News of the Day 10-29-2008

• During arrival some of us experimented a bit with cut paper collage. We read 'Cars and Trucks and Things That Go' (and old favorite)
  
• During Hello Meeting we sang our Hello Greeting with Hello and Hola. We also had our Slipper Greeting again and everyone was great saying good morning to each other.
  
• For Snack we ate muffins and apples (thanks Rowan's family)
  
• During Explore we had a wonderful time! First we played with the sensory table that we discovered was filled with leaves! We used different animals to play hide and seek in the leaves. We then moved on to build a railroad track. Some of us used trucks and tractors to help build the track while others moved around the tracks with trains. Then we moved on to the dramatic play area to create our own City Market. We took orders by phone and sold goods to some customers (aka Andy)
• Before going outside we sang 'Ladybug Picnic' , 'Teddy Bear Picnic', and 'Monkey...'
  
• Outside time prep can be a leeeeeeeeeengthy thing! Outside we spent much time raking leaves into a pile and then back out again. We also played runaway cookies
  
• During lunch we listened to an audio version of 'Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel' and read 'Pancakes for Breakfast
  
• what a great day!
  

News of the Day 10-28-2008

"The Fairy Casts a Spell"

• During arrival we went right to the meeting area to read 'Room on the Broom' and '10 Trick-or-Treaters' - thank you Isabel
  
• During Hello Meeting we sang our Hello Greeting using 'Hola' (Rowan pointed out that Diego says hola) and 'Jambo'. Boppy sat with us for slipper greeting to the delight of all. There is a movement afoot to get indoor shoes on the poor doggy
  
• During Explore Andy took partners into the kitchen to make some new play dough. We each added some different ingredients, including a rather large amount of food color! While we waited some of us painted and other tried on some new dramatic play clothing that Otis received from his cousins in Mass. Houses were built in the blocks and some of us handed out "candy" to others. We had a TREMENDOUS cleanup today that didn't seam to end...
  
• During Morning Meeting we were super wiggly and it was late so we had a quick New of the Day
  
• Outside we practiced spiders on the swing set and raked and raked the leaves. We also played runaway cookies
  
• Lunch and goodbye. We talked about really focusing on eating our lunch as well as talking to our friends!
  

News of the Day 10-23-2008

• During arrival we worked with the tempera paints
  
• During Hello Meeting we read "Room on the Broom' which Isabel brought in to share
  
• During Explore we had a grand trip to the beach that included some swimming in a cloth ocean and kiddie pool. Some of us also created structures in the Block Area
  
• During Morning Meeting we told our News of the Day. We read 'No David' and 'Snow Crazy'. We sand both 'Ladybug Picnic" and 'Teddybear Picnic'
  
• Outside we continued playing a game of Elena's creation called "wolf catcher". Today the leaves were wolves and the swing set continued to be a helicopter. We also packed leaves at the bottom of the slide and slid into them. Good fun! We played runaway cookies before coming inside
  
• Lunch and goodbye. We missed both Rowan and James today!
  

Pix from 10-22-08

Isaac is less than pleased with Otis's driving...









...so he gets his own steering wheel.









While Rowan...












...and Anika work at the light table.

News of the Day 10-22-2008

• During arrival we painted with sponge brushes and tempera paint
  
• During Hello Meeting we had our slipper greeting. We read the books 'Popcorn' and 'Four Fur Feet'. We sang a new song called 'Ladybug's Picnic' in addition to 'Monkey and the Engineer'
  
• For Snack we ate raisin bread and apples (thanks Isaac's family)
  
• During Explore we spent some time working on lacing projects. Otis shared his sewing apple and we also used lacing cards. Some of us then went to work in the kitchen while others pretended that the couch was a car (complete with steering wheels).
  
• Today we had our first prep for a cold outside time.... whew! When we finally got outside we tried pushing each other in the fire truck, and spent time cleaning leaves out of the sandbox. Then we ran back inside because we weren't ready for the cold!
  
• During lunch we listened to an audio version of 'Caps For Sale' and sang 'Teddy Bears Picnic'...
• We missed you today Lily!!!
  

Pix from 10-21-08

Elena...












...James ...












...Rowan...












...and Otis paint with sponge brushes.

