First, there's the composting that has been going on all year round. The children enjoy the opportunity to take buckets of scraps to the compost (thanks to the mamas for bringing them in!).
The garden attracts bugs, birds, and butterflies to watch, photograph and ask questions about. Then we bring the learning experience into the school and home when we harvest and eat our produce. The children have been witnessing the cycle of life first hand. It's an amazing experience that offers new learning every year as we've expanded and improved our gardening skills and garden. The garden (a.k.a. el jardin) is one of the most valuable learning experiences we have here.
I recently figured out that I could record using my phone and just started using it to capture the [unsuspecting] children while they play and explore outside. Here are a couple from today. :)
4.28.2010
4.23.2010
Recently, at Terra Luz (Krista)
Hello my friends!
Ocean Exploration:
As you know, last week, we concluded our exploration of ocean life and sea animals. This short-term project evolved over the course of a couple of weeks, and was the basis for lots of learning such as: vocabulary building, sharing of personal experiences(community building), great conversation and imaginative play.
Day 1-3: Ocean animal categorization. McKenna's mama donated loads of great ocean animals to Terra Luz, and our first step was to categorize them. I offered the children a plastic bin filled with an assortment of sea animals and they sorted the animals by type and size on the light table. They used my Animal Encyclopedia as a reference. Throughout the project, we read books about ocean life and ocean animals, listened to whale songs and recorded ourselves imitating whale songs...ask me and I'll play the tape for you!
McKenna: I saw the ocean at California. Sharks have sharp teeth.
Damon: This octopus has suction cups on his legs.
Jalie: Those legs are tentacles.
Corbin: Whales filter the fish and water.
Mia Gleinser: Walruses have tooths that are long and that's why they aren't seals.
Mia S: I want to do more categorizing!
Allie J: We're discovering things that live in the ocean.
Jason: The shark eats up everything!
Atticus: The whale needs water!
Anika: Squids squirt ink.
Natalie: Hey! I have a movie called, Monsters Inc. at home!
Days 4-7: The children made seashell impressions in clay and collaborated on a large-scale mural of an ocean habitat.
Day 8: The children munched on nori wrappers as they created ocean habitats using sand from the sandbox, water, sea salt, sea shells and the plastic ocean animals.
Days 9-11: We poured the 3 ocean habitats into the large sensory table and let the children explore and play to their hearts' content!
Earth Day: The children had such a great time painting and 'glitterizing' boxes and egg cartons from our stash of recyclables. Some of the boxes and cartons were used in a construction project, and we used the rest to create 'mobiles'(I use the term loosely ;)) that are now hanging on the patio. We read lots of books about the importance of taking care of our Mother Earth, and composted peels and leftovers from snacks and lunches. I think that it's wonderful that such young children understand the importance of caring for our planet and feel empowered to do so!
Looking Ahead: Christine and I have been talking a lot about what the next few weeks might look like. We are, of course, always listening to the children's interests and looking for common fascinations to expand upon ...AND, at the same time, we have been talking about the fact that we have an Atelier full of great creative expression materials, so, we plan to make the best use of the great resources that we have. We plan to offer more creative expression opportunities every day, both indoors and out, so please dress your children in clothing that can be enhanced with paint, glitter and glue, and please pack extra extra-clothes in their backpacks ;)!
happy weekend! xoxo
4.16.2010
Colores, Numeros, and Emergent Literacy
Long before children begin to decode printed words, they're developing literacy skills. Emergent Literacy is the process of developing an awareness and control of print language, which occurs before young children begin reading and writing conventionally. Young children in the stage of emergent literacy discover concepts about print which is necessary for being successful in later stages of literacy, and learn how pleasurable reading books and being read to is.
We all know that research indicates that literacy-enriched environments can increase the number of literacy activities and events happening in the classroom. Preschoolers can construct their knowledge about literacy better in an environment where they can do some practices, observations, explorations, and experiments with literacy.
