Our children began the school year in September with schedules
that were full days as opposed to half days.
With this new style of schedule, all of our children participated in
lunch/rest/every part of our school day.
The first few weeks were definitely a transition for the children,
getting to know us, our classroom, and each other. As the weeks progressed, we really began to
notice a sense of belonging that each of the children had in the classroom and
a sense of community that the children felt.
When new children come in each morning, everyone goes to the door to
greet the children. When children are
picked up at the end of the day, all of the children run to the window at the
front of the classroom to wave goodbye.
We have also noticed that the children really are understanding
the personalities of each other. Many of
our children have a special blanket from home that they bring to school as a
rest time/comfort item. The children
recognize that and if they see another child’s blanket, they will bring it to
the child to hold. Some of our children
even look for those comfort items for other children if they are upset. The sense of empathy, handing another child
something they know will help comfort them, is really incredible to see with
such young children. They are even able
to identify each other in photos on the wall and around the classroom.
As the children have gotten comfortable with each other, they have
also become very interested in exploring.
They explore the materials we have around the classroom, and have also
begun to branch out to new materials we have brought into the room. At the beginning of the school year, the
children were very interested in popping bubbles, reading books, and moving
around cars. As the semester continued,
the children became more confident with paint, drawing, and clay.
We brought different kinds of fruits in for the children to
explore. The children had the
opportunity to feel the outside of a pumpkin.
We guessed at what could be inside, and upon opening it, noticed there
were seeds and a gooey substance inside.
Some of the children were even brave enough to explore the seeds and goo
with their hands, while others preferred to explore using tongs.
One of the teachers in our building brought in an Osage Orange
from U of M’s campus. The Osage Orange
was green and bumpy, and the children enjoyed smelling it – there was a strong
citrus smell. Upon opening it, the
children were able to feel the juices, the sticky texture, and were invited to
explore it. Some did not want to use
their hands, so they were given tongs.
Painting, water movement, and texture explorations have been a
large part of our semester so far. Ms.
Ali has been exploring the movement of water and sand as the children use
different tools. We also have two
strategies students this term who are just starting to plan lessons. One student is working with the children on
bubbles, how they can be moved, and how they feel. Our other student is working with the
children on imprinting. How do different
materials make different prints in play dough and clay?
While thinking about all of these things the children were
interested in, we noticed that the children were really exploring their
surrounding environment and how they were able to have control over it and
manipulate it. Knowing this makes a lot
of sense for the children in our room, especially based on their ages and how
young children explore.
