Something Different - 4 Hour Class

November 8, 2017, 08:00 AM
On Monday, October 30, when I opened the door to let the children in the classroom, I noticed something different. The children were nowhere to be found. Instead different characters and animals came in the classroom.


Queen Elsa and an Angel helped Thing 2 put on more dress up accessories.

















Luigi came to the art table to draw.
 
 
 
 
 
A minion played with the cars.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Everest ate a cookie at the snack table.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Skye read a book.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A firefighter rode on a tricycle.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A dinosaur drove the car.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Darth Vader came with us to gym as well.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Even though the children did not come that day. We still had a lot of fun meeting and playing with the different characters and animals that came to school that day. 
 
It was very interesting to see how some of the children were acting out their character. The children who were dressed as firefighters were very eager in helping the other children. They saw everything as an emergency.  The superheroes were running very fast in the gym. Speed was their super power. I hope everyone had fun dressing up!
Until next time,
Patricia

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
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Westham Island Herb Farm Field Trip - 3 Year Old & 4 Year Old Classes

November 6, 2017, 08:00 AM
Our Three-Year-Old and Four-Year-Old Classes recently visited the Pumpkin Patch at Westham Island Herb Farm in Delta.

After a relatively short and scenic drive from Richmond through Ladner, we crossed over a small, one lane bridge en route to the farm. This bridge has remarkably been in place since 1911.
 
Westham Island Bridge
Westham Island Herb Farm is a community oriented farm and promotes buying fruits and vegetables locally. It is part of the Ellis family farm which has been at the present location since 1916!
 Some of the sites you see upon arrival at the farm:
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lucas and his sister play a game of tic tac toe:
 

We start our tour by visiting a barn that's been standing in place since the Ellis farm was established in 1916:
 
 
The barn houses the cows in the Winter:

As we exited the barn, the farm's pigs were penned just outside and seemed happy to see us. They were even happier to have a few corn cobs tossed their way:
 


Washing our hands after visiting the cows and pigs:

While in the hay barn, our guide explains about the various fruits and vegetables grown on the farm. Flowers, strawberries, garlic, carrots, potatoes, pumpkins and more:

The children learned about the keen sense of hearing a donkey has. When he hears something, his big ears go back:
 
 Maisy, the highland heifer, came out to greet the children:

A visit with the farm's goats:

 
Our guide tells us one of the hens is trying to lay an egg. Scotia asks if she can come in and help her:
 
 Before heading out to the pumpkin patch, the children went into the mini haunted house:
 
 
Off to the pumpkin patch to find our pumpkins of choice:
 
Scotia tries to pick up a pumpkin but it's a wee bit too heavy:
 

 

 
“Look a Cinderella pumpkin!” Adson
 

Three boys deciding if they can make it across the big puddle. Garrett decided he can:
 
Toy diggers put out by the farm staff for visitors:
 
 
Lucas and Mikailyn find their perfect pumpkin:



Garrett succeeds at lassoing the pony:

 
The children spent a very enjoyable morning at the farm. All the senses were alive from the sounds of the birds in the trees, to the smells of hay, pig pens and pumpkins, and of course the feeling of mud under foot.
A big thank you to the staff at Westham Island Herb Farm for opening your doors to our Preschool children and the community on a whole!
 

 
 
Barbi
 
A few reasons to buy your fruit and vegetables locally....
Local crops are picked at their peak or ripeness (opposed to being harvested early in order to ship out to your local retail store.)
By buying locally, you help maintain farmland.
Local food supports the local economy.
Local food has a shorter time between harvest and your table, and it is less likely that the nutrient value has decreased.
 
 
 
 
 
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Friendships - Fine Arts and Science ~ M/W/F - AM Class

November 2, 2017, 08:00 AM
Hello families,

I have been asked by many parents/caretakers if their child is making friends in class. I realize this is a very important skill for children to develop.  Socializing is a major part of life and we all want our children to have friends.  At this age the children’s friendship are very different from how we perceive it to be.  A child’s definition of a friend is someone they spend time with which I can say that all our children in our class definitely have friends then.


