October is always an exciting month at school. Children look forward to the first party of the school year - the Halloween party!  Children dressed up in their favourite characters or animals.  It was interesting to watch them take on the persona of the character they were dressed as- Snow White, Tinker Bell, a zebra, a bee, a tiger, a dinosaur, a firefighter, Super Girl, Thomas the Train and Bob the Builder all came to school that day!

During group time, we showed the children a pumpkin. We discussed the outside but they were most curious about the inside. So we cut the pumpkin open, took out the flesh and played with the seeds.  The colour, the texture and the smell of the pumpkin caught their attention and some of the children even tried to have a taste of it :)


Here are some comments the children made about the pumpkin flesh:

"It's sticky."
"It feels funny."
"Orange."
"Waaa.."
"Can I try?"
"Yucky!"


By alternating toys and activities each week, children are given multiple opportunities to play in their own creative ways.  When I watch children use materials in new and unconventional ways, I question why adults expect toys to be used in a certain way. Isn't this limiting their creativity? I have observed that the simpler the toy or material, the more complex the play becomes.

It is an exciting time for us to see children walking into the classroom with smiles on their faces.  Of course, the first few weeks was a period of adjustment as children learnt to say goodbye to their parents and caregivers. The moment of saying goodbye can be very difficult for both child and parent and we are proud of them all for being brave! We are pleasantly surprised how quickly the children have adapted to the classroom environment and engaged in the activities that we carefully chose for them. 

Settling in after Spring Break, the toddlers are busy playing while learning new concepts and ideas. Every class has been a stepping stone in the learning foundation for our children. Whether it is completing a puzzle, drawing with crayons and markers, closing lids on their snacks, or building close friendships, they are gaining confidence in their skills.

At circle time, we have been continuing with our search for Little Mouse's cheese, which went hiding in one of the little houses. Using felt stories, children are able to use their language skills to look for Little Mouse's cheese. Felt board stories provide language literacy using visual representations, such as colours and sizes. 


Karen 
WRCC

It is a glorious moment to watch a child transform from an apprehensive and hesitant participant to an independent, curious and confident one. We have many children that are returning for their second session of the class and I love watching them as they bravely march into the classroom, find their name tag, and then begin to explore the many materials that are available. Equally as interesting is to observe the new children as they struggle with saying goodbye to their caregivers; each child reacts so differently.  Some of our newer students jumped into the routine as if they had previously been here while others were happy only if their caregivers were by their side. Others were not happy even with their caregivers by their side. One child, who was particularly upset without his mother, decided it was time to go home and packed up his belongings and wheeled his suitcase bag towards the door. He spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to open the door; no luck on that front!




I enjoyed watching a few children sit down and listen to some finger plays and songs. Two girls sat next to each other and began a little shoving match. I found this to be a good step towards learning how to work with others. It provided the teacher with an opportunity to guide the children towards more pro-social behaviour


Other moments today:

Sorting objects by colour



Painting with balloons filled with water and wide brushes Cutting pieces of wooden fruit and learning the names of the fruits



Pretending to bake cookies and eat them .The skill of "pretending" to eat food is actually very challenging; usually the pretend food item goes right into the mouth! I guess the play food is too realistic!

I am looking forward to watching the children develop their skills, make friends and engage with their teachers.

Emily

A calm, focused day in class. Classical music playing, rain pelting on the windows,  teachers with children in their laps...a very cozy day in Time for Twos!

Today one child started to string beads and quickly commanded the attention of several other children who then decided they, too, wanted to string beads. I watched in awe as they negotiated the beads, the cord, their own fingers. Each child came up with a different method of putting the bead on the cord, some using their bodies as a stabiliser. A quiet activity that promoted a lot of concentration.

Questions that arose for me:

• Will they put every bead on in the same way?
• If they try this again later or tomorrow, will they use the same method?
• Some of them chose the beads with thought, while others took the bead that was on top. Does this mean something about patterning?

There was a bucket filled with salt, stones and wooden farm animals for the children to investigate. I watched as two children explored this activity. One girl played in the bucket for a while and then proceeded to take out the animals and stones and line them up.



 Interestingly, the boy she was playing with did not mind at all. He continued to play in the salt, clearly enjoying the activity immensely. He played with quiet content...no dialogue and no interactions with me or the other child.








Questions that arose for me

• What does he know about salt?

What he might be thinking about...

• How does it move? How does it feel?
• What designs can I make? How does it feel?
• I can make a pile
• It goes through my fingers.
• I can make tracks
• How does it sound when I move a wood figure through the salt?
• Does the salt stick to things?
• What happens if I squeeze it?
• What if I move slowly? Quickly?
• What if I move animal along the edge?

I enjoyed my time observing these inquisitive children.

Emily