scared (when asked why he had no answer for why or what he would've scared of) Violet: I'd get a TOY! Eamon: STRAWberries Sophie: I want blue berries! Isaac: T-Rex and a great big Dino Zoe: m&m and lollipop treats!
Today has totally flown by! We had a very nice and mellow morning. We discussed the way The Sneetches treated each other and talked about ways to treat our friends fairly and kindly. Our class came up with some very good ideas and are working hard to never leave a friend out! We gather our inspiration for our art project from The Sneetches and had our class create their own Sneetch Scene! However, nap time was a little rocky. If some of the kids are not sleepy, we try to have them rest and relax their bodies during that time. But today our friends who were awake had a very hard time saying quiet and on their mats. If you could please reinforce the importance of "resting" bodies during this time it would be a huge help! With the lovely weather, we got an early start on our outdoor play and are beginning to wrap up our day!
A big "happy birthday!" to our friend Analise today as she turns 5 years old, wow! Analise has been such a wonderful member of the 4s class and we are so happy to get the chance to celebrate her special day with here at school. Birthdays are the perfect chance to share our love and appreciation for the friends in our life and this week we got to celebrate twice, and then again next week when Aran turns 5! I guess the party got started early because as I was walking around the playground this morning after finishing up our hashbrowns and milk, Miss Becca pointed out that a conga line had formed and there was half the 4s class and many 3s and 5s kids too prancing along in my wake Our little bubbly ballerina Sadie, who turned 4 on Monday, joined the 4s class just a few short months ago and has already grown in so many ways alongside her 4s class friends. She always used to ask me to draw pictures for her, and truly believed she was incabable of expressing her ideas through her own art work... After months of encouraging her to keep trying, she now has taken on a teaching role, alongside Analise and a few others, at the art table where she spends much of her curriculum time. Today, however, Sadie joined a few of the other girls in the "Park Playground" where they played hopscotch, went up and down the slide, and made up games with the cards, dice, and dominoes. Thank you Sadie for brightening up our classroom with your infectious grin and giggles, and bright personality! Today's birthday girl, Analise is another 4s class resident artist, who has depicted her favorite character, Rapunzel, in so many differed mediums. Once a challenge for her, just like Sadie, Analise has practiced with endless devotion to her art over the past year. Her calm and studious attitude toward her artwork, and the kindness she shows friends as she shares her technique has been a blessing to us, and such a joy to observe. To show their love, friends couldn't wait for Analise to arrive today so they could wish her well on her birthday. Outside this morning, Evan frequently asked "when is Analise going to be here?" reminding everyone "we have to say happy birthday when she gets here!" Cameron tried to organize a jump-and-say-surprise, but forgot by the time Analise arrived, and Elsa, Hazel, and Ainsley couldn't wait to get to work on crowns and other birthday decorations for their friends. We have a lot of love for our darling little beauty, the sensitive, kind, and artistic Analise. We love you Rapunzel-Analise, thanks for being such a helpful and calming friend to your 4s class! Now that it is February, and spring will be here before we know it, it's hard not to think ahead a few months when this class will graduate and move up in the world and on to bigger things, like Kindergarten and the 5s class. Now's as good a time as any to pause and reflect on this wonderful bunch of kiddos, because we sure do have a fantastic group here right now. How lucky we all are to spend this time together.
Welcome back everyone! We were so happy to see all of the babies back healthy and smiling! It was a relatively quiet day with Edie in the Waddler room. That meant we had Charlie, Leah, Logan, Noah, Oliver and Rex. In the morning, Logan sat and read “How Much Do I Love You?” with Ms. B. He enjoyed the pictures and apparently is ready to read ’cause he was trying to grab it out of her hands. Later, he was playing with the globe in the Exersaucer. He started out spinning it with his forehead and then he got the great idea to just bang his head on it repeatedly. It didn’t even phase him… Rexy had some Tummy time and then moved to sitting up and going to town on the Giraffe toy. Ms. Violet got lots of belly laughs out of him when she found his tickle spots. Leah took matters into own hands today when in need of her blanket. She looked at Ms. V and then pointed to her mat, where her blanket was sitting. She pointed a few times and then was very happy when Ms. V brought it over to her! Awesome Leah!! Keep it up! Later, when her blanket fell on the floor, she looked down and said “uh-ow.” Noah had a great day filled with naps, bottles and playing on the carpet. Charlie must be having a growth spurt ’cause he kinda slept the day away! And Oliver had a lot of fun working out in his Puma sweatsuit, crawling all over the room and being very chatty with Rex while they played together at the All Around Town toy.
