JANUARY 24, 2020

Counting/Color Recognition/Tall and Short

Ophelia's seemed excited to throw the color block up in the air!  All the children appeared eager to see what color Lego's they were going to count.   "Yellow!"  they all yelled!   We counted five Legos together!  The teacher took the five blocks and separated them into two stacks.  Then we compared which stack is short and tall. 

Teacher: “Which stack is tall?”

Annabelle immediately pointed to the tall one.

Painting/Independence/Fine and Gross Motor/creativity

As they paint, they are maneuvering their hand, as well as manipulating the paintbrush.  Each movement helps the children develop their fine and gross motor skills.  Using a mirror creates a more exciting way of painting as they look at their reflection, developing self-recognition. Exploring and experimenting with different kinds of art activities elicit children’s imagination.  Art fosters creativity, curiosity, and stimulates their thinking process as they explore and discover different ways to engage in an art activity.

Painting on different surfaces and using various tools, allows children to explore and discover different sensory stimulation.  Emily used her hands to explore the orange color. She appeared curious and amazed as she rubbed her fingertips together and patted the paint.   I wonder what Emily thinks as she explores the texture of the paint! She seemed comfortable as she continued examining and engaging in the activity.  Then she articulated, "Wash hands!" 

Shapes/TACTILE Skills/Color/Creativity/Fine Motor skills/Patterns

Magna-tiles are versatile learning manipulative that are designed to develop and strengthen motor skills, including pincer grip, which is so crucial to fine motor development control.   These magnetic building tiles are innovative and colorful.  Children will develop spatial and tactile skills and learn basic shapes. They will build and rebuild different structures.  They foster imaginative play and creativity.  The unique pieces engage children in in-depth investigations.  

Teagan created and maintained a pattern of three horizontal squares and four vertical squares. She made another layer using the same shapes. As she searched for another square, the teacher spread all the shapes on the table and articulated to Teagan to observe the triangle shapes. Teagan manipulated the small triangles, and with the teacher's help, two triangles were joined, creating a square. She immediately was looking for all the triangles to make more squares.

Teagan: “Rocketship! 3, 4, 6, 2, 1, blastoff!”

Cognitive/Language

Storytelling Through Drawing

As the teacher draws, the children observed her drawing and listened to a story.  There is a lot of information within an illustration.  They all enjoy a read-aloud session; however, when they experience the story along with the drawings, the story is made complete.  

The story is about a firetruck and his day.

Who or what was stuck up in the tree?

Alexandra and Annabelle: "The cat!"

Who saved the cat?

Teagan and Annabelle: "The fireman!"

What did the fireman use to go up the tree?

Teagan: "A ladder!"

When the fireman went back to the fire station, what did he eat for dinner?

Teagan, Annabelle, Alexandra: "Pizza!"

Shape/Cognitive/Fine Motor Skills/Creativity

Kieran used a Hollow block, double unit block, and then stacked pillar blocks.  He maintained a steady grip as he carefully placed one block on top of another.  Kieran also stacked square shapes.  He builds his first stack of blocks!

Stage 2 in block playing:

Building Begins- children will create towers and rows, either horizontally or vertically.  During this stage, many repetitions in their building occur, which is basic functional play with blocks. 

Kieran's interests, curiosity, and exploration will increase as he continues engaging at the Block Center and explores other shapes to build and rebuild structures.