Baby Week I

Baby Week I provided lots of time and opportunity for the children to take on the role of caregiver and nurturer of our classroom babies.

Additionally, they explored and assumed these roles as they played with the large play houses that were brought into the classroom for our Baby Weeks.

Baby Week is the starting point of our Growing Unit, so there was lots of discussion about the many ways in which the children have grown since they were babies.  The children took great pride in sharing their baby picture, clothes and story with their classmates.  This activity provided a concrete illustration of each child's personal growth.

Happy Birthday to Grant, who turned four and celebrated with us on Thursday, March 24!

Divertido con Espanol / Fun with Spanish

Rosalba assisted the children as they water color painted "biberones"!

Vocabalo de Semana en Espanol / Words of the Week in Spanish

Biberon / Baby Bottle

Crecer / Grow

Bebe / Baby

Semana / Week

Looking Deeper:  Exploration and Learning through Play

Let's take a closer look at the recurring connection between the children's play and our class discussions.

During Doctor Weeks, we talked about the three things we need to do to stay healthy.  They are: eat health foods, get plenty of rest, and get plenty of exercise.  This week as we discussed how much we have grown since we were babies, we concluded that these three activities not only kept us healthy, but also facilitated our growth from babies to big girls and boys!  Interestingly, before we even had this conversation the children innately revealed that they possessed this knowledge in the way that they "played" and cared for the dolls.  Within their play they consistently fed, walked and napped the babies daily.  

Children routinely demonstrate, broaden and deepen their knowledge within their play.   Frequently our class discussions merely point out to the children what they actually know.  Often our discussions merely put the knowledge they have both gained and exhibited during their play into words that they can then share and apply at other times and within other situations.  In a way, the play environment is the research lab and our class discussions provide a forum for reflective and connective thinking as we articulate our findings!  

Have a fun and restful weekend!

Wind Week II

Wind Week II facilitated continued exploration of the movement of air in variety of activities! Blowing bubbles at the water table remained a very popular pursuit!

 Blowing the "ping pong basketball" into the basket created our very own March Madness!

 Music and movement with kites was a true delight!

Discussing how paper airplanes create wind as they fly was very interesting, but flying them was the very best part.

Making fans and using them to create wind that could move Pom Poms around and off  the surface of blocks took great focus and concentration!

Perhaps the greatest fun and focus occurred when the children observed balloons.  We discussed how the process of my blowing up a balloon entails my taking air from the room, moving it into my lungs and then moving it into the balloon.  The balloon flies when the air quickly escapes from it, creating wind that pushes the balloon forward across the room! 

Divertido con Espanol / Fun with Spanish

The children reinforced their Spanish words with Rosalba as she assisted them in making Hot Air Balloons!

Vocabalo de Semana en Espanol / Words of the Week in Spanish

Viento / Wind

Aire / Air

Ventilador / Fan

Mover / Move

Looking Deeper:  Exploration and Learning through Play

This week let's take a closer look at Play as the best Methodology for teaching Science to young children!

As an Early Childhood Educator, it is so exciting to observe the children "doing" Science.  Our photos illustrate well the children's activities but cannot always capture the children's excitement or the energy generated as they engage in Scientific exploration.  We began each day recalling our working definition:  Wind is air that is moving.  If the definition halted with words the children's understanding would no doubt be limited.  Experience gives meaning to the words.  Fun, active and engaging experiences adds passion to the learning!  There is no doubt that the children have grasped a concrete understanding of wind through the many and varied activities they have engaged in over the past two weeks.  More importantly, they are building on their perception that learning is fun, and ultimately developing a love of learning!

Have a fun and restful Weekend!