Spiders, Caterpillars & Butterflies

The two-day class had a lot of fun with spiders, caterpillars and butterflies!

On Thursday we counted spiders. Alright, not real spiders. This is an easy game to take home. On a large sheet of paper or several smaller sheets draw 10 large spider webs and number them one through ten. For the toy part you will need toy spiders or bugs. Have your child recognize the number on the web then have them put that many spiders or bugs on to the web. To make it really fun add sound effects, play the game in a darkened room with a flashlight on the web drawings, or add your own special flare. Children learn best through play and this is a fun counting game.

We also added these GIANT insect toys to our sensory table which was filled with dirt. The best part was when one of the children found a worm in the table! That worm was well loved and I am sure was more than relieved to be released outside. :) All in the name of science, right?

At the art table we created spider webs by creating a "weaving" project. This is really good for small motor skills development. We also read "The Eansy, Weansy, Spider". This book does not have the original words to the well know nursery rhyme so it makes it interesting for the students. It still has the same melody.

We also had chapel time and the students met our new Youth and Music Director, Andrew, who was filling in for Pastor Paul. The children were captivated by his music and story. We really enjoyed him.

Friday, we studied caterpillars and butterflies. I have this butterfly puzzle which I tell the students "is the hardest puzzle, EVER!" Of course, it isn't for them and they love the challenge. I did put it together before class then removed several pieces for them to place. This is a great way to introduce those more difficult puzzles. The children can see the finished product before they begin and still "do" the puzzle with the pieces that have been set aside. This makes the project less over whelming and builds their confidence. Then as time goes by the challenge can be increased until they are doing the entire puzzle. We also counted caterpillars. Same concept as the spiders. I cut out ten large leaves and labeled them one through ten. Then I hole punched them so that the leaf with the number one had one hole, two had two holes etc. Using pipe cleaners I used a pencil to curl them around and created curly caterpillars. The caterpillars were our counting toy. Once again, this is a really fun game that teaches counting, number recognition and one-to-correspondence.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!! See you Thursday!

Bugs, bugs, bugs!

We had a fun week in the 3-day class! Don Ehland presented his but collection on Monday. He talked to the students about what classifies an insect from other families of bugs. Did you know that all winged bugs are insects? Don also explained to us that crabs and lobsters are a part of the spider family. It's true! Well, with that in my brain I still think they taste good with lemon and butter. :) Don brought about a dozen bug boxes that contained just about any type of bug you could imagine. The students enjoyed Don and his collection. They really had fun when Don brought out his various stick bugs (live). The children even touched a few of them. He also brought out cockroaches and a huge millipede (also live). It was fun and very educational.

On Tuesday, we visited Phillips Tae Kwon Do Center. This is the one place where the children didn't have to use their "inside voice" and they keeyup during their kicks. The children had an opportunity to run, kick and punch. Choginum Patty, the instructor, also showed them a couple of blocks. She talked about the tradition of Tae Kwon Do and where this art comes from. We also talked a little bit about respect and showing respect to others. It was a fun-filled hour and children got in a lot of exercise.

On Wednesday, we learned about the butterfly cycle. I introduced to them what a cycle was and showed them a typical cycle chart. Chapel time was fun as the children met our new Music & Youth Director, Andrew. Pastor Paul asked Andrew to step in this week to present the Chapel time. Andrew wrote a story about a butterfly and her friend worm. He equated the butterfly story to the Easter story. He also introduced a couple of new songs. The children loved it! It was a lot of fun!!

A fun outdoor project: BUG HUNT! Take your children outside to the park or a trail and have them look for bugs under logs, leaves and rocks. If you bring a white piece of paper with you, you can catch the bug on it and let your children observe it before letting it go. One of students found a millipede under a log. We put it on the paper and it curled up. The students were actually quiet long enough for the bug to unfurl and crawl around. It was cool.

Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday!

Scavenger hunt!

Natural beauty can be seen everywhere. White fluffy clouds float above the playground, a spider's web flutters in a gentle wind, the moon sometimes graces the day sky, and flowers shoot up in a nearby garden.

You've heard me talk about the benefits of taking your children outside on nature walks. An added twist is to turn it into a scavenger hunt. A family scavenger hunt based on a nature-related theme could be launched over an afternoon, a weekend or even over a period of a week or two depending on the ages of your children. Each child could be assigned to find with his or her family two or three items, or children could be asked to describe and draw their observations.

Of course, you'll have to tailor the hunt to your environment - urban, rural, or suburban as well as region and season. Be creative and make the hunt an education adventure not only for the child, but also for parents and other family members.

When all the times are gathered, the children could put together an exhibit. Parents would be invited to visit at their convenience.

Or plan a family field trip to a nature setting (botanical gardens, nature center, state park, and other such places). Families could meet at the point of destination. Invite along a naturalist or an amateur naturalist to help identify and interpret the flora and fauna.

If the weather turns sour do a scavenger hunt inside the house. "Draw" a list (with the word next to your drawings) and have your children find the items. Have them discover things that they may have not noticed before. Maybe that plant that has white stripes down the leaves or the number of square windows in your house.

