Today, I decided it might be nice if you could see where I am spending all my time. I have taken you on a tour of our house, and you get to meet my dogs. My husband did not want to be apart of the video, so you do not get to see him....but that's ok, he is working.
You all should have received our first weekly plan through GOLD. As it was explained to me, you can see all the activities, and pick the ones you would like to do in your home. When we are at school, we would spend a week on four or five of these activities! So, take your time and dig in. We love seeing all of you on the shared photo album through google. Please keep posting and communicating with us. We miss you!
Now the tour....
intro
tour
Be well.
One more thing..... Over Spring Break, Carrie was able to get into the classroom and grab a few things. I frantically texted her to grab B's Acorn in the jar on the window sill.
We have had blog posts about this acorn before. We just wanted everyone to know that it is sitting in my window in my kitchen.
Good Morning, Acorns and families!
We are still missing you bunches, and hope everyone is well. Please bear with us as we navigate these first weeks of distance learning-- this is all new to us, too! We sent out an email with a link to a folder for photo sharing. If you feel like adding any photos, we would love to see what our little Acorns have been up to!
Feel free to join in a song and storytime with Carrie and DeeDee!
Activities:
Letters to Loved Ones:
Let your child write a "letter" to a loved one, relative, neighbor, or anyone that could use a smile! Work on those fine motor skills. Have your child practice the letters in their name. :)
As always, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, or anything at all! I know we've said it so many times, but we truly miss you and would love to hear from you.
Hello Acorns! It feels like forever since we have seen each other! We miss you terribly.
In full disclosure, there is a reason why you never see the teachers on the blog. I for one, am not comfortable with selfies, let alone a video of me doing anything!!! But in desperate times, there are desperate measures!!
So... here we go...
Activities:
Go to the window and look outside, do you see any signs of Spring? Can you count them? Now take your blocks or any loose part, and make the number of the items you found. If you found 5 signs of spring from your window, then make a five out of loose parts. Please send a picture of your number!
To comply with the CDC, we can not ask you to go outside for activities!!! So, all lessons will be based on being indoors. It pains us, as you know how much we love learning in the great outdoors. At this strange time, we need to keep everyone safe and healthy!! So that we may be together again!!
GOLD:
We are still working on setting up GOLD. We need for at least one parent in each family to sign up so that you can receive the weekly lessons. There are a few glitches so you will not be receiving a lesson on Friday. Hopefully you will have a weeks worth of activities on Monday. The activities repeat as the children need more than one experience to explore and learn.
Communication:
We will be communicating with you through the blog, email, or our classroom voicemail. At this point, we are still working on sharing our google photos so that everyone can see.
Acorn phone number-314-918-4371
Acorn office hours- 9:00-10:00
Emails and phone calls will be answered within 24 hours
"I am the acorn that becomes the oak."-John Winger
Even though today isn't Friday, it kind of feels like it is, so we decided to do our usual Friday activities! The Acorns were really excited to hear that we would be capering today. DeeDee added purple water to the sensory table, and B was so intrigued. "Look! The water is purple! Why is is purple? Where did it come from?!" He asked. DeeDee asked him where he thought it came from. "It came from the sink! But how is it purple?" DeeDee showed him the purple watercolor she used, and he was satisfied. :) He stayed in the purple water all morning!
Several Acorns enjoy capering because it gives them a chance to spend time with an older sibling. I and her sister, C, always hang out during Capers. Today, they were in the writing center and C was trying to help I make shapes and letters. Capers are such a special time because the older and younger children get the opportunity to work with and learn from one another.
We have been teaching the Acorns to make lots of suds and bubbles when hand washing-- We hope that everyone has a safe and happy spring break! :)
We had another fun, busy day today in the Acorn Room! We joined the Seedlings for a walk, but before we left, I told the children that I wanted them to look for water while we were out. They sure took their mission seriously! Before we even left school property, everyone excitedly stopped to show the first source of water: a parking lot puddle! We found several more puddles within the first block of our walk. :) As we walked next to Bristol, the Seecorns noticed some small round holes on the rock wall. They were also filled with water!
We continued walking down Gore by Rolling Ridge, and noticed water yet again-- this time in a bowl! What was this water for? "DOGGIES!" We then stopped at the largest water source: a little creek rushing underneath the street. We hopped up on the wall to check it out and talk about what we were seeing. "The bubbles mean it's moving!" B shouted. "Yeah! I think it's coming from a waterfall over there!" J agreed.
We then went down to the sculpture park to do our favorite thing: have snack! After sitting on the wall and having some graham crackers, we headed back to school. The Acorns have been remembering their water studies throughout the day, and talking about it with each other. J went and picked up a blue glass stone when we got back to school, and held it up to the light. "There's water in there!" he exclaimed. It is really cool to see them making connections!
Look! Water in a puddle!
Water in holes on the wall!
Water in a bowl!
Of course, if we spot a train, no matter where we are, we must stop to watch!
We did a lot in the Acorn Room today! Our annual Ambrose UnWINED fundraiser is coming up, and the children's artwork is used in a silent auction, so today we worked on our submissions. :) Since we are studying the language of water, we decided to incorporate water into our art projects. We used colored ice to make beautiful swirling marks and "paint" our papers. Everyone really loved ice painting! "Look, I'm making water!" T cried and she slid the blue ice across her paper. This is going to be such a fun event-- we hope you can all join us!
While one group was ice painting, another group went with Ms. DeeDee to the kitchen. We had some leftover strawberry cups from snack, so the Acorns used them to make smoothies! They added the berries, yogurt, milk, and a little vanilla to the blender. Everyone loved making and enjoying their little smoothie snacks!
For the past few weeks, we have noticed some friendships forming in the Acorn Room. When the children first join us, they are still so young that they spend most of their time engaged in parallel play, playing along side one another without interacting. However, as they grow, they are beginning to show interest in each other and seek out certain people to play with. This morning on the little Playscape, we were amazed by all of the new friendships we were seeing! Children were "cooking" together in the little kitchen, rolling down the hill together, showing each other their gloves, rolling the ball together... the Acorns are growing so much socially and emotionally, and it is so cool to watch as they navigate these new relationships. Happy Monday!
We worked with the scale and volume again today. Some of the big kids noticed the numbers on the measuring cups that they fill, too bad the little kids weren't around to see/hear it.
They do however, continue to push the scale up and down, up and down. Watching the scale and the needle move back and forth and up and down.
Clearly the pulley system is a hit!
"I am the little acorn that becomes the oak."-John Winger
Now that the weather is above 32 degrees, we will be going to the forest every THURSDAY!! It is a glorious day. Rain boots and extra clothes are recommended. Your children have the best time in the mud. Each child approaches the muddy pathway in a unique manner. Some of the children go barrelling through splashing as much mud as possible. While others walk slowly listening to the noise their feet make while walking through the mud. Some get stuck and need a helpful hand from a nearby friend. Others get stuck and end up sitting in the mud. Then they come out proud of themselves, and their muddy selves.
Regardless of how we personally feel about the muddy forest, it is not about us. It is however, about the children, and their experiences with the natural world. We truly hope that the love they have for nature continues to their adulthood.
For the parents whose children got extremely muddy, we soaked their clothes... there is a bag of wet stuff for you to take home and wash..... you may want to look at the contents of the bag before dumping it in your wash machine.
"I am the little acorn that becomes the oak."-John Winger
