Classroom Happenings
Infant I: This week one of our children moved into the neighboring classroom. We miss him already and wish him well! The rest of us have been settling further into our routines, with a couple of the younger children becoming very consistent in their napping schedules. Everyone is working on their own special skills, from eating with a spoon, getting in and out of chairs on their own, learning to crawl or walk, or using new words. A popular activity has been rolling the balls and wooden rings all over the room, followed by chasing after them (of course!). A couple of reminders for families: 1. Please be sure to check the fridge for any food at the end of the day, and take leftovers home. 2. We are trying to get outdoors as much as possible, so please be sure your child has appropriate boots and clothing. Thanks!
Infant II: We continued our color explorations this week, with green on Wednesday, and orange coming up on Friday. We are working on self help skills, especially the following: having the children get their own diapers and wipes ready for changes and putting on socks, hats and coats with little to no help. Along with our new snow gear comes adjustments in our movement, we are growing accustomed to the new thick snow. Another area of interest this week has been in music, this has been child initiated, and we've observed the children picking up the tambourines more and shaking instruments along to music on the iPod. The kids are singing to themselves and their peers, and dancing along too, the kids really like to boogie. We also welcomed B. to the class this week too!
Toddler Room: We've been concentrating on self help skills with the kids, focusing mainly on getting dressed to play in the snow and cold. Zippers are an area we are working on, in addition to choosing the appropriate gear. The children have a real sense of satisfaction when they work through tricky clothing items, and are proud of their independence: "I did it! I did it!" is becoming a frequent exclamation in our room. We have also been hard at work getting our lanterns ready for next week's big parade. Using glue has been a highlight for the class.
Preschool I: Although hockey continues to delight us, we moved into conversations, stories and songs that really centered on all things winter. The snow came in and stayed, and we changed course a bit to accommodate Mother Nature. All of our circle books had a winter theme, from non-fiction books about winter changes, to fictional tales about a blizzard, polar bears, and our class favorite: All You Need for a Snowman, by Alice Schertle. This book incorporated a lot of rhyme into collecting all of the materials needed to make a snowman. We also got really into using the sleds, the saucer style and pull type. Many of the children remembered how we linked all the sleds together last winter, and asked to "make trains" again. A lot of teamwork and determination came through as they pulled one another, and worked their way up the icy back hill for another go. Walks this week incorporated sledding too. As a group, we are working hard to focus on tasks like getting dressed, in a timely fashion. We are all really capable, and need to sometimes work through distractions to get down to business so we can get outside.
Preschool II: Lots of lantern-making this week! Going to last week's parade was a great way for the children to grab hold of some new ideas in their lantern construction. Much of the work on these lanterns has involved multiple steps over many days. This week we worked on building wooden frames first before wrapping them in a variety of fabrics which let the light shine through. On Wednesday we made fresh squeezed orange juice with our juice press. And we have also been having some ongoing discussions about the upcoming holiday season:
ASTP: Santa Claus has a pretty dress.
EK: When I was not listening, Santa will give me coal in my stocking. I'm going to be a god listener now.
SM: Mama said Santa was at the swimming pool.
MT: Maybe I'm going to be on the nice list then I'm going to get presents.
BSTP: We sat on Santa's lap and took pictures.
AP: I'm going to have a toy garbage truck and a road rug.
CG: We're going to light up a candle when it's Hanukkah.
JGK: I'm going to have an excavator dump truck, and a bulldozer.
MC: I'm going to race cars, and trucks and a police man. I'm going to light up a candle like CG.
CK: Santa is going to bring us presents. When it's Christmas we win our presents.
Pre-K: It is winter! Well, at least weather wise. We are hard at work building and rebuilding our self help skills. Please let your child practice these important skills at home as well. Here at MVS children are in charge of nearly every aspect of getting themselves ready for the great outdoors. With close supervision to be sure they are bundled up appropriately, a ton of encouragement and very little hands on help, they are able to do these tasks themselves. We talk them through all of the "I can't" and the occasional tears until soon...they are flying through the process on their own! The more practice, the more independent they'll be. Leave some extra time before excursions to talk your child through the steps off getting themselves dressed whenever possible. The rewards are great. In other news, we built a pirate ship and have been reading silly books and poems about pirates. Fair warning...Pirates DID carry guns and swords. We do not carry them in our pretend pirate ship and though Jen has been very clear that we will NEVER have guns, the children have made some solid arguments for making swords. We continue to discuss.
Meanwhile, we are hard at work learning about the letter A (upper & lower case), how it looks, how it can be written and what sounds it makes. We talked about feelings that begin with A like angry and aggravated and foods that begin with A as well. Apples were the overwhelming favorite, so we had them for snack. Next week we will add the letter B while we continue to review A. We are also crafting our lanterns for the Solstice Stroll.