News of the Day 10-21-2008

• During arrival we had our first experience with tempra paints this year. We used sponge brushes and primary colors to create our artwork
  
• During Hello Meeting we noticed that our friend Nico had not arrived yet. And we were relieved that Rowan had his crocs so we could do our slipper greeting!
• For Snack we had banana bread and apples (thanks Rowan's family)
  
• During Explore we spontaneously became interested in making books after Andy used the stapler for something. We made all sort of books, and Andy helped some of us write words. We also played in a block garage that Amy and Otis had left up for us. Also some of us continued a playing out a game called "Bad Fairy" in which there is a make believe fairy trying to turn all the good fairies bad in order to take over the world. There are some heavy duty words/concepts being used (kill, dead, bullets...) that we are dialoging on. Ultimately we are dissecting what makes "good" and what makes "bad". This is a fascinating and challenging conversation and I will try to keep everyone informed as to its direction.
  
• ***A powerful quote from today is when I asked "What is power?" One answer I received was "It's when you fight"...
  
• During Morning Meeting we told our News of the Day. We read 'Wow! School!', 'Planting A Rainbow', and by request 'The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything'. Andy introduced a number/quantity game
  
• No Outside time again... We spent time working with play dough and playing texture dominoes
  
• Lunch and goodbye. We read 'Elmer' and 'There's No Such Thing As Ghosts'
  

News of the Day 10-16-2008

News of the Day 10-15-2008

Pix from 10-14-08

Preparations are made for a picnic to the beach...








...James and Rowan pop popcorn...









...Otis bakes "popcorn bread"












...and Elena and Isabel dress for the occasion while Nico rolls the baby.

News of the Day 10-14-2008

• During arrival we used vehicle cookie cutters with the play dough. Otis also introduced us to a new game of his called Honey Bee Tree
  
• During Hello Meeting we were happy to notice that all 6 children were present and accounted for at the BB. We had our slipper greeting and move on...
  
• During Explore we put on our baker's caps and starting baking. We then decided that a picnic was in order and were else would we picnic but at a beach?!? So we laid out a blanket and set ourselves up. Some of us decided to use the various cubes as popcorn and popped a rather large batch! We also TOLD our News of the Day to Andy during this time so as not to take up so much time during Morning Meeting
  
• During Morning Meeting Andy recited our News of the Day. We read 2 books that Rowan brought in to share, 'Popcorn' and 'Library Mouse'.
  
• Outside I broke down to the inevitable and introduce the game Runaway Cookies. This is a game that I got from a former flame that she learned while teaching at the now defunct Deerpath preschool in Charlotte. I brought the game to The Bellwether School where it is still used in the preschool, many teacher later, and now it has entered the BB stratosphere. Ask your child to teach you how to play... Outside Time will never be the same...
  
• Lunch and goodbye. During Lunch we read 'There's No Such Thing As Ghosts' and 'My First Halloween'. This group is a sponge for books!
  

more Pix from 10-8-08

Lily and Rowan work on stacking the chairs...












...great teamwork!









Anika gets the chairs ready to put away before lunch...








Last one!!! Yeah Anika!

Pix from 10-8-08

Rowan...,











Anika...,












and Isaac all work on spreading their own hummus.

News of the Day 10-9-2008

• During arrival some of us worked with the new Peg Board while we all eventually worked at the project table drawing with markers
• During Hello Meeting we went to the "Who is at the Blue Bungalow" pocket chart to figure out how many of us were at school today and how many of us were absent. It was the first day that only 4 children were present for Hello Meeting (Isabel was out and James came in later). We had a very quick slipper greeting
  
• During Explore we all went straight to the Kitchen and Store set up and created the "Blue Bungalow Store - cafeteria. While some of us cooked, the rest of us decided to set up a picnic in the meeting area (see pix). Later we all decided to construct a marble run following the directions and after it fell Rowan thought it would be good to try to build one without following the directions.... well we tried! ;)
  
• During Morning Meeting we told our News of the Day. We continued reading from 'My Little Island"
  
• Outside we all spent much time on the swing set. We pretended that it was a helicopter and we were looking for wolves (I know, I know... a little too Palinesque!). We also kept building up the leave pile. We are REALLY getting ready to jump in it.
  
• Lunch and goodbye. We wanted to wait until Isabel returned until we read part 3 of 'Poppleton'...
  