Aziza, Edith, Luke, Olive, Rory and Sophia
We had a great day. In the morning when we opened up the room, Rory and Sophia went right over to the Kitchen and started playing with the food and dishes. Olive played with the blocks and Edith came in right before snack. The kiddo’s enjoyed the waffles and pineapple we had for AM snack. After snack, we played for a little bit until it was time for morning meeting. Luke played in the kitchen and was trying to feed me pizza, Edith also played in the kitchen while Aziza played with the busy box.
Then it was time for morning meeting, this week I will be reading the book “Kitten’s First Full Moon.” I read a few of the pages in the book and I also talked about the colors in the book how they were done in black and white and talked about each picture and what the kitten was doing. Next, we also sang our good morning song and the kiddo’s are starting to clap for their friends when I say there names. Next it was time to do an art project. Since we are basing our curriculum on the book, we worked with glue and added black felt to our kitten’s. Next we got ready to go outside, everyone had a great time. Everyone did a wonderful job during lunch and nap. This afternoon we are going to play in the sensory table with the sand, work on puzzles and play in the kitchen.
Eli, Ben, Zane, Brooklyn, Abby, Ella, Kinsey
Full house today. We started with morning circle and our job jar. Where Kinsey got to be the clipboard carrier, Zane chose the book which was “I like red the best,” Abby picked our welcoming song which was “Friends are here today,” Eli got to pass out sippy cups at lunch, Ben was responsible for washing the snack table and Ella got to water the plant. Then we moved onto pulling out some of the food in our dramatic play area. I talked to them about foods that were good or healthy and some that are not so healthy for you but I tried to refrain from saying they are bad for you because for one that is kinda rude if someone happens to eat that thing or I wouldn’t want someone to think that they should never eat it because it’s not healthy. So instead I tried to explain that it’s ok if you only have a little bit as where in life everything should be in moderation. For example, I pulled out an apple and showed them that this is good for you and healthy with a big smile on my face but then I pulled out a doughnut and showed a hesitant face and said not so good, only a little tiny bit. After we wrapped up circle they got up to play for a while as I did diapers then got coats on to go out front with the waddlers and 2′s class. Zane and Eli are the only ones who can climb the smaller slide closest to the parking lot so once they made it up they would hollar down to kids like Ben and Brooky who wish they could go up too. Abby and Ella settled for swinging on their tummies while Kinsey hung out with me and Ms. Tobie. Back inside we had a nice lunch followed by great naps and as they got up we sat down at the table to put together a collage of food that we took out of magazines last week and I again chose a healthy food and not so healthy food and asked each one which one looks like a good yummy food for you. Abby was great with her vegetable choices while Eli and his sweets needed some work:) See ya all tomorrow.
