News Of The Day 10/11/2011

Today we...
- were very interested in Goblins after we found unidentifiable markings on the floor. These quickly became "goblin-prints" and lead to a morning of goblin investigative play! A goblin hunter office was established to study goblins and a machine was created to give them x-rays. We learned that goblins like to hide small things that they take from humans.
- read "Corgiville Fair" by Tashsa Tudor, the same author as "Pumpkin Moonshine"
- created a "Feel Better" book for our friend Zora
Outside we...
- created a new "Titanic tag" game
- were scientists at the picnic table. We studied both monsters as well a "real" creatures
- played Rapunzel

Charting the goblin prints...








Investigating the big room for evidence of goblins...








The office of goblin hunters is established...








As is the goblin x-ray machine. Watch out goblins!

Practicing reading during peaceful activities.

News Of The Day 10/10/2011

Today we...
- created with pastels and pencils
- had Espanol con Teal (pumpkin= calabaza)
- played capture Andy (the knots are getting stronger!) and jet pilot
- painted at the easel (just opened today!)
- had Math Workshop. We played addition and problem solving games.
- read "Pumpkin Moonshine" by Tasha Tudor, an old favorite of mine.
Outside we...
- went to Pomeroy (Isaac's) Park and learned a new game called Titanic. We worked from two benches, the Titanic and the Carpathia. Using a hula hoop as a life boat we had to cooperatively figure out how to rescue passengers off the Titanic and transfer them to safety on the Carpathia. The first round only one captain was elected to rescue the passengers. The second round you could only be captain on one trip. The children figured this out magnificently! We then went into the park proper and the children "played" Titanic for the next 30 minutes or so. This was amazing to see and again reinforced the importance of letting children have the time and space to play out there knowledge. Brain research states that this is how children learn, and limiting this opportunity is to actually interfere with brain development. I am grateful every day that these children show me the way...

Kindergarten Campout

What a great time and a great group!

I'm sorry that I didn't charge my camera battery.

Abby, I hope that you have more pix to come?

News Of The Day 9/15/2011

Today we...

- worked with play dough at the project table. Having play dough at the table every morning is intentional. At this point it is meant to provide stability in a time of transition. The children are beginning to know what to expect when they arrive. After some time we will start to vary the morning table activity.

- played at a "pet shop" and a "bakery". The bakery employed some "bad guys" who were, somewhat, mischievous but still served yummy treats. The pet shop took care of animals and even let the bad guys have a few!

- read "A Color of His Own", and "Little Pea", and "Cookiebot: A Harry and Horsie Adventure" which has quickly become a favorite!

- sang "rock 'n roll" versions of 'I've Been Working on the Railroad', 'Itsy Bitsy Spider', 'I'm a Little Teapot', and 'The Monkey and the Engineer'. This was VERY fun!

- went outside and got wet for about 10 minutes

We had a wonderful day. I started to see a little cross pollination out of the children's comfort friends. This group keeps me on my toes and I love it!

News Of The Day 9/12/2011

Our snails are going to be mama and papa,

or papa and mama... hmmm.

We'll research that and get back to you!

Today we discovered a grouping of small, white, round globules under the board in the snail habitat. Some quick research revealed that we had snail eggs in our habitat! Later to our delight we actually saw one of the slugs laying a batch of eggs! Imagine our excitement!

Congrats to Slimy and/or Fred. And also a shout out to the newest addition to the habitat, Little Albert, who joined the fun this past Friday afternoon.

Please feel free to do slug research at home. I'm sure that the children would love to bring in slug factoids!

News Of The Week 9/8-9

New of the Week 9/6-7

We made it! After a long summer we are so excited to be back.

This week we began our focus on the routines of the day. The key phrase here is baby-steps. It is enticing to just jump right into some big plans, but just figuring out what comes next in the day is important work right now. It will take some time to figure out who we are a

s a community of learners, and we have gotten off to a wonderful start!

Our big news of the week is the introduction of Slimy and Fred, 2 slugs, to our school. Slimey appeared mysteriously on our mud room floor this morning and captivated the group. He/she stayed inside with us for the morning and we decide

d that we wanted to create a habitat for him/her. Some quick research ensued from which we learned what we needed. Outside we went to gather material and subsequently a slimy friend. Voila! We now have a f

unctioning snail habitat living in the project room. What a great way to begin the year. The children were scientists, inquiring all along and showing such enthusiasm

and care. This makes me so excited to see where this year will take us!

***Please note

that this year I will focus on weekly more than daily news, but please check back often as I'm sure I will get jazzed to relate some exciting event!