HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Thank you parents and friends for joining us for our annual Halloween parade. It was such a wonderful sight to see the children marching with you in their costumes. We are so happy everyone had such a fun time. Thank you for making this year's Halloween so much fun! Trick or Treat!

Again! Again!

At Morning Meeting, Max and Scarlett tried on their Halloween costumes. Brandon and Hudson were excited to see theirs but were not ready to put them on. We talked about how we are dressing up and wearing our costumes on Thursday for Halloween. We explained to the children that will be marching in the Halloween Parade with the Sunflowers and the Daisies' classes and that we are going to have a pizza party to celebrate afterwards!

Then we glued more leaves to our branches with a friend. We painted with marbles with white paint on black paper and painted paper pumpkins with branches. Hudson picked out the The Itsy Bitsy Spider as told and illustrated by Iza Trapini for us to read and sing. The children each held a spider during the story. "Again! Again" The children clapped when we were finished reading. We read and sang the story again for them. Then we sang There's A Spider on the Floor using spiders as props, 5 Little Pumpkins, and Witches on a Broomstick. We are looking forward to a very Happy Halloween!

'It's Beautiful! It's My Favorite!"

The morning began with Jacob and Lili sharing their pumpkins and we showed the class their Halloween costumes! The children were so excited to the see the final touches the parents made to their costumes at Curriculum Night. When I showed Lili hers, she commented "Aw! It's beautiful! It's my favorite! I love it!" We talked about Halloween some more, dressing up, and are looking forward to this event.

During Snack, Sandra read Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberely. Next, we had Yoga with Lakshmi! We stretched and made different animal positions with our bodies as we sang songs. The children had a relaxing and fun time. 

Then we played musical instruments on the rug while listening to Octopus' Garden by The Beatles. Brandon shared yesterday's moment with the children by saying, "I saw the leaves from the tress! They were falling down!" (pointing to the window) The children looked up out the window, too.  Nico commented "I see branches." This was a nice transition as we begin the next step to our project work: gluing leaves, sticks, and other natural materials to the branches for our tree. 

Harry picked out The Itsy Bitsy Spider as told and illustrated by Iza Trapini for us to read. We also read Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, and Jacob's book 10 Trick or Treaters by Janet Schulman which the children loved. We concluded our morning singing 5 Little Pumpkins, Witches on a Broomstick, and Goodbye Everybody, Yes Indeed.

"The leaves are falling from the trees! I'm not joking!"

Since the children have been so interested in leaves and the materials in the sensory table, we showed them pictures of trees with Autumn leaves. "What do you see?" we asked the children. "I see trees! Flowers. Leaves." Hudson said. Max shared the pumpkin that he brought to school with the "big" stem.

Next, we had Dance with Elizabeth! The children took turns holding her hands to learn how to passe. We made very fun movements with her and the children had a blast!

Then we painted more branches for our Fall friendship tree. Brandon and Max painted one branch while Scarlett and Hudson painted the other. While she was painting, Scarlett looked at her work and said, "Hmm...a branch." 

When reading Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, we looked up out the window and noticed leaves falling! Hudson, Brandon, and Max sat on our laps in silence just watching the leaves fall. "Look! I see one!" the children would say off and on. At one point during this moment Brandon said, "The leaves are falling from the trees! I'm not joking!" This was indeed a meaningful moment as we sat there filled with wonderment before lunch for TEN minutes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!

Since the children have been so interested in leaves and the materials in the sensory table, we showed them pictures of trees with Autumn leaves. "What do you see?" we asked the children. "It's a tree! I see leaves! Red, orange, green, and brown." Harry said. At Morning Meeting, we explored tree bark by touching it and Harry noticed that it felt "hard." 

During Free Play, the children painted with branches with a friend for our fall tree. Throughout the morning, we noticed that children were intrigued by the gourds that Lili and Jamie brought in by touching them and looking at them with magnifying glasses. 

We celebrated Jamie's birthday after lunch! The Sunflowers and the Daisies classes joined us and we all sang Happy Birthday! While the children enjoyed eating cupcakes, we read Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!

"Yeah I Wonder What Is Inside!"

We began our morning by exploring the pumpkin Brandon brought to school.. Here is what the children said as they passed the pumpkin around:

"It's very heavy! Look!" - Hudson

"Oh! It feels nice!" - Scarlett

"Whoa! Heavy!' - Max

Brandon touched the pumpkin with his fingertip.

Then we asked the children "what do you think is inside the pumpkin"? This question posed some wonderful answers.

"It orange!" - Scarlett

"Yeah I wonder what is inside!" - Max

"Strawberries!" - Hudson

"Yeah strawberries." - Brandon

"Strawberries and apples!" - Scarlett

"Scarlett is a strawberry!" - Max giggled

"Orange strawberries!" - Hudson

Next, we opened the pumpkin to see if what was inside:

"A bunch of strawberries!" - Scarlett

"Look! I got a strawberry and it's orange!" Hudson said as he touched a seed.
"I'm scared of the pumpkin!" Hudson laughed.

Finally, the children drew shapes on the pumpkin. During Free Play, Grandpa cut out the shapes while the children played. Hudson explored the sensory table. He picked up each item and lifted it up to his nose. As he did this I heard  him say, "I smell it! Oh! It smells so good!" Max, Scarlett, and Brandon played in the sandbox together. 

At our reflective meeting, we showed the pumpkin to the children after Grandpa finished carving it. The children were so excited! We read This Is NOT A Pumpkin by Bob Staake. Then we marched to We Are the Dinosaurs by The Laurie Berkner Band.

"It's not a corn! It's an ACORN!"

At Morning Meeting, Jamie helped us sing The Days of the Week and Today is Monday All Day Long by pointing to each day while we sang. Harry showed us the leaves he collected when he was away visiting his grandparents. Nico also shared with the class the flowers she collected.

Next, we had Music with Evan. We sang Wake Up and songs about fall. The children had so much fun singing and dancing along.

For story today, we read Leaves by Vijaya Khisty Bodach and Fall Changes by Ellen B. Sensisi. We placed the leaves and flowers the children brought in the sensory table with magnifying glasses for them to look at during free play.

While they were exploring, Nico  and Scarlett had a conversation:

"What do you have in your hands?" Nico asked Scarlett.

"Corn, " replied Scarlett holding an acorn. "I have 1, 2, 3 corn," she continued.

"It's not a corn!" Nico said giggling. "It's an ACORN!" and then they both giggled contagiously!

Then Scarlett turned to us and said "It's fun!" 

At the end of the morning, Patricia (Brandon's mom) helped Brandon paint his ice cream cone costume. Brandon used his finger tip to make chocolate chips!