Ms. Eid and Ms. Goodwin's Inquiries

Dear Parents,

We would like to start off by saying that it’s been an amazing year so far; the children have become familiar with each other and getting used to the routine in our classroom.  During Whole group, the children are given an opportunity to learn the group time routine and sing along with the teachers as well as be active listeners.  They have been participating with singing while watching a felt story go along with the song; they have been sitting for a longer period and listening to more books. It has been enjoyable to watch the children grow every week we have seen how they are starting to participate during group time more and more each week.

 The children have been exploring different ways of representing motion. One way was through the movement of water.  We introduced the water table with classroom items, the children began exploring with using their hands through splashing, then they showed an interest with pouring and transferring water using different items that can hold water such as bowls and cups. This activity was successful in terms of extending children’s play, through their thought and ideas. We thought it would be interesting to introduce items that cannot hold water, but can transfer water instead.  Funnels and tubes were added to the water table, the children were able to see that the water does not stay in the tubes and were amazed to watch the water go down from the other end.  The children are very familiar with water play at this point; therefore we are working on different ways of setting up the material using a pegboard on the water table.  The children initially explored the pegboard using their buckets to pour water down into the tubes.

We also introduced movement on ramps using different objects. The children also showed an interest in ramps and cars, which inspired the idea of doing lessons on how objects move on ramps. We have added sand and carpet to the ramps to try and find different ways cars and balls might move. We noticed that different textures have really added to the children’s curiosity of movement. It has been remarkable to see the different ways the children manipulate the materials and find new ideas to make objects travel up and down on the ramps. Recently we tried using tubes on the ramps, which has been interesting to see how they have been more challenging to the children then we initially thought. The children really help us generate new ideas to incorporate each week. These lessons have really concentrated on the children’s observational skills, memory skills and fine motor skills. It has been fun watching them learn new concepts over the course of the semester.  We look forward to the next few months with your children.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Goodwin & Mrs. Eid