Children in our class play alongside each other (known as parallel play) which is age appropriate.  It is still in the realm of making friends.  I see the children playing with one another but they usually only play for a brief time then they move on to another activity that catches their interest.  This happens during the time they are with us but they are using their social skills and developing skills to promote friendships.  The exciting part of what I see in our classroom is that the children play with different peers all the time and are very inclusive of each other.  They will usually gravitate to an activity they are interested in and then start engaging with the child that is also at the same activity.


We do provide many opportunities for children to make friends by building their social skills to help them form friendships.   Activities like circle time, art, dramatic play, sensory play, outdoor play along with all the activities that we set up, do encourage children to play together, communicate, problem solve and to share with one another.  It is important to remember that that it takes time and practice to build friendships at this age.


Until next time
Deanna



 



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Dinos & Pumpkins - FAS T/Th Class

October 31, 2017, 08:00 AM
Last week in our classroom, we had a gourd and pumpkin store for children to explore. Close to it was a dinosaur set-up. At first, the children were taking turns buying the pumpkins and being the cashier. But towards the end of free play time, the dinosaurs started buying pumpkins from the store.
 
Mateo brought the dinosaur to the store and bought a pumpkin from Aiden. Mateo said “My dinosaur wants to buy some pumpkins”. Aiden replied with “How many?”. Mateo then said “Just one”.
 
Mateo & Loen brought more dinosaurs to buy more pumpkins and gourds.
 
 
Mateo said that the dinosaurs are buying pumpkins to decorate their Halloween Party. The dinosaurs bought all the pumpkins and gourds. Mateo and Loen lined up all the dinosaurs and the pumpkins and gourds. Once they were done, the party started.
 


When Mateo and Loen were done with their Halloween party, Lalita and Era brought the dinosaurs, pumpkins and gourds to the store. This time the store did not only sell pumpkins and gourds but also dinosaurs.

 


It was very interesting to see how the children combined the various materials and toys around the different set-ups in the classroom in their play and how their play unfolded. Giving more uninterrupted time for free play, allows children’s imagination and understanding of the world manifest in their own play.
Until next time,
Patricia
 
 
 
 

 

 




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Professional Development Day – Oct 20th

October 29, 2017, 10:05 AM
I was looking forward to our Pro D Day because Gina had booked an art class at 4 Cats Studio at Garden City Centre in Richmond. It was different from other workshops, giving me a sense of how children feel when they are doing or making their own art work.

Jumping Judy was our instructor and took us to the back of the studio where we sat at a large table across from each other. I felt this was important because you can engage with one another and share ideas about the art that we were going to do just like we do at preschool with the children.

 
 

Jumping Judy began by giving us all a square wooden box. This got me thinking what could we be making with this? She then explained about a product called Liquid Vitrous, which we would mix into the paint colors we would be choosing for our box. This liquid gives the paint a runny, glossy look when it dries. Jumping Judy showed us some samples of the effects it has when mixed in paint and how it changes the pattern.  I thought it almost looked like an oil spill in the sunlight, very fun to do and relaxing!!

We all began by choosing a color and began painting the outside of the box, we then went on to select our paint colors. We all had ideas of what we wanted to create. When we poured the paint mix on the surface of the boxes we quickly realized that the colors seemed to mix and create something of its own, quite different from what our ideas were.  I found this to be interesting looking at this process from a preschoolers’ perspective, how he/she may be disappointed that the paint did not mix colors the way he/she planned and how would a preschooler understand what happened?  I asked myself would I need to provide other materials like brushes to help the preschooler create what she had envisioned or do we allow the child to work with the understanding of the paints mixing into colors and creating whatever they do. I believe both, I think it’s important to provide the child with lots of materials but also understand that’s what happens when paint colors mix.






As we moved the paint around on the surfaces of our boxes by tilting or using tools like eye droppers to add more paint, the mixing of the paint was making different patterns. I found this to be relaxing to watch and thinking how it would make a preschooler feel?  Maybe the same way, or they may even be fascinated by the colors changing the pattern.








 

It was exciting to see how different the painting turned out, considering that we all used the same materials. We will be displaying our art upstairs for you all to see!





 

Until next time

Jess 
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