No write up today
Hello everyone--I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We kicked off our "Weeks of Seuss" by reading The Sneetches. "Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars." The Sneetches tels the story of how they were bamboozled by Sylvester McMonkey McBean ("the Fix-it-up Chappie"), who teaches them that pointless prejudice can be costly. Sylvester McMonkey McBean used they Star-on/Star-off Machine to put on or remove stars from the bellies of the Sneetches, and we decided to make our own machine for the classroom! Some of our class chose to have a green star attached to their bellies and others chose to go without--they realized it doesn't matter if you have one or not, because we are all equal
Welcome back everyone, we hope you all had a nice weekend of family time! It is an exciting day to be in the 4s class today as we get to help our friend Sadie celebrate her birthday today! Elsa (our resident crown expert) helped Miss Becca decorate Sadie's honorary birthday crown, and this afternoon we get to feast on the delicious treats Sadie brought in for her big day. Waffles and pineapple ere featured on this morning's snack menu and we were all pleased to find it neither cold nor rainy when we headed out back to play. Much of today's curriculum focus was on writing, letter-recognition, and word practice. Miss Becca sat at the table with a few friends practicing their writing skills, asking questions like "what letter is this?" and then "what sound does it make?" This exercise was especially helpful for some of our younger friends who are newer to the 4s class and are just beginning to discover their hidden language talents while more practiced friends worked on putting together full words. Maren and a few others gathered for story-time on the couch with Miss Jo, reading one of our favorites, "How the Trollusk Got his Hat" by Mercer Meyer, and a few others. This book always lends itself to discussion and today's topic was the meaning of the word "dapper." After analyzing the illustration and describing the attire of our dapper character, Reggie McCleod, we came to a mutual understanding of this new word together. Then in our morning meeting, we read Jamie Lee Curtis's book "Is There Really a Human Race" and Oliver shared his insight on the book's message, declaring that "it's not a race, it's about love, not a running race!" Thanks Oli for clearing up tue confusion and for sharing such a beautiful thought with the class!
We welcomed all of our friends back to class and enjoyed some outside time before coming inside to start our day. We assigned jobs to the class then went over the date and filled in our missing weekend days then Miss Meghan announced that we would be focusing our curriculum this week around a new book called “The Moon Lady” by Amy Tan. Violet was very excited to talk about the time she visited Chinatown in San Francisco and Beni shared that he really likes to go shopping at Uwajimaya. We also talked quickly about the Chinese New Year festival that happened last week and everyone seemed to already know that this year is the year of the dragon! We looked online and found out the the entire 5′s class is the year of the dog including Miss Meghan! No wonder we all get along so well! After chatting a little about the architecture in China as well as how to use chopsticks and drink tea, we read the book. “The Moon Lady” is a very long story with beautiful illustrations and a message of how a child can learn to be unselfish. The kids did an amazing job sitting through the whole story and were really interested in all of the beautiful pictures!
After we ended circle for curriculum time Miss Meghan set to work changing the room to represent some Chinese culture. We kept the boat, as part of the book takes place in a Teahouse boat surrounded by all kinds of boats including fishing boats. We found 2 fishing poles to add to the boat and plan to make lanterns this week to help decorate the new “Chinese fishing village” dramatic play area. We have a lot of wood chopsticks which we decorated using markers and made little pouches out of construction paper to hold them. At the little blue table we used our chopsticks to practice picking up uncooked noodles and our sorting fruit. We also found a beautiful tea set and 2 plates with chinese writing that look hand painted. Violet, Addie, and Samara put the tea and chopsticks to good use as they pretended to be in China. Beni was hard at work making a dragon out of construction paper that we plan to put up on the wall to create more Chinese ambiance! Curriculum time flew by this morning as we were all busy checking out the new stuff in the classroom and exploring our new book. All of a sudden it was lunch time so we quickly got cleaned up and sat down for lunch.
After a very energetic outside time we headed in and read 4 books while we settled our bodies for meditation. We listened to some beautiful jazz music during meditation then got ready for snack. After snack we used construction paper to make fans. We decorated the paper first using “The Moon Lady” illustrations for inspiration then folded the fans and added tissue paper for some extra flare! Next up we had some free play time before heading into the 4′s class to finish up our posters for our joint Westside Baby Toy and Clothing Drive! Thank you so much to the people who have already brought in toys and clothes. We have a bucket at the front entrance for donation drop off! We will be collecting items until the end of February so you have plenty of time to help out!
