January

January 3^rd

We love Ohio-especially the weather! The children loved exploring the property and noting all the changes that were occurring-from the colors of the leaves to the drop in temperature (especially in the morning) to the antics of the squirrels and chipmunks (and the birds) as they looked for food. The early snowstorms we have had also provided us with the opportunity to further extend our understanding of earth sciences as we compared the differences between the way the ground sounded as we walked through the leaves and the snow and how the garden looked before and after it snowed as well as providing opportunities to discuss what the animals do in the winter time. We even got to explore how the leaves and the snow felt on our bodies as we sat in the leaves and the snow and made leaf and snow angels.

The children have also extended their knowledge of basic mathematical and scientific concepts through observation and group interactions. Several children discovered that constructing a system of pylons to place by the end of a large construction tube would allow the ball-or sled ( a wooden block) to continue on a straight trajectory rather than veer off course. Other students have been counting everything in the classroom, from the number of students (and teachers) that are present to the number of dots on someone’s socks. They have begun integrating this newly discovered knowledge into their active play, pretending to be owl babies who are waiting patiently at night for the mommy owl to come and feed them, caring for “sick” or “injured” classmates, and fixing the robots that arrived as a late Christmas present for Ms. Sara.

Need help finishing those belated holiday cards or those thank-you notes? Just ask the preschoolers! They have been very excited about their discovery that they can write their names (as well as the names of all their classmates) and have been working hard to master such skills as eye-hand coordination, task perseverance, willingness to try new activities and of course an understanding of the formation of letters and the alphabet that will be extremely useful in future endeavors. Over the past  few weeks, the preschoolers have also been very interested in assisting Ms. Sara to not only to write their own daily reports but to plan learning experiences and create new works (activities) for the classroom and to complete their own conference forms.

Please remember to note what time your child has arrived or been picked up on the weekly time sheet –especially if your teacher has not yet entered the building or has finished teaching for the day. This is important not just for our records but assists your child to master an understanding of how time is measured

The children excitedly ask questions about the owls that came to visit in November