What does it feel like? (Krista)

Gratitude:

This week at Terra Luz, I am grateful for: the warm sunshine, the joy of playing in the mud (and the fact that the mud is drying up), newly budding leaves on trees, discovering bird's nests, watering the plants and citrus trees, yoga practice outside, bare arms and legs, picture day(s), the return of the sand babies, paper- making and shadow drawing, donated paper-making materials and recycled treasures, reading books outside and doing handstands against the fence...

Paper-Making:

This week, we added water and glitter( also, we accidentally added crushed eggshells, but we won't talk about that) to our container of torn paper.

Over the course of several days, the children used their hands, spatulas, melon-ballers, large kitchen spoons and pie servers to mix the ingredients into pulp.

As you can imagine, the children delighted in this sensory experience.

I asked: What does it feel like?

Damon: It's like wet carpet

Jalie: It's like a soft cricket chirping in there

Jason: Like food

Mia Gleinser: It feels like squishy on my hands

Alaira: It feels like mud

Lucca: It's like grass

Atticus: It feels like jelly

Eddie: It feels like wet

Mia S: It feels like color

The children formed the mixture into 'snowballs' and flattened it into 'pancakes' and sculpted it into 'volcanoes' and 'gardens'.

Corbin said, "I'm making a big ball like on Shawn the Sheep."

As Jalie was pouring water onto the paper, she said, "Paper just loves water!"

When I asked what they thought the next step should be, Allie suggested, "Let's put it in the oven so it can get bakeded."

Natalie thought we should put it in the washing machine for a' longlonglonglonglong' time!

Spring Time Reminders:

Friends, the Texas sun is hot, and it's time for sunscreen. If possible, please put sunscreen on your children before school.

Also, the warm weather means that socks are coming off. We often find socks strewn about the yard or buried in the sandbox, or stuffed into a corner. Would you mind writing your child's initials on their socks? It would help us get them back to you at the end of the day.

Thanks so much for being the wonderful parents that you are, and for arriving each morning with a smile on your face--it's nice to see each and every one of you! Happy Spring Break!

xo

Letters, Stories and Yoga (Krista)

This week, we continued our focus on early literacy. In addition to our letter and sound exploration, we explored the different ways to tell a story.

This week, we celebrated the letter ‘D’.

Here is the list of ‘D’ words the children came up with:

Damon Dress Drip

Daddy Dark Drop

Dip Don’t Doll

Drink Dinner Down

(Chef) Dan Dandelion

The children told a tag-team story about a duck and a dog:

(Alaira, Mia G, Jalie, Anika)

Alaira began:

Some ducks were there and they love to swim so so so much!

Mia G:

One duck really liked his friends at school and he played and he swimmed.

Jalie:

Then one duck walked off down the path. He was lonely.

Anika:

Then he was walking around like a little fool, and a monster came and the duck was very scared.

Jalie:

Then a dog came walking down the sidewalk and he was very tired.

Alaira:

Then he laid down and him didn’t take a nap though.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

(Corbin, Mia G, Jalie, Lucca, Gwen)

The Process:

First, we read the story together. Then, the children worked together to re-tell the story from memory. Next we re-told the story using special stickers and fold-out scenes from the story. Finally, the children told the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar with yoga poses and body language.

Next week, the children will have the opportunity to create and illustrate a story of their own.

Yoga:

We’re learning a new yoga song that you may be hearing at home. Here it is:

“Om Gwen, celebrate Gwen! Sing it with an open and a joyful heart!

Om Ryland, celebrate Ryland, sing it with an open heart!”

-we repeat until all of the children have been named...try it at home, it'll make you feel happy, i promise!-

Scenes from the classroom:

Lucca and Mia G. taking turns caring for the plants, using a sponge to clean each leaf and talking about the plant's feelings.

Corbin thinking and talking about sea urchins and jellyfish and sharing stories about when he and his momma where swimming in the ocean dodging jellyfish stingers.

Allie and Alaira acting out the story of the three little pigs, ‘puffing and huffing’ until they were red in the face.

Alaira and Corbin discussing whales in the ocean:

Alaira: “ I know what whales sound like. Them say, “woooo-wooooo-woooo” to everybody and that means I love you and I'm really hungry.

Corbin: “Yep, they do, I heard them before. Especially humpback whales are hungry.”

**We said see you later to Ava today. On Monday, she will be going to another school. We're gonna miss her and we send her lots and lots and LOTS of love! We can't wait to hear about all of her new adventures ;).

Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo

Recently, at Terra Luz (Krista)

Scenes from the Classroom

Literacy:

Alaira, after we finished reading our 3rd book of the hour: "If I had it my way, I would just read and read books."

After reading We're going on a Bear Hunt, Jalie commented: "At home we hunt lots of things. Usually we go on a moon hunt, but we couldn't find it so we decided it must have forgotten to come out!"

Blocks:

Mia: "I'm building a bridge, and here's the cow. She likes it up here because she can see her mama from up here."

Jalie: "This was a tower, but now it's a silo for the cow in this park."

Dramatic Play:

Alaira to Allie: "I