Although, it was another short week, it was certainly exciting. We had our apple and pumpkin picking outings, we cooked delicious food, we learned so much about our bodies, we have been creating art, and we have played together.
For literacy this week we read: Rosie's Walk, Pete the Cat's 5 Little Pumpkins, 10 Apples Up on Top, Spiffiest Giant in Town, and Good Boy Fergus. A beautiful and unexpected thing happened with Spiffiest Giant in Town because it wasn't in the curriculum. Sloane chose it while coming back from the potty and the class loved it so much they wanted me to read it over and over. Cole and Alisha especially liked the story where the giant buys new clothes for himself but then ends up sharing them with the animals in need, leaving him with nothing left but his old clothes, a big heart, and new friends.
This week we made applesauce with Diane and guacamole in the class with Debbie and Hillary. Alfie was so excited to wear the chef hat. Jude loved helping the class mash the avocado and Devin loved eating the guacamole with chips, while Grady preferred just the chips.
In Spanish, we sang songs about fast and slow with our hands and feet and this week during morning meetings, we brought out Mr. Skeleton to help us learn about the body and we sang head shoulders knees and toes. George and Oliver loved giving high 5's to our skeleton. Also, everyone in morning meeting enjoys seeing and counting who's here, singing the attendance song, and most importantly getting up to dance during our turn!
In art this week we worked on our self potraits, pumpkin portraits, created a fall collage and made clay pumpkin sculptures. Lauren put so much focus into her self portrait, while Romeo put so much focus into his clay pumpkin. Devi enjoyed coloring her reflection on the mirror. How amazing it is to see everyone involved in different art projects.
Apples and pumpkins my, oh my. Everything lately has been about apples and pumpkins in 2B. Not only is it the season, but its about learning. Our literacy, cooking, science, movement and excursions have included apples and pumpkins. We are counting, identifying colors and sizes, smelling and tasting, and making art centered around apples and pumpkins. But why? Well, using themes helps our brains make connections and learn more quickly and efficiently. In addition, using a theme creates focus and provides structure to ask questions and get creative. In the fall season, apples and pumpkins are EVERYWHERE! We can remember what we learn in school more efficiently if a theme is found in other environments, too. Perfect!
For more info and ideas about themes, check this out: https://fun-a-day.com/theme-units-for-early-childhood/
This week, we were able to make choices, explore, and create around our theme. Big or small, white or orange, stir and mash, taste and smell, seeing the other class at the neighborhood market or seeing the other BMS kids at the apple picking farm are perfect ways to connect and create self-confidence making learning fun!
This week we accomplished so much! We have been practicing turn taking, following directions, saying please, thank you, and "shhhh!", facial recognition and names, working with specialists (soccer, music, Spanish, & cooking), literacy (including Dragons Love Tacos, Going on a Bear Hunt, Ten Apples Up on Top and group games, science (properties of glue in our art project), movement ( scarves dance, soccer, yoga, gross and fine motor coordination).
We are also working on learning cues, mirroring, and helping each other. Today, Oliver asked Hillary how to make a snake with the clay. George was able to make his own snake, so Hillary told Oliver to ask George for help. After a couple tries, George showed Oliver what to do! "It's a small snake!" said George. "Oh no!!! It split it's broken!" said Oliver. Later, when Oliver was rolling around on the floor some friends joined him in the fun. Hillary saw this free play and turned the focus into an opportunity to do yoga together. We did downward dog, happy baby, butterfly, strong plank, tree, and big sun. It was so fun and everyone liked to call out what Hillary should do with them next.
This week, we are finding group cohesion and becoming more confident, socially and independently. Our focus is becoming stronger and our transitions are getting easier.
The video and photos below are a good representation of where we are in our development. Each of us this week has been engaged. Self-soothing play, individual fascination in a toy or art activity, talking to a teacher, parallel play, group songs, morning meeting, story time, snack and lunch time, and time with specialists have presented opportunities for us to express ourselves - creatively, emotionally, and cognitively. For example, we have our construction worker - or "digger" - as Grady says, police officer, firefighter, and ballerinas engaging differently in the same activity of dancing with scarves (see the video below). Our curriculum for the months of September and October have been focused on Self-Identity and Celebrating our Uniqueness. We may move differently, paint differently, separate from our guardian or follow instructions differently, but that is what makes us beautiful. As the days and weeks move on, we will grow both individually and together as a group and we already know each others names now, so that will help too!
Wow, what a fun week!
