Welcome to Marie's Class

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year!

Maria Montessori said, "The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences." I feel it is a tremendous privilege to prepare an environment to meet your child's developmental needs. I look forward to a year of exploration and discovery!

Warmly,
Marie

Feel free to email me at:
Marie@traversechildrenshouse.org

Week of January 31, 2012

Developing the whole child is at the core of the Montessori Philosophy. This means that there are opportunities for all five senses to be engaged and developed. Offering "open" art activities (an example is blank paper not coloring pages) to your children in the classroom offers them a chance to be creative and also the opportunity to grow their visual discrimination. Art is always available in our classroom such as our tray with a blank piece of paper to paint on, our easel has 3-dimensional colorful triangle magnets to arrange, and there is a small chalk board with chalk they can doodle on. This past week to add to your children's art experience I brought in a bucket of snow that we then proceed to take food coloring and drop it on the snow with eye droppers. They children were enthralled in watching the snow go from white to seeing splashes of red, blue, and green.

We enjoyed lots of time outdoors this week with the warmer temperatures we've been having! It's thrilling to see how many of our friends are dressing themselves 100% to go outdoors! They have such a look of accomplishment when they finish this trying task.

Smoothies were our tasty cooking project this week. The children truly enjoy scooping the ingredients into the blender and then watching the new color that forms when we turn the blender on and everything is mixed together. They delectable treat is an added bonus when we are finished!

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."  Pablo Picasso

Week of January 23, 2012

Week of January 16, 2012

Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, French Horn, and Piano. These were the instruments the your children were delighted to hear some visiting Interlochen students play. The children seemed to be taken by the beautiful sound that they were hearing. I think that they were also amazed to be hearing and seeing these instruments right in front of them because we do an activity in the classroom with the ipod where we listen to the instrument and then point to the picture and name what we are hearing. The "real thing" is always better!

For our baking project this week we made pancakes. The children are getting quite good at being so careful measuring the ingredients and tapping the eggs so carefully that they don't smash every where. The real astonishment still comes when they are watching something cook and seeing go from this "goo" looking substance into pancakes! Their faces are always full of pleasure as they eat the snack that they prepared.

The toddler years are a time when language is being absorbed from what they hear around them and in turn it explodes out from them! This week many children have been sharing new words and some are even growing into sentences. Our environment in our classroom and around our campus is rich with language! It is so important to be intentional when speaking with our young friends because they are making lasting impressions into their brains on what things are and what they mean. I encourage you to take the time and slow down when speaking with your child. Be descriptive when you see a bird and say "That's a Cardinal" instead of just a bird. Also if your asking your child to do something be specific and say "Please put your toys here in this basket" instead of "Put your toys away". You will be amazed by their reception of what you say to them!

"Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Week of January 9, 2012

We are back in to "full swing" in our classroom! I was delighted to see how the children came back seeming well rested and refueled. They all fell right back into the routine of the classroom with out skipping a beat!

With the lovely weather we've been having we have taken full advantage of it by taking walks around our outdoor campus. The children seem to be quite taken with the snow right now because they can walk on top of it instead of sinking up to their hips! To the delight of your children our Primary friends so kindly shoveled a nice path for us to be able to follow over to visit our friends Oreo the rabbit.

For our cooking project this week we made home made noodles for soup. The children enjoyed blending the ingredients to make the dough for the noodles. Rolling the dough out took a lot of muscle but several children were eager to help so the task was accomplished! We used a pizza cutter to slice the dough into thin strips before we dropped the dough into the water. It was quite the process - but that is the important part of working with children! The process and not the product is the where the learning takes place! The noodles did turn out to be quite delicious!

We continue to focus on the language and action of dressing for the winter weather outdoors. Simple language like "pull" "pinch" and "push" are sometimes just what is needed when describing to a child how to dress themselves. Offering an area that they can hold onto something for support yet at the same time providing enough space for the them to wiggle into their clothing is important too.  

Week of December 12, 2011

It is bizarre to believe that our Winter Break is upon us! We have enjoyed learning some holiday songs in our class room over the past few weeks. You may have been hearing these or something like these songs at home. A few of the titles are "Jingle Bells", "Deck the Halls", "Light the Menorah" and "Silent Night". I think the "Fa la la la la" in "Deck the Halls" is the children's favorite!

With out having snow yet we are still able to freely walk around our outdoor campus. The other morning was drizzly but a few of us decided to pull on our rain boots and venture out. Usually on our walks I talk about what we are seeing and answer the many "Why" questions the children have but on this particular walk the children were silent. I'm sure the thought of toddlers being silent is hard to grasp but when they are truly engaged by their surroundings it happens. Each of the children were walking slowly noticing different things like the rain drops that were forming drips on the fence, the empty chicken coop, and looking under rocks for worms. They didn't say anything to each other. They just each had a specific journey in mind.

This week we were working a little extra with modeling the children a kind way to let a friend no they were using a work instead of using the very loud "MINE" that they like bellow out. I would politely say to them "You know I like to tell my friends "I'm using this ____ right now." It's amazing when you model something with a smile and not a reprimand how the children then choose what is being modeled.

I wish you all a very delightful Winter Break! As always thank you with all my heart for sharing your children with me!

"Work and live to serve others, to leave the world a little better than you found it and garner for yourself as much peace of mind as you can. This is happiness." -David Sarnoff

Week of December 5, 2011

Kopytka. This was our tasty cooking project this week. It is a Polish recipe that makes potato dumplings. The children were thrilled that we were turning our "play dough" as they thought it was into our snack! We rolled it out into a very long snake like line and then sliced it into section to drop into the boiling water to cook. Voila! We got to enjoy palatable snack.

Throughout the year here at The Children's House, our children are given the opportunity for numerous unique experiences. This week we had a flutist and a guitar player from the Interlochen Arts Academy perform at the school in The Barn. It was a beautiful gathering of the whole school! They played music from Brazil and also some European dance music. The children were captivated for the first couple of songs. I was fascinated to watch the expressions on their faces as they listened to this live music that must have been delicious to their ears.

This week we have been concentrating on carrying items whether it be plates, cups, bowls, or works from the shelves/cupboards with two hands. So often out of excitement or wanting to do something else the children are moving quickly with many things. Having them slow down and concentrate on one task at a time builds their focus and also helps develop their sequencing. It also leads to the beautiful lesson of taking care of items because some when they hit the floor break. Yet again as we are guiding the child we adults are reminded too that we need to model slowing down....