Happy Friday!! We had a nice active day with six babies. We had Charlie, Leah, Logan, Matty, Noah & Rexy. Leah, Logan and Matty were pretty much non-stop movers all over the room. Leah was very chatty and especially liked standing at the brown toy chest and yelling across to her sleeping friends in hopes that they would wake up and play with her! Matty also liked that game. But his exploration eventually led him to the lunch table. He spent quite a lot of time maneuvering his way through the high chairs. He is pulling himself up on everything now. There is really nothing left untouched by Matty at this point. Rexy had a great time in the Exersaucer and later in the day he was doing some major growling while he played with toys on the floor. Charlie is becoming a super sitter!! He spends so much happy time sitting and grabbing all the toys around him, especially the “Around Town” toy. Logan has come up with a new daredevil trick since all of his others now bore him. He thought it would be fun to tip the blue rocking chair on its side while he had his leg half under and half outside the metal bar that holds it up! Luckily, we were there to save his life yet again! Not really, he seems to know how far to go and never really gets into any eminent danger:) And our little Noah is really getting along great with the older babies. He spends lots of happy time on the floor, looking behind himself. And Ms. Violet got a special treat today as he giggled and laughed while drinking his bottle. Hope Everyone has a great weekend!
Eli, Ella, Ben, Zane
Perfect way to end the week, 4 kids and my daughter as an assistant. Everyone had just finished their french toast sticks when we walked in so we started with circle time and read “Gregory the terrible eater” followed by letting them get to play in the sensory table with the flour and cornstarch. Ella being the only girl stayed relatively clean, the boys on-the-other-hand, were another story. Eli poured some from a measuring cup onto Zane’s head, Ben patted his muffin tray so hard that it poofed up in his face and then Eli leaned over the table and kinda tipped in. This seems to be a new manuver of his that I’ve noticed around the room since I moved the bench away from the wall, he leans over it with is feet up in the air and is doing the same thing on the table but with no intentions of really climbing on top:) After a while we closed up the table and went out the back door to shake ourselves off before we got our coats on to go out side with the waddlers. To our dismay things were pretty slick with frost out back so we quickly changed directions and went out front. Ella followed Maddie wherever she went trying to climb the trees and rings and couldn’t but settled on being pushed in the swing. Ben and Zane got their kicks ramming their trucks into each other while Eli seemed a bit under the weather. Back inside we got washed up to make banana bread which is always very exciting with the pouring and mixing, then we had lunch while the bread was baking and will enjoy it after nap time and a walk in the buggy ride. See ya all next week.
We finished up exploring the story City Dog, Country Frog. Towards the end of the story Country Frog passes away. It is never said, but implied. We asked the kids, "What happened to Country Frog?" Several kids shared their thoughts. Eamon-"He wan away from city dog and country chipmunks came." Lincoln-"He ran high away." Knox-"He ran away to the Lorax." Drew-"To the truffala trees." Isaac- "At the dino doo." Kai-"My house." Zoe-"He flew to my mommy and daddy and my house." Happy Birthday Elsa! Thanks for the cupcakes. It was a very happy and fun Friday. We hope everyonr has a great weekend!
We had a really nice day, and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend See you Monday!
Happy Friday everyone! Let's hope this sunny weather persists through the weekend, wouldn't that be lovely...one can only hope, right? Anyway, Miss Lauren mus have been feelin extra generous this morning because we got sweet and sticky French toast sticks for morning snack, which we chowed down in record speed. We practiced our patience while eagerly awaiting their warming and impressed our teachers with our ever-improving manners. It was pretty cold outside but since the sun was shunning brightly we didn't want to go outside until we absolutely had to.
Inside, Miss Jo and Elsa set up some really fun activities for us to choose from. Daniel and Lincoln chose the colorful wood blocks and demonstrated beautiful teamwork carrying the heavy basket of them from one end of the room to the other, dumping them for everyone to enjoy on the manipulatives table. Maren joined a few friends in the "city park" playing a card and dice counting game, rolling the die and counting out the dots, giggling with glee as she went along. Sadie, Analise, Evan, and later Skye gathered at the art table for park scene collages, each going about the process in their own unique way, but all the while, sharing their ideas and inspiring one another.