I hope you have fun with this idea. Have a great weekend!! :)

Flexibility

Today was a lot of fun playing/planning but it was not what I had intended. Today was a great day on flexibility. :)

For instance, today I had planned on "wiggly worms". My book was picked out, the sensory activity was ready and all kinds of worm play planned. But there were other plans that walked into the classroom door.

After all, did you know that many bridges needed to be built so that the cars can be driven? Then the bridges needed to be taller so that the cars can go under them. Of course, the cars needed destinations so signs and trees needed to be placed. There was the issue of "monsters" so a maintenance committee came about. Much was learned through this very elaborate, unplanned activity; sharing, turn-taking, communication, problem solving, math (size, shape), community building, pre-reading (signs) and etc. The most important lesson learned was love and respect. The students were listening to each other and collaborating together. They learn to not knock down other's buildings and that both creations were important. There were nice words exchanged.

So even though worms were on the agenda (and we did work a little with them) I think the plans that walked in the door today taught the students life long lessons and in a really fun way. Of course, if I had planned on doing lessons on bridges the plan would have been changed to worms. :)

This week we focused on many things but there are two that stand out the most.

First: The students come up to us teachers and ask for our approval on their projects. This is natural, of course, for they are trying to figure out if their work is acceptable by the adults in their lives. This week I wanted them to ask themselves if they liked their work instead of asking us "Do you like it?" See the difference? It's important that the children take a look at their own work and decide for themselves if they enjoy looking at it. Did they enjoy working on it? Using the tools and different mediums? etc... For some this was a nice turn-around. But for others it took some getting use to. It is alright to ask others for their opinions, too. What I want for the children is for them to take some pride in their own work without the influence of whether or not a teacher or parent likes it. This is a critical step toward working independently which will happen in their elementary years. So try asking them "Do you like it?" next time they come up to you and ask "Do you like it?" We received some great responses!

Second: On Tuesday, I created a maze out of tables in the backroom. The students enjoyed going through the maze finding the right way to get to the end which stood a cross. We then had a brief discussion on making good and bad choices in our day and how each choice we make can either bring us closer to God or mess up our path towards God. Of course, I explained apologizing and God's forgiveness because even when we make a poor choice or a mistake God still loves us and wants us to be found.

There were quite a few absences this week so I am sending out get well wishes to everyone that missed school. I hope to see you all well next week.

Messes are good.

Yes! Messes are good! Even great! If you saw our classroom this last week you would have seen an explosion of white stuff. But it was also an explosion of learning. The white stuff is "ooblick" which is very simple to make. Just mix water and corn starch together until there is this odd mix of liquid and solid that will ooze through the fingers. This is one of those substances that can be a solid and a liquid at the same time. We allowed the children to mix it themselves and they discovered the changes happening right in their fingers. Then as the ooblick took on it's characteristic slime/solid feel we talked about what is liquid and solid and the differences. This is science fun! To play with ooblick also took some courage for some. One child actually took a deep breath before plunging her little hands into the white blob. The best thing about this particular mess is that it easy to clean up! It simply washes right off the hands and hard surfaces. If it gets on the clothes (and it will) just use a little water. On your carpet? Wait until it dries then scuff it off and vacuum. This is a fun mess to have outside when it is so pretty and spring like.

Speaking of spring and changes we also talked about the changes that is happening out in their yard and in the playground garden. The students talked about the flowers, the flowers on the trees and even new leaves. This is a great time of year to take your children out for walks and listen to the birds and notice all of the changes that are happening in this new season.

Fun Language!

So many things happened this week but that is the beauty of spring! There is so much happening and the weather is warming up which opens up so many learning opportunities.

About Seasons: On Monday, we went out for a spring walk-a-bout to look at blooming trees. It's fun to simply point to the tree and ask "What do you see?" First answer is almost always "Flowers!" Then we just kept asking "What else do you see?" With this many answers and topics of conversation came about. Everything from moss, buds, to peeling bark came into focus for them. You can do this at home as well. Don't settle for the first answer, encourage your child to keep looking. Their world begins to unfold and they enjoy discovering spring.

Dr. Seuss: On Tuesday, we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday along with every other school in the area. :) We incorporated math by taking a survey of which books the students had at home. Using this information a graph was created, counting occured and decision about the larger/smaller number was made. Your children were encouraged to create their own books. To become the author. They drew pictures and wrote letters. Some students noted random letters, some chose letters from their names and others chose words to create their books. This was all fun practice with our imagination, problem solving skills and of course letter writing. If you have an open art area at home put a few blank papers stapled together and let them create their own stories.

"Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus" book: This is an excellent book on many levels. It encourages listening skills because it is requested of the listener to respond to the bus driver. It also has simple pre-reading sentences for the young reader wanting to learn how to read. An important element of pre-reading is memorization. This book allows for this in a really fun way. Then my favorite thing to do with books; asking the students a question that changes the scenerio of the book. In this book I asked "What would happen if the pigeon drove the bus?" The students "wrote" the class book and we read it at circle time. Reading your child's work gives them validation in their work. It was a lot of fun. Try this concept at home and let them be silly. They are supposed to be at this age. :)