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."
Eddie Cantor 

Week of November 28, 2011

I hope everyone enjoyed a delectable feast and wonderful family time over Thanksgiving! I'm sure for many of you it was fascinating to see what new foods your child would try this year.

This week for our cooking project we made Sweet Potato Fries. The children enjoyed taking turns chopping the sweet potatoes into slices, then we added butter and sea salt while they were frying in our skillet. I was amazed at the attention span of your children as we sat and watched/listened to the sweet potatoes cook. It took over 15 minutes but they were just content to see the process through!

As the weather grows colder and we aren't able to go outside as easily it reminds me that this fact does not change the toddler's desire and need to move! Our environment allows for freedom of movement as the children choose their activities and then have to take them to a rug or a table. When they are finished they have to move more to put it back. Our Practical Life area of the classroom has a plethora of ways to move with scrubbing, sweeping, carrying "so carefully", dressing oneself to list a few. I am encouraged and I hope you are too to think of ways to keep your children moving and therefore their cognition growing.

Although we do have plenty of ways to move in the classroom getting outside even though its chillier is still important! The dressing process alone is another step in growing independence for your child. Please take time to explore the outdoors in all of our seasons. We do live in Michigan and so we never know what to expect when we walk out the door!

"Since it is through movement that the will realises itself, we should assist a child in his attempts to put his will into act."
~Maria Montessori 

Week of November 14, 2011

"Look around and you will see community a family
We're together we are friends."

This is a little song we sing before we eat at school. You may have heard something like this sung by your child at home. I think it is a short and sweet song that really captures the essence of our school community. This week when some friends from our classroom were on a walk together we came across some children from Elementary and Primary helping Steve with some Community Service. They were raking leaves on wheel barrowing them to the compost. Your children were excited to jump in and help! The older children were showing them how to rake and where to put the leaves. I was so grateful to watch the multi-age work together very naturally and not intimidated by one another.

Our cooking project this week was fresh salsa and quesadillas. We enjoyed chopping (and tasting) green peppers, onion, garlic, and cucumber. We took these veggies with tomatoes and put it all in the food processor to watch it get chopped up. It was quite delicious to enjoy fresh salsa so close to winter!

One other project we took on this week was making a scarecrow. The children seemed perplexed as to why we would stuff leaves into some pants and a shirt but they were great helpers. When we finished and then assembled our pieces some children thought he looked hilarious and others were not fond of these peculiar looking friend.

I wanted to say thank you to those of you who were able to make it to conferences! It was nice to sit down and talk face to face with you about your child. I also wanted to say thank you to those of you who bought books at the Horizon Book day! Books are a hot commodity in our classroom. 

Week of October 31, 2011

This week we continued to learn more about Poland. We learned the names of cow (krowa), pig (swinia), chicken (kurczak), and ram (baranek). Our friend Agnes shared a ram made from grass that they use as an Easter decoration in Poland. Your children enjoyed holding what was grass but mysteriously shaped as a ram.

Our food prep/baking project this week was banana strawberry smoothies. The children enjoyed adding the strawberries and bananas. They also were wonderful helpers in scooping the yogurt into the blender. We topped it with some orange juice and pushed the button to see everything mixing together so fast! The children got the benefit of some good anti-oxidents but also enjoyed a most tasteful snack!

The Practical Life area of our classroom is quite popular with your children. In this area they are given child sized items/activities to practice doing what they see us adults doing. Washing dishes, sweeping, dusting, polishing, food preparation, and plant watering are a very few of the activities they can "try out". This week scrubbing the table has been taken on by most of the children. This activity is sensorial with the feel of the water and scent of the soap but its also a gross motor activity as they need to go back and forth to the sink to get water. They also put a lot or "arm muscle" into scrubbing the table to make it "shine so clean"! I encourage you to have these types of activities at home that your child can help you with. They get a feeling of such great accomplishment when they are able to help!

"Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment." Maria Montessori 

Week of October 24, 2011

To continue our exploration of the Polish culture, we have been looking at some pictures of adults and children from Poland that are dressed in traditional Polish clothes. We also have been examining small wooden eggs that are painted with brilliant colors and designs called pisanki (sounds like pysanky). The children have been captivated by the eggs so we decided to make a larger pisanki for our room. The children enjoyed taking turns painting on the egg and when it was dry, I painted a few designs on it.

With the cold weather ever present this week we made a vegetable soup for snack. We sliced carrots, green peppers, onion, and celery. We added some curry and rice to finish off our delectable dish. The curry was definitely an unusual new taste for some but the process of making the soup and exposing them to new tastes are the important parts.

I am sure you have all become familiar with the word "mine" coming from your toddler. If not, I am sure at some point you will. It is a step in their cognitive development for them to verbalize this and with zeal. This week it has been a frequent phrase in our classroom. This word provides us with the wonderful opportunity to introduce the concept of waiting your turn. Both of these concepts take a few years to master. What I might say to a friend that is taking a work from another friend is "It looks like my friend Suzie's hands are using the beading work. When you see that it is back on the shelf you can have a turn." Instead of stopping short with "Wait your turn" I give the language that they are familiar with and they can visualize what I am saying. This helps our friends be successful because they think in pictures at this stage of development.

Week of October 17, 2011

We started off our school wide cultural study this past week on Poland. I know you might find it hard to believe that your young children could learn anything about another culture but they can! Our friend Agnes from our toddler wing is from Poland. She came in during our group time and shared some items from her home country. A wooden bird, a Polish toy that as you swing a ball on a string it makes a bird peck, and a book that has various animals and their names in Polish. I also showed the children on our map where Poland is. We will continue to use our senses to explore the culture of Poland over the next several weeks.

We had two baking projects this last week. We enjoyed mixing up pancake batter and raspberry muffins. The children enjoyed adding the ingredients to our bowl and then helping to stir it. The sweet aroma of these baking projects was a gift to our classroom!

As Autumn is upon us, the weather has made its change to colder temperatures. I enjoy our changing seasons for many reasons but it is especially nice for our classroom because the change in weather leads to new learning opportunities. This week we have been working on "up and over" to get our coats on to go outdoors. This is a "trick" that allows the children to put their coats on themselves. What we do is line their hood up at their toes (if you're able to lay the coat on a low table or chair it helps) and have them put their arms in and then they pull the coat up and over their head. This seems especially fun for the children and it is yet another step they can do by themselves.

