December 21, 2018

Each day children are growing, learning and shaping their personality.  As they engage with their peers, they learn to work together, understand each other, and respect their space.   They are learning to use their words, and each child is unique and creative. This classroom is a community of diverse learners and embracing their abilities is essential.  I am happy to be part of their growth and development.  

Songs we sang:

Good Morning Song-

• Hello, how are you?

• Good morning to you Leela, 3x, How are you today?

• Leela is here today, Leela is here today, everybody shout, Hooray! Leela is here today! (These are some of the good morning songs)

• The Muffin Man

• ABC

• Five Little Ducks

• Five Little Speckled Frogs

• Five Little Monkeys

You are my Sunshine

Mr. Sun (favorite)

What’s the weather?

There are 7 days in a week

Jump in the water in the………. (one of their favorites)

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (and many more)

The Wheels on the Bus

Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

If your Happy and You Know it Clap your Hands

Bubble Gum

The children are becoming more creative and verbal as they interact, build and connect with the different materials.

Happy Holiday!

Happy New Year!

Easel Painting has become very popular!  Children are articulating the color they want to paint with and creating different brushstrokes. Some selected the color they explored before, and others chose a different color. Leo lightly touched his forehead and nose with the paintbrush.  He seemed to enjoy the texture and warm the paint projected!   

Shake It Up! Splatter Painting

The children enjoyed this activity with black construction paper and light colors to enhance their painting. Painting is a way for children to explore colors. With Splatter Painting, we can experiment with different color combinations and make it a great color mixing activity. We used black construction paper, small marbles, and different colors. We placed everything in a box, and the children squeezed drops of the selected colors. The children were shaking and moving the box. They seem to enjoy the noise the dried marbles made. As the paint splattered on the paper, the marbles simultaneously formed distinctive, thick and thin lines. During each movement, some of the children peeked inside the box. They appeared curious and interested in how their actions changed their paintings. Different movements created different paintings. Each child has their unique style!

Exploring and painting plastic wrap.

When we introduced this painting activity to the children, they looked curious and intrigued; therefore, we deiced to repeat the activity.  

Leo: “Look, Sandra, I’m making circles!”

Leo: “I making eyebrows for the spider!”

As Nathaniel makes circular movements, he said, "I making a circle!"

Parents and relatives are always welcome to read to the children. 

We had a special visitor, Leo’s grandmother, Rosalie!

We welcome parents who are interested in enrolling their children at Buckle My Shoe into the classroom.  The parents and their children joined us in the gym and then during circle time.  We sang our Good Morning and several of the children's favorite songs.  It was fun and interactive!!

Each child at the Lego table was connecting and building a structure.  They focused and rotated each block to fit their structure! 

Leo: “A sailboat!”

Blocks are versatile, and children can build and create as they maneuver them. As Nathaniel was constructing, the teacher asked, “Nathaniel, I like the way you placed each block. What are you building?” He immediately indicates, “And people!” He smiled and continued as he maneuvered each people prop.

Observation is an essential method when a student appears focused as he/she engages with the materials. Each block or each construction is important to them as they build.

Nathaniel has been exploring and constructing with the Hallow Blocks during this week.

Spanish

Cooking with Diane: Mixing Chex cereals (corn and rice), cinnamon, and raisins. The children mixed the ingredients and enjoyed eating the Chex Mix!

Karate

Music

Yoga

Leo, shared snack with his peers, grapes and cookies!

We celebrated Leela's 2nd birthday with her mom.  We all enjoyed singing, "Happy Birthday" to Leela, had a special snack, and her mother read a story to the children.  She seemed to enjoy having her mother in the classroom and sharing this special day with the children and teachers.

Snow Theme Shaving Cream Exploration

Shaving cream is great for sensory exploration and provides endless opportunities for children to play and discover. Sensory play promotes many experiences:

-Sensory play encourages children to manipulate and mold materials, building up their fine motor skills and coordination.

-Sensory play uses all 5 senses, but the sense of touch is often the most frequent.  Toddlers process information through their senses; therefore, they learn as they explore.

-Is unstructured, open-ended

-Encourages imagination and creative play

-Develop social skills (taking turns and sharing)

-Language development (experimenting with language and descriptive words )

We are implementing different ways to demonstrate color, shape and counting in Spanish. It encourages children to see things from a different perspective. Showing and articulating the various objects on the laminated cards and revealing the object again by removable cards, promote curiosity and interest.