It's That Holiday Time of Year!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  It was fantastic to see my little Bright-Eyed Bears again.  They came in to school all sweet and shiny, full of smiles and hugs.  


I cannot believe that the Holiday time of year is here! It is such an exciting time for children and adults as well.  In Jr. Kindergarten we celebrate all of the winter holidays.  It is our pleasure to celebrate each other.  Being able to share holiday traditions from around the world right here amongst friends and class family adds a special warmth to our classroom.  This week the children have been learning about the holiday of Hanukkah.  Our class friends who celebrate "The Festival of Lights" had the opportunity to talk about and share their traditions with the class.  The children all learned about the glory of the menorah, Star of David, and about the fun of gelt and playing the dreidel game!  We are reading stories and singing songs and so much more in celebration!

Our own little "festival of lights" on our classroom light table

This week we have been focussing on the letter Ss, as well.  The children learned the sight, sound, and sign of S, some silly songs, traced Ss in sand, learned about and practiced lessons involving symmetry, and so much more.


Other fun from this week so far....

Making masterpieces!

G drew Santa Claus and an elf!

A bunch of little friends built a holiday castle for woodland creatures.

We observed the newest arrivals in our beautiful garden....baby ears of corn!!

Exploring the wonder of "orbs" and other interesting mixtures and potions

Learning to recognize lower case letters, sounds and how to spell simple words

Symmetry with Pattern Blocks

Working together, learning together!

Measuring, mixing, and kneading scented play dough

and....of course......stay tuned for more to come!

Weedon Island and Happy Thanksgiving!

Now this is what dramatic play looks like in November. Imagine a Native American village.

Weedon Island

What a wonderful time we had together at Weedon Island last Thursday! Many thanks to our guide Ms. Emma who took the time to show us EVERYTHING!  She was very enthusiastic and the children really enjoyed seeing all the sights and hearing about them too.  It was the perfect way to wrap up our "Living Off The Land" study!

A ladle spoon, made from whittled wood and a deep shell.  I think he's imagining how much ice cream he can dip with it! 

An axe made from a queen conch and whittled wood

We met Ruby, the red rat snake!  She was a big hit!

Relaxing under the mangroves!

Cool!  A real dugout canoe! The children also enjoyed watching the visions projected on the wall of the Native Americans making them .

Piecing together Native American pottery

What lives in the mangroves?

Let's see what animals live in our neighborhood.

Look at all those fish!

Learning, Leading up to a Feast and Giving Thanks!

Drumming!

Baking corn bread! Yum!

Tracing, cutting and counting corn! Three skills in one fun activity!

Do you like my headband?

Smoking our pinch pots, just like the Seminole did!

Constructing!

Grinding corn

Imagining and creating

And so much more!!!

                              

Feasting with family and friends!

Yummy food that the children prepared!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The Bright-Eyed Bears' Poetic Debut!

We want to thank Judith Natelli McLaughlin for such a great poem! The poet read my blog the other day and sent an email to the class!  The children were so excited to hear how happy she was that we used her poem for Poetry in the Park!  I think we definitely made her proud! Enjoy! :)

iPads Rock!

Hello all!  There has been a lot of excitement buzzing around about our iPads! The children certainly love learning from them.  I have had many of you ask me about the apps that the children are using in hopes to download them at home.  Here is a list of some our favorites:


Story Wheel
Show Me
Counting Beads
Sound Seeker
Caboose Pattern
Rainbow Draw
Shape Builder
Shape Puzzle
iKnow 1-100
Monkey Math
Word Magic
Word Wagon
Drawing Pad
Word Families

I hope you can enjoy them with your children at home as much as we are enjoying and learning from them here!

Have a great day!

So much to be thankful for!

It's that THANKSGIVING time of year!  Everyone is filled with cheer!


We were all filled with cheer on Friday, and it showed!  The children did such a wonderful job with their Poetry in the Park poem! Mrs. Cummings and I were so proud of our Bright-Eyed Bears, and their grizzly bear props.  The children got to choose and design what they wanted to make and worked so hard on the project of making them.  Please stay tuned for a video of the special event!  In the meantime, here's the poem in print for you and your child to enjoy!