Miss Becca took a group of 4 boys (Aran, Niko, Linc, Jaxon) and Elsa for a walk to the pet shop in search of a bigger bowl for our goldfish, Sunday, who seems very happy in his spacious new home. Meanwhile, Tallulah and Sammy crawled up to the couch to listen to Miss Jo and Clara as they read "Albert the Fix-It Man" by Janet Lord. They were trying to be sneaky and every time one of us looked over they'd quickly drop their heads out of sight and all that was left of them were sweet little giggles from behind the couch
In lieu of our traditional morning meeting, Miss Meghan and the 5s class (where Cameron spent the day) came to join us for a very special discussion about charitable giving. They are starting a toy/clothing drive for a local West Seattle non-profit and asked us to take part in their effort. Of course we are thrilled at the opportunity to help out the less-fortunate members of our beloved community. Under the leadership of the 5s class, we will be collecting gently used clothing, towels, footwear, jackets, blankets and towels, along with working toys that our kids and families have outgrown or no longer use. This is angrwat opportunity to clear ou all that stuff that's taking up extra space or are no longer needed, like bottles and extra diapers/pull-ups. We all shared some of the things we could think of that we are interested in donating, Lincoln, anxious to help out, immediately shared that he has an old football shirt that he thinks a little boy would like to wear. Other friends offered up old shoes hat no longer fit and leftover (unused) pull-ups they no longer need. This afternoon we will be joining the 5s class to make posters advertising our toy/clothing drive so be on the look out and please donate whatever you can, anything you can give will be greatly appreciated by those who need them most. Have a great weekend everyone!
We had a super busy, fast-paced day in the Infant room today! In the morning, Grady, Logan & Leah played baby soccer together. They took turns pushing the blue nubby ball around the room! Later, Oliver, Matt, Logan and Grady went for a walk with Ms. Brenda in the big red buggy!! Sorry for the short write up. Please enjoy the pictures!
Eli, Ella, Ben, Kinsey, Zane, Luke
Today I walked into quite the berry mess from morning snack. After they got cleaned up we got right into circle time and I asked if they wanted to do the job jar and Zane and Ben yelled “Yaaaa” and ran to the carpet. Ella was so eager to pick one that she kept scooting closer and closer to me till she was in my lap. Since Zane cleaned the most he went first and ot to pick our circle time book which was “The jacket I wear in the snow.” So to help with encouraging talking I asked them all where each body part was and what article of clothing went there according to the book. Luke was very involved in giving answers. Then Eli got picked to clean snack tables which is very popular. Ben got to pass out the sippy cups, Luke got to pick the song we sung but when I asked him what he wanted to sing he just looked at me so I said “ABC’s or Twinkle Twinkle?” and he said “Twinkle.” Ella got to get up and feed the Newt while Kinsey’s job was to carry the clipboard when we go in and out of the room. Then we sang “Pat Clap” then everyone got up to play. They all seem to like the changes I made to the room so I switched the lentils out of the sensory table and put in flour and cornstarch to go with our kitchen theme in the dramatic play area and added measuring cups, pie tins and muffin trays from our kitchen accessories basket. They loved it! Eli was filling the muffin tins and tried to over me some while Zane went more of the mad scientist route and was pouring back and forth between his scoopers. Ella seemed to like the feel of it on her hands while Ben made it a whole body experience and looked like a ghost when he was done. I decided to put coats on outside to shake them off first before we joined the waddlers and 2′s class out front. Lunch was good, naps were great, see ya all tomorrow.
The good news is none of the 2s actually turned in to vampires. Our blackberries and pancake morning snack made quite the mess and the ruby red juice looked like something out of a poorly made horror film. The little monsters quickly transformed into little artists and scientists. In our science area the magnifying glasses have been a big hit for exploring the plants around our classroom, and as Lincoln put it, "making small stuff bigger." in the afternoon we worked on a few group paintings using tape paper and paint. We let the kiddos cover up some of the paper with the tape and painted all over the top. Once the paint dried we peeled back the tape to reveal our awesome finished work.
