Growing Together

Our Community is Expanding...

During Choice Time, the Cardinals' growing interest in food sparked many to play a game of Food Bingo. They categorized the different foods naming them as, "fruits" and "vegetables" or "meats".  As the children enjoyed, this activity, they began sounding out the different letters and noticing the beginning letter sounds. We sounded out 'c' for carrot, m for meat and 'b' for bread. We are continuing to expand our letter and sound awareness and identify them in different words that have a meaningful connection with us. 

 

A surprise visit from Stella's Mom, Kristina also happened during Choice Time. Kristina brought us a Wondering Jew plant cutting  to keep in our room. She showed us the delicate flower in the glass jar filled with water. She explained to us that we can watch to see what happens and let her know if anything changes. We asked her many questions such as, "Do we need to keep it in the sun?" and more about how we were going to take care of the plant.

Venturing out into the halls, we passed by the Muller Auditorium. We met a high school student who shared with us that they were working on a set for a play. He checked with the teacher to see if it would be safe for us to come into the "Work in progress" site.  We met the teacher, April, who was assisting the students in building and assembling the different pieces for the play. We learned that there was going to be a show and that this would be the background scene for when the actors and actresses were performing. We watched closely and examined the different parts of the stage as it was being built. We saw wood, identified one of the parts as a set of steps and even made guesses as to what we thought the entire stage was going to be! A few Cardinals thought that it was starting to look like a castle. During this part of our walk it was wonderful to see the possibilities for building and constructing with materials such as wood!

 

We enjoyed the opportunity to be guests as part of an audience. The Cardinals also made the connection to going to the movies and sitting in similar seats.

As our walk was coming to a close, we passed by Debbie's office and could not pass up on the opportunity to greet her. Smiles appeared on all our faces as we noticed that Debbie put up the Peace Sign collage we had created for her. Our morning was filled with visits to different parts of our school community. The teachers are noticing how the Cardinals are beginning to say Hello to everyone we have met such as our Art Teacher, Sam, our Music Teacher, Jason and our Second Grade Buddy Teacher, Sandy. Experiences like this are helping to strengthen our social skills and build positive meaningful relationships with those around us.

 

Exploring Leaves ....Sharing Quiet Places...

Let's take a closer look...

 This week, Wyatt's mom sent in a note with a book that was filled with pressed leaves.  She explained that they had gone on a walk and found beautiful leaves that were changing color in their neighborhood.  She thought the Cardinal class would like to examine them.  

 Wyatt invited friends at Choice Time to visit a table where the leaves were displayed for further investigation.  The children began by sorting and classifying the leaves by shape, color and size.  They asked questions about  "where the leaves came from and what types of trees grow the leaves"

 Interest and discussion emerged as the children had the opportunities to touch, feel and compare the leaves. The children were asked if they thought there was any tool at the Science center that might help them to further investigate.  Wyatt and Samuel decided the magnifying classes would be a good choice to help them look more closely at the leaves.

Interest in the leaves was sparked by this lovely invitation that Wyatt and family brought to our class!  We will be sure to bring our magnifying glasses with us on our campus walks and we will also visit our Lower School library to see if we can find some books about trees and leaves to support this interest.  This feels like only the beginning of wonderful exploration....

     

A Quiet Place, by Douglas Wood

We gathered for Morning Meeting on our Block Area rug this morning and formed a large circle around beautifully lit candles.  The colored lit candles and the soft lights set the tone for a lovely, quiet meeting.  The children were asked to close their eyes and listen...listen to the quiet sounds of our classroom ...
The children were then asked to reflect on how they felt when our space became quiet....what were some of their thoughts.... what were some of the feelings they were feeling as our classroom changed ...
We then introduced the beautifully illustrated book A Quiet Place, by Douglas Wood.   This book draws the reader /listener to places that are far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life-a place that isn't ringing or talking or roaring or playing.  Exploring what it is like to find a special place where we can all think our own thoughts and feel our own feelings is so beautifully highlighted in this special book clearly aligning with Quaker values and Meeting for Worship.

Engage your child in finding their own quiet place at home tonight!