Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Imaginative Tuesday!


Today, during morning center time in the Maple room Axel, Zin, and Jaquez were sorting the bugs from small to big. Jamie, NA'Zya, and Destiny built a tower with the Magna-tiles. During afternoon center time Ellianna built a tower on the light table with the transparent pyramid blocks. Sarah, Olivia K. and Brooke spent time looking at family pictures. During morning centers in the Pine room Jace was took on the role of a doctor, giving shots, taking temperatures and putting bandaids on patients. William was feeding and walking his pet cat. In the afternoon, Aidan was giving shots to many patients. Although it was a little bit chilly outside, the children were still running and riding bikes around the playground. The amphitheater was opened during the afternoon and it was a very popular area for the children. 

Sarah, Olivia K, and Brooke viewed the family pictures in the Maple room. 

Ellianna said, "There is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, this is really tall."
Pelumi, Ela, and Aya created a game in the Maple room. 
Isabell was tucking her baby into the carseat in the Pine room. 
We will see everyone on Thursday, have a great night!
-Miss Strobl & Miss Minner

Sensory Exploration!

It was a very eventful day today, in Pod A.  This week we added another sensory table and we changed out the materials. One table has corn kernels and the other has pine cones, leaves, sticks, and acorns. In addition, the children were able to explore oobleck and had the opportunity to help mix the corn starch and water together. Also, in the oak room, Zin, Cynthia, Jamie, Isabell, and Pelumi explored the clay and used the tools to make different sculptures. The children had more time to discover new things in the classrooms this afternoon because we closed the option of going outside due to the low temperatures. However, this did not stop the children from exploring the new materials that were set out. 
When asked what it felt like, the children replied, "gooey." They also said, "It's melting in my hands."
Gabrielle and Sabryna were making corn soup














Pelumi and Zin using the clay tools to create sculptures

Teaching Strategy Objectives: Science and Technology
 Demonstrates knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials

Have a great night
Miss Yost and Miss Melching

Monday, September 29, 2014

Welcome Back to School!



 We added new items to the sensory tables in the Walnut room. Children got to explore the texture of corn and natural materials like pine cones! We also had ooblek in the Walnut room. Children said it was cold, sticky, and looked like milk! Also the water table had new cups and eye droppers added to it. The children did experiments to see how many times it took to fill a cup up with the water droppers. All the students have had water coloring appointments and now watercolors have become a big hit in the Oak room. Since the weather was so nice today we had the outside open for afternoon centers. The teachers hope to have nice weather the rest of the week so the children can have more time spent outdoors. See you tomorrow, Mrs. Barber.


The children were pretending the climber was their house

Tommy was balancing the wood pieces in the construction area outside
PJ is using the water droppers to fill the cup

Another Beautiful Monday

Happy Monday!

POD B was busy all morning!  In the Maple room, Magnatiles and Legos were popular for building.  Kallix helped some POD A children build cars with the Legos. In the Pine room, the new decorative corn and gourds were played with often, as well as the doctor's station.

The children had the opportunity to go outdoors during the afternoon centers to play.  There were bike races, digging, and games all around the playground.

Miss Bemis, a 402 student, plays along with Max and Casey as they dig

Some 402 students sat with Olivia, Kallix and William in the shade. They talked about what they like to do on hot days.

A group of children playing Duck, Duck, Goose in the afternoon.
Have a nice evening, and a great rest of the week!

Claire Kittle

Teaching Strategies Gold: Physical #4 - Demonstrates traveling skills

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Happy First Week of Fall!

Hello CDLL families! Although it was the first week of Fall, it felt like Summer temperatures. The children took full advantage of the weather by spending lots of time outside. During morning centers in the Maple room the children were very engaged with the peg boards. The children were stacking and making patterns with the pegs. In the Pine room the children were busy in the doctor area giving shots, listening to each others heart beats, and taking temperatures.  We closed the Oak and Maple rooms again during afternoon centers to enjoy the beautiful weather. Outside the children were building cities with the foam blocks.
Axel was stacking the pegs and yelled "Timber" when they fell over.

Jace was listening to Leah's heartbeat.

Casey and Memo had a teacher stack the foam blocks on top of them during outside time.

Miss. Goodman and Jace drove to the water park during afternoon centers.
We hope you guys have a good weekend! We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!
Miss Minner and Miss Strobl!

Energetic Thursday

Today all the children were very upbeat and energetic. The children had the opportunity to go outside for a longer period of time today again to enjoy the beautiful weather. Like Tuesday, many children took advantage of this opportunity also. Today we added flower pots to the outside art cart and many children enjoyed decorating them. Even though the trees are changing colors and it is fall, the weather is feeling like summer. This is beneficial to every child due to all of the learning opportunities outside for the children to progress in their development.




Teaching Strategy Objective; Language
Using appropriate conversational and other communication skills.

Have a great weekend! See you on Tuesday
Miss Yost and Miss Melching

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

A Warm Wednesday

Hello Families!


Pod A had a warm, outside filled day! The children got to go without jackets and we even saw some t-shirts. While they were outside, the children explored the changing colors and asked questions about fall.