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. "
~Stanley Horowitz

Week of October 10, 2011

Care of self is important part of our classroom. Learning to dress oneself, eat with utensils, put on shoes, and wipe a drippy nose are a couple of the first skills we practice. Having items that help the children be successful encourages this part of their development as they already have the natural "Do it myself" mindset. With the Cold season among us tissues are a necessity! In our classroom this last week we have been working on placing a tissue over our nose, pinching, and then pulling instead of wiping which ends up on arms, cheeks, and in eyes.

We had an extra special treat this week! Our friend Anders brought in his family's juicer and some apples so that we could make apple cider. The children seem to be quite taken by how the apple went in an apple and juice came out the bottom and this interesting looking mush came out the side. The children were delighted with this delicious sweet drink!

This stunning weather that we have been having has given us many opportunities to enjoy our outdoor campus. The children enjoyed carrying some of our stale bread out to the ducks and chickens. We then moved on to the flower garden where we enjoyed tipping rocks over to see what might be living under them. Lucky for us we found centipedes and large earthworms. We had a few brave friends that were excited to hold the cold squirmy worm and we also had many who didn't want to even come close to the worm!

"To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely."
Maria Montessori 

Week of October 3, 2011

The simple phrase "Follow the child" made by Maria Montessori has come to mind more times this week than usual. I have a few examples of circumstances that I want to share with you.

While walking to the kitchen to get snack one of our friends, who is 22 months, said to me and our other friends "Follow me" so we did and he guided us down to the kitchen with a very proud smile on his face. I saw two friends across the room dumping out the basket of blocks and before I could get there they started picking them up and putting them back in the basket. They continued to carry out this process of dumping and picking up for another 9 times. Then they walked away with an expression of fulfillment.

While outside on the playground, a friend who is 19 months came and grabbed my hand and said "See! See!" and was very adamant that I follow him up the hill. When we got up there he got his face down inches from the ground and when I got down there, I saw what he is fascinated by. The ants were working very hard to haul dirt out of their hole to build a nest. More friends gathered to see what was so interesting. We enjoyed watching these ants and talking about them for about 20 minutes.

In these instances, it is so important to step back and follow/watch instead of jumping to the immediate reaction of "No I'll lead you to the kitchen.", "Stop dumping the blocks." or "Not now." When we follow the child, we get to slow down to their pace and help them develop confidence and concentration by affirming what it is that they are feeling lead to do. They learn more in these moments than what we will ever know, but the expression of fulfillment on their faces speaks loudly!

"By virtue of being born to humanity, every human being has a right to the development and fulfillment of his potentialities as a human being."
Ashley Montagu

Week of September 26, 2011

Gourds! These have been an exciting exploration item in our classroom this week. I bought a few unique gourds and Angie brought some in from her garden for the children to look at. They have been enjoying scrubbing them, feeling them (comparing smooth and bumpy-heavy and light), and carrying them around in the class. One friend even liked one so much we found that she had put it in her bag to take home!

Our snack time is such an important time of day for your children. It is a great time to learn grace and courtesy such as waiting for your turn for food, using utensils to eat, passing the bowl of food to other friends, amongst other examples. It is also a great time to try new foods, experience new smells, learn new language and feel new textures. Our cooking project this week was making couscous. The children weren't quite sure at first but once they took that first brave bite they found that they were quite delighted to eat this new food. We also enjoyed a new vegetable called gherkins. Not only did the children enjoy these but they also enjoyed saying this new word!

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." ~Stacia Tauscher

Week of September 19, 2011

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colours are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever before." ~Elizabeth Lawrence

The above quote reminds me of my observations of your children this week. There were several children this week who were consumed so thoroughly into our dish washing activity that they were oblivious to the rest of the classroom. I witnessed a child who for at least a half hour washed dishes. (If only dish washing were still this thrilling to us!) He would do exactly what I had showed him to do by taking a dirty item from the cart, wash it with the scrub brush, rinse it and then put it in the drying rack. I wish I knew what was going on in their brain at these moments of intense concentration! Is it the smell of lavender from the dish soap? Could it be the feel of the warm water on their hands? Is it the way when you scrub the dish that bubbles form? I will never know what is so intriguing but I do know that the child is immensely happy by the priceless smile on their face as they continue on with their work.

The weather was a bit rainy this week but this just made way for an opportunity to experience something new. Our friends who brought in rain gear enjoyed a walk outdoors with me to the gardens. Of course the children enjoyed walking (stomping) through the puddles. They also enjoyed finding earthworms that had emerged from the soil and snails that had come out to wet their skin. We stopped in the flower garden to take a look at a spider web that was wet with mist. The children seemed quite fascinated with the way the web appeared quite boldly with the water on it. A friend did decide to take a swing at the web with his hand which we then learned that the web is fragile and that fragile things break. (A great lesson to learn!)

I hope you enjoy your weekend experiencing "life lessons" with your child.
 

Week of September 12, 2011

We discovered several creatures this week during our time outdoors. A very slimy black frog lives in our drain hole along with several squirmy earthworms. With the mornings being chilly we have found butterflies that are too cold to fly which leaves a wonderful up close viewing opportunity for us. Pill bugs (aka Roly Polys) with all their tiny little white legs and the interesting way they roll up into a ball has been another creature we have enjoyed observing. By finding these special creatures from nature, we've been given the opportunity to talk about being gentle because these creatures are fragile.

For our cooking project this week we made quesadillas. We took time to shred the block of cheese ourselves. Your children were quite amazed at how the cheese was shredded by the grater! They would look from the block of cheese and the down into the bowl with a look of astonishment. We then sprinkled the cheese onto the tortillas and put them on the griddle waiting patiently for the cheese to melt. The children thought that this snack was quite delectable. I think they enjoy snack much more because they are apart of making it!

"One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child." -Maria Montessori

Week of September 5, 2011

As I find that we are at the end of our first week of class I am a little astonished that it has been only one week. Your children have acclimated quickly to the classroom! It is wonderful to see that they are already comfortable engaging with each other and the materials/activities available to them.

Listening to animal sounds and matching them with the right picture has been quite popular. This activity provides not only more vocabulary for your child's growing language but also lots of joy! It is with great excitement that your children will call out the sound or picture of the animal when it is seen or heard.

