October 3, 2019

The children enjoy listening and singing the ABCs and listening to the book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.; therefore, for Halloween, we will be representing the book. I will email all parents with more details on how you can create your child costume.

Reminder: If you are interested in going to our Pumpkin Picking Trip you can still sign up to come. Go to: https://permission.click/GLMD0/us

Highlights of the Week:

We celebrated Annabelle's birthday with her mom, Carlie, and father, Javad. She is two-years-old! We all sang "Happy Birthday" to Annabelle, and she blew the candles together with mom. Then Annabelle and her peers enjoyed eating the special treat, cake!! !!

Carlie read a book to the children, Pat the Bunny, a touch-and-feel book.

Collaborative Watercolor Painting
Painting is a way for children to explore colors. Each child examined the materials differently. Some pressed the paintbrush onto the paper and noticed how the paint spread, whereas, others maneuvered their paintbrush lightly onto the paper. Watercolor techniques are the methods children use to bring shape and form to their painting while at the same time, allowing them to express their creativity. During each movement, they appeared puzzled and interested in how their actions changed the painting. The flowing and dramatic movement of the watercolors spread throughout the paper, promoting the light and dark shades to combine. By gaining knowledge and developing the use of these techniques will allow them to explore and discover art as they continue to engage in different art process!

As the watercolor mixed and spread, the children created a beautiful work of art.

Paint

They all participated in making this fun and different paint, Puffy Paint (Glue, Shaving Cream, and Watercolor). As the teacher mixed all the ingredients, the children appeared curious and excited to engage in painting. They used paint brushes and their hands to explore. Teagan's back and forth motion with her hands covered one side of the poster board. Ophelia, Annabelle, and Alexandra used a paintbrush and noticed that with every stroke to paint raised higher.

Painting on an upside-down table wrapped in plastic prompted curiosity and interests as children approached the activity and began to paint lines, dots, or circles. It is essential to allow children to explore painting on different surfaces. It stimulates their thinking process as they explore and discover different ways to delve into an art activity.

Sensory

The children engaged at the water table and manipulated, and explored with cups and sponges. Cups are an excellent tool to use as an introduction to what "full" and "empty" and "light" and "heavy" means. They looked curious as they felt the sponge. "Wet," Teagan and Annabelle said. They observed as the teacher squeezed and released some water from the sponge. They mirrored the action and discovered that they, too, were able to squeeze the sponge.

Manipulative Toys

Grabbing, pinching, and poking at these small items are great for fine motor development. The children pulled the pom poms out of the containers and put them in, over and over. Ophelia selected the small pink pom poms. The teacher articulated, "Let count how many pom poms you have in the container."

As our young toddlers explore these innovative blocks (Sticky Blocks), they build and connect different geometric shapes. We noticed how some of the children joined two triangles, changing its shape into a square. Ophelia connected some blocks and articulated, "My house!" Annabelle expressed, "Circles!" and Teagan joined two small rectangle shapes, which created a square. As they maneuver each piece, they are forming an image in their mind and create their structure.

It is crucial always to create different ways to learn about colors and shapes. Therefore, we recycled a box, painted different colors around the edges of the circle and created, Pom Pom Drop! The objective is to insert the pom pom that corresponds to the color on the box. The box will be displayed on one of the classroom walls, so the children can independently engage.

Doll play is part of dramatic play. Dolls are an open-ended learning material; they can be played with again and again in many different ways. Ophelia sometimes expresses feeding the baby, milk. Baby dolls can teach children about themselves and the world around them. Children typically begin to act as if their doll can see and interact with them. They may link several actions with the baby in sequence, such as feeding the doll, bathing the doll, and then putting the doll to bed. This pretend play is a hugely important part of their cognitive development.

Alexandra: “Baby sleeping!”

Ophelia: “Sandra, baby sleeping!”

Movement

Part of our curriculum is to provide music. Music and movement contribute to children’s overall development. Listening to and making music helps their developing brain. Music calms their body during naptime and during a transition time. It creates a current that enables them to transcend their minds to a happy place. Each experience should be fun and meaningful for them.

The children were listening and dancing to, Buenos Dias (Spanish Song).

Physical play improves strength, endurance, balance, and body coordination when children play. In the gym, children run, jump, roll, and throw a ball. They are building muscles. Large muscles like the arms, and legs get stronger and work better as children run, and climb. The fine motor skills are an integral part of physical development.

Writing with a small pencil is a fine motor strengthening power tool. When kids use a small pencil to write, they are building the strength in their hands, allowing for increased endurance in writing and coloring tasks. The positioning of the hand on the pencil promotes a tripod grasp and encourages the motor planning needed for written work. The children seem to enjoy exploring the writing tool as they maneuver and create distinctive lines on their paper.

Cooking with Diane

Diane is one of our Specialist that will be introducing the children to different types of food. On many occasions, the children will help her mix, stir, and pour items in a bowl. Today she brought in two different color apples, red and green. She cut the apples with a unique tool and served them will honey. Many of the children ate the tasty apples without dipping them in honey. She articulated and demonstrated the core and seeds of the apples.

Mr. Andrew, our music Specialist