Thursday, January 16, 2014

Busy Day Galore

Max ran into the classroom excited to start his day. "Where's Hudson?" he asked. Seconds later, Hudson entered the room. "Hi Hudson!" said Max. Together the boys washed the babies at the sensory table. Then Hudson went to the kitchen to make a drum set. Max followed, "I want to play drums too" he told Hudson and they drummed away. Scarlett came in shortly after and we transitioned to snack.

At Morning Meeting, we read A Rainbow of My Very Own by Don Freeman. Then we looked at some pictures of the rainbow we see in the classroom. Next, Jenny showed the children how she painted wooden beads with red watercolor. Then the children watched and counted as she strung the beads on one at a time. The children chose what color they wanted to paint their beads. Max and Brandon chose green. Scarlett chose gold. Hudson chose purple.

The children had so much fun during dance with Elizabeth. They bent and stretched for the stars, put on their space suits to prepare for outer space, drove the bus as they sang The Wheels On The Bus, and chassed from back and forth. Then the children took turns dancing with a friend. 

The children painted wooden beads with watercolor they chose at Morning Meeting. Max figured out quickly that if he submerged his bead in the watercolor, he could cover the bead quickly, and paint more than one rather than use a brush to paint one at a time. The children soon discovered this technique as well. Soon everyone was using their tiny fingers to dip lots of beads into the watercolor cups. The next step was to sting the beads onto a pipe cleaner.

After all this hard work, the children played together in the sandbox and made red play dough with blue sparkles. We concluded our morning by singing quiet songs on the rug: Beehive, Where Is Thumbkin?,  and Five Peas in a Pea Pod. Then we looked at letters and had to guess who's name begins with that letter. We sang the letter and that children's name to the tune of "C" Is For Cookie.














Wednesday, January 15, 2014

"It's Sticky and Black"

We began morning stretching our bodies as we sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.  Nico and Lili commented on how much they liked the Big Apple Circus and want to go back which started a conversation. Here is what we said:

"I take the train with mommy to the circus." - Brandon
"I like it when the girls were flying." - Lili
"I like when the girls were flying, too. I saw clowns. Funny." - Nico

We finished our painting our Friendship Tree branches white. Lili painted a face at the easel  Scarlett and Lili put on a puppet show while Brandon and Jacob were cutiing with scissors. Then the children dug in the sandbox. We read The Fuschia Is Now and then painted with watercolor. The Sunflowers and Daisies classes were on a field trip so we went on a dragon hunt around the school. It was so fun.

When we returned back to our classroom, we explored clay for the first time with our hands and feet. "It's sticky and black" Lili said as she held a ball in her hands. The children patted, pulled, and jumped on the clay as they investigated this material  for the first time. Then we sang Beehive and Where Is Thumbkin? At lunch, we read A Rainbow Of My Own  by Don Freeman.










Tuesday, January 14, 2014

"T" Is For Tuesday!

After Morning Meeting, we explored clay at the table using our hands, rollers, and recycled materials. Hudson made a tunnel. Scarlett rolled the clay to make a snake. Max made a snow man. Next, we made cupcakes using shaving cream and colored glue as icing. Using our hands, brushes, and glue bottles, we mixed shaving cream with paint and glue to make a beautiful collage.

Then Hudson and Max made a birthday cake for Grandpa while Scarlett and Brandon played in the kitchen. For story, we read The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle and If You Give A Pig A Pancake by Laura Numeroff. We sang The ABC's, Sticky, Sticky, Sticky Bubble Gum, and Sambalae. We also sang "H" Is For Hudson, "S" Is For Scarlett, "B" Is For Brandon, and "M" Is For Max as we transitioned to lunch.








Friday, January 10, 2014

What A Busy Morning!

This morning we had Yoga with Lakshmi. We sang Wake Up Toes and 7 Green and Speckled Frogs as we stretched and woke up our bodies. During Free Play, we painted our Friendship Tree branches white for winter, played with play dough, and in the dramatic play center. Harry, Lili, Scarlett, and Nico worked on their January self-portraits. 

Then the teachers had a special surprise for the children as they a performed puppet show reciting nursery rhymes. The children laughed and giggled as their faces lit up with amazement. Then we had French with Deborah. We sang Les Petites Poisson, counted, and listened to the story Maman! by Mario Ramos. After French, Scarlett and Nico put on a little puppet show for the class. Then we read Going On A Bear Hunt. Brandon finalized the decision to act out the story with our animal puppets on Monday by saying, "That's a good idea!"


Thursday, January 9, 2014

Let's Play With Clay

During Morning Meeting, we looked at pictures from the circus and shared what we saw yesterday. Brandon studied the pictures of the acrobats and said with excitement, "This is like me! That's me! That's gymnastics!" 

During Free Play, we began to paint the Friendship Tree branches white for winter. The children took turns working on their self-portraits with a teacher while drawing with dry erase markers on the floor, Then it was time for Dance with Elizabeth. We stretched our bodies as we made our bodies small and big. Then it was time to passe and dance with a friend!

For Project Work, we explored clay for the first time by sittting on the floor as we felt it with our hands and feet. The teachers listened as the children had this first experience. These are the comments the children said as they investigated:

"Cold"- Brandon
"It tickles and feels soft." - Scarlett
"It feels soft. I put it on my feet. It's sticky." - Max
Hudson was all giggles!
















Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Big Apple Circus Trip!

Today we went on the 1 train up to Lincoln Center to see the Big Apple Circus and it was indeed magical. There were acrobats, horses and dogs doing tricks, tightrope walkers, man on stilts, a silly clown, and a circus band that played lots of instruments. It was indeed a fun filled morning! 




Tuesday, January 7, 2014

"Magic!"

We began our morning decorating masks using dot dot paints. At Morning Meeting, we sang Old MacDonald Had A Band while playing instruments and asked the children what they think they will see at the circus tomorrow. "Magic!" said Brandon with a big smile! We transitioned to snack jumping over the candlestick while reading Jack Be Nimble. 

Then we transformed the classroom into a circus as we crawled through the giant tunnel, squeezed into the clown car, had a puppet show with animals, and hopped on different color spots on the floor. After all this movement Brandon, Max, and Hudson had a quiet reading time in the clown car together. 

For Art, the children made individual collages using pipe cleaners, glue, and feathers. While working, Brandon ran over to the wall saying "It's the sun! It's the sun on the wall!" pointing to the light reflection of the CD. "A rainbow! It's on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday!" as he followed the reflection along the Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today? chart and back. Hudson heard this, ran over, and started to jump up and down to touch the CD's. "I catch it Brandon! I catch the rainbow!"

Brandon noticed a snow globe on the window sill. "Hey! Look! Look at that! What is that?" he said. We took it down and the children studied it with fascination as the glitter in the snow globe reflected on the table. Then we did an experiment and made our one using blue water color and glitter. What a magical day!








Monday, January 6, 2014

Welcome Back and Happy Birthday Grandpa Barys!

The children were very excited to return to school after such a long break and a surprise snow day. We settled into Morning Meeting playing instruments while listening to Octopus' Garden by The Beatles. After we sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, we talked about how some friends are going to the circus on Wednesday and asked the children what they think they might see. Lili began the conversation by saying "I have an idea! Let's talk about the circus!" "Balloons!" said Nico and Scarlett.

Yesterday was Grandpa Barys birthday! The children decided to make him a pink and purple crown using markers and feathers. He brought in a delicious apple pie to share with the class and we sang Happy Birthday!

During Free Play, the children explored the sensory table filled with cotton balls. Lili, Nico, and Scarlett pretended to be doctors and checked Grandpa Barys. "I check you Grandpa!" they said as they listened to his heart with their stethoscopes. Then it was time for Music with Evan. The children were excited to dance and sing along with him. He brought in a ukulele and each child had a turn to strum it. Harry was so happy when Evan began to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat and Twinkle, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. "That's my favorite song!" Harry shared with Evan. Before lunch, we read and sang Miss Mary Mack







Thursday, January 2, 2014

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

Happy New Year and welcome back to school after such a long break! It is amazing to see how much the children have grown. Max, Brandon, and Scarlett were all smiles as they settled into the morning routine. We started our day reading Goodnight Gorilla and then sang Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today?. At snack, we shared what we did over break. 

Scarlett- "I stayed with my grandpa. I build a house for a bear, a dog, and a mouse."
Max- "Max went into a car."
Brandon- "I throw a ball."

The children worked with soft textured materials ( cotton balls in the sensory table and collaged with feathers and poms poms.) During Free Play, Scarlett and Brandon built with magnet tiles in the Daisies' classroom while Max played at the sensory table with the cotton balls. "It's snow!" he giggled as he scooped it into the dump truck. Then Brandon, Scarlett, and Max built invidual structures in the block center. Before lunch, we sang 3 Green and Speckled Frogs as a transition to wash hands. We concluded the day by reading Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.