As Seen at MVS
Thanks for Reading
-Sam
Infant I: This week one of our children moved into the neighboring classroom. We miss him already and wish him well! The rest of us have been settling further into our routines, with a couple of the younger children becoming very consistent in their napping schedules. Everyone is working on their own special skills, from eating with a spoon, getting in and out of chairs on their own, learning to crawl or walk, or using new words. A popular activity has been rolling the balls and wooden rings all over the room, followed by chasing after them (of course!). A couple of reminders for families: 1. Please be sure to check the fridge for any food at the end of the day, and take leftovers home. 2. We are trying to get outdoors as much as possible, so please be sure your child has appropriate boots and clothing. Thanks!
Infant II: We continued our color explorations this week, with green on Wednesday, and orange coming up on Friday. We are working on self help skills, especially the following: having the children get their own diapers and wipes ready for changes and putting on socks, hats and coats with little to no help. Along with our new snow gear comes adjustments in our movement, we are growing accustomed to the new thick snow. Another area of interest this week has been in music, this has been child initiated, and we've observed the children picking up the tambourines more and shaking instruments along to music on the iPod. The kids are singing to themselves and their peers, and dancing along too, the kids really like to boogie. We also welcomed B. to the class this week too!
Toddler Room: We've been concentrating on self help skills with the kids, focusing mainly on getting dressed to play in the snow and cold. Zippers are an area we are working on, in addition to choosing the appropriate gear. The children have a real sense of satisfaction when they work through tricky clothing items, and are proud of their independence: "I did it! I did it!" is becoming a frequent exclamation in our room. We have also been hard at work getting our lanterns ready for next week's big parade. Using glue has been a highlight for the class.
Preschool I: Although hockey continues to delight us, we moved into conversations, stories and songs that really centered on all things winter. The snow came in and stayed, and we changed course a bit to accommodate Mother Nature. All of our circle books had a winter theme, from non-fiction books about winter changes, to fictional tales about a blizzard, polar bears, and our class favorite: All You Need for a Snowman, by Alice Schertle. This book incorporated a lot of rhyme into collecting all of the materials needed to make a snowman. We also got really into using the sleds, the saucer style and pull type. Many of the children remembered how we linked all the sleds together last winter, and asked to "make trains" again. A lot of teamwork and determination came through as they pulled one another, and worked their way up the icy back hill for another go. Walks this week incorporated sledding too. As a group, we are working hard to focus on tasks like getting dressed, in a timely fashion. We are all really capable, and need to sometimes work through distractions to get down to business so we can get outside.
Preschool II: Lots of lantern-making this week! Going to last week's parade was a great way for the children to grab hold of some new ideas in their lantern construction. Much of the work on these lanterns has involved multiple steps over many days. This week we worked on building wooden frames first before wrapping them in a variety of fabrics which let the light shine through. On Wednesday we made fresh squeezed orange juice with our juice press. And we have also been having some ongoing discussions about the upcoming holiday season:
ASTP: Santa Claus has a pretty dress.
EK: When I was not listening, Santa will give me coal in my stocking. I'm going to be a god listener now.
SM: Mama said Santa was at the swimming pool.
MT: Maybe I'm going to be on the nice list then I'm going to get presents.
BSTP: We sat on Santa's lap and took pictures.
AP: I'm going to have a toy garbage truck and a road rug.
CG: We're going to light up a candle when it's Hanukkah.
JGK: I'm going to have an excavator dump truck, and a bulldozer.
MC: I'm going to race cars, and trucks and a police man. I'm going to light up a candle like CG.
CK: Santa is going to bring us presents. When it's Christmas we win our presents.
Pre-K: It is winter! Well, at least weather wise. We are hard at work building and rebuilding our self help skills. Please let your child practice these important skills at home as well. Here at MVS children are in charge of nearly every aspect of getting themselves ready for the great outdoors. With close supervision to be sure they are bundled up appropriately, a ton of encouragement and very little hands on help, they are able to do these tasks themselves. We talk them through all of the "I can't" and the occasional tears until soon...they are flying through the process on their own! The more practice, the more independent they'll be. Leave some extra time before excursions to talk your child through the steps off getting themselves dressed whenever possible. The rewards are great. In other news, we built a pirate ship and have been reading silly books and poems about pirates. Fair warning...Pirates DID carry guns and swords. We do not carry them in our pretend pirate ship and though Jen has been very clear that we will NEVER have guns, the children have made some solid arguments for making swords. We continue to discuss.
Meanwhile, we are hard at work learning about the letter A (upper & lower case), how it looks, how it can be written and what sounds it makes. We talked about feelings that begin with A like angry and aggravated and foods that begin with A as well. Apples were the overwhelming favorite, so we had them for snack. Next week we will add the letter B while we continue to review A. We are also crafting our lanterns for the Solstice Stroll.
As Seen at MVS
Thanks for Reading
-Sam
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