Exciting news to share this week! Sarah's twin boys were born on Saturday morning. Their names are Teddy and Whitley, and everyone is healthy and doing well. Many congratulations to Sarah and Nick!
Classroom Updates
Infant I
We had a great week! Our small group play has really blossomed as children keep a very close eye on what others are doing and try to join in as much as possible. A highlight was playing chase through the red tunnel in the Infant II room. High fives (also known as "a-ba") have also become very popular this week between children and teachers alike. Finally, our younger children have settled into nap routines that allow for more time at play, both inside and out, as well as adequate rest.
Infant II
We spent lots of time this week focusing on our classroom rules and daily routines. Consistency is very important for our children. They also participated in many sensory activities this week. A few include squishing paint in bags, painting with water using sponges and brushes, and bubble sponge play. A reminder to parents: please make sure to help your children put their inside shoes on and wash their hands in the morning before playing.
Toddlers
We had a great week in our classroom. We have been interested in creating art this week; first painting with brushes and our hands (letting it dry), then using vibrant circle dotters over the first layer of paint. We also worked with chalk sticks and chalk eggs both at the easel and outside at the picnic table with a large banner. Circle time is going very well. The children really enjoy "the good morning song" and reading special books outside. This is a wonderful new routine and the children really look forward to it.
Preschool I
The "big idea" of this week was exploring colors! There is so much to discover about color that we will continue these investigations into next week as well. While the banner did not survive the painting process, the children that wanted to participate were delighted to mix red and yellow into orange! To help us keep our colors straight, we spent all week reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" By the end of the week, most of the children could remember what color and what animal would be seen next! We have also noticed a lot of dramatic play with feeding, changing, and rocking baby dolls to sleep. This branched in an exciting direction when Shannon E set up the sensory table as a "bathtub" so that the children could give their babies "baths." The interest in the "ice cream store" script has also continued throughout this week, typically during outdoor play. The children take turns taking orders and serving each other ice cream through the "window" of the "store." So far the most popular order has been chocolate ice cream with sprinkles!
Preschool II
This week in Preschool II we continued our effort to give back to nature. We returned more sticks, rocks, bark, and leaves that had been collected, used, and forgotten. We brought them to the back play area where they were used to decorate a rock on a stump. Many of our friends helped to create something new out of old art projects and those rocks that ended up in pockets, baskets, and cubbies. If more of nature has collected at home then you know what to do with, we have a bucket in our cubby area so that it could also be returned to nature. Now that there is more space in our cubby baskets, keep an eye out for our new weekly journals. These will include notes and weekly updates for each student and are there as a means to open a dialog between each family. Please feel free to write questions, comments, or updates from home that you would like to share.
PreK
We have been keenly observing our window spiders this week, which led to reading books about spiders and talking about the difference between fiction and non fiction. There was lots of discussion about the dead bird that we saw outside. We talked about how it might have died and read The Dead Bird by Margret Wise Brown. Finally, we talked a lot about graduation and changes in our classroom. Thank you for joining us at the ceremony on Friday! A few photos are below.
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