Weaving with Ms. Rodegher

     This week we explored the children’s interests in threading. Early in the week we brought in a self standing peg board and the children used ribbons to weave in and out of the holes.  It proved to be challenging to pull the ribbon through for some children, while others were able to thread the ribbon with ease. Once the children found they were able to thread the ribbon, they soon lost interest quickly. They did not attempt threading the ribbon back the other way. This led me to believe that their interest was in threading in one direction.

        Later in the week we had out curvy wire for the students with wooden beads to thread. This caught their interest quickly. Some observed how the bead moved along the curvy wire while others enjoyed threading beads one after another on the wire. The younger children remained engaged as well, attempting to thread the beads on the wire. They were able to thread 2 or 3 beads, and in that process they used critical thinking skills in how to hold the wire to match up with the hole in the bead. This proved to be challenging for the younger children, but with persistence they were able to accomplish the task.

        After observing how interested they were to use the wire in threading, I intend to bring in other objects to thread with the wire.

March 2013

            Welcome to March!  It is hard to believe that half of the winter semester is already behind us!  We have been so busy in the classroom and have a busy rest of the semester ahead of us.

            The children have been working in their learning groups over the course of the semester.  We have found a group for each child in our classroom of an idea or concept they are interested in.  We have our learning group chart at the front of the room and will put up documentation from each group showing the kinds of things the children have been working on.  Our interns are also working on a newsletter to share with families describing their groups.  I will make sure to email this to our families when it is complete.

            We have been working a lot with the properties and manipulating clay, we have been using weaving and weaving materials, we have been exploring instruments and sound, and we have been exploring animals and how our bodies can move to mix and manipulate tools.

            As you might have noticed, we have rearranged the room.  Above our stage, we have taken down the cabinet doors and would like to create a space to represent the different cultures/heritages/families.  If you bring in an item representing your family, we will make sure to display it for the children to see.  We thought this might be another way to represent the children in our room.

            As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.  Have a great month!