2012 has gotten off to a busy start!

It's been a whirlwind since 2012 began! Talking about a new year, learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and deciding how we can make the world a better place for everyone, having a special day at school with our grandparents and getting ready for valentines had to fit in with the author studies in which the Junior Kindergartners engaged and the study of transportation that went on in Alpha!

Balloons provided lots of fun during exploring. Some children practiced batting the balloons between partners, trying to keep them off the floor while others used baskets for tossing the balloons into the air and catching them again -- it's not as easy as it sounds!

Creating railroads with train set is a great exercise in collaboration and cooperation. The train was left on the carpet so the children could return to add to it again and again.

Creating bridges was an exercise in engineering and deciding who was going to use which train cars involved lots of negotiation!

Building bridges provided more exercises in engineering, problem solving and critical thinking as well as teamwork.

Another exercise in engineering and creative thinking was designing boats that would float. Some of the students got quite creative, creating elaborate vessels that even towed dinghies!

Everyone started with a circle and a rectangle but it was all imagination from there and each child ended up with a truly unique collage self portrait!

Individuality is important!

Some of our paintings are worthy of framing for exhibition.

Smiles abound at the art center where we encourage the children to let their imaginations fly.

Translucent blocks and the light table allow for experimentation in architecture and light at the same time.

The children use geoboards to make shapes, letters, pictures and more. Sometimes they work individually while at other times they work collaboratively.

Worms are really interesting creatures to observe. Now they've been relocated to the garden where they will enrich the soil and help our plants grow.

January was also time for the Chinese New Year in Mrs. Jotch's class where they listened to stories, ate rice, and paraded around the school with the dragon fans they made wishing everyone a "Gung Hay Fat Choy"

Some of us had lots of special guests on Grandparents Day. It was a very special day for both generations!

The children were very excited to show off their classrooms, exporatorium and other favorite places on campus.

The children were so thrilled when they saw the fourth grade program that they worked together to write their special older friends a note telling them what a great show it was.

Valentines Day is approaching and candy hearts are perfect for graphing. Graphing helps the children sort and then compare group size to see which has more, less or the same number.

Hearts are also great dfor sorting according to size, small, medium and large.

 

I wish all of you a happy weekend, Valentines Day and Presidents Day weekend. I also promise to be a better blogger and keep you more up-to-date on all the exciting learning that is happening in the Shorecrest Early Childhood Center!

Wow! It's been a busy few weeks and today's concert and winter break parties were the perfect culmination to 2011! We've done lots of cooking and baking, continued to experience, discover, and learn, made gifts for our parents and brought in gifts for those less fortunate than ourselves. In just three short weeks the children, working with Mrs. McIvor learned Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanzaa songs  to do concerts for our neighbors in the adult community next door and for their parents in our theater! Check out E-Bytes, our Shorecrest online newsletter for pictures and videos of those performances. Here's just a small representation of what's been happening since my last entry:

Mrs. McIvor really got into the spirit of our Holiday Gift Drive,

The response of our generous school community was overwhelming!

Our open art center leads to great creativity. These boys got great joy out of creating beards and mousetaches!

Both visual perception and fine motor control were involved in fitting these wooden shapes into the appropriate spaces.

Our budding architect is using symmetry and experimenting with balance.

Playing music with tambourines and bells works well with seasonal music.

These girls were decorating the snow booth that was later used at the winter party.

Jumping rope is a hard skill for 4 year olds but our children love to practice.

Look at the broccoli and tomato we grew!

Music makes us all happy!

We made decorations for all the holidays we and our friends celebrate at this time of year.

 The following pictures are all from our winter break parties in Alpha and Junior Kindergarten. The children had a blast and so did the parents. We are so grateful to our parent community for all their support and help!

 Decorations were made using shells and more to imprint self-drying clay. The children then painted and their designs with sparkly paint.

JK made reindeer cupcakes that were fun to make and really delicious.

Winter bingo reinforced shapes, numbers and holiday symbols.

Homemade sundaes were a real hit in Alpha!

Throwing snowball bean bags at a target was a great gross motor exercise and a favorite spot to go during the alpha party.

Parents and children worked together to create snowflake decorations - You can never use too many sequins!

The children measured hot chocolate mix, marshmallows and chocolate chips into a cellophane cone, then tied the top with a ribbon to create a treat to take home and enjoy later.

Making gingerbread houses is also a creative outlet.

The children had very definite ideas on how they wanted to decorate their snowflakes.

Even grandparents came to help!

the train set always presents opportunities to learn to work together collaboratively and cooperatively.

I wish you all a happy holiday and new year! Watch for more news about our activities in 2012!

It was a great Thanksgiving!

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and vacation!

We had so much fun during the week before the holiday learning about living off the land, about the history of Thanksgiving, and about Native Americans. The children had dramatic play in the Native American chickees and tepees and enjoyed playing the drums with rhythmic beats. Lots of cooking went on as the students prepared the food for their feasts which were the culmination of the week.The menus were decided upon by discussion with the children and each child picked which foods they wanted to eat. Many thanks to all the parents who pitched in to help with the exploring activities and plating the food according to the children's individual menus! Here are some pictures that illustrate what a great time everyone had participating in all the goings on!

The Alpha students picked the yellow squash they'd grown in their garden, then scrubbed it clean,  cut it and cooked it for the feast

They also cut strawberries which are one of their favorite types of fruit.

The Junior Kindergartners got a lot of exercise shaking cream into butter to put on the bread and corn bread that they baked.

They also cut oranges and sprinkled them with honey for a Seminole-style fruit.

In Alpha, mashing potatoes worked those upper body muscles!

Our playful parent volunteers were of great help and had their own fun.

In addition to the cooking activities, the JK children made "Native American style" clothing by coloring, hole punching and stringing beads onto paper bag vests.

The Pow- Wow room was a favorite place to visit. The children kept their beating rhythmic and in time to the music!

 

Yummy turkey snacks were created by combining crackers, peanut butter, pretzels, and a piece of candy corn.

Using flubber with fall manipulatives is an experiment with an interesting and stretchy type of matter is always exciting.

For the feast, each child was served a plate of the food they had chosen on their individual menus.

The feast was served and a thankful song sung before everyone began to eat.

It was wonderful to have so many parents with us to share the fun!

These happy faces were a reflection of how everyone felt at this communal gathering!