Apple Pie, Porridge, and Feelings

Dear Parents,

We began our week making apple pie. Everyone got a chance to use The Amazing Apple Peeler. It peels, cores, and slices the apples all at once! The children were excited to use it. We had to use strong hand muscles to turn the crank. We played in the big room while our pie baked. There was no shortage of pie lovers. 

During circle we read The Three Little Kittens, Bunny’s Birthday Party, and Little Red Hen and Lazy Fox. 

On Opposite Day we took our names off our attendance chart, instead of putting them up. The children noticed right away that the tables and carpet were turned in opposite directions. We drew using white crayons on black paper, and black crayons on white paper. We ate dinner at snack time- pasta with butter. Every single child ate all their dinner.

We read Exactly the Opposite, and Is It Larger? Is It Smaller?

We asked the class, “What color is anger?” “Sad? Happy? Calm?” The class said anger is red, sad is blue, happy is yellow, and calm is purple. We made a chart showing this and the children took turns telling us a time they had these feelings. Then we asked, “How did you go from feeling sad, to feeling happy again?” One person who had been sad at dropoff, felt better when he read a book with friends. Another friend said when they are sad, a hug from mama helps them to feel better. We used our bottles of potion to show how our feelings can get churned up when we're mad, and then calm when we're still. Someone said calm feels like slowing down. Another showed us what calm feels like: he sat silent and motionless. We took turns shaking the potions up, and then watched as the liquids slowed and settled, just like our feelings when we take deep breaths, or get a hug. 

We read two versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children noticed that while the words in the books were similar, Goldilocks looked different and the bears did too. The illustrations were different. 

On Friday, the class was excited to act out the story, and several children kept talking about who they wanted to be. After snacks, we read a third version and then everyone chose who they wanted to be: the wee little bear, the middle-sized bear, the great big bear, or Goldilocks. A few children noticed that there were too many wee bears and decided to switch roles to make it more balanced. We acted the story out twice, because once wasn't enough! The bears all responded in their wee voices, middle-sized voices, or great big bear voices, and Goldilocks slept quietly while awaiting the bears arrival at the wee bed. 

We also ate porridge on Thursday. It was too hot. We let it cool until it was jusssst right, although one person said his was too cold. 

Have a just right weekend,

Therese

Ooblek and Pajama Day

Dear Parents,

We began our week mixing cornstarch with water to get Oobleck. It was the same potion as in our red bottle from last week. We put it in a bowl and the children came in pairs to use their sense of touch to feel the mixture. Children said, “It’s very bumpy on the bottom.” “It looks like milk.” “It looks like glue.” “It feels like glue.” “It feels like dough.” “It feels good.” Someone asked,“Does it have any glue in it?” When we stopped playing with it, the cornstarch sank to the bottom, just like in our red bottle. 

Pajama Day was not sleepy. We played with our Oobleck, our sand bin, drew with stencil shapes using pencils, and played on the carpet with our doctor kit, and telephones. There were a lot of sick children and the teachers needed shots.

In the bigroom this week we have been building with blocks, cooking and eating galore in our kitchen, playing in the rice table, drawing at our dry erase board, and riding our new Sit n’ Spin. Some children said they were dizzy when they got off. 

On Friday we spent an extra long time playing in the bigroom. We added our basketball hoop to all of the above. The choices of activities in the bigroom allow children to choose between high action running and climbing games, sitting while building or eating at the kitchen table, drawing at the dry erase board with one friend, or on the Sit n’ Spin alone. They also include gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and hand-eye-coordination challenges. Many games encourage interaction between children who are learning to speak up for themselves, and foster listening skills. There is plenty of negotiating and asking teachers for help when needed. 

We have been reading and discussing books about feelings during circle. We have read and reread: When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry, Ahn’s Anger, Ravi’s Roar, When I Feel Angry, and Feelings A to Z. After reading several books about anger, one child said, “Anger is red.” 

We asked the children, “What can we do when we feel angry?” They responded: Run, take a deep breath, count to four, cry, watch tv, ask a friend to help me, play in the snow, take a nap, take a deep breath in and out, hug, punch a pillow, rest, take a hug from mom, tell a grownup, drink water, talk about it, ride a bike, go away, and hug your unicorn!

What a great list. 

Have a peaceful weekend,

Therese