Walks around campus have also been a big focus this week. These walks provide a wonderful sensorial experience. Tasting organic cherry tomatoes right off the vine, feeling the wet dew on their feet, and learning names of flowers in the garden like chrysanthemum are just a few ways that your child's mind is engaged on our walks.

Enjoy your weekend!

"Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment." Maria Montessori

Week of July 25, 2011

Wow! I can't believe we are half way through summer! We have been so busy exploring/discovering in our classroom that the days go by very fast!

Your children have been so helpful maintaining our garden outside our classroom by helping water and push the wheel barrow with our clippings to the compost pile. Last week we finally got to enjoy some of the fruits of our labor....two large yellow squash were ready to harvest. We use these to make a stir fry.

We have taken many walks around campus to explore and also to help harvest out of the large production garden. Sugar snap peas, beans, cherry tomatoes, and a variety of beautiful flowers have been picked and then brought back to our classroom to enjoy.

I love being able to provide the opportunity for your children to see the cycle of planting, watering, pruning, and harvesting. Exposing them to this cycle helps them gain a better understanding of their world, in the sense that items aren't "just there". It takes work (that is fun) to have an enjoyable snack/meal. It is also amazing that they are more likely to try new tastes if they are apart of the harvesting or food preparation.

"Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment." Maria Montessori

Week of June 27, 2011

Summer is well under way in our Toddler Classroom! We have been taking advantage of our nice days with plenty of outdoor activities. Using turkey basters in the water table, painting with water on the concrete, and gardening are a few of the favorite activities outdoors.

Our great friend Reed Zitting has kindly finished our loft in the classroom. The children have been enjoying practicing walking up and down the steps. It is quite adorable when they reach the top platform where there is a mirror hanging on the wall. They delightfully adorn a great big smile of accomplishment of themselves for climbing all those stairs!

We have been busy with our food prep/cooking projects. The lemon pancakes have been a favorite! Using a food processor, we have mixed together cottage cheese, eggs, lemon juice and zest, flour, and a little sugar as ingredients for a delightful snack. Our cooking projects/food prep are such an important part of our classroom because they offer the children a chance to engage all of their senses: using their hands to rub the lemon on the grater and then smelling the sweet aroma of the lemon, listening to the very loud food processor and then how quiet it is when we shut it off. These things are easily taken for granted by the adult but for the child it is an amazing experience!

"It is true that we cannot make a genius. We can only give to teach child the chance to fulfill his potential possibilities." Maria Montessori

Week of May 30, 2011

Our expansion of the playground has been a big hit! The children enjoy going up and over the hill and building with the logs leftover from the posts. I wish I could have bottled the excitement they had when they first came outside and noticed the new part of the playground

Thyme, basil, beans, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, rosemary, and zucchini are the plants that we have growing in our garden box now. The children enjoyed digging in the soil to insert the plants and of course the most enjoyment came from watering them! We will look forward to doing baking projects with our veggies and herbs this summer for those who will be at school.

Thank you to all of you who made it for our picnic Wednesday night! It turned out to be a beautiful evening.

Here we go into the last week of school...the year has been delightful! I have enjoyed every second I have had with your children. I am truly grateful to be a part of all of your lives!

"I do it for the joy it brings, cause I'm a joyful girl. 'Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world." ~Ani Difranco

Week of May 23, 2011

A turtle shaped pipe, an instrument made out of goat toe nails, pictures of volcanoes, and talk of the Andes Mountains. Can you guess what our special guest Juliette Schultz came to talk about this week? Ecuador! The children were chanting "Ecuador!" with excitement whenever Juliette showed us something more about this fascinating country.

Walks around the campus continue to be quite popular. We enjoyed finding two new friends this week out with the chickens. An Indian runner duck and a Peking duck. Both of these ducks are quite intriguing to look at because they don't look like a typical duck. One is white with a "fro" of white fluff on the top of its head. They other is a brownish black but it is extremely long and slender.

New flowers continue to sprout up in the gardens. Lilacs, Irises, Bleeding heart, and Apple blossoms are a few new names of flowers we've been learning. We enjoyed snipping a few to bring into the classroom to practice our flower arranging skills. The children were delighted to create gorgeous bouquets and then choose a special spot to place them in our classroom! Our classroom has been very fragrant!

I will look forward to seeing those of you who are joining us here at school Saturday for our project of extending the fence. For all the rest who are travelling I hope for safe travels and sunny weather!

Week of May 16, 2011

Children are continually trying to soak in more and more about the world they live in. Our toddler friends enjoy asking the infamous "Why?" question frequently in order to gather more information.

This week in our classroom conversation amongst the children with each other and the adults has been extremely popular. As the "Why?" questions have come up, I answer them a few times and then to engage their brains in a new way I ask them "What do you think?". For instance, a friend and I were reading a book about the grocery store and she asked why the children in the book were at the store and instead of giving my explanation I asked her if she ever goes to the store with her family.

After looking at me perplexed to why I'd ask her a question she gave me a lengthy explanation about buying cantaloupe, gummy bears, hummus, and crackers at Oryana. It is easy to get caught up in the mundane and give quick answers to children but give a try at answering them with a question. I'm sure you'll enjoy the answers they come up with!

This week for our baking project we made Banana Yogurt Muffins with granola on top. There was much confusion about why we were using yogurt in the batter instead of eating out of bowls but once the muffins were finished and they got to enjoy their delectable treat they were delighted!

We are looking forward to having grandparents or special friends join us next Friday for Grandparents here at the school. Please look over the Tuesday note for details on the day (making special note that the campus closes at 12:00 that day and there will not be lunch.)

Week of May 9, 2011

To continue our conversations about Ecuador every week I bring in a new item from the collection that Jen Harris (our cultural studies coordinator) has gathered. A hat made from the fur of an alpaca was our item this week. I wasn't sure if the children would be frightened of this massive puff ball or if they would be intrigued by it. To all of our pleasure they loved it. They put it on (which I took some adorable pictures) and they petted it as if it was an alpaca there in our classroom with us!

We had a group of Elementary friends and Steve come down to help us this week fill our raised garden bed so that we can plant our vegetable plants in soon. One of the many things that is beautiful about The Children's House is how frequently we have the crossover of ages. It is delightful to watch these older children be so patient as they teach and help your children with activities! It instills in our toddler friends that bigger children are not scary or intimidating. It also shows the older children how capable the smaller children are.

