Walking Wednesday

When we saw that today might be the last nice day for awhile, we knew we had to take advantage of Walking Wednesday! We met up with the Seedlings and hit the road. The Acorns have been asking to see the train for awhile, so that was our first stop. On the way there, we heard a familiar *ding*-- the train! Luckily, we were in a good spot to stop and watch it from the sidewalk. We saw a long train, and then an Amtrak. Once we got to our usual spot, we sat and had some snack and conversation.
After awhile, we moved along to the construction spot on Lockwood. There wasn't much construction action at the time, but there was a UPS man dropping off a lot of packages, which was almost as good. ;)
We are so lucky to be in the heart of the WG!

A Fort for Friends

This morning, Ms. DeeDee brought a new large box out to the small playscape. She silently began unloading the materials from it, and of course the Seecorns gathered around to investigate. DeeDee began using the connectors to fit the pipes together, and the Acorns excitedly asked to join in.
They worked together to come up with a plan, and then used fine motor skills to push the pipes into the connectors, mimicking DeeDee's actions. The Acorns and Seedlings did such a great job taking turns and helping one another figure out where they should build next. Once they had a structure constructed, they were so excited! They cheered and hugged one another, pushing their way through the fort. Then, DeeDee and Julia added large pieces of fabric to the top to create a roof and walls! The  Seecorns loved this addition. They hung out in the fort for the rest of our outside time. Of course, it eventually turned into a "cave for bears"! We have been very interested in Bear Hunt lately. :) It was wonderful to see everyone working as a team and being considerate of each other. We are loving the relationships being formed in our classrooms!

What is Nature?

The Acorns are becoming more curious about nature and getting closer to creating a definition. Each time we return from walks now, they have to stop at our collection room to unload their sticks, leaves,  rocks, and flowers, exclaiming, "I have to put my nature away!" :)
Today, we went outside to gather the final zinnia blooms of the season. We brought them back to the light table to try and brighten the dreary morning. The girls were immediately intrigued and stepped right over, first holding up the magnifying glasses to examine the flowers. Next, they took scissors and snipped the flowers from the stems. Then they began to separate the petals from the centers of the blooms. Finally, they cut the leaves. We worked to sort each of the flower parts into the egg crate. The light table has been looking quite lovely with the bold colors, textures, and scents of nature! We can't wait to keep adding to our collections.

 

Caper Day

During Capers, all the children sit out in the hallway and wait to hear what is going on in the other rooms.  Now that we use the same "language" every week, I asked the children, what is going on in Acorn, Seedling, Sycamore and Willow!  The children told us, that Acorn is water, Seedling is Sculpture, Sycamore is Photography, and Willow is light and Shadow!  They always surprise me!!  They truly are little sponges of knowledge.

Melting water....

The scoop and pour

Drawing our popcorn!

Sensory exploration.

It is truly amazing how much they change and develop from two years of age to four years of age.  The difference between the development of scribbles, swirls and dots,  to drawing the details of the corn cob astonish me!  

http://afcseedling.blogspot.com

http://afcsycamore.blogspot.com

http://afcwillow.blogspot.com/

"I am the little acorn that becomes the oak."-John Winger

Forest Day

On our way to the forest, we saw our friend Belle and her mom! Belle is a very large sweet dog that lives on the corner.  Every time we go on a walk, we walk past Belle's house.  So the children see Belle quite a bit. The children are always so excited to say HI Belle! We are so lucky to be located in a neighborhood that has soooooo many opportunities for us to make connections to the community. The Forest is one of those wonderful spots!

As we continued our adventure to the forest, we stop for every piece of nature we see.  A small acorn, a stick, a rock, and every once in a while we small flags that we are NOT supposed to touch.

Once in the Forest, we sit on the blue blanket and eat our morning snack, then finally we head into the forest. 

 Here they come.....

 THe girls were running and screaming with great JOY,  I then asked them if they could hear the bird singing loudly?  They stopped screaming, and heard the bird, they looked at me, turned around and ran and screamed! 

 I squatted down to the children's height to get a new perspective of the Forest. How big are the trees when the children look up?   

 At this point, everyone has a stick.Some of them proudly put the stick in the air to show me. 

  

While others, walk around the shadows, saying stick, stick.

"Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better." - Albert Einstein

"I am the little acorn that becomes the oak."- John Winger