Light and Shadows

This semester the children have been very interested in light and shadows.  We often have the light table on and various materials to explore with throughout the day.  We have also used the projector to show images while building or for creating different patterns.  We first noticed the fascination with light when we used the computer projector to watch videos of dancers (another huge interest of ours).  The children would try to figure out where the light was coming from and how the images ended up on the wall.  Since then we have attempted to create colored shadows using light bulbs of different colors.  We have also used images of buildings around the city of Dearborn (buildings from Greenfield Village, the Ford Building, and the Islamic Center of America  to name a few).  The children observed this images and tried to create the building using different types of blocks.

We have found that light can serve as a provocation itself, and that it can be used to enhance lessons.  We use light to create shadows, we use light to create patterns, we use light for building; there are so many uses for light!  We have also found that changing the lighting in the room can have a profound effect on the mood of the children.  We never realized how important light is to our day in the classroom environment.  As we continue to investigate light with the children, we want to further explore the idea of creating colored shadows.

So far through our investigations the children have encouraged materials which encourage them to problem solve, look at various science concepts, explore their community, and engage with their peers.  We cover various subjects like science, social studies, and math.  We have collect anecdotes for our TS Gold assessment, and continue to explore the Early Childhood Standards of Quality for the state of Michigan (https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/ECSQ_IT_approved_422341_7.pdf).  Here are some connections to these standards:

• Goal 1: Infants and toddlers experience environments where their physical health is promoted. 
• Infants and toddlers experience environments where: their physical health is promoted; their social and emotional well-being is nurtured; and 3. they are kept safe from harm
• b. Increased coordination (e.g., eye-hand movements)
• Goal 2: Infants and toddlers experience environments where their social and emotional well-being is nurtured.
•  b. An increasing capacity to pay attention, focus, concentrate, and be involved.
• Goal 4: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they and their families are empowered to make contributions within the program and as members of their communities.
•  d. A positive sense about their participation in the program, their families, and their community.
• Goal 3: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning.
•  a. The confidence to explore and make sense of their world through simple problem solving, recognizing patterns, learning from trial and error, asking questions, listening to others, simple planning
• b. An attitude of themselves as “explorers” — competent, confident learners who ask questions and make discoveries. 
• c. The confidence to choose and experiment with materials, to explore actively with all the senses, and to use what they learn to generalize their learning to other experiences. 
• . The ability to learn new things from the materials and people around them. 

Flower Exploration

Since the beginning of the semester, the children have been exploring with flowers and the many ways to use them.  We have been so lucky that so many families have been willing to bring in flowers for us to use (Thank you!!!). The children have been using their senses to explore the smell, color, and texture of them. The children especially love using their sense of smell! With these flowers we have created collages, flower soup, and paintings.



Flower soup was a huge hit!  The children loved the smell the flowers created in the water and also the idea of cooking with the materials.  They also showed a strong interest in water and the water table. This has also led us into many other sensory explorations. We have explored a variety of fabrics, solid shapes (circles, cubes, spheres), how water moves (water mills, ramps), and transporting water. By participating in these sensory explorations the children are creating their own theories to explore the variety of materials, they are expanding their fine motor skills, gaining social skills, and partaking in cause and effect. The children are starting to question, explore, generate, and modify their own ideas about the world around them. The children are also gaining an understanding of their natural environment by exploring all of these materials.



Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Infant and Toddler Programs
(from: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/ECSQ_IT_approved_422341_7.pdf)
Goal 4: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they develop a growing sense of social relationships, the natural environment, and the physical world.
a. The ability to question, explore, generate, and modify their own ideas about the world around them.
b. Familiarity with a variety of materials (e.g., sand, water, ice, bubbles, blocks, paper).
d. A knowledge of the natural environment in the outdoor area of the program and the local neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood park, grassy field, a wooded area).

We later explored with the flowers in dirt.  Ms. Rana wanted to extend upon the flower soup exploration and wanted the children to be thinking about the garden and the outside area.  The children were very interested in exploring the dirt, as well as filling and dumping.  With this exploration the children are learning about capacity and the movement of materials (dirt in and out of the cups).  The children are also exploring with an unfamiliar sensory material, which acts in a different way from sand and water.  We will be continuing to explore and hope to engage the children in some planting explorations in the near future.

Thanks again to all of our families who have, or will be sharing flowers for the classroom.  They are much appreciated!