Our baking project this week was homemade pita pockets. Delicious! We filled them with a few veggies and hummus. It was a hit!

Week of May 2, 2011

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." ~Hans Christian Andersen

This quote reminds me of our week. The children are so grateful to be out in the sunshine! They do feel free and they are enjoying all the flowers blooming forth their beautiful colors!

On Monday we celebrated May Day here at The Children's House. We enjoyed seeing and hearing some Interlochen students playing their cellos and violins while our Primary friends danced with their ribbons around the May Pole. With the beautiful sunshine that we've been enjoying it was a very joyous May Day celebration this year.

I introduced a new activity this week of language and matching. I took pictures of the various artworks and wall hangings around our room, put ribbon on them, and hung nails by them. I then would present a child with a picture and ask them to go and find this wall hanging around our classroom to match them. There was a lot of concentration exuded by the children as they really studied the room to find these familiar pictures.

I wanted to extend a thank you to all of you who participated in The Gala in whatever way you did! It was a beautiful event!

Week of April 25, 2011

This week, we have been taking walks venturing out into our gardens here at The Children's House. We have seen the daffodils blooming and we see that the tulips are about ready to make their appearance. We also spent time tipping over rocks to see if anything might live under them. To our delight we found centipedes, earth worms, and potato bugs (rolly pollies). The children practiced being gentle as they held these new found creatures in their hands.

For our cooking project, we made Guasacaca which is a dip that is used in Venezuela. The children enjoyed chopping the red and green peppers, tomatoes, and cilantro. The children were quite impressed that inside the avocado was a "ball". I let them know that this was the pit which contains a seed for more avocados to grow. We then looked at the green pepper seeds and the tomato seeds. They seem to be perplexed that these were all seeds but they looked different from each other. I explained that the seeds look different just like the vegetables look different from each other. This answer seems to have satisfied their minds.

I hope to see you at the Gala this Friday evening!

"We must support as much as possible the child's desire for activity; not wait on him, but educate him to be independent."

Week of April 18, 2011

So the snow is back.... The children don't seem to be very enthused with the playground being covered again by the white stuff! I wonder if they think that we put it out there for them when we want? It would be amazing to be inside their minds wouldn't it? We did enjoy rolling two very large snowballs in the attempt at making a snowman, but I think they enjoyed eating the snow and smashing the snowball more than creating a "man" out it.

Our friend Rookie the dwarf hamster has been a busy guy this week. We have put him into his ball to run around the classroom. The children laugh hysterically at him as he bustles about and then "plunk" runs into the wall or a shelf. Then he just starts back up and runs the other way. When Rookie is in his ball it also gives the children an opportunity to see him up close. They truly do enjoy this little fellow.

This week for our cooking project we peeled boiled eggs (getting their fingers ready for Easter) and then made deviled eggs. It seemed to be a hit with their taste buds because they devoured them!

I hope for safe travels if you are enjoying Easter elsewhere and I hope for some sunshine for those Egg hunts!

Week of April 11, 2011

"Catilina Madalina, hoopa stina, walla dina, oka poka loka, was her name." Is a line out of one of the new songs that we are learning in our classroom. What a mouthful for our toddler friends to try to say! But they are really enjoying the funny sounding words. There are three other songs we are learning so if you hear new language from your child this week it could be from one of our new songs.

Tzatziki, a condiment or dip, is what we made for our cooking project this week. The children always enjoy the cooking process especially when we use the food processor! After we were done making our dip the children were delighted to try this tasty snack by spreading it on some multigrain crackers. I believe it was quite a unique taste for many of the children. Which would make sense because of the mix of ingredients that included Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, mint leaves, dill, and salt. It is always a good idea to introduce new tastes because your child may surprise with the variety that they do enjoy!

Ecuador is the new country of focus school wide here at The Children's House. We talked this week about where on the map Ecuador is and we also read a book about a tortoise, a blue-footed booby, and a land iguana who live the Galapagos Islands that are apart of Ecuador.

Over all, a lot of new language was introduced this week. A big focus of our classroom is to continually develop the language of your children.

"It is true that we cannot make a genius. We can only give to teach child the chance to fulfil his potential possibilities." ~Maria Montessori

Week of April 4, 2011

The birds are singing outdoors and inside our classroom. With spring seeming to have officially arrived we have added bird songs to our listening to activities in our classroom. I have beautiful pictures of 28 different birds and the song they sing plays on our ipod as we look at their picture. Out on our playground we have also been identifying the birds as we see them come back from their winter vacation.

Our Bantum chickens are back roaming the school grounds now that the snow is gone. I have been bringing our friend Pickles the chicken to our playground so the children have a chance to pet and see our feathery friend up close. As I hold her the children joyfully pet admire her and pet her silky feathers. Quite the giggles explode out of them when she starts clucking as if she is also happy to be visiting with them!

I hope you all enjoyed spring break but I am very glad to see all of your children back at school. As always thank you for sharing them with me!

Week of March 21, 2011

At the beginning of the week, were busy raking woods chips back over by our climber and raking the grass. Now we are back to shoveling snow!!! We had quite a pile of snow the children before we had the melt a few weeks ago that the children were call "the mountain". After it melted away they kept asking "Where's the mountain?" To their delight it was back today!

This week we have enjoyed taking trips down to Primary to visit Melissa's room (who has ducklings) and Julie's room (who has chicks). Not only is this a great opportunity to see these animals up close but it is also a great experience to see the older classrooms and children. I love to stand back and watch as a student from the room comes to the door to greet us and then bring us over to the animals. They take time to explain some facts to the children about these animals and also to state the important rules about care taking for these animals. This interaction of our children is a wonderful learning experience for all.

For those of you venturing off for Spring Break...enjoy!!!

Week of March 14, 2011

Sunshine! We have been enjoying our time outdoors this week! I'm sure this has been apparent by the mudding clothes coming home....I love the amazement expressed on the children's faces as they walk out and see the sand box and other items on the playground reappear after being covered for months by snow!

We also were fortunate to partake in the culmination celebration of our study of Ethiopia. We enjoyed gathering in the barn with Primary and the Elementary classes to taste Injera (a type of bread made from teff) and avocado which are two common foods eaten in Ethiopia. We also enjoyed a slide show of pictures that were taken by the team of runners who ran across Ethiopia. I still enjoy every time when I hear one of our friends say "Ethiopia". What a tricky word to have in their vocabulary!

