Parents, welcome to our 2A blog for the school year. Each Thursday the blog will be used to connect with you about our ongoing curriculum projects. The overarching "theme" for the year is Identity and Self. Our first focus is on the individual child and the traits that they exhibit and use to communicate with us. We want to figure out who the children are and how they are able to relate to others. We will work with similarities and differences, physical traits (hair and eye color, height), emotions and facial cues, and language.
Morgan enjoys laughing and finding ways to be silly.
Even though it's our first week, we have still been able to see so much from each and every child. We have quieter personalities that seek out the uninhabited spaces in the classroom, and we have the very excited and outgoing personalities bouncing around looking for other children to interact with. We have empathetic children who pat backs and give pacifiers to those who are feeling sad. It has been a joy seeing high fives and hugs being given spontaneously this week!
Dylan is an explorer- he is constantly on the go and ready for new discoveries!
Some questions that we will explore as educators are: How does the development of language influence our ability to relate to others? How do we relate to others when we lack a broad vocabulary to communicate? How do others impact our emotions and thoughts? (We have seen a lot of this- we will feel fine but see or hear someone else crying and it triggers memories of why we are sad, too). Our questions will evolve, grow, and multiply and we will share them with you each week.
Mia enjoys relating to others and seeks out friends to interact with.
Do you have any questions that you wonder about how we form self identity as young children? Please feel free to comment on the blog or email me directly so we can continue to work on this research together!
Nicholas is always trying to find a new way to use things. This morning he turned a container into an instrument; he is inventive and thoughtful.
Some ways we have been working on discovering our friends and their identities: Circle time songs that include each child's name. A name is a huge facet of identity. Children, especially, take a special love and pride in their name. It's usually the first way they explore literacy and understanding the alphabet- their letter is so special to them (first initial). We have been talking about preferences and things we like. We have also been looking at our family photos and talking a little bit about what makes a family and how our families are different.
Charlotte likes to be the Mommy and finds lots of babies to take care of and nurture.
This week we started our monthly self portraits, too. Self portraits are a really special time. Each child sits down with one teacher and they talk about what they see in the mirror. Today Charlotte decided that she has purple hair. Nicholas was so excited to talk about his two eyes. Nina eagerly made a round shape for her face after observing herself in the mirror. Everyone approaches it differently, but equally as thoughtful.
Emilio is always stacking and building. He likes to line up all of the cars or trains. He likes to build tall things. He also loves to be near his friends and to comfort them with their pacifiers if they need it!
Nina likes to seek out quiet corners to work and explore. She loves to hide under pillows and be cozy.
Parker is a big fan of transportation vehicles, and continuously sings "Wheels on the Bus" around the classroom. He finds joy in making others laugh.
Katerina has been exploring colors this week. She loves to hold up the different translucent pieces and see the world in a bright new way.
Max is still a bit shy, but we have seen him work with a lot of light table toys. He likes to build and see how things move.
Jackson loves to talk and communicate verbally. He likes to identify all the objects around him.