Time to start bundling up!

POD B;

It seems as though it was so long ago that we needed to bundle up as we headed outside, but the cold weather is back! The children still enjoyed running around and the sun was still shining. We kept busy inside, too.

The children are working on some clay appointments and learning to use different tools. We also have a lot of building going on in the construction area!

The pretend area is still busy with our restuarant. The children enjoy waiting, serving, and cooking all different options on our menu (and even making up a few of their own.)



Mail is still being sent out from the writing center, stamped, sealed, and ready to go!

The children are ready for another fun filled week!!


Ms. Slater

10/13/11 Hop Aboard the bus!

              Today is October 13th, and this week we have been making different vehicles out of things from the classroom. We have used trains and making rocket ships in construction. Drawing treasure maps in art and writing. Then, today in pretend the children made a bus out of the chairs in the classroom. They decided to go to the beach where Devin reminded them "wear your sunblock". We went to the candy store were Mateo found some "yummy chocolates". Neva decided we would visit California. Sydney said "Lets go to the store to buy some food." Rose then said "I need a new purse." The children are really using their imaginations and working as a team to find new ways to play through out the classroom.

Pod A:Becca Payne

Henry made a track for the trains to travel to China.

Domain added a second train to Henry's track to travel "Choo Choo" He says

Carson made a rocket ship out of mega tiles to fly his animals (inside the rocket) to space.

Devin was the bus driver with many passengers "Hop on" He says.

Art and Construction at its best!

Today was picture day at the CDLL! The children came to school looking their best, ready to show their pearly whites!

This week was full of growth and learning. There were many art projects under way. The children have continued putting lots of time in making magnificent colleges, all very unique and detailed. At the paint isle it is easy to see the learning and growth take place as the children have gone from painting a full page one color to integrating several colors along with picture representations. Also this week many of the children focused on projects that lasted for days in the block area building towers taller than them! This afternoon a creation in the construction area stretched half way across the room and is being saved over the weekend for next week!

The floam was also a big hit this week! The children were able to explore and learn through their sense of touch with the unusual feeling of the floam. They created snowmen, food, and even observed texture imprinting as they compressed the buttons and designs from their clothes onto the floam.

Today we briefly introduced the cameras we have for the children. They were very interested taking pictures and were quick to learn the proper use and care of a camera. They interacted with each other, laughed and learned as they took numerous pictures of each other and the classroom.We will be focusing more on picture taking and its uses in the upcoming week!

Tiffany Roemer

(Side note: Unfortunately the great candid photos taken of today's learning experience would not upload)

Mixing Paint in Pod B

October 12, 2011

From the start of the year there has just been the primary colors (red, yellow, blue) out on the paint easel for the children to paint with.  They have mixed their own color by mixing up the paint brushes in the container.  They have made green and purple but not really know how it was happening.  A few weeks ago Mrs. Nims had found a flower and a couple of girls made the color the same as the flower.  Now today in the paint area I was helping Sidney get ready to paint.  She had mentioned to me that her one color was out or it was dried up.  So I asked her if she would like to make another color.  I asked her what color she would like to make.  It took her some time and then she told me,  "Pink! Its my favorite color."  So we got out a new jar and started to make pink.  I asked her what we should start out with.  She thought that white would be good.  Then I asked her what color would be next to give white the right pink color.  She then thought for a while looking at all the paint colors to choose from.  She said, "Red." We worked together finding out how much we wanted to use and then she did the mixing. "Its perfect. Just the right color."  Sidney and I had made pink together that she could then go and paint with.  She then shared it with another child that joined her at the art easel.
Kayla Reid

POD A: Shaving Cream and Tall Buildings

There are so many great things going on in Pod A this week!

Today there was a lot of play happening in the construction center! Children were building towers by stacking blocks on top of each other until it all fell down. The children wanted the towers to be taller then they were. This was a fun goal because they got to experience some trial and error with balancing blocks and learning that a stable base would help them reach their goal.

Here is Kyla after finishing her hotel, she was so happy!

 

The children are also continuing to really enjoy the shaving cream in the art center. They love how it feels "soft" and "squishy" in their hands. This has also been a great way for them to practice their names by writing their names with their fingers into the shaving cream. 

Kayleigh Payne

Community Art: Flower Pounding

As a school we are working on a new community art project.  This is available to work on for both Pod A and Pod B.  This project is called flower pounding.  The materials are set up in the outdoor environment where children can work on the project while outside in the morning or afternoon.  For the project, children have collected flowers from the garden outside and have let them dry overnight.  Today, some of the students from Pod A, started working on pounding flowers between a folded sheet.  As the children pound using a rock, the color from the flower is transfered onto the sheet.  Some of them even made the outline of the flower.  Many of the children were interested in this and were curious on how it worked.  This community art will be available throughout the week.  In the pictures, you can see how some of the children from POD A are pounding the flowers and observing the colors that are seen.   

Ms. Szumila - POD A

Pod B Went for a Walk

This week pod B has added some new materials to the light table, texture table and the outdoor texture table.  Leaves, pine-cones and other natural elements have been put into these areas.  Today we went for a walk to the botanical gardens over by the CMU library.  Each group walked around the pond and through the little forest.  We discovered crinkly leaves, hard walnuts that looked like small apples and some flowers. Some children discovered that when they tossed leaves into the air that some of them seemed to float back down rather than just drop like the walnuts. We had snack in a shady spot near the pond and on our way back we collected leaves, pine-cones, nuts, pine-needles and sticks.  These treasures will be added to our texture tables, light table and will be available for children to sketch along with gourds and pumpkins.

~Nicole Schipper

 

"It's ok to throw leaves, because they won't hurt people."

The children were curious to learn about why leaves and walnuts fall.