This week we made whole grain waffles. The children enjoyed mixing up the ingredients to make our batter but I think they were amazed most that this liquidy substance went in the waffle iron and came out.....WAFFLES!!! It truly is the simple processes and every day activities that are what our children learn the most from.

"The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Week of February 28, 2011

A child develops through personal effort and engagement......It is through this hidden inner labor that a child's reason is developed." Maria Montessori

This week our classroom has been full of "personal effort and engagement". The children are so comfortable choosing their work and flowing through the classroom looking for an activity or material to concentrate on. A few of the activities that your children have been working with frequently this week are the socket wrench, spooning into jars, flour sifting, table scrubbing, mopping, watering the classroom plants, polishing the classroom plant leaves, amongst others. I am so fortunate to be able to observe the reasoning and questioning that is expressed on their faces as the work so diligently at these meaningful tasks that we as adults find mundane.

Carline....I know that carline can be confusing as to when to go and where. With Primary and Elementary also coming and going at the same time it is an interesting time of day! I just wanted to make a couple notes about the flow of this process as reminders. Pull up to the orange cone outside of the Toddler doors or line up behind the cars that are pulled up to the cone. Allow cars that are pulling onto Primary and Elementary to go around you. You may need to wait to pull up to toddler as to be able to parallel park evenly in a way that others can get by. I appreciate your attentiveness and patience with this!

Week of February 21, 2011

We took named a new country on our world map this week. The United States of America. In celebration of President's Day we have been learning the song "America the Beautiful". On Monday we enjoyed gathering in the Barn with our Elementary and Primary friends as they got to tell everyone about the President's they had been studying. As a culmination we sang "America the Beautiful" together. It's quite fascinating to watch some of the children go up to our map and say "China, Ethiopia, and America".

I brought in some local honey this week for our baking project. As we were mixing up our batter for our honey biscuits I gave each child their own spoon with a little honey. We talked about it being sticky and sweet. We also talked about how bees make the honey. In our language area we have insect matching and there is a figure of a bee and a picture of the bee. One of the children made this connection and was quite proud of themselves that they found what made the honey!

Again, it was an enjoyable evening at our Parent Information class last Friday night! I hope those of you who could attend walked away feeling that it was also enjoyable.  

Week of February 14, 2011 

The sight of something out of place seems to represent a kind of stimulus, a call to activity. But without doubt it is also something more. Order is one of the needs of life which, when it is satisfied, produces a real happiness." Maria Montessori

The above quote reminds me of our classroom this week. The children have been putting their work back where it goes and if they see a friend putting something where it doesn't belong, they walk up to them and let them know where it should go. During our group time, I have seen children get up and leave. I start to call them back but catch myself. I can see they are leaving to fix something that is crooked on the shelf or slightly out of place. One child was quite frustrated and I was trying to figure out why. Finally he walked me over to an area in the classroom, pointed at a work, and then brought it to the area of the classroom where it used to be. As Maria Montessori said, the children do have a love for order, it just may look different than ours as adults.

We have really been enjoying the lovely weather we have had this week! We have been talking about spring and noticing that some of our flowers by the building have started to pop through the soil. Hopefully they take their time because who knows what the next week's weather will bring.

I look forward to seeing those of you for our Toddler learning experience this Friday evening!

Week of February 7, 2011

This week has been treacherously cold out! This has kept us from enjoying the outdoors so we brought some of the outdoors in. I enjoy watching these young ones as they explore the snow. Whether they're packing it together to make a snow ball or eating it, they are taking in what the qualities of snow are. We talk about it being cold, crunchy, wet, and white. While we had the snow indoors we experimented with eyedroppers and food coloring to see the snow change colors. We also put snow in the sink and watched what happened when we ran water on the snow. The children were quite fascinated by both of these activities.

This week for our cooking project we made honey oatmeal cookies. We mixed honey, oatmeal, eggs, and cinnamon together to make this delicious healthy snack. It has been fun to watch the children with our weekly baking projects as they now know measuring cups, measuring spoons, spatula, whisk, and some of the other items that we use frequently. They really do take in all that we adults offer them to learn. Especially when they are real items that they get to have their hands on.

"Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world"
-Maria Montessori

Week of January 31, 2011

Our classroom has had the beautiful sound of your toddlers making music this week. Drumming, the xylophone, and the music box have been hot items! They have been playing them together as if orchestrating their own little bands. A few of the children get the drum and the xylophone out and go back and forth between the two comparing the different sounds they make. It is so fascinating to me to watch these young ones fine tuning their hearing at this young age.

We also enjoyed the music of Dede Alderman. Dede came for music on Monday and played drums from around the world for us. We continued our drumming with the performance of the Dragon Dance by our Primary friends for the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Nian gao was our delicious new tasty treat we tried this week. This cake is eaten in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

"All the sounds on the earth are like music." --Oscar Hammerstein

*Even toddlers playing drums!

 

Week of January 24, 2011

This week the children have reminded me that the things they are most interested in are the things that to we adults are simple, every day items. Hooking shower hooks through chain links, having a variety of jars and tops and trying to find the right one that fits, pouring water, using tongs, buttoning , zipping, polishing plant leaves with a sponge and water amongst other "practical life" acitivies are what have been engaging the mind of your children this week. At this stage of development, your children want to do what they see us doing. These things also improve their fine motor, language, and hand eye coordination. Simple every day items are far better than any "toy". These household items are a great challenge to the child and at the same time entertaining!

Our cooking project this week was stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower, and rice. Your children weren't sure about the texture at first but after a couple of tries the found it to be delectable!

Week of January 10, 2011

This week has been full of new language in our classroom. Several of our friends are speaking crisp clear words and others are now speaking sentences. The insistent and repetitive "What's that?" or "What are you doing?" are quite frequent questions. The children are learning about the world around them during these conversations and growing their memories by naming objects, places, actions and people around them. It was quite fun when we were listening to our musical instrument sounds as a group activity and one of our youngest friends said "shamisen" and pointed to the correct instrument before I named it or played it on the ipod. She then pointed to the santour and said the correct name again! They are capable of learning so much!

We started talking about Ethiopia this week. We are reading a book called "Water Hole Waiting" by Jane and Christopher Kurtz and Lee Christiansen. It is about the various animals that live in Ethiopia. As I did when we were talking about China, I am also showing your children where Ethiopia is on our world map. Your children find it quite funny trying to say Ethiopia!

