Gifts from the Earth Week I !

Gifts from the Earth Week I  had a dual focus.  We continued our study of Native Americans as we played in our Tee-Pee, made and used rhythm shakers and painted re-cycled egg cartons. (Native Americans took very good care of the earth!)  We also began to prepare for our Harvest Feast by "writing" invitations to parents and Parker staff.  The invitations will be delivered next week so be sure to check your child's cubby.  We continued to collect food for the Regional Food Bank and will do so through next Friday.  Block Play has remained of high interest so I included photos of our increasingly sophisticated structures!

Looking Deeper: Exploration and Learning through Play

This week I would like to take a closer look at "writing" in Pre-K Three.

Writing implements such as markers and paper or dry erase boards are available everyday throughout the morning and afternoon.  At the most basic level, these materials enable the children to exercise their fine motor and emergent writing skills.  By age four, most children have moved from a fist grasp with a full-arm circular movement, to a tripod grasp with movement confined to the hand and wrist. 

Writing is demonstrated daily as part of our Morning Meeting.  Together, on our dry-erase board, the children and I compose a morning message which consists of the day and theme of the week, and one or two sentences about the activities of our day.  I write as the children dictate, and then we re-read the message together once or twice.  This year many of the children have transferred this activity from Morning Meeting to the Art Table, where they compose their own "Morning Message" on their dry erase boards during free play and then "read" them to each other.

Children love opportunities for "Authentic Writing" experiences. We have already had two authentic "letter writing" experiences this year.  In early November we wrote thank-you notes to the fire fighters after our field trip to the Fire Station, and this week we "wrote" Harvest Feast invitations to parents and Parker staff members.  Additionally, we "write" birthday posters to our classmates and will "write" thank you posters to our guest readers beginning in January.  Throughout the year letters and words emerge on the children's papers, but even before that occurs they know they are writers!  They instinctively know that writing looks different from drawing; this is apparent when they "write" notes in our "office", or "write" shopping lists during Grocery Store Weeks, or doctor notes during our Doctor/Hospital Weeks.    

If your child does not already have one, consider getting him/her a dry-erase board with dry-erase markers and an eraser.  I am confident that you will be as impressed as Ann and I are when you see what your little one writes!  

Have a fun and restful weekend! 

Brown Week!

Brown Week was our final official "Color Week" and cafe was reflected daily at the Art Table!  This week also brought a renewed focus on Fall Gifts from the Earth as we added chestnuts and acorns to our basket, beans to our Science Table and "Indian Corn" kernels to the Water Table.   The photos aptly illustrate the great interest and focus the children demonstrated as they examined and studied these items. 

We began our unit of study on Native Americans; "people who lived long ago before there were any stores, depended on "Gifts from the Earth" for all of their needs, and in turn took very good care of the Earth."  We will continue this area of focus over the next several weeks.  In a related vein, we discussed sharing our gifts of food with others, and want to thank you for sending in food items with your child.  The drive will continue through Friday, November 22. 

In addition, the children continue to engage in Block and Dramatic Play with greater sophistication. 

Looking Deeper:  Exploration and Learning through Play

This week I would like to guide you through a closer look at Block Play.

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 practice and understand 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.  At present, we have Unit Blocks in the classroom.  In a few weeks we will rotate large Waffle Blocks into the room, then large Hollowed Blocks in February and end the year with Unit Blocks once again.  I look forward to sharing many more photos of the children's block play over the course of the year, allowing you to observe the growth in complexity and sophistication of their structures.  

Have a fun and restful weekend!