This week we drew our first self portraits, took our first ride outside in the strollers, created two paintings to auction off for our Hurricane Relief Fundraiser, enjoyed the Pre-K Bake Sale for the fundraiser, and had fun with some fellow schoolmates and families at the Back to School Picnic. Even today, we had a bunny visit our classroom and a baby visit our classroom!
Taking a deeper look, we are still practicing transitions and separation, learning each other's names, and taking turns. Our parents are spending less and less time with us and we are spending more time playing alone and with our teachers and each other. Clapping and singing songs while lining up has been helpful in getting us organized from the classroom to the gym. We put our photos in our slots on the attendance poster to learn names and faces during morning meeting. This week, Oliver said, "He is my friend!" "Who is your friend, Oliver?" "Devin!," he said with a big smile. "Devin are you friends with Oliver?" He nodded his head with a quiet "yes" and a big smile, too. As a team, we are cleaning up together, building blocks and putting together puzzles, and helping our teachers with tasks. Devi likes to help clean up, especially washing the tables. Cole was a team player when he helped Debbie pass out the cookies and lemonade at the Bake Sale yesterday. Today, Lauren, Sloane, Alisha, and Jude took turns trying on and playing in the pink and green skirt. Romeo shared a car with Alfie when Alfie was feeling sad, and George and Grady played together in the water table. Everyone has loved saying the phrases, "No," "No way, Jose!," "See you later," and "I want .... " along with naming colors, counting, and singing "5 Speckled Frogs" and "Two Little Blackbirds." The next weeks will get easier and easier as we continue to find a groove and become more comfortable at school and with each other.
As our short second week comes to a close, we have been practicing our transitions and building new routines. Many of us are still struggling with separation from our parents, and each of us will take the time we need with our grown up until we get the hang of things. In building new routines, we started going to the gym this week! We had so much fun playing there. Eventually, we will transition again to the upstairs gym when we are ready. Also, one of our specialists, Diane, came in this week for cooking. We learned about apples and pears, seeds and stems, and different colors and flavors. In the future, we will have more fun specialists join us with new and interesting activities. Things in our world and environment are changing, just as we are changing, we now even have boxes in our classroom now for fun with our new friends! Let's see if we find a rhythm of fun in the upcoming weeks!
As mentioned yesterday, we have been so busy this first week! Our school-wide focus is about identity and at our age we are working on fine motor skills - in addition to all of the beginning of the school year hurdles! Our morning time and group activities have incorporated art projects and activities with play dough, markers, chalk, paintbrushes, tweezers, and musical instruments. These tools help us focus on our hand-eye coordination as well as putting our ideas into action, whether in play, paper, or sound.
In the video below, you can also see that we our working on identifying our body parts, as well as directions. What a fun coordination and identity activity!
Look how we are holding our crayons and staying so focused!
This week our focus has been on identity, mirroring, and our parents coming and going. We are learning names and faces, we are learning times and schedules, and we are learning about the likes and dislikes of ourselves and others.
We recognized friends from last year, and the parents of our friends. Lauren found her brother through the kitchen window and realized she isn't alone. Jude loves to say hello to Romeo's dad. We have found our belly buttons every time Debbie reads Pete the Cat's Four Groovy Buttons. We also named our class pet, Blue Olly, the fish and drew a portrait of him and painted portraits of people for a morning activity.
This week there has been a lot of observing and following in our class. We are looking at Debbie, Hillary, our parents, and friends for ideas, rules, emotions and behaviors. We see our classmates sit down to eat and we know that its time for snack. Oliver saw Devin put on a firefighter hat, so he put on a police hat, then Alisha and Grady put on hats too. Devin S. saw Debbie and Jude cleaning and wanted to be a helper, too. Cole loves to watch his friends do fun activities like drawing on the easel and playing with play dough before trying them out himself. Romeo never forgets to say no to Debbie and Hillary when he wants to do something all by himself!
In the beginning of the week, it was hard to understand why our parents and caretakers left, but now we are starting to get the hang of it. "My mommy comes after lunch." says Oliver. Whenever Sloane asks for mommy, Hillary says, "When does your mommy come, Sloane?" and Sloane says, "After nap!" Devin always asks, "Where is Ellie?" (his elephant lovey) and "Where is Susie?" and goes to look for both of them, searching all over. George felt so angry when his mommy left, so his friends Romeo, Oliver, and Grady tried to help him feel better by waiting with him for their mommies too.
We still have much to learn about rules, schedules, coming and going, and about ourselves and others. Next week will be amazing for sure!
Painting our little people.
We play alone in the same space...
...And together