Our cooking project this week was Parmesan Spinach cakes. We chopped up the spinach, whisked the eggs, and grated the cheese. Then we took turns mixing it all together before putting into our pan to bake our delicious snack!

Another week full of exploration and discovery is complete!

"Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Week of January 3, 2011

I hope all of you had lots of family fun over break! I did but I am glad to be back spending time with all of my toddler friends!

This week your children have fallen right back into routine and into the flow of the classroom. A very popular area of the classroom is our Practical Life. Over break, I brought in some new plants and they have been very well taken care of. Leaves have been polished with a sponge and water and they have been watered by about every child in our classroom. A few of them needed the water dumped from them because they were floating! We also had a surprise plant arrive that took root while we were gone. One of our friends put some of our spooning work (which was corn kernels) in our planter of ivy and now we have corn sprouts! We are going to leave them and see what happens.

Our cooking project this week was Roll ups with tortillas, sunflower butter, and raisins. The children enjoyed spreading the sunflower butter and sprinkling the raisins on. They were quite a delectable treat! The children were enthusiastic as they gobbled them up! I do believe they are more likely to try and enjoy new foods if they are a part of the process of making the food!

"All our handling of the child will bear fruit, not only at the moment, but in the adult they are destined to become." Maria Montessori

Week of December 13, 2010

WOW! Winter break is here! The school year has been going by so fast. I have been reflecting lately on the growth of all our friends in the classroom physically and mentally. Some started the year barely walking and with little language. Now they're running and have new words every day! Some use to get lessons on work and now they're giving lessons to their younger friends. Having these mixed ages is so important in our Montessori classrooms to allow for the children to learn from each other.

Our big project this week was making dough... Flour, water, and cinnamon were our ingredients and our product was an amazing sensorial, language and practical life experience. The children were engulfed in mixing, kneading, and rolling the dough with their hands. They enjoy the language of the different words to express how it felt. When they were done, which was about 50 minutes later, we got out our scrubbers and mop and cleaned up the explosion of a mess we made. The children would notice the spots not cleaned and excitedly "pop" over and scrub it away. The last lesson in this experience was changing and rinsing our sticky clothes.

These group projects create important experiences for your children by allowing them to be hands on together in the process. How often we get caught up in the product and forget the real importance the process plays for children.

I hope you all enjoy time as a family over break!

"Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment." 
Maria Montessori

Week of December 6, 2010

Snow! Snow! And more snow! We have been enjoying the snow outdoors as well as indoors this week. I filled to big tubs with snow and brought it into our tables in the classroom. The children thought this was fabulous. Some of them were trying to build snowmen on the tables others were getting plates out and putting the snow on the plate to eat it! We also talked about the snow being cold and our classroom being warm and that the snow will melt into water in our room. There is so much to be learned from this white fluffy stuff!

We have been spice grinding this week. I have a small spice grinder that we have put cloves and cinnamon in and then turned the handle to grind it. We studied what the spices look like before they're ground and then the children seem quite fascinated that as we turn the handle the spices come out very small and with an even stronger scent.

Offering these various sensorial experiences for my toddler friends is so important to developing the whole child which is a very important part of our Montessori Philosophy!

"Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment." Maria Montessori

Week of November 29, 2010

What a extraordinary week in our classroom! We enjoyed the culmination of our China study with music played by some Chinese Interlochen students and some tasty Chinese food. Jen Harris one of our Primary Guides does all the organizing and gathering of items and people for our cultural studies here at TCH and we are so thankful for her!

This week we made play dough for our classroom the children enjoyed stirring the ingredients together and what an extra special treat that we got to play with the dough from this baking project. One child even asked during the dough making if this was for her birthday. I explained to her that it wasn't but that we got to squish this dough when it cooled. She found that very interesting!

SNOW! It's here! The children are enjoying sledding down the hill on the playground and eating this fluffy white stuff. For a lot of them just maneuvering is a feat! We are taking our time in the pre-outdoor dressing process. It is a process! Many of them have already mastered getting on their boots and coats but the rest of the gear is proven to be quite tricky. Please allow time at home for your children to help in the dressing process. They might surprise you with their skills!

"Kindness is like snow - it beautifies everything it covers" ~ Anonymous

Week of November 15, 2010

"Music is what life sounds like." Eric Olson

This quote rings true for our toddler classroom. Our basket of instruments that is available during our morning work period is very popular! The basket contains a small xylophone, a rain stick, a drum, and a melody harp. The children seem to form various orchestras throughout the morning and permeate the room with a beautiful melody.

At group when we use shakers, rhythm sticks, or again another basket full of various instruments, the children squeal with delight as they see it being brought out. They enjoy making their music along with whatever cultural music is chosen from the ipod.

Our baking project this week was whole grain bread sticks. Mixing the dough and watching it rise was quite interesting to the children. Then when we rolled it out and cut it into strips the children had to be reminded that we have to bake the dough before we could eat it!

Thank you to all of you who purchased books from Horizon Book Day. They are being enjoyed by the children!

Week of November 1, 2010

As a continuation of our study about China Jim Atkins, who is a local Tai Chi Master, came to visit our classroom. Jim gave us a presentation of a Tai Chi routine he practices. We have been doing yoga in the classroom frequently so it was presented to the children as something like yoga that we do with our bodies. The children seemed to be mesmerized by his flow of movement. It was completely silent in our room for a full three minutes as they watched. We all can acknowledge that for a group of 12 toddlers to be completely silent for three minutes must take something quite captivating! Jim also taught our classroom the move "parting the horses mane". Several of the children enjoyed practicing this move.

The last week has been a week of birthdays! For birthdays in our classroom we bake muffins and sing happy birthday to the child/children. For this birthday celebration we made zucchini-carrot muffins. The children enjoyed shredding the carrots and zucchini to mix into our batter. As a reward for the hard work of all their shredding they ate a very tasty treat!

Week of October 25, 2010

"Oooooo went the wind and OUT went the lights! And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight." This is a line from a story about pumpkins that we have been reading at group this week. Isn't it interesting that this line also captures our real lives with that crazy wind storm that blew through!

We celebrated pumpkin fun day on Friday by carving a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. Our pumpkin came from our garden here at school. The children we great helpers hauling it back to our classroom. The children were quite fascinated by the "goo" and seeds that were on the inside of the pumpkin! Some wanted to touch it and squeeze it through their fingers. Others had no interest in touching it themselves but they enjoyed watching.

