Flowers
Thanks to Wiley’s family for bringing in flowers this week!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0449afa629a02-flower
Parking updates
Please build in more time to park far away and enjoy these first days of Fall as you walk to school through the neighborhood. Although the big construction trucks are fun to watch, remain cautious of walking on May Street. We have 2 spots available for parking at school for QUICK drop offs but the access will be difficult as we enter and exit from the same side.
Space Rotation
Next week, the West Wing will begin to rotate some outdoor spaces with the East Wing, giving the Cilantros and the Dandelions some increased opportunity for larger scale, gross motor play with the structures. This rotation will happen 1-2 times per week in small groups. The Cilantros will be using the Sand Area and the Dandelions will be using the Woodchip Area. Each outdoor space will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before and after each rotation.
Because these spaces are designed for running and climbing, we want to remind families to send children to school with flat (no heels) shoes with closed toes.
Group Updates
This week, the Dandelions continued to work outside with Flora on color-mixing, moving from creating new colors in large vases to smaller vials. This change allowed the children to be more intentional about what combinations that they wanted to make — and then which ones they wanted to save. Using the eyedroppers with the vials also gave them the opportunity to practice control and strengthen their fine motor skills. Other outdoor spaces that were available included the mud pit with the big shovels; the easels with primary tempera colors; and the front yard with large pieces of lumber for big body construction. Indoors, Dana and the Dandelions added ramps and balls to the building space, allowing children to explore concepts like pitch, speed, and trajectory. We also added an indoor house area to our classroom, complete with plenty of kitchen materials to prepare meals with and a few dolls to care for. Other indoor materials included oil pastels, hole punches, and loose part collage.
We recognize the Cilantro group to be a very energetic team. To honor this, we begin each day with a whole group physical activity knowing that science proves that this energizes not only the body but our minds. We begin with a warm up, move to a cardio experience, and then warm down as we tiptoe into the classroom to begin our morning meeting. This week, after our morning meeting, we took the opportunity to tiptoe into our alley way and get a view of the construction work that was underway on May St. The children really enjoyed this adventure and were curious about what was beyond what our eyes could see.
Throughout our group, we are continuing to build relationships and share ideas about what gift giving means. We talk about the gifts of kindness and patience and welcoming and what it feels like when we give and receive those gifts. Currently we are paying close attention to how the group is offering the gift of listening. What does it mean to be heard? What does it mean to listen? A person’s thoughts, questions, suggestions, or theories are valuable and deserve to be heard. When you hear me and I hear you, we are now communicating. As we build our community, we are emphasizing that who we are as an individual is a valuable component of who we are together.
Finally, with great anticipation, we delivered our surprise to the Dandelions. After a days of planning, we painted wrapping paper, created a note, and wrapped a special package. We borrowed an idea from the book Who’s Next Door? by Mayulo Kishira and Jun Takabatake, and used a large board to communicate our message. You can check out a blog coming your way soon. Oh, and speaking of gifts. . .Thank you, Amy, our Aloe Vera teacher, for surprising us with a beautiful red tricycle! Woop, woop! This is not only a physical delight but it has added literacy inspiration as the children are now practicing and sharpening beginning skills at writing to make their mark on the list for a turn on the trike.