"The People Go up and Down..."

We began our morning singing Hello, Hello, Hello and How Are you? Then we listened to and sang along to We Are the Dinosaurs by The Laurie Berkner Band softly on the rug. We read and sang The Wheels on the Bus. Harry helped me read the story by telling me that "the people go up and down" not "hop on and off". At Free Play, we explored the sandbox, painted with watercolor, worked with play dough, and painted with dot dot paints together on the floor.

 



A Few Moments of Fascination...

We began our morning singing Hello, Hello and How Are You?, There are 7 Days in a Week, and Today is Tuesday All Day Long while playing cymbals. During Snack, we read Pete The Cat I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin and David Smells by David Shannon.

We went for a walk around the neighborhood, as we admired the beautiful weather. "Pickup truck" , "Excavator," "Boom", "A big truck!" are some of the comments I heard from the children as we walked. We noticed the fountain when we were passing the park on Greenwich and 13th Street. We looked at the fountain for a few moments with fascination.  Then Jenny held on to Max's and Hudson's hands, Grandpa Barys held on to Brandon's hand, and Nadia held on to Scarlett's. We ran around the fountain in opposite directions waving to each other as we passed by.

When we returned from our walk, the children made glue by mixing flour, water, and yellow paint together. Next, the children explored the glue and we continued working on our collaborative collage. Scarlett worked on her first self-portrait. Then, we wrapped up the morning digging in the sandbox. We are looking forward to another fun day tomorrow!





Let's Go Exploring!

We began our morning singing the good morning song, There are 7 Days in a Week, and Today is Monday All Day Long. We then explored the neighborhood. "A car!" hollered Scarlett. "Ambulance!" shouted Brandon. We noticed that there were green leaves on the trees and dry brown leaves on the ground. Lili saw a picture of a baby in a laundromat window, giggled, and pointed at it's belly button. Everyone giggled with her.

When we returned from our walk, the children made glue by mixing flour, water, and green paint together. Next, the children explored the glue and began working on a collaborative collage. Nico and Lili began working on their self portraits.

During our reflective meeting, I asked the children what they saw on our walk. Here is what they said:

"I saw people."- Lili

"Monster. Monster eating crackers and bread." - Scarlett

"Seagull." Nico said while waving her hand open and shut to imply the seagull was flying.

 



What A Fun Day!

We began our morning marching to We Are the Dinosaurs by The Laurie Berkner Band. We then sang Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today? as each child moved their picture on the chart from home to school.

At free play, we made glue using flour, water, and red watercolor. I noticed that the children were interested in painting with the glue they had made using brushes, exploring the material as if it were paint.

Nico, Jamie, and Scarlett played inside the school bus singing The Wheels On the Bus. Lili and Jamie were taking care of their babies by pretending to be doctors. Brandon was looking for a ball to play which led to a game of Pass the Ball on the rug. Then with musical instruments in hand, we concluded our morning singing I Have A Friend before lunch. 

I Wonder What We Will Find Outside Today...

Max started off our morning showing us his NEW shoes and we read Pete the Cat I love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin. The children laughed as I sang what Pete the Cat sings in the book, "I love my white shoes, I love my red shoes ..." 

Then we went on our FIRST walk around the neighborhood today! As we headed toward 13th street and Greenwich, Brandon pointed up to the sky and said, "Airplane!" Then Max said, "Excavator." "Excavator!" Hudson, Scarlett, and Brandon repeated. "Hm...I wonder if we can find one I said?" We turned the corner and walked towards 7th Avenue. Sure enough we saw an excavator! Max pointed excitedly, "Excavator! It's turning! Moving very fast!" The children watched amazed and silent as the excavator moved.

When we returned back to school, we washed their hands and headed straight into Free Play. While Hudson was playing in the sandbox, I heard him say, "Garbage truck. Excavator." "Fire truck, wee woo wee woo," Max said as he played with Hudson in the sandbox. 

It was wonderful that we were able to bring in our neighborhood experience from outdoors into our classroom.

Max's New Shoes

 

Let's Talk About Families

The Sweet Peas class had an exciting day filled with new explorations and discoveries. This morning, some children painted for the first time with water color while others drew with markers. Nadia and I placed the books and photos of each child's family on the table which led to a conversation about babies, siblings, and pets during our reflective meeting. We will revisit this topic again, especially as we are beginning to formulate our family board.