Mary Had A Little Pet

by Judith Natelli McLaughlin

Mary had a little pet

It's fur was black as night

It followed her to school one day

Which gave the kids a fright 

It made the teachers shout and scream!

It gave them such a scare

For Mary didn't have a lamb

She had a grizzly bear!!!

Speaking of bears......

Just take a look at what OUR little bears have been up to!

Weaving!  Just like the Seminole do!

Taking care of the garden

Enjoying nature in a new light!

Practicing letter formation on the iPads

Creating!

And so much more!

Come on in and take a look around the classroom!

This week we continue our exciting study of "Living off the Land" and learning about the Seminole and other Native American people.  We have read wonderful books together, which lead to fantastic discussions.  Some of the class favorites have been: Good Hunting, Blue Sky by Peggy Parish and Illustrated by James Watts, Giving Thanks by Jonathan London and paintings by Gregory Manchess and   Native American Sign Language by Madeline Olsen with illustrations by Ben Carter.   We also enjoy songs such as "Friends and Family", "Give Thanks", and "Powwow" by Jack Hartmann & Friends from the Rhythms and Rhymes for Special Times cd. The "Powwow" song is especially fun because we have a lot of  little friends who love dramatic play in our classroom. This song encourages the children to "fly like the eagle", "howl like the wolf, "creep like the fox" and so much more!  Great fun!

We are so excited about our trip to Weedon Island Preserve.  It is a real treat for the children to see first- hand some of the tools, a dugout canoe, pottery and more that the Seminole and other indigenous people to Florida left behind so long ago.  We will leave school at 8:40 am and return before 10.  

Our BIG Thanksgiving feast is on Friday!  We have been busily preparing for it.  The children are all a buzz!  If you would like to take part in preparing our feast along with the children in Exploring style, please come to school around 9am on Friday.  If, however, you would simply like to enjoy the feast with your child, it will begin around 11am.  Hope to see you there! :)

Happy, Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Mrs. Cummings and I are truly thankful for all of you and your beautiful children!

Living like the Seminole and Rocks Rock!

Living Like The Seminole

The children returned to school on Tuesday and were delighted to see that the Exploratorium had traveled back in time!  In place of the loft, a Seminole chickee waited to share the secrets of Seminole life long ago.

Clay pots filled with corn, vegetables, and coffee line the walls of the chickee.  The children experience using a Mortar and Pestle for grinding corn into cornmeal for cooking.  Our very own garden herbs hang from the ceiling of the chickee to be dried and used for medicines, cooking, and more.   Baby dolls sleep cozily in hammocks and are carried close in loving arms of Seminole mommies and daddies!  Sticks and leaves fill baskets and can be used to build "fires" for cooking.  Of course, no dramatic play area would be complete without dress ups!  We have all sorts of special clothing for the children to explore and explore in!

grinding corn and coffee beans for cooking

using a homemade loom for weaving

Respect for nature and it's majestic beauty!  The Seminole people often told stories where the main characters were animals.

constructing the chickee with corn husks, twigs, palms, etc.

As time went on and more people began settling around the country houses became more elaborate like this one made from logs.  The children have the opportunity to play with this beautiful log cabin and pretend to be pioneers!


Rocks Rock!

I have to say, this is one of my favorite books!   We can learn so much from Native Americans in the way they respected the land they lived on and allowed nature to sink into their spirits.  This is a beautiful  book about the wonder of a single rock.  I bet you didn't know that you could "connect" with a rock if you get down on it's level!  Did you ever take time to sniff a rock?  Ever wonder where a rock has been or where it may go?  WE DID!  Today we took a "rock walk" and each child found their perfect rock.  The best part is that they did it all on their own and no two rocks were alike! The children drew pictures of their rocks and then talked about them.  Be sure to ask your little geologist about his/her rock and what it means to have one.


We are having such a wonderful time this November!  
We've been practicing our poem for Poetry In The Park on Friday.  Don't miss it! :)  We'll begin at 8:30 am.  
Don't forget to visit the Book Fair this week.  Reading to them is the best gift you can give your children.


Have a super week!
Mrs. Carson