News of the Day 10-8-2008

• During arrival we adjourned to the meeting area to read both 'Where is Mom?' and 'Four Fur Feet'. It is really quite amazing to see the collective memory of this group as they know how they want to enter the day! Lili then said "we dance to Monkey song?" and so Andy played 'Monkey and the Engineer' and a dance party ensued
  
• For Snack we ate rice cakes and apples. (thanks to Otis's family) We worked on spreading our own hummus on the rice cakes
  
• During Hello meeting the group wanted to sing our Hello Greeting using Jambo. There is a great book called 'Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book' - if anyone comes across it and feels like a BB donation, I promise I will not say no ;). We also tried our hand at a Slipper Greeting in which one slipper from each of us is place in the middle of our circle. We then take turns picking out a slipper and greeeting its owner. Everyone did great saying good morning to a friend!
  
• During Explore some of us worked hard on using the rollers on play dough to try to make FLAT pancakes. We used our muscles! Some of us loaded up our shopping carts while we were shopping and others spent time building structures in the blocks
  
• Outside while we kept up being firefighters, we also worked at getting on and pumping on the swings, loading the dump truck with sand, and stacking and unstacking chairs
  
• During lunch we worked on zipping and unzipping lunch boxes and opening our own containers
  

News of the Day 10-7-2008

• During arrival we all tried our hand at the new Peg Board that was introduced first thing
  
• During Hello Meeting we were all excited to introduce Otis's new yellow crocs (predicted by Nico) into our slipper greeting.
  
• During Explore some of us worked with the Crystal Towers (see photo above) to create cameras and rockets ships. We observed how the colors from the transparent Towers were projected onto the floor by the sun. We all became interested in the marble run for the first time this year, and we worked to follow the directions in creating a structure
  
• For snack we had pumpkin muffins and apples
  
• During Morning Meeting we told our News of the Day. Andy introduced new Dinosaur figures that we can use in the blocks
  
• Outside there was a big interest in a found worm and creating a habitat for it (while desperately not trying to sneak it into a backpack...)
  
• After Lunch we read part 2 'Poppleton' - The Library
  

News of the Day 10-2-2008

• During arrival some of us started projects using the multicolored tape dispenser. Others worked at the drawing table
  
• During Hello Meeting we tried the ball greeting again with great success. We read 'Jane and the Dragon' by request
• During Explore the new tape dispenser continued to be a big hit as we created rocket ships, houses, and a camera. Play dough was missed by some so we divided our project table in half to accommodate both interests
  
• For snack we had bananas and Tings. 1 scoop of Tings to start and 2 banana pieces
  
• During Morning Meeting we read more of 'Snakes: Biggest! Littlest! We shared our News of the Day. Otis also remembered that we hadn't done our slipper greeting (thanx Otis!...)
  
• Outside we enjoyed adding water to holes and buckets in the sandbox, creating goo and cement
• After Lunch we began off 'Poppleton' (the first Poppleton) part 1 ".

News of the Day 10-1-2008

• During arrival we experimented with the new watercolors on the project table. We then gathered in the meeting area to transition into the day by reading 'Where's My Mom?'
  
• During Hello meeting we sang our Hello greeting with the Jambo verse. Andy played 'Monkey and the Engineer' and we all danced to the music. We read 'Four Fur Feat' by request
  
• For Snack we ate muffins and oranges. (thanks to Lily's family)
• During Explore we all continue to be very interested in dramatic play in the kitchen and store while integrating the baby dolls into the play. Later on we all spent time drawing and some then working with scissors
  
• Outside some of us were very interested in being fire fighters and we also pushed each other on the different vehicles. Some of us liked to practice pushing the empty swings.
  
• During lunch we sang some verses of "If You're Happy and You Know It..." using the names of our friends and what they were eating
  

News of the Day 9-30-2008

• During arrival we spontaneously found some new snap cubes that Andy had procured and we worked together creating different designs
  
• During Hello Meeting Andy introduced a ball greeting were we greeted a friend and then tossed a soft ball to the friend. It was fun and needed some work at the same time. It was good to do another greeting where we got on our feet. We read a few pages from 'Snakes: Biggest! Littlest!' a book that Andy got from the Library. Andy also introduced a couple of new objects to the class: mirror blocks for the light table and a multi-colored masking tape dispenser
  
• During Explore we spent most of our time learning how to use and then using the different colored tape to make structures with toilet paper tubes. Some of us also used play dough
  
• For snack we had rice cakes and fresh picked Shelburne Orchard gala apples. 3 rice cakes and 4 apples to start. Later on some of us created a rocket ship in the block area
  
• During Morning Meeting we shared our News of the Day.
  
• Outside we spent much time collecting crab apples and putting them into different containers.
• After lunch we read 'Little Blue Truck'
  
• We all missed Nico today!