Regie Rainbow

January 18th began our seven week adventure with the Regie Rainbow program.
Regie Rainbow is a nutrition and physical activity program that introduces children to many different fruits and vegetables. Each week we will focus on one color of the rainbow and sample a fruit and vegetable of that color.
Our first week we visited the Island of Red and the children were able to sample red grapefruit and beets. Some children were curious and tasted both of the new foods. Others weren't so eager yet. Maybe next week.                                             Our second week took us to the Island of Orange and the children sampled papaya and sweet potato. These two foods brought more willing taste-testers.



To keep track of our Regie Rainbow adventure, and see which foods your child tried, we have created a chart that can be found on the back of our main classroom door. Regie Rainbow taste testing occurs on Wednesday mornings each week. Each child that attends on that day has their own column to document whether they tried the two foods. A smiley face indicates that the child tried the food and liked it. A sad face indicates that the child didn't try the food or tried it and didn't like it.
Feel free to peek at the chart anytime to see if your child has enjoyed a new food that you can possibly add to your menu at home.

For the children that don't attend on Wednesday, DON'T WORRY! We are planning simple and fun recipes that get the children involved in the preparation and incorporate either of the two foods or a food from the color for that week.

Our recipe from the Island of Orange: Papaya, Orange, Honey popsicles
This week's recipe from the Island of Yellow: Banana Bread

Stay tuned for more on our Regie Rainbow adventure.

Worms and Compost!

Last week we introduced some new creatures to the classroom- our WORMS!  The children have been very excited to observe the worms and ask some questions about these unique creatures.  While it is obvious we enjoy animals in the classroom (hopefully you have seen the new fish tank set ups), we brought the worms in with a purpose - to become a part of our experience with compost.  The children have been exploring new foods (please look out for our Regie Rainbow post in the very near future) and we have started some cooking explorations in the classroom.  Rather than wasting the food scrapes we wanted to find a way to use them.  To encourage recycling, we will begin to explore composting.  Our hope is to use the compost in the near future, as we begin exploring plants and the garden.

We introduced the children to worms at group time.  They had an opportunity to observe and touch the worms (if they wanted).  We are working really hard to use gentle touches and be kind to these living creatures, while putting on our brave face.  Later the children observed the worms moving across the table and began to generate some questions.  We have introduced some videos of worms in motion and the children have even tried slithering like worms.  The children are very intrigued by what the worms eat.  We have added some cucumber slices, melon pieces and cardboard/paper to our compost.  We will continue to explore what creates the best compost and what the worms like the most.

Some of the questions we have are:

1. Are worms insects?
2. Do worms have legs?
3. What do worms eat?
4. How do worms move?

We will be looking to the Pre-K and Kindergarten class for some answers, as they have been studying worms and are quite knowledgeable.  We looking forward to the collaboration soon and to continue our adventures in composting!

Classroom and Curriculum update

Well it has been quite some time since we have updated (Sorry!  We have been so busy learning).  The children had a great fall semester and explored many wonderful topics.  They have really started to develop their different roles in the classroom and are really finding their place in the classroom community.  We have such an awesome group of learners, with great ideas, who work so well together in the classroom.

During the Fall we covered many different topics.  Ms. Huff explored painting extensively with the children.  They used many different materials and types of paint to create beautiful works of art.  They children worked on many collaborative pieces throughout the semester.  We are hoping to continue their collaborations, as well as working on individual pieces.  To build on their painting projects, we have started to introduce some different art techniques.  This week our focus has been on sketching and creating lines.  We are eager to see how these skills translate to the art work of the children.  As they begin to develop stronger fine motor skills, we are beginning to see more details emerging in their work.

We also began a study on the classroom bullfrogs.  The children have been eager to hear the sounds of the bullfrogs and explore their movement.  We have watched many videos, observed the bullfrogs in the classroom, and even tested out flippers like the frogs have on their feet.  Sadly, we lost both of our bullfrogs over the long break.  The children have not noticed the loss too much (especially with all the other creatures in the room).  We are hoping to introduce some tadpoles to the children and begin the cycle over again.  We have watched a few videos involving tadpoles and the children have been able to recognize the differences between baby and full grown frogs.  We are eager to continue these explorations, as the children still have a strong interest.  They have been wearing the flippers all over the classroom, and other parts of the building.

With new faces in the classroom (two new inters, a new strategies students and new staff members), we are eager to introduce some new topics to the children.  We can not wait to see where the new semester takes us, and what ideas the children bring to the table.  Here are a few pictures from the first few days back to school.  The children have really gotten down to business and have been busy exploring!  Please look forward to more frequent updates.  We like to keep everyone posted about what happens in the classroom!