We also made a creamy pumpkin dip to spread on crackers. This was quite popular among your children!

Have a fun and safe weekend if you enjoy the festivities!

Week of October 18, 2010

Providing an environment that contains many opportunities for language for your toddler child is important. A key to discovering more about their world is providing the chance to be able to touch and hear about the things around them.

This week, I presented the mystery box in small groups. This activity is a wooden box that has flaps on the end that the children take turns reaching into and pulling out an object that they grab onto. Some examples of the items in this box are a piece of fur, an old style shaving cream brush, a sand timer, a porcelain shaped bird, and a hard plastic diamond shaped prism. The children are really taken by the opportunity to handle these objects that are unlike the typical things they are allowed to touch. During this activity, we name the object and talk about its various characteristics such as heavy, shiny, rough, smooth, soft, scratchy, and the colors we see. It is quite enjoyable to watch them as they show each other and talk about the object they have. You can see the lights going on as they connect the meaning of the spoken characteristics of the object to what they are actually feeling as they hold it.

Our cooking project this week was quesadillas. The children enjoyed sprinkling the cheese on this delectable snack and then watching as I would peel the top tortilla back to see if the cheese had melted yet. What a practice of patience as they sat and waited for the cheese to melt!  

Week of October 11, 2010

Food preparation for snack which could be slicing apples, peeling carrots, cutting green peppers, or mixing the ingredients for our cooking project is a very popular time in our classroom! This last week we made hummus by blending chickpeas, olive oil, and garlic. We all received quite the surprise when the chickpeas came shooting out because I didn't have the top on so the children could view the mixing! We also made fresh grape juice. Our friend Anders brought in fresh concord grapes and his parents juicer from home. I wish I would've had a video camera to record your children's faces as they watched this process! I would show them the grapes, put them in, and out would come the juice. They just seemed not to believe it!

Part of our Montessori classroom is to develop all the senses. These cooking projects are a great activity for language, taste, smell, sequencing, and fine motor. So, yes, we do make a mess while this food preparation process is going on and, yes, it would be faster if the adults did it up on our counter. But we would be stealing a wonderful opportunity from the children at experiencing another part of their world! I am so grateful to be able to offer these experiences to your children!

If you have any recipe ideas for us please send them in. I've had a few parents give some to me and they are very helpful! Also, thank you to all of you who have sent in homemade canned items, bought items for our sharing basket, or bought items for special food projects. You all enrich our classroom!

"This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!"
-Julia Childs

*She was a Montessori student too!!!

Week of October 4, 2010

Our time during the morning when we gather as a whole group to sing songs, play instruments, and to talk about our day is always a favorite of the children's. This week, there have been a lot of our newer friends choosing songs to sing. A favorite song year after year is "Trot old Joe". I'm sure you've been hearing your toddler singing this at home. Another request this week at group has been our Yoga cards. Down Dog, Tree, Triangle, Warrior, Airplane and River are a few of the poses we've been practicing. It is quite adorable to watch their little bodies trying to balance and manuever into these positions!

Although a parent informed me this last week that her daughter when asked about China started to give her details that this was a girl in her class, continues to be a fun topic to talk about with your children. Several of them are randomly pointing throughout the day to where China is on the map. When I mentioned that we were going to make make Scallion pancakes for our snack the other day a student said "Chinese food. Yum Yum Dim Sum" Which "Yum Yum Dim Sum" as I mentioned last week is the book we've been reading at group about Chinese food. And YES all your children enjoyed the Scallion Pancakes!

Chinese Proverb
"A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark."

Week of September 27, 2010

Gross motor is a big part of our day in our toddler classroom. Actually, it is said that 80% of a toddler's day should include gross motor activity! Knowing that the majority of their day they should be moving reminds me that when they start running around the room or seeming as if the are unsettled that they are not misbehaving but are, in their way, letting me know they need to move in a big way. This week there has been a bigger need than usual for gross motor activity. Climbing the stairs in the slide room, carrying pitchers of water to the mop bucket/sponge squeezing stand/dish tub, pushing trucks on the playground, scrubbing a table, and moving furniture around in the classroom are a few of the ways your children have been choosing to get physical activity. It amazes me how after they get their fill of big movement they then settle in and concentrate for lengthy periods of time on fine motor or language activities.

Learning about other cultures is an important part of a Montessori classroom. Even at the toddler age their are ways that we can expose your children to other cultures. Our current school wide study is on China. I have been showing your children on our world map where we live in the United States and then pointing to where China is located. We have also been reading "Yum Yum Dim Sum" which is a children's board book on the various types of Chinese food. Next week are cooking project will be a Chinese food!

"That energy which makes a child hard to manage is the energy which afterward makes him a manager of life." -HENRY WARD BEECHER

Week of September 20, 2010

The splendid weather that we've had most of this week has allowed us to enjoy a lot of time outdoors. Our campus gardens are still blooming with various flowers and vegetables so we have been taking walks to enjoy the sights, scents, and tastes. On the way to the gardens we make a stop at the chicken coop to say "hello" and watch the chickens. The chickens are quite sociable so they come right up to the fence to greet the children. The giggles sure erupt when this happens!

We also have enjoyed some painting projects outdoors this week. We plucked some very large leaves off our sunflowers and painted on them. We also taped up a long piece of paper on the fence and the children took turns adding their artistic touch.

Our baking project this week was smoothies. Our mixture of yogurt, kiwi, strawberries, bananas, and honey dew melon received approval from your children!

We enjoyed another delightful week in our classroom!

Week of September 13, 2010

It is hard for me to believe that we are already coming to the close of our second week of school! Our classroom has been humming with the energy of your children exploring! It is so amazing to witness the children at work and I hope that you've had a chance to visit the observation room.

A favorite activity of all the children has been our listening activities. What this activity looks like is we take and set out pictures of various animals, objects and activity in our every day lives, or musical instruments. We then play the sounds that we see in the pictures and try to match them. Many of our returning friends know 15+ instruments by sight and sound!

Our baking project this week was banana muffins. The children enjoyed taking turns mashing the bananas and pouring in the various ingredients. The children were quite proud that they helped make part of our snack for the day.

This past week reminds me of the quote by Dr. Seuss that says, "Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." Thank you for sharing your children with us!