Field trips, gardening, games, parent gatherings and more have been happening throughout the Early Childhood Center! Each class took its first field trip to the park where the children enjoyed the chance to play on a different playground and a simple snack. The highlight of the trip, particularly for the Alpha and new JK students, was riding on our special Early Childhood Shorecrest school bus that is outfitted with 5-point harness car seats. Our driver’s ears were ringing with many renditions and verses of “The Wheels on the Bus!”
Back at school, Alpha began a study of the farm. They are learning about the crops and animals found on farms as well as the chores involved in taking care of them. After planting vegetable seeds in the garden box outside and in cups in the classroom, the children made graphs showing their predictions about which would sprout first. In Junior Kindergarten, the students continued their study of their senses and used their herbs to look at, touch, taste,and smell. They planted their vegetable garden in the playground and also started a unit on pets that will culminate with the Junior Kindergarten Pet Show on October 7.
Out on the playground, the Alpha students have been having fun with some of their fourth grade friends. The fourth graders, many of whom are our morning safety patrols, have been using their own recess time to engage with the younger children. They're being a great help as they push the children on the swings and engage them in games and pretend play.
As I visited the classrooms last week, I saw games being played in several classrooms.
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| Games reinforce skills such as listening, symbolic recognition and counting, while also teaching patience, turn taking, and sportsmanship. |
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| Working on puzzles cooperatively also enhances these skills while also teaching collaboration and visual discrimination. |
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| This game involved listening to and identifying sounds and matching the sounds to pictures. |
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| The avove picture and the ones below show you some of fun the Junior Kindergartners have been having during their Friday Exploring. |
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| We used a variety of tools to explore their imprints in paint. It was also an experiment in color as the paints overlapped and mixed with each other. |
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| The children never tire of shaving cream They delight in its feel and exercise their fingers as they expore what they can do with it. |
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| Making puppets and using them in the special theater was a new experience that integrated creativity with exploration of shadows. |
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| The translucent blocks allowed the students to build creatively while experimenting with light and color. |
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| They painted boxes one week |
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| and used them as blocks the next. |
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| Tubes, chutes, balls and cars were used to create ramps and experiment with incline and speed. |
A large number of Alpha and Junior Kindergarten parents joined me for this year’s first EC Parent Chat. It was a lively discussion as the parents shared their concerns and suggestions on dealing with a myriad of issues including morning tears, ensuring that every child in the family has individual time with parents, when and how many organized activities outside of school are appropriate for preschoolers and how to get your children to talk about their days at school. Two topics suggested for the next chat were dealing with challenging stages and choosing relevant consequences. We will meet again on Wednesday, November 2 at 8:15 am in the Student Activity Center.
