We can suddenly see how far they have come in regard to sharing, taking turns, using their words and expressing themselves creatively. The children are learning to reason and strategize, and to predict outcomes. All of that intellectual learning is facilitated through play.


Kyler and Marcus diligently line up the long wooden ramps.

Marcus discovers that by lifting up one end, the ball begins to roll.

Sophie and Georgia play with Mr. Potatoe Head together, discussing what body parts Mr. Potatoe Head needs.

While looking at the “life cycle” of frogs along with Georgia, Sophie says “This one is the father, this one the mother, no, no...  this one is the mother, this one the sister and this one the baby sister.”

Ella and Claire together, retelling the story of The Hungry Caterpillar.

Our three year old preschoolers are now able to line up and wait their turn with  little fear of someone cutting in front of them. They are comforted  knowing their turn is coming.



Sophia and Samuel start by playing side by side....

After a short while Sophia takes notice of how Samuel is stacking the tubes....

They start working together cooperatively, stacking tubes, realizing they can't stack a thinner tube on top of a wider one. “Where did it go?” Sophia asks Samuel. “It's gone down,” Samuel responds.

When the tubes fall over, Samuel says with a smile “Oh no! We have to build it up again.” And that they did, many times over!

Through play, learning is different for every child. Every child is learning at their own pace, in their own style and guided by their own interests.

Zoe is very patiently putting the felt shapes in place,  not stopping until all the pieces are on the felt board.

She is very comical calling a star a spider, while holding her hands  to her face and pretending to be scared!

Clair says to Charlotte, “I love Pepa Pig so much. You'll love Pepa Pig too.”

“I made birthday cookies,” she said.

“They have to be flat cookies.”

Jack and Sophie are busy making cupcakes and a “birthday” cake which they generously share with their teacher and peers.

Sophie excitedly says “We can have a big party with this big cake.”

The children on a whole are much more at ease in the classroom, and are revealing their individual personalities. It's such a pleasure to spend time with them and witness their growth and learning.

The motivation to learn is powered by play. Cause and effect happens continually through play, and each time children experience a new cause and effect situation, a new lesson is learned.

~Barbi

Our children have always wondered where our classroom books came from, and why they were different every month. They have noticed that many of our books are labeled with barcodes.

• What kind of books are at the library?
• Who goes to the library?
• What else can you borrow at the library?

• How are the books returned?
• How are the books reshelved?
• Who can help them in a library?

A few seeds, a little soil, some compost, a few worms, a ray of sunshine and a splash of rain together create the Earth’s recipe for the food we eat. We are fortunate to have a beautiful deck just outside the classroom with several large garden boxes, a compost container and a home for our Red Wiggler worms. The children have been diligent in saving their vegetable and fruit peelings both to feed the worms and to put into the compost for our garden boxes. The children are fascinated with both the worms and the compost. We have been exploring both.

It  was discovered that the worms need to eat too. The children took turns adding cabbage, carrot peelings, celery and broccoli into the worms “home.”

We then took a closer look and the children were amazed at what they saw: Little white baby worms and lots of eggs - very interesting!

Gently does it...looking for the baby worms.

“We found some!” “Look at that!”

“Look at this!” “There is a worm on the celery!”

The questions came all at once. “Why do we have worms?” “Does the garden need to have worms?” “Will they have more babies?” “Why are the babies white?” “Do the worms bite?” All the questions were answered and the children learned that the worms slither through the dirt, eating debris and discharging it as castings, a rich natural fertilizer. As they move through the soil, the worms create a network of tunnels that allow water and air to filter in. This helps the plant roots to breathe and grow.


The Compost

 

Looking inside the compost container the children noticed soil, paper and vegetable peelings. “Ugh! It smells nasty!” “I don’t like that.” Just some of the comments the children made.

Some of the children wanted to add to the compost.

Compost dripping “tea.” The “tea” will be used to fertilize the garden boxes.

The Garden Boxes

It was time now to prepare the garden. First the children had to clean out the box. They discovered that a very small carrot was still in the dirt. What a delight for them to find. Then it was time to gather some pebbles to prepare the soil for proper drainage.

 

With trowels and small shovels in hand, the children happily dug up some pebbles.

 

Preparing the garden box with trowels, dirt and pebbles.



Transferring the soil, everyone had a turn and they just wanted to keep digging!

What happens next? “I want to plant some seeds.” “I do too.”

A few days later we closely examined some bulbs with our hands and magnifying glasses - of course we also had to smell them! It was decided we would plant some iris bulbs and watch them grow.

Each child had a turn to plant.

A little shoot was noticed.

We will continue to observe our garden. Last fall wheat and garlic were planted and to everyone’s delight they are growing well. We will continue our studies with the planting of scarlet runners. I wonder what the children will choose to grow in their garden boxes this year? Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

Happy Gardening!

~Joanne
 

In one of our many circle discussions, the children decided that we needed to go on a classroom adventure. The children suggested things they might need on this adventure, placing them inside their pretend backpacks. We talked about being able to carry our own backpacks. How would we carry our backpacks if we brought too much stuff? Would our friends be able to carry it for us? Do they have their own stuff to carry? What would happen if we were unable to carry our backpacks?

This was an adventure so we thought the children would make the decision as to how much stuff they would bring and we would find out what happens as we went along.

Getting our boots and backpacks on, ready for the adventure!

We are holding our umbrella's open as we go through the waterfall.

Purpose: The purpose of this month long investigation was to inspire expose and encourage the children to explore classical music and some of the instruments that are used to play it. We provided a guitar, piano, violin, drums and a melody harp, as well as triangles, shakers, cymbals, tambourines and a special guest - a cellist named Ingrid.

What we discovered and learned about string instruments: Ingrid demonstrated to the class how different sounds can be created by plucking the strings, striking the strings or moving a bow across them. The length and thickness of each string determines the pitch. The longer and thicker the string, the lower the pitch would be. The shorter and tighter the string, the higher the pitch would be. The children found this fascinating and wanted to try it out for themselves.

Ingrid demonstrates the cello and guitar.

The children loved to touch the cello and noticed how the strings were all a little different.

Trying out the different sounds on the melody harp.

How does this work? I can play a song.

Opening the violin case; what is in there? Look at that! It’s a violin! No! It’s a small cello. As the case opened, the children were thrilled to learn that this was a child’s violin, just the right size for them to play.


A demo on how the instrument is played. The children all noticed the bow. They were astonished to hear that a part of the bow was made of horse hair. They were invited to touch, feel and try out the violin.

The violin is just the right size for me.

I take lessons. The piano is fun!

Ingrid took requests from the children and entertained the class with the songs: Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald had a Farm and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The children also explored matching games, sound games and ribbon dance. We were also fortunate enough to explore the sights and sound of the woodwinds with the high school band. French horns, trumpets, tuba, clarinet, flutes and saxophones entertained the children. One member of our class wanted to be the conductor. He was, and did a wonderful job!

Matching the all the different families of instruments.

Conclusion: Most of the instruments were in the classroom for the children to explore for a full month. They never tired of it. There were a few children who were inspired to talk with their parents about lessons. We completed our exploration with a trip to a special children’s concert put on by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. A wonderful time was had by all.


~Joanne