The sandbox was also very busy today. A lot of children were "baking" food for each other and for the teachers. The talked about their recipes and why they had made their food. Some children covered themselves with sand and said they were mermaids. After one child started the trend other children followed.
During the afternoon we had guests in our school. Students from EDU 347 came to visit to do science experiments with our children. Their experiments included launching a balloon rocket, making aluminum foil boats and a dancing raisin experiment. One of the favorite experiments was a paper helicopter experiment where the children tried different sizes to see which ones flew the best. Some of the children even took some home.


Have a fantastic rest of your day and I hope to see everyone tomorrow!
Amanda Overbeck
Michigan Teaching Standard
Early Learning In Science #1
Demonstrate curiosity about their natural environment.

A Beautiful Wednesday!

Good Afternoon Families,

Today was the second day the children had new student teachers within their pods.  The weather was warm again, so the children were able to be outside for an extended period of time.

In the Pine room today Mrs. Bristley introduced the docent boards to the children. These boards contain different pieces of art created by famous artists painting different time periods. Once Mrs. Bristley has been to each room in the school, the children will be encouraged to test them out and create their own masterpieces on them.

Leah and Mackenzie listening to Mrs. Bristley describe the docent boards during large group.
During morning center times the children were able to explore the new items added throughout the school. The children in the pine room were playing with the pets in the veterinarian area and giving them check ups. The Oak room was also very busy because of the new finger paints being added. The children were learning what colors could be made by mixing the paints together.

At the end of the day, the Oak and Maple rooms were closed so that the children had the option to go outside and play in the beautiful weather. The majority of the children took advantage of this and played with the bikes and in the sand pit.

Elizabeth and Gigi playing outside during afternoon center time, taking advantage of the warm weather this week.
Have a great evening,
Stacey Jackson

Michigan State Standard #33: Explores the Visual Arts
The children explored the visual arts with Mrs. Bristley when the docent boards were introduced.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Change-Up Tuesday!

Good Afternoon! This week the children are experiencing a new change with different 409 teachers in the opposite pods. However, the children never asked questions and they went through the day as normal interacting with us adults. Today felt like a summer day, it was so beautiful outside.  Hard to believe fall is in the air already!  We spent the majority of our day outside, due to the nice weather. After rest time we shut down two rooms and kept open the hallway, snack, the walnut and pine room which allowed children to enjoy the weather. Many children in Pod A took advantage of the playground being open and went straight there after snack time. Therefore, our pictures below will give you a little outlook at what they did while they were exploring the outside environment.

This week we changed up the art cart and we are now working with glitter paint. The children have shown a high interest in this new change for the week, thus our pictures are focused on the children's enjoyment of this paint. 




These children were following each other with bikes making it look like a parade.

Olivia K and Jamie were playing cats in the wooden house today. When the picture was being taken Olivia K was meowing.

This group of girls got creative and connected the bike and the wagon to each other.

Teaching Strategy Objective; Physical - demonstrates fine motor strength and coordination

Have a Great Wednesday!
Miss Yost and Miss Melching

Happy Tuesday!

Today the sun was shining all afternoon! During afternoon centers the Oak room in Pod A and the Maple room in Pod B were closed to allow the children to have the option of going outside earlier then normal. The children were active throughout the entire afternoon. Many children choose to explore the amphitheater today. The children also choose to ride bikes together around the playground. The children used their creativity while playing on the play structures and discovered new ways to go down the slide!

Micah climbed up the slide and NA'Zya held her arm out for him to help him up the slide. 

Mrs. Weller, Kallix, PJ, and Carter were rolling the tires back and fourth outside today.

Ty and Danny figured out a way for both of them to swing together!

Ty, Ela, and Nikayla were hopping across the rock in the amphitheater.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, we look forward to seeing you Thursday!
-Miss Strobl and Miss Minner

Monday, September 22, 2014

From Discovery to Art

Today in Pod A, children were able to discover new materials and make their own artwork. There were many hands-on, gross-motor, and fine-motor activities involved. Science and Art is everyone's favorite subject in school!

In the Discovery room...
Tommy was trying to fit the wooden pieces into the holes.

Experimenting with magnets.

"That bike is really close to me." -Gigi

"I'm making a candle." -Dominic

Gabrielle and Olivia were playing at the water table.

"I made a train track and it's seventy-five long." -Carter


In the Art room...
Jamie dressed up as a ballerina.
Ms. Barber was dancing with the boys.

Read FiFi "Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See" by Bill Martin, Jr.

Ms. Nims introduced watercolor to the children.
 
Hien Le

TS Gold: Creative Development 2.1- Participate in musical activities

Happy Monday Pod B!!!


Today was a beautiful day, so we were able to go outside and play. 
Breaking down the castles.
Making some pie. Sand pie.


The writing center had many visitors.
Helping take observations. "Colored crayons. Tape. My name." 












There was yoga in the indoor movement room.







Cooperation in the kitchen











The kitchen was very popular, as was the restaurant area.




Working together to keep the baby dolls healthy. 

Even the teachers need a doctor sometime.




Not to say there wasn't professionalism of course. We had plenty of doctors on the scene ready to cure all who were near.




See you all tomorrow!!! 



Michigan Standards of Quality: Social and Emotional Development
#3- Develop healthy relationships with adults and peers.

Nicole Elzinga