Rainbow Masterpiece - 4 Hour Class

February 24, 2017, 08:00 AM

We changed things at the art table today. No chairs and no individual art. Everyone was able to move and put color wherever they want.

At first everyone wanted to have his or her own white space to color. The children just stuck to their “own area”.

Lucas enjoyed using two eyedroppers simultaneously. He carefully watched as the two colors mixed on the paper towel. When he saw blue and green mixing, he said, “Looks like the earth”.

Keira tried Lucas’s method of using two eyedroppers but with different colors. She mixed the red and the blue. Keira said she was trying to make purple that is why she used the red and blue.

Sofia and Lucas helped each other make “rainbow earth”.

Other children came to the art table as well and helped color the paper towel. They were very determined to color everything and see no white.

It is each child’s small piece in this artwork that helped make the big picture. Piece by piece the children made this rainbow masterpiece.

Until next time,

Patricia

WRCC

Comments

Heart / Xīn (Mandarin Fun for Preschoolers)

February 15, 2017, 08:30 AM

With the celebration of Valentine’s Day this month, it was relevant for the children

to learn the Mandarin word for heart, which is xīn. The children explored their environment that gave them the opportunity to practice saying heart in Mandarin. For children, repetition and children directed activities are key to learning.

Katie and Caitlyn enjoyed making heart shaped cookies.

Sara decorated her xīn with hóng sè (red), huáng sè (yellow), zǐ sè (purple) and lán sè (blue).

Jaslynn liked stamping and seeing the different designs on the paper.

Chloe pretended that the hóngxīn (red hearts) were gummies.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, do not forget to tell your loved ones

Until next time,

Patricia

WRCC

Comments

Allowing Children To Get Dirty - 3 Year Old and 4 Year Old classes

February 9, 2017, 08:30 AM

Often parents seem to worry their children might get their clothes dirty, or that they may become ill because of the dirt. As a result, outdoor play is frequently limited.

In fact, allowing children to get physical with the “dirty” outside world is good for them.

The immune system is designed to build up a defence against bacteria and viruses.... but it needs to be conditioned. In order to recognize harmful germs, it needs to come into contact with germs. This is when antibodies are created. When the time comes, the child who has been exposed to harmful germs will be less susceptible to becoming ill.

Your child also needs to be active, run around and feel happy playing outside. Worrying about stains will make the child feel too wary about activities that make him happy. You can't replace that happiness with clean clothes, or with indoor inactive activities.

As well, children need to explore and discover the world. Exploration fuels the imagination and creates lifelong memories. Memories that the child will tap into the rest of his life. Not to mention the creativity, social and physical skills that are nurtured through exploration.

So, let your child get out and get dirty! :)

A puddle in the sandbox drew loads of creative play, socializing and language,

problem solving and FUN!!

Sincerely,

Barbi

WRCC

Comments

A New Year - 4 Hour Class

February 3, 2017, 08:30 AM

The children have all settled back into class and let me say, everybody has gotten taller and more mature since Christmas break. Is it the New Year and something magical occurred? On the first day back, Duke wore a very smart red sport coat which had medal like patches on it. He was so very proud to be wearing it and told us about the story behind it. He wasn’t the only child who had a new look; there was Chloe, Georgia, Kianne, Sara and Adonis who had new haircuts to come back to school with. A New Year and new changes were definitely in order. We also have two new faces in our class, one being teacher Rikki and a new student named Mikaeyla. Please join me in giving them a warmest welcome to our class.

So, what has been going on this month? We made pancakes which was a huge success. The children were busy measuring and mixing the ingredients. We discussed all the things that go into making the pancake and had a chance to feel, smell and look at all the ingredients. Christina, Lucas and Sara carefully cracked the eggs into the bowl. I have to say, there were no egg shells in our batter as they were very skillful in avoiding it. Keira, Andrew, Georgia and Jaden all took turns mixing the batter and using their muscles.

The children all ate together and thoroughly enjoyed their own cooking. All the children liked syrup with their pancakes. Some children had second helpings since they claimed it was delicious.

During circle time, teacher Patricia read the funny story, “If You Give a Pig a Pancake”. The children thought it was funny since they could relate to the story because of the sticky syrup.

Since the children were very excited about the snow and ice that was occurring outside, we decided to make frozen coloured ice pucks for our sensory table. We added some water to make it even more interesting and to add another dimension to this activity. It was a popular table. Adonis enjoyed pouring the water over the pucks and seeing the water change colours. Dana enjoyed using a spoon to stir, and pour the water over her frozen pucks but then decided to get her hands into it as well.

As time went on the frozen pucks started to melt and a learning moment occurred. The children were wondering why the pucks were getting smaller. Then, we went outside to play and when we came back the children noticed there were no frozen pucks. Adonis asked, “What happened to them?” “Did somebody take them?” said, Duke. Oh it was a great moment for a teacher. So, we did an impromptu before circle and discussed what could have happened. We went from sensory to science from one activity. This is a great example of how we try to provoke questions, discussions and interests with your children during their time in class.

Until next time,

Deanna

WRCC

Comments

Dramatic Play…….Fairytales - 4 Year Old Class

January 30, 2017, 08:30 AM

The children in our 4 Year Old class have spent a great deal of time in dramatic play, from playing with the babies to acting out their own play which normally ends up in the book corner on the cozy mat and pillows.

We decided to enhance this play by reading some traditional fairytales to see if the children were interested in creating the story and finally acting it out. The hands went up as we asked who would like to act out Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This story has a lot of repetition which allows the children to be able to remember what to say. It also teaches children basic concepts of big, medium and small.

Dramatic play develops children's imagination as well as giving them confidence to speak and listen in front of an audience or to one another. It helps children not to be impulsive because if they are playing a role of the baby bear they will need to wait till papa and mama bear have had a turn saying their part.

Mary, Isabelle and Huxley take on the role of being the three little bears.

After discussing and deciding who was going to be which bear the children go over to the table to pretend to eat their porridge. Huxley took the role of being Daddy Bear so he stands in front of the big bowl, Isabelle is Mama Bear and she is eating from the medium size bowl and Mary is the Baby Bear and she is eating from the small bowl.

Again the children seem to know which chair to choose to sit on based on the size bear they are playing.

Goldilocks is lying on the pillows and without audience or myself prompting, Taylor starts lying on the big pillow and then over to the medium and finally on the small pillow.

The children had so much fun with acting out Goldilocks and the Three Bears that we decided to make our houses for the story of the Three Little Pigs.

We began by painting the three houses.

The children are learning to paint inside the black lines to make a brick house.

Arianna is painting the house of sticks, she seems to be working in one area of the cardboard. I wonder if she thinks she needs to work her way down, or if she has a plan in mind.