I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I have a blast from the past for you Bright-Eyed Bear Parents. We watched this as part of a center activity in Science the other day. I think the children of today enjoyed it just as much as those of us from "yesterday" did. Take a look.
Our little Bright-Eyed Bears are so enjoying watching the tiny tadpoles grow. There was all sorts of enthusiasm expressed when the little jelly-filled eggs suddenly became teeny-tiny swimming creatures. Then, in just one day, they doubled in size. I hope you enjoy watching them grow with us. The children are recording what they observe in their science journals through drawings and dictation.
This week the children continued to study about their sense of touch. They learned all about skin and how important it is for health and safety, learning about the world around you, and holding us all together. We read fun books like, The Skin You're In, and Soft, Smooth, Bumpy, Spikey. One of our very Bright-Eyed Bears picked up a texturized block we were using on Friday during Exploring and said, "Mrs. Carson, my sensory receptors are sending messages to my brain telling me that this block is really bumpy!" I was so proud!!! :)
Many of our Friday Exploring activities revolved around sensory fun. The children were so excited to explore and discover the wonderful textures, scents, and visually pleasing delights of the plants they brought in for our herb and vegetable garden. We put out magnifying glasses, a water table filled with soil and worms, books, etc. and let them loose in the "jungle" that the many plants transformed Miss Bowen's classroom into. Mrs. Pollock took off with that idea and helped the children to make a tasty "dirt" snack out of crushed chocolate cookies, chocolate pudding, and gummi worms! Mrs. Jotch extended her very popular last week's porch activity with shaving cream play, and building with connecting sticks. I put together a sensory obstacle course in my classroom, complete with a velvet soft pillow tunnel, hard smooth over-climb, bubble wrap crawl-through, and bumpy textured balance beam. I think the favorite room, however, was the Exploratorium where Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs. Cummings lay a tarp across the floor so the children could jump on, squish, squash, and knead potter's clay with their bare feet and hands. The teachers had almost as much fun watching the children explore as the children had exploring! Almost :)
Next week:
*Picture Day is Tuesday! :)
*Crisp Park Field Trip is Wednesday! Everyone is invited to join us!!!! :) We'll be at the park from
8:55-10 or so.
*Library Day is every Thursday! Please help your child to remember to bring his/her book back so he/she can get another one.
*Focus letter: F
*Focus sense: sight
Happy Week!
Mrs. Carson