Emergent Literacy has been co-constructed at multiple places at multiple times at school. In small groups, I’ve been exploring with the children their names on the overhead, and they've had opportunities to feel the shape of the letters that make up their names; we used the sandpaper letters to trace each letter of their name (adding the tactile component). We've also enjoyed searching for letters in pictures of common outdoor objects.
Another way is to encourage children to tell stories, which Krista has been working on with the children (stories are being posted in the foyer as they're constructed). Stories not only provide an outlet for imagination, they help children understand how narrative text is structured. As children make up stories they are building expectations about what they will find when they learn to read. Children also use stories to process information and to make sense of their lives‚ something that will help them develop socially and emotionally.
It is also important to encourage children child to *write* and scribble. Attempting to write builds awareness of the shapes of letters and words. In the atelier, the children have been writing and drawing with Christine. These are just some of the ways the environment facilitates emergent literacy education.
::
Español
I've been able to do some small group work with spanish. Some words we've been learning are colors and more recently, numbers.
Here's a list
rojo.....red
anaranjado.....orange
azul.....blue
amarillo.....yellow
verde.....green
negro.....black
blanco.....white
rosa.....pink
morado.....purple
brown.....café (also called marrón, although I never heard that version growing up)
uno.....one
dos..... two
tres.....three
cuatro.....four
cinco.....five
seis.....six
siete.....seven
ocho.....eight
nueve.....nine
diez.....ten
Other Fun Snippets
"I LOVE my name!"-Mia G.
Christine playing the guitar for the children. Did you know she can play not only the guitar, but also the piano?
We all know that research indicates that literacy-enriched environments can increase the number of literacy activities and events happening in the classroom. Preschoolers can construct their knowledge about literacy better in an environment where they can do some practices, observations, explorations, and experiments with literacy.
Emergent Literacy has been co-constructed at multiple places at multiple times at school. In small groups, I’ve been exploring with the children their names on the overhead, and they've had opportunities to feel the shape of the letters that make up their names; we used the sandpaper letters to trace each letter of their name (adding the tactile component). We've also enjoyed searching for letters in pictures of common outdoor objects.
Another way is to encourage children to tell stories, which Krista has been working on with the children (stories are being posted in the foyer as they're constructed). Stories not only provide an outlet for imagination, they help children understand how narrative text is structured. As children make up stories they are building expectations about what they will find when they learn to read. Children also use stories to process information and to make sense of their lives‚ something that will help them develop socially and emotionally.
It is also important to encourage children child to *write* and scribble. Attempting to write builds awareness of the shapes of letters and words. In the atelier, the children have been writing and drawing with Christine. These are just some of the ways the environment facilitates emergent literacy education.
::
Español
I've been able to do some small group work with spanish. Some words we've been learning are colors and more recently, numbers.
Here's a list
rojo.....red
anaranjado.....orange
azul.....blue
amarillo.....yellow
verde.....green
negro.....black
blanco.....white
rosa.....pink
morado.....purple
brown.....café (also called marrón, although I never heard that version growing up)
uno.....one
dos..... two
tres.....three
cuatro.....four
cinco.....five
seis.....six
siete.....seven
ocho.....eight
nueve.....nine
diez.....ten
Other Fun Snippets
"I LOVE my name!"-Mia G.
Christine playing the guitar for the children. Did you know she can play not only the guitar, but also the piano?
4.07.2010
Recently, in the Garden
Evidence of spring is here. The garden is sprouting, the trees are growing leaves, and our newly planted citrus trees are blossoming. While outside, the children often inspect the blackberry bushes, the blueberry bush, and the citrus trees for any new growth. Mia and Eddie discovered one of the citrus trees had early stage grapefruit. "Look, Ms. Andrea! Little Limes!" It will be exciting to watch the fruit grow and change. Tending to the garden is another way we spend part of our mornings.
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