Thursday, October 17, 2013

Thursday Fun

Hudson and Max began our morning playing drums on the pots in the kitchen. Then we had Dance with Elizabeth. We used leaves as props as we pretended to be leaves moving in the wind and falling to the ground. We took turns making tree poses with our bodies. 

For story, we read The Leaf Man by Louis Elhert. Hudson and Brandon noticed the acorns and water in the story. Scarlett noticed the leaves making animal shapes. Then we sang Autunm Leaves Are Falling Down and 5 Little Pumpkins. 


















Wednesday, October 16, 2013

A Day Filled with Lots of Talking and Working Together

We began our morning asking the children what they did over the long weekend? Here is what they said:

"Donkey ride" - Scarlett
"Telephone" - Jacob
"Helicopter" - Brandon
"I went swimming...in a swimming pool." - Jamie
"I went to the pumpkin farm and picked pumpkins" - Harry
"I went a haunted house...a BIG house" - Lili 
"I found leaves in a tree" - Nico

Nico and Lili shared with us the leaves they collected over the weekend which led to our discussion about fall. We sang Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down and I'm An Acorn Nut. For story, we read The Leaf Man by Louis Elhert and noticed the red, purple, yellow, orange, green, and brown colors of the leaves in the story. 

Nico, Harry, and Lili played in the kitchen while Brandon and Jacob dug in the sandbox. Scarlett and Jamie were busy making circles with the flubber in the sensory table. The children continued to explore squeezing paint and glue. We also painted with watercolor.

During lunch we asked the children what they liked about school today. Here is what they said:

"Playing with Nico, Harry, and Nadia" - Lili
"PAINT!" - Scarlett exclaimed.
"Playing with cars and trains!" - Brandon
"Trains" - Jamie.
"I play in the kitchen!" Harry smiled.
"Play doctor. Cook!" Nico shouted with a huge smile.









Tuesday, October 15, 2013

A Beautiful Day for a Nature Walk

We began our day singing On Top of Spaghetti while the children ate their snack. Max shared with us the fall materials he collected over the weekend at Morning Meeting which led to our discussion about fall. "Tree" "soft" are the words Hudson and Scarlett used to describe the leaf as they touched it. We sang Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down and I'm An Acorn Nut. For story, we read The Leaf Man by Louis Elhert and noticed the red, yellow, orange, green, and brown leaves in the story. 

Max, Brandon, and Hudson dug in the sandbox while Scarlett explored flubber in the sensory table. The children continued to explore squeezing paint and glue. Hudson and Brandon were squeezing the glue on their fingers then spread it with their fingers on a separate piece of cardboard. 

We went out for a walk to the park on Greenwich and 13th street and we collected some more leaves and other fall  materials. When we returned back to school we looked through what we collected together. Then we sang 5 Little Pumpkins and 5 Little Ducks. 








Friday, October 11, 2013

Friday Yoga with Laksmi

Today was our first Yoga class with Laksmi. After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, the children voted that Nadia should be the caterpillar and Jenny should be the butterfly. We explored Flubber and played in the sandbox.  





Thursday, October 10, 2013

"Na na na Nadiaaa!"

Today we had dance with Elizabeth. We sang wake up to our knees and made thunder with our heels. Then we pretended to be an animal so small (a mouse) and one so big (a giraffe). We stretched out our legs and arms as we became butterflies. Then we hopped up and down like bunny rabbits.

Scarlett and Brandon squeezed glue mixed mixed with paint while Hudson and Max played in the sandbox. Hudson explored "goop" which is a mixed material of glue, Liquid linit laundry starch, and paint in the sensory table. "It's sticky," he said as he poked it with his fingers. Then we got a little messy mixing shaving cream with green paint.

Spontaneously, the children were seeking out instruments are were singing "na na na na". Perhaps it was Hudson's playing the drums and the children along singing to him? So we played along to Hey Jude by The Beatles and sang "Na na na Nadiaaa!" to Nadia. 








Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Our Special Morning Together....

Eli, Margot, Ava, and Evan had a very special day with the Sweet Peas class. We spent the morning in the Sunflowers classroom while the Daisies and Sunflowers classes were apple picking. We began our Morning Meeting playing instruments together to Octopus' Garden by The Beatles. Next, we passed the telephone to each friend and greeted them by singing Hello, Hello, Hello and How Are You? 

The children explored "goop" which is a mixture of glue, Linit laundry liquid starch, and paint. They manipulated it by pulling, stretching, squeezing, and mushing the material with their hands and poking it with their fingers. Then we explored shaving cream mixed with pink paint! We all had so much fun feeling these materials and getting a little messy! Harry and Margot helped the teachers clean the tables and did such hard work. 

We concluded our morning by singing Around and Around while each child passed the ball to a friend. By popular demand, we marched to We Are the Dinosaurs by The Laurie Berkner band! The children enjoyed having lunch by laughing and talking together.

Thank you Eli, Ava, Margot, and Evan for making today especially fun and for being so caring and helpful to the Sweet Peas class! 























Tuesday, October 8, 2013

"I need something to stick to this..."

We began our morning playing in the sandbox and with play dough. We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar  by Eric Carle and we began to talk about what we want to be for Halloween. The children pointed out what type of food they would like to be based on the story. Here is what they said:

"Cupcake" - Hudson
"Lollipop" - Scarlett
"Cherry pie" - Max
"Ice cream cone" - Brandon

Next, we finished working on our individual collages. While the children were working , we noticed that they were very interested in the squeezing the glue bottle. We mixed paint in with the glue so that they could continue to explore and experiment these materials. "I need something to stick to this," Scarlett said as she picked up some recycled materials to add. "YUCKY!" exclaimed Brandon. We ended our day playing instruments to Do It Again by The Beach Boys during our Goodbye Meeting.