Thursday 27, 2012

Happy Thursday Everyone!!!

Today, the children were climbing the wall in the large motor room and putting on costumes as butterflies wings, and lady bug wings and pretending to fly around the room like bugs. A big thing today was in Pod A the children were read a story "the very hungry caterpillar" with props at group time after group time throughout the day children were very interested in the story and using the props to tell the story about how hungry and how much food the caterpillar ate also, in pod B the children were read a story" I know an old lady who swallowed a pie"  with props the children were taking turns to feed the old lady who swallowed a pie until she got full.

Outside today a lot of children were hiding under the bridge in the play ground pretending to be trolls and chasing children who would cross over the bridge. Children were taking turns outside on the swings, we also played duck,duck, goose, and Simon says and I spy something with my little eye so the children learned how to take turns and that every would get a turn playing. In Pod A some children were wearing lab coats and pretending to be scientists.

Hope Everyone has a great weekend!!!!

Teaching Strategies: Social-Emotional:3 Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations.

Ms. Patterson

Wednesday 26, 2012

Today was a busy day in all of the classrooms!

In the Walnut room we were exploring in the water tables and the sensory tables filled with rice and all kinds of noodles.  The children were sifting and finding small letters and numbers in the rice and noodles and identifying all of them as they came out.  The writing center was busy with stencils today as the children traced, colored, and cut out different shapes.  The magnets are also always a big hit by seeing how they stick together and what they can stick to.

In the Oak room today the children did not paint much and did not experiment with clay at all! This was a big change! In this room the writing center was busy as well as the marble tree.  Lots of drawing was going on and the only painting that was going on in the Art Studio was the painting that was done with sponges at the light table.  That was fun for the children to see painting in a different light.

In the Maple room the children were train crazy! Train tracks were being built and played on all day.  The magnetic block pieces were being used today for building houses.  In the recycling center, the children were "cracking eggs" with the styrofoam.  The custodial staff may not be too happy with the mess that it made but the children have fun breaking apart the styrofoam and learning with it

In the Pine room the fire station is still a huge success! The children were pretending today that there were "scared cats" stuck in trees and so the firefighters were on the case saving those kittens! Duck, duck, goose and simon says were also played and the children were playing great together making sure everyone had a turn and using positive encouragement.  In this writing center the children were practicing cutting with scissors.  They were cutting out shapes or just cutting paper just to cut. It was great to see these skills are being improved.

Ms. Magee came in today and talked to the children about food! They got to try all different kinds of food from pretzels to cream cheese. They loved it!

~Hannah Mazzie

Tuesday 25, 2012

Today, we had the Native Americans come visit us and they talked about the different drums they use to make music with. In the pretend children were pretending to be fire fighters to put put the fires around the classrooms. For small groups we went out for a walk around campus, on our walk the children seen a grasshopper an a chipmunk on our walk. They children were so excited to see the grasshopper on our walk that the children were hopping around outside acting like grasshoppers. In the Oak room where the Art studio is the children were sketching sunflowers onto paper and also was cutting fabric to put on paper as a collage of different sizes and colors of fabric. Outside children were climbing the wall on the jungle gym.

Teaching Strategies: Physical-6 demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills

Ms. Patterson

Monday, September 24, 2012

Happy Monday everyone!

The children enjoyed many different areas of the C.D.L.L. today.  In the pretend room, the firetruck area has continued to impress the children and spark their imagination.  They were able to wear hats and coats. New this week were boots and flashlights!  Many children traced the room together putting out imaginary fires all over the place! Dressing up and having a picnic was also a fun activity for some of the boys!

 



In the hallway, the music area was a hotspot.  The drums, the xylophone and the shakers were used to form a small band while Ms. Cummings attempted to sing!

Joey worked hard at the light table to build an awesome stadium for his firetrucks.  He used every block to build it as tall as he could reach!

 

 

Outside a group of children flipped over the logs to see what creepy, crawly animals they could find.  They spotted many rolly-polly bugs, a few spiders and a slimy worm!

 

 





In the art room, children had the opportunity to string beads onto wire and shoe laces.  There was also a bouquet of sunflowers on a table for the children to trace.

The light/sand table was popular in the discovery room.  Children were sorting the objects in the sand by color and shape.  They moved them by using small tongs. 

Here's to the start of another great week at the C.D.L.L.!

-Ms. Cummings

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Today, there was continued exploration with the fire truck, coats and hoses.  Many of the children greatly enjoyed this area and have been learning how to put the coats on without help from a teacher. As they each became more skilled, they helped each other learn!

In the "house" pretend area of the pine room, Ayden Parks explored with different outfits and food combinations.

Au'Mari'a and Ayden Ward enjoyed the cell phones and cord phone.  They called each other and Ms. Gratz to have conversations through out the day. 

Outside, Joey and Ayden Parks hung on the playground making "Ooohh, Ahhh" noises.  They decided they were monkeys as they swung back and forth. 

Pod B went outside for a picnic and Pod A had their own picnic on the floor of the indoor movement room.  The children enjoyed the break from the norm!

During rest time, quiet activities are given to children in the oak room.  Osama worked to build a cube with the interlocking pieces.  Jeremiah and Jacob worked together nearby, sharing pieces to build a tower. 

Ms. Gratz

Wednesday September 19, 2012

Today in the Walnut classroom children continued to play with the sand and water tables. The light cave has still been an interesting place. Children are exploring magnents with the game Does it Stick. 

In the Oak classroom children are exploring painting and floam. Today they chose to make pretend ice creams with the floam. 

The small groups in the Oak and Walnut classrooms combined their small groups today and went on a nature walk. The children explored nuts and found a chestnut tree that they thought was very interesting.

In the Maple room today children continued to construct. Trains and cars are still very popular, Today children explored making a ramp and flying cars off the ramps. They also like to put animals on the wood and construct animals houses. They also have built with the recycled materials in the recycling center. 

In the Pine classroom the fire station is a huge success and we always have at least six children circulating through that area. We have had a few large group discussions about firefighters and how they protect themselves. 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

In the Walnut Classroom, children explored how to arrange the magnet wall.  Allen, Jacob, Nicholas and Ayden W. were heard through out the CDLL giggling with delight as the wooden balls rolled off the ramps they built and onto the floor.  The boys chased them down and brought them back to try them on new ramps. 

New to the Walnut Classroom is the light cave.  There is a light bright for a student to use, along with mirrors and lights to explore with. 

In the Maple Classroom, Joey enjoyed playing with the trains.  "This is the train station!" he exclaimed as he moved the trains in and out of the station to the tracks that he had built.

Osato explored the new manipulatives provided at the light table in the Maple Classroom. Osato slid the flat plates into the slots on the circular pieces saying, "Blue goes with blue. White goes with white."

In the recycling area, Taegan used parts of PBC pipe and hose to make a creation. When asked what she made - she replied, "It's a necklace!"

Outside, the children found a caterpillar! They enjoyed watching him move and petted him along the way.  When it began to lightly rain, they wondered what would happen to the caterpillar.

-  Ms. Gratz

Today in the Pine room the children could explore a new center; The Fire Station. Several children spent their free choice time playing here. They worked together to put out pretend fires around the room. Some other new activities available for exploration this week include sketching pumpkins in the art studio, and working with recycled materials in the construction room.

Social and Emotional Dev # 3 Children develop healthy relationships with other adults.

These children Participated effectively as members of a group.

Beth Schaefer

Thursday September 13. 2012

Today September 13, 2012 the children explored with "floam" and made different shapes and sizes of "floam". Also outside was a big thing with the sand box as children were making sand castles in the sand box and were working together to see how big the sand castle could get using sticks to put on the top of the sand castle for decorations. - Ms. Patterson

Social-Emotional Development 3 Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations.

Physical Development 7 Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination.

Week 2: Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Hello Families:

Today was a busy day but the children seemed to be more comfortable and explored all of the classrooms and the hallway.

In the Maple/Construction room trains were a big hit again. They also showed interest in the magnetic squares and triangles. Not only in just the construction room but in other rooms children showed interest in how magnets work and what makes them "stick" together.

 

In the Walnut/Discovery room Mrs. Gursky found a caterpillar, the children enjoyed holding and touching it. Watering the flowers outside and the water table inside was an interest for the children.

 

In the oak/Art room finger painting was a favorite along with floam. The children were making animals and ships out of the floam.

 

In the hallway children really enjoyed the different musical interments.

 

 

In the Pine/Pretend room the kids enjoyed playing in the kitchen and park area. They really enjoyed  preparing and serving meals for other children and even the teachers!

 

 

 

-Mrs. Smith



Week 2: Tuesday, September 11, 2011

The children in the Walnut room, which contains the discovery areas, started off the day exploring the puzzles, magnet balls and light table.  Several children were at the light table using the rakes and tongs to move the sand and gemstones.  Children could be heard exclaiming, "I found treasure!"

Other children were exploring the magnet wall, using the ramp built by other children to roll different size wooden balls around.  Ben observed that the small ball moved faster down the ramp than the large ball.

In the Oak Room, the art studio was the children's main focus.  The special project table contained trays with wire, which the children spent time bending into different shapes.  Nearby, Ms. Weller continued working with the children on the full body clay experience. 

At the texture table, "floam" is available this week. After experimenting with play dough last week, the children are enjoying the change.  "Floam" is a type of foam made of styrofoam beads.  As the children manipulated the material, they noticed that it would stick to anything it came in contact with. 

When paint is left over on the tables, the children are encouraged to use the spray bottle and rag to wipe up their mess.  Many children enjoy helping out during the day, cleaning up after themselves and others.  They are so helpful! This makes clean up time much easier for everyone.

Outside, there are bikes and scooters available for the children to use on the sidewalks. When they go outside, the children always ask to use them! 

In the Maple Room, which has recycling and construction centers, the children began a project using wire and resuable materials (shown on the right and in the middle).  Construction has begun on a creation (shown on left).  We will continue to follow the children's progress through out the semester as they work!

Overall, the day was extremely busy and fulfilling for everyone.  Here's to many more like it! 

-Ms. Gratz

Monday: Week 2

      A lot of new activities were added to the classrooms for exploration this week. 

      In the maple room the children enjoyed playing  at the sand/light table raking the sand and uncovering the glass beads that were in the sand. Also, The enjoyed the magnet wall. Several children worked together to build a ramp they could roll a ball down. And Mrs. Nims introduced a sink/Float activity where children guessed if objects would sink or float in water. 

        In the Oak room full body clay was an option. During this activity the children could remove their shoes and socks and use their feet and hands to mold the clay.

     Over all it was a good day at the CDLL :)

                Miss. Schaefer HDF 409