Today has been a very good day. Yesterday morning the kids were making some strange choices, there was a lot of fighting and toy throwing. Today we started the day with a great morning meeting. In the meeting we reviewed our classroom rules, discussed how big kids should act and decided to have a better day. It worked, everyone was calm during play time and we all had a very nice morning. After going over how we planned to act we had a great discussion about family. The kids shared great stories about their families. Micah told us that when his baby Logan is bigger they will get a bunk bed. Ellie was really excited to share that when she goes to her grandparents house her and her sister share a bunk bed. She said that her sister sleeps on top because she is the big one. Micah spoke up to remind us that he is the big one and one day he will get the top bunk and Logan will sleep on the bottom. Charlie told us he wants to have a bunk bed to share with Rex. Chloe said she shares her bed with her cats. Duncan said he would love to have a little brother. Solomon said that his old crib now belongs to his baby sister, just like in the story Peter’s Chair. The kids have all made such fun and profound connections to this weeks book, it has been very fun to explore family with all of them.
No write up for today
Today we went right into some scientific studies and teamwork. Miss Meghan and Ms. Laura have both noticed that the 5′s class has become a bit segregated and we want to encourage kids to continue to discover the cool things that each student in the 5′s class has to offer. Today, rather than students picking their own partners, Ms. Laura paired people up to try an disrupt and challenge the clusters. It worked out swimmingly! There were 5 groups of two each. Each team was given a bag of ice and given the task of melting the ice as fast as possible. They used all sorts of methods for getting that ice to melt. There were active methods employed as well as passive. The three fastest teams used the following methods.
Ben and Violet tried rubbing the bag of ice on tables, cement, and bellies. They also tried keeping the bag of ice on a heating vent with their hands over it.
Samara and Beni tried rubbing the bag of ice on their tummies. They then tried placing it near Cookie’s enclosure near the heat lamp.
Sawyer and Addie also used the tummy rubbing method as well as making use of the heating vents. They added a twist to the heating vent idea by placing Sawyer’s hat over the bag of ice that was on the heating vent.
While the other two teams may not have melted their ice as quickly, they too had some good ideas.
Kaden and Levi put their bag of ice near the lamp in the dramatic play area.
Mason and Emma put the bag of ice on top of Mason’s head but under his hat.
The idea of putting hands over the ice, rubbing it on their tummies, as well as taking advantage of the heat coming out of our heads, got us talking about body heat. Pretty clever kids to take advantage of the fact that our bodies are more than 20 degrees hotter than the air in the room,
Next up, again in an effort to stir up the social clustering a bit, Ms. Laura reduced the choices during curriculum time. There was a sorting station set up and Samara was drawn over there, and their was also a word puzzle station set up where Mason and Emma worked for a bit, but the main attraction was the blocks spilled out all over the floor. All the kids were gathered in that area of the room for most of curriculum time – building fantastic towers and small houses and enclosures. It was really cool to see all the kids working together and enjoying each other’s creativity and inspiration.
Before lunch we gathered for another circle time to talk about how we choose friends. We talked about how it was OK to choose who you want to play with based on whether or not you like the game they are playing, but that you would be cutting yourself out of a whole lot of fun if you decided not to play with someone just based on whether or not they are a boy or a girl. There are very few generalizations you can make about ”all boys” or ”all girls.” We all have things in common and we all have things that make us different. Why not be open to the cool discoveries we can make about each other rather than closing doors???
After all that serious talk we read a silly book called “Pigsty” and then another silly book called “Zack’s Alligator.” Later this afternoon we will be making origami boats and seeing if we can make them float. Who knows, if the sun and blue skies hold, we can hopefully check that out outside. If not, we have our new cool sensory table for our floating experiments.
We have begun open registration for summer camp. Spaces are on a first come first serve basis. We are filling up fast so if you are interested in your child attending our school age program this summer please fill out a registration packet that is located on the front desk and return it to the tuition box asap.
P.S. For children currently in our 4′s or 5′s class and graduating to kindergarten, if I do not receive a packet for your child, or we are full by the time I do receive it, you child will stay at the preschool class through August. Thank you!
