Friday 12/1/17

Today we had so much fun! We were playing hide and seek, exploring our pine tree in our sensory table, and since it was a sunny day we even had time to go outside for a walk.

In the morning, Silas mom Daniela came over and helped make a hand print that was needed for the classroom. Silas eyes were wide and filled with excitement. He couldn't believe mom had paint on her hands. In his classroom! It was such a beautiful moment.

On our walk today we had a buggy with four seats, however we had 5 children. What to do? We had Scarlett walk a little bit since she showed interest in doing so. She had such a huge smile. Once she got tired, we switched Scarlett for Silas. He was also excited about it. They did such a great job holding hands and walking really nicely with the teacher.

 

 

Thursday 11/30/17

We are back in action after the Thanksgiving break! This week we went to the park, and since the weather has been beautiful, we ventured out of our buggy rides and roamed a little bit by the grassy area. On our way back to school, something wonderful happened when we decided to stop by the Christmas tree post. As we were looking at the trees and touching them, the vendor said we could take the branches of the pine trees for FREE!!! So exciting! We got to use some of the branches today to paint with. 

This week we have also been listening to different kinds of music. On Monday we listened to Bollywood from India. Laura listens to it when celebrating a wedding, or at different family functions. We saw a couple of kids swaying back and forth to the music. We were all surprised when Isabelle got really into it. She would shake her hips, move her shoulders, and clap her hands. Today we listened to music from Israel. We captured Barak and he was turning around and holding the radio, with a huge smile on his face. Such beautiful moments! Here are the pictures of today. 

Friday 11/17/17

We are now officially starting our unit on family. I tried uploading a video today however we had technical difficulties, and I will try again next week. Today we worked on our self-portraits, and some of these pictures are of what we captured.

Thursday 11/9/17

This week the children are still exploring with the big boxes in our room. Now we are seeing a more intentional collaborative play. They'll go into their box, and each time their idea of play may differ from the next time depending on who is inside. Because they are using the boxes in different ways, we are supporting them by providing tools that may bring more thought to what they are playing with. This creates a more unified classroom, helps every child build a bond with each other, and gives them an opportunity to learn more about what they themselves are capable of.

Friday 11/3/17

Yesterday the children painted with short chubby brushes that are made easier for them to hold. We put sticky tape over a blank paper with initial first name, had them paint all over however they wished, and removed the sticky tape after. The children were really engaged and were able to stay on task for 20 minutes. Today, we let the children have a more free will approach to our centers. We let them take out what they wanted to play with, instead of having toys out that may lead to an activity. The big box was left open for the children to use as they saw fit. They truly love our box! It has become the go-to center. 

Thursday 11/2/17

This week was packed with activities! On Monday we continued to paint our "yellow bus". It is almost done. The children are already using it for their beautiful adventures. We also had some of the children do their hand-prints on the small canvas. On Tuesday, we trick-or-treated around the neighborhood for our Halloween celebration. We got to collect candy from the firehouse, got balloons from the toy saloon store (which coincidentally matched our yellow bus attire), and continued to get more candy from the Law School and Elite's Gym. Thank you all for contributing to our Halloween snacks/goodies. They were all delicious! Yesterday, we decided to unwind a bit with play-doh for our center/activity time. We even added classical music in the background for some inspiration.