Growing Week II

Growing Week II bore witness to the miracles of nature as the seeds planted just last week, sprouted and grew!!! 

At Story Time we examined our germinated seed and our sprouts which had grown solely with water.  Our "sprouts" had sprouted and our "seed" had shed its casing and emerged with roots, stem and leaves just as we had predicted!

We also took a closer look at the progress of our flower, bean, basil and grass seeds which had utilized soil, sun and water in their growing process.

At Music and Movement time the carpet became "soil", the light fixtures became the "sun", and the children became "seeds" that "grew" after I "watered" them.

At week's end, we garnished our snack salad with our home grown "sprouts".

Many thanks to Emily and Brittani for all of their help this semester.  They completed their HVCC Field Placement this week.  It was wonderful having them with us and we wish them well.

Looking Deeper:  Exploration and Learning through Play

Let's take another look at Block Play.

Sometimes we do not have to look deeper, we just need to keep looking!   

Renewed interest in Block Play was generated as a result of our rotating our Unit Blocks back into the classroom last Friday.   I would like to share, once again, my descriptive excerpt on Block Play, which I featured on the blog when we rotated classroom blocks in November and again in February. 

At its most basic level, Block Play provides exercise of fine and gross motor skills.  Block building provides the children with opportunities to think, plan, collaborate and problem solve while moving freely and working with their whole body.  Mathematically, building with blocks helps the children to understand and practice classification as they observe and sort blocks according to size and shape.  They learn about cause and effect, spatial relationships, balance,

area, length, width, weight, and quantity, as they select, build, and put away blocks.  Blocks help children learn through experience the purpose of number.  In terms of stages, children begin by carrying blocks and simply piling them up.  As their development progresses, layering begins, leading to connecting blocks, facilitating the emergence of roads, towers, enclosures and unique building designs.  Block Play is also a catalyst for social interaction and language development, as the children work, share, collaborate and problem solve as they construct.

The following photos do not really need words to describe them.  One need only look at the intricacies and patterns that have emerged in the children's structure designs to know that growth, development, and learning has been ongoing.  These structures exude skill, planning, critical thinking and growth in physical development!

Have a fun and restful weekend!