School Bus

News and Reminders: We are closed on August 10th and 11th for in-service.

Our School Bus!

Have you seen our school bus yet? You really can't miss it. We have finally started using it at school. We brought it on it's very first field trip to the Enchanted Playground at the Mountain and then to Cotton Brook. To say the children were excited would be an understatement. 

We started our field trips with just a small crew of some of the older children. We will start including more children as we (the teachers) get more and more comfortable with traveling and locations. We also are having a lot of conversations with the children about having good behavior in order to go on field trips. We want to make sure that when we head off campus the children know what is expected. Listening, following directions, being polite, regulating our bodies, and positively interacting with one another are all skills that the children are working hard to master. 

Classroom Updates

Infant I
This week our room has been full of sounds! Several children discovered the joys of banging metal bowls together and pushing them off of high shelves. We have also witnessed lively meal time conversations between the children, lots of "bababa" and "blblblbl" with many "mmmmms" thrown in the mix. We teachers have no idea what they are talking about but I am sure they'll tell us in time. Even our youngest infants have been vocalizing a lot, especially in the early morning. What fun to have everyone join in the conversation.

Infant II

Our children were thrilled to discover sand in our sensory table this week. For the first few days, we explored the feel and movement of dry sand. They discovered it was easy to drop and move around. When we wet the sand they had to work harder to pick it up and move it. Mixing water into the dry sand was definitely exciting for all of us. Outside we quickly sought out a small mud spot under one of the trees. We enjoyed feeling the cold squishy mud on our feet and hands. We focused on shapes and colors this week and became more familiar with them. We used shape puzzles, sorters, and picked out some specific books that focused on colors and shapes. 

Toddlers
We had a calm peaceful week. Our main focus this week has been on independence and self-help skills. We are working hard to pull up our pants, wearing underwear, and recognizing when it's time to use the toilet. We have enjoyed both our rainy and sunny days. We have been working with blocks this week, counting, sorting, stacking, and building. We have also been singing many songs with rhymes and repeating choruses. We used bingo dotters this week, which were a favorite among many children. We worked hard on our fine motor skills to twist open the caps all by ourselves! On Friday several of our classmates went upstairs to the preschool classroom to visit. They will be transitioning up next week. While they are all ready for more challenges, it is always hard to say goodbye.

Preschool I
Team Shannon has been working hard to extend our learning on rainy days. Monday and Tuesday during circle we read the book "Listen to the Rain" and used a new instrument, a rain stick. The children carefully took turns tipping the rain stick and listening to the pitter patter of the rain inside. Wednesday we read "Sheep on a Hike" to prep the children for a hike to Campfire Forest. They were delighted when preschool II joined them to play there. Another highlight of the week was a collaborative painting project, the children did really well communicating about sharing paint, brushes, and space on the canvas.

Preschool II
This week we had a great group effort to make a class project, creating new art from our recycled paper bag art by cutting, sorting, and gluing the old art onto a banner. We also followed through with several student driven activities, including songs led by each student with drums, water slides, berry picking, and reading books outside. We have continued our theme of kind words with "excuse me" and "may I please". Several children have been very keen on using their kind words and finding ways to receive a thank you. Our school motto is strong in our classroom: "I will be kind and gentle to everyone and everything."


PreK
The highlight in prek this week was, of course, the school bus! Older children were able to take two trips this week on the bus. First we traveled up to the Enchanted Forest Playground at the Mountain. We were also able to ride the Over Easy which was fun and very different from our winter trips. Our second bus ride was to Cottton Brook. We braved the Japanese Knotweed forests there to find a great spot near the river where we play, gathered and sorted rocks which we then used to make sculptures and tried to skip them across the river. On Wednesday the children that did not go on the field trips were able to go to the library for a special presentation of "The Elves and the The Shoemaker", a story we have been reading in the classroom all week. We are also working hard at listening to peers and teachers, responding appropriately, and following directions. Once we build these skills younger children will be ready for the bus excursions as well!