Grocery Store I was marked by abundant learning
opportunities as the children engaged in a myriad of subject integrated
activities.
Divertido con Espanol / Fun with Spanish
Rosalba reinforced
Spanish Words of the Week with the children as she assisted them in making and decorating little Shopping Bags.
Vocabalo de Semana en Espanol / Words of the Week
in Spanish
Papa /
Potato
Pan /
Bread
Leche /
Milk
Ensalada
/ Salad
Pollo /
Chicken
Jugo /
Juice
Looking Deeper:
Exploration and Learning through Play
This week I would like to guide you through a closer look at
how "well stocked" our Grocery Store is with rich learning
opportunities!
Our Grocery Store theme is the first of several units of
study that is rooted in Dramatic Play and has all subject areas integrated
within its content. At its most basic
level, our classroom Grocery Store promotes social interaction among the
students and is a catalyst for moving the children from parallel to interactive
play as they engage one another within the roles of shopper and cashier. Social skills are reinforced as the children
take turns and share equipment within these roles. Language skills are also utilized and
expanded upon as they play and interact.
Emergent reading and writing skills are incorporated and
practiced as the children identify and read labels such as
"Cheerios", and write shopping lists.
Additionally, we expand on our Spanish vocabulary as we learn and use
new words such as; ensalada (salad), leche (milk), queso (cheese), juego (juice),
papa (potato) and pollo (chicken) within our grocery store.
Math concepts are incorporated as the children play with,
sort and manipulate real and play money within free play, during table-top time
and within story and class discussion time.
The children practice identifying pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,
as well as $1, $5, $10, $20 and $100. We
introduce the concept of "quantity" as we discus which
"money" is bigger or more. The
children are fascinated with this exploration, and many of them demonstrate
understanding of the concepts
introduced.
The children's body of information is expanded upon at Story
Time as we read both fiction and non-fiction books about the grocery store, and
learn related songs and finger plays.
Our Story Time class discussions are rooted in Social Studies and Health
Science. Social Studies discussions include talking about the various
departments within the Grocery Store in preparation for our field trip to Price
Chopper. Most of the children can name
the items that are found within the Produce, Dairy, Bakery, Deli, Meat and Fish
departments. Additionally, they are
acquiring a basic understanding of the farm to store journey of
fruits, vegetables and milk.
Health Science discussions center around identifying and being sure to
eat "healthy" foods before eating smaller quantities of snack and
dessert foods. Here again, the children
demonstrate immense interest in and enthusiasm for these discussions. All of the children possess some experience
with regard to Grocery Stores. They are
subsequently eager and proud to share their knowledge and feel empowered by the
process of doing so!
As always our theme is reflected at the Art Table. Cognitive and fine motor skills are practiced
and reinforced as the children glue food, coupon and money collages!
The timing of our Grocery Store is very strategic as we
spend more time in the classroom and less time outdoors during the winter
months. More importantly, by January the
children are socially, emotionally and cognitively ready to grow by leaps and
bounds within an age-appropriate experiential classroom! We need only to carefully set up the
environment and allow the children time to explore and engage freely. In a word, let them "play"! As an Early Childhood Educator, I believe
that "Play" is one of the highest levels of intellectual engagement,
for play involves exploring the world of possibilities without being bound to
or limited by perceived certainty! It is
a joy to watch your children play and grow daily!
Have a fun and restful weekend!
