Wonderful Wednesday !

June 5, 2013

Our "Favorite Book" Wednesday began wonderfully with all the children coming to school with so many beautiful stories to share. Before we settled into our reading, we walked over to the auditorium for a special music rehearsal with Jason and all the other EC classes to try out our songs on the stage. The Cardinals performed with ease on the big stage and are ready to share their talents with all the family and friends they love!

After rehearsal, the children took a moment to officially introduce their books to one another on our front rug. After hearing all the fun titles, several children took their open choice time this morning to read with a friend or teacher.

Our vegetable garden is doing so well!! We were so excited to see the lettuce and baby peppers in our garden. Melissa said we are ready to pick the lettuce and make a salad!

Journals work continues to be a busy area of our room!

Wonderful Wednesday Fun

April 24, 2013

This morning the children came into the classroom with energy, a perfect reflection of the glorious sunny weather we were lucky to enjoy today. They fluttered from space to space, like the butterflies and bees they have started asking questions about, warming up the different classroom centers with activity. There were journals recording children's thoughts and ideas, a remarkable new building style exploring vertical lines being raised in the block area, and a small magnet tile house neighborhood being constructed. A group of children played letter recognition games on the rug and worked on beginning word sounds. There were even a few artists who, hungering for both an artistic outlet and snack, began still life's of arrangements of our snack fruits while actual snack was being prepared.

The cardinal teachers, observing this budding, self directed inspiration, began a list of "What interests us..." and children stopped by during their choice time to help brainstorm for our next unit of study. It was exciting to see how Spring has inspired us all and once everyone puts in his or her ideas, there will be a new direction for the Cardinal class to focus their intellectual powers! Interest in rocks was came up as the children started to talk about the things they like to do outside. We decided this was a perfect opportunity to create a 2nd  language experience chart which  focused on the questions; "What Do You Know About Rocks?" This conversation led to the question-" What Do You Want Find Our About Rocks?"

Mid-morning, the Cardinals  were invited to the Lower School art room to have a art lesson with a visiting art teacher. The children were wonderfully helpful wearing name tags and showing our visiting art teacher our current knowledge of the artistic world as well as our openness to artistic learning of all kinds! Everyone seemed to greatly enjoy the project she presented to us: painting, which the Cardinals are very familiar with, but with objects the Cardinals may not have seen before such as giant feathers and long seed pods!

Outdoor play was absolutely glorious today! Our outdoor classroom is filled with endless opportunities for discovery.

Tuesday News

February 19, 2013
The children were excited to see one another this morning after our extended  long weekend break.  The room was filled with the sounds of children working and connecting with friends as everyone found their spot during the early morning Open Choice time. We usually have journal work open as an early morning choice and we have found that this has been a wonderful time to offer this type of writing experience.  Working  at the writing tables on journals is a  time for children to connect in a very  personal way with teachers and other friends.   The children have the opportunity to talk with an adult individually about almost anything that is on his or her mind and express their thoughts though drawings.  We have noticed that our children have become much more descriptive and expressive in their journal dictations and we believe that the quality of time that we allocate for this experience has  had a direct influence on this process and growth for our children.  We are looking forward to our conferences where you will ( hopefully !) have a few moments to read your child's journal work.  Always feel free to stop by and enjoy  the journals with your child.



Sculpture work is evolving! Thank you for sending in the small recycled items to add to our collection of materials.  The work is fascinating and the children are self directed in exploring materials... "how can we get this to stay on?", "I want to make a telescope so I need to find something with a hole in it so I can see through.." are just a few samplings of the comments we hear as the children are working.  The children have the opportunity to practice problem solving as well as cause and effect as they immerse themselves in this work.

We played Letter Matching board games today and the children are truly enjoying the cooperative, group experience that group games provide.

Open buffet snack seems to be a favorite for our children! The joy in sharing snack with friends in a social manner that feels 'just right' is truly a gift for all of us to observe.  

A few more pictures to enjoy...