4 Hour Class - Highlights of 2014/15
June 26, 2015, 08:37 AMFor the last blog of the year I thought it would be fitting to take a look back at some highlights from this past year! The clips that I am able to show on the blog are limited, but I was able to make a few highlight reels...
In the classroom we had a lot of fun this year playing with blocks, building tracks, doing art, reading, dancing, dressing up, cooking, and doing puzzles... just to name a few! Here's a look at our time in the classroom:
We also went on some special outings which included the pumpkin patch, Island Pets, the library, visiting our grandpals, "Ready, Set, Learn!", Richmond nature park, ice skating, several beaches and a few forests... here's a glimpse of some of them:
And, of course, playgrounds! We went to a wide range of parks with a wide range of challenges! It was always exciting to see the children growing in confidence and skill sets! Some of the parks we went to were: Queen's Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, Stanley Park, Bear Creek Park, Blue Mountain Park, Diefenbaker Park, Terra Nova, a park that we named "Tree Tunnel Park", and South Arm Park.
Here's some highlights from the playgrounds:
Thank you to our whole classroom family - Adam, Ashton, Clayten, Domenic, Dominic, Ella, Erik, Justin, Matthew, Mayu, Noa, Weston, Patricia, Michelle, and Yvette! And to THEIR wonderful families (at home) who participated with, supported, and encouraged us! We sure did a lot of learning, growing, and laughing - and we definitely had ALOT of fun!!!
Have a wonderful Summer!
Nicole
In the classroom we had a lot of fun this year playing with blocks, building tracks, doing art, reading, dancing, dressing up, cooking, and doing puzzles... just to name a few! Here's a look at our time in the classroom:
We also went on some special outings which included the pumpkin patch, Island Pets, the library, visiting our grandpals, "Ready, Set, Learn!", Richmond nature park, ice skating, several beaches and a few forests... here's a glimpse of some of them:
And, of course, playgrounds! We went to a wide range of parks with a wide range of challenges! It was always exciting to see the children growing in confidence and skill sets! Some of the parks we went to were: Queen's Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, Stanley Park, Bear Creek Park, Blue Mountain Park, Diefenbaker Park, Terra Nova, a park that we named "Tree Tunnel Park", and South Arm Park.
Here's some highlights from the playgrounds:
Have a wonderful Summer!
Nicole
Comments
The Transition from Parallel Play to Social Play
June 24, 2015, 10:18 AM
Children naturally seek company. Here in our classroom, we have proudly enjoyed observing how the preschoolers have transitioned from parallel play to social play. This milestone was accomplished through nurturing, educating and, most importantly, respecting and understanding each child for their individual personalities and development levels.
At this time of the year, we can visually see the children make this transition with each other. They are no longer playing alongside each other. Instead, we see many groups playing among themselves and hear conversations filled with expressive and descriptive words. The preschoolers also give and take turns with little to no teacher support.
Lily and Emma are working out how to sit on the swing. Emma holds the swing, while Lily jumps on.
Tiffany pushes Aleah on the swing.
Matthew, Cade, Anthony and Kai have a friendship connection while hanging from a bar - socializing while hanging upside down!
A little surprise for Father's Day!
The staff at Maple Lane plan an animal bingo for the preschoolers and guide them through the game.
Our last social visit with the seniors paying a bingo game! Thank you residence of Maple Lane, we have enjoyed visiting you throughout the year and making such a special connection in the community.
Preparing to paint – Charlotte, Samuel and Chantel have a group discussion to decide on a colour. A lot of conversation and negotiations went on in the dramatic play area among the children.
The arches are stacked and Cade drives the car.
Big buddies help the children roll or braid bread! Thank you to our big buddies, for being caring, kind and helpful throughout the year.
As we share time together during our last class, the discussion seems to be about the grass! Why is the grass so prickly?
Thank you families for sharing your children with us, we truly have enjoyed every moment with them! We look forward to seeing our returning families in September and wish all the best to our preschoolers going onto kindergarten. Have a great summer!
~Jess and Barbi
4 Year Old M/W/F Class - Drawing - A Child’s Communication and Development
May 20, 2015, 02:06 PMI’ve noticed many of the children race to
the art/material table after the morning welcome circle, and I wonder what attracts them to this space. Could it be the inviting materials? Or maybe because,
having just experienced self-expression during circle time, the children need to expand and illustrate their thoughts and
ideas further?
In Emma's drawing, her thoughts are
self-expressing her favorite character, Elsa!
Sofie illustrates
a story. In her picture she says, "this is a evil witch is using her power
over the monster.” Sofie identifies the witch as evil by using the color black. She also adds facial expressions in her
drawing of the witch. Visual language is demonstrated in her drawings.
Drawing is known as the “silent language.” When
children begin to draw and paint, they begin an intellectual journey. Drawing also
symbolizes what children know and feel, and is essential for those who have
limited verbal skills. Cognitively, drawing provides children with rich ways of
thinking, knowing and expressing their worlds. It affectively visualizes emotions
a child may not be ready to verbally express. Drawing is a key component to a
child’s development in the early years.
Jack is making some scribbles. This allows
Jack to enjoy and express emotions with the many colors he uses.
Sofie draws a picture of her mom with many added
details, including expression and hair
style.
Sofie draws a baby, expanding and
expressing her creativity through art.
Self-identifying…. Mia draws a picture
of herself with the beautiful curly hair she has.
Taya draws a self-portrait showing her
ponytail. Although she has a short ponytail, she imagines herself with a long
ponytail.
Lily has short wavy hair in her picture. She
has expressed herself with dark brown eyes, and a smile reflecting her emotion!
Tiffany draws a blue sky with the sun. Looking
closely at her picture, I can see she has dark clouds above the blue sky. This
signifies how she sees the sky and clouds together.
Taya paints a
picture of a flower that is placed close to her for inspiration. Taya is able
to add her own understanding and detail by painting the roots of the
flower.
The inspirational
flower.
Sofie draws a
picture of a princess, carefully adding details to the dresses’ sleeves, she
says, “the princesses are wearing their long hair up like I do when I have a
dress on.”
Taylor has a
creative idea - adding a border with pom-poms to her drawing of flowers on the Magna Doodle.
Chelsea says “I
have painted a rainbow flower.”
Each one of these cards is an expression of oneself. Whether they are scribbles, lines or a person, the children are sharing a story. This artwork demonstrates an illustration of themselves, and how the children make meaning of the world around them.
Until next post!
~Jess
4 Hour Class - Mother's Day Tea Party
May 14, 2015, 01:04 AM
For Mother's Day the 4 hour class invited our mom's to join us for tea, treats, and a trip to the spa!
We prepared by making signs for the spa.
We decided to call our spa "Awesome Heart Spa"
When our moms arrived we greeted them and they got to choose to
get a massage, have their hair or nails done, or to get a tattoo.
After the spa alot of us sat down to read books
and some spontaneous dancing broke out!
We did a short presentation to the song
"A" You're Adorable
We can't show the video on the blog because it shows our faces, but
You can watch a silly animated version of the song here:
Then we served tea and treats to our moms and sang some songs.
A big thank you to all our moms for everything they do!
We love our moms!!
You can check out our board for more pictures
Comments (1)
Fine Arts & Science - Gardening with the Children
May 13, 2015, 03:27 PMHow does your garden grow? The children have been exploring bulbs and seeds. They decided to plant Iris bulbs several weeks ago and are excited about the developing shoots poking through the soil, the leaves and, this week, the signs of a flower emerging. How exciting for all of us! The children have developed a love of seeds and soil. We have explored the soil, roots and seeds of different plants. The dandelions are in full bloom around the playground. Many bouquets adorn the classroom. The children have also noticed flowers turn to seed and blow away, starting new plants. We started to examine the flower and what’s inside.
All of the children were thoroughly engaged throughout this process. A tulip was also available for them to explore and touch. They noticed how delicate and soft the petals were.
All this led to more exploration of seeds. Scarlett Runner seeds are not only beautiful to look at, but grow quickly and are a nice size for the children to handle.
Plastic cups were provided for the children. They dug their own soil and planted their special seed. The seeds were gently watered with eye droppers and placed on the window sill to get their much needed sunshine.
At circle we discussed the germination process that would take place. This was a long discussion with many questions and of course anticipation for their seeds. We would watch. The children checked their plants and cared for them daily.
All the children got to take home their special bean seeds. The teachers are receiving the growing reports on how the children’s plants are growing.
A group discussion took place in which we asked the children what they would like to grow in their garden boxes on the deck.
The choices were many. Carrots, peas, purple beans, lettuce , green onions, potatoes and different herbs. The children have chosen to plant a box for salad, including parsley, mint, lettuce, green onions, tomatoes and their much wanted potatoes.
We will soon have a salad garden to harvest. That will be an exciting day for the children! It is interesting to see how focused and dedicated they are to their plantings. The children are patient.
When asked what other kinds of food they like to eat the overwhelming response was pizza. We discussed what we needed to make a really good pizza. Could we grow anything in our garden boxes for pizza? The children came up with some really great suggestions. They have chosen to plant more garlic, some tomatoes, green peppers and spinach. Our next step might be to add some basil and oregano. We will have a pizza garden to complement their salad garden. A garden for the children - what a great teaching and learning experience!! Throughout this process the children were truly engaged and have learned many different things. It is learning through play, inspiring each other to touch, smell and explore the things in nature.
Until next time…..enjoy this beautiful weather!
~Joanne
All of the children were thoroughly engaged throughout this process. A tulip was also available for them to explore and touch. They noticed how delicate and soft the petals were.
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| The children wanted a closer look and a magnifying glass was provided for them. |
All this led to more exploration of seeds. Scarlett Runner seeds are not only beautiful to look at, but grow quickly and are a nice size for the children to handle.
 |
| Choosing just the right seed. |
Plastic cups were provided for the children. They dug their own soil and planted their special seed. The seeds were gently watered with eye droppers and placed on the window sill to get their much needed sunshine.
At circle we discussed the germination process that would take place. This was a long discussion with many questions and of course anticipation for their seeds. We would watch. The children checked their plants and cared for them daily.
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| A little shoot appears. |
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| The seed has split and two leaves are reaching for the sunshine. |
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| Our bean seeds, almost ready to plant outdoors. |
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| The sequence of germination. |
All the children got to take home their special bean seeds. The teachers are receiving the growing reports on how the children’s plants are growing.
Our Garden Boxes
A group discussion took place in which we asked the children what they would like to grow in their garden boxes on the deck.
The choices were many. Carrots, peas, purple beans, lettuce , green onions, potatoes and different herbs. The children have chosen to plant a box for salad, including parsley, mint, lettuce, green onions, tomatoes and their much wanted potatoes.
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| Planting the parsley and getting the soil just right. |
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| The potatoes go into the soil. |
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| It wasn’t long before the children noticed that the potatoes were coming up. |
We will soon have a salad garden to harvest. That will be an exciting day for the children! It is interesting to see how focused and dedicated they are to their plantings. The children are patient.
When asked what other kinds of food they like to eat the overwhelming response was pizza. We discussed what we needed to make a really good pizza. Could we grow anything in our garden boxes for pizza? The children came up with some really great suggestions. They have chosen to plant more garlic, some tomatoes, green peppers and spinach. Our next step might be to add some basil and oregano. We will have a pizza garden to complement their salad garden. A garden for the children - what a great teaching and learning experience!! Throughout this process the children were truly engaged and have learned many different things. It is learning through play, inspiring each other to touch, smell and explore the things in nature.
Until next time…..enjoy this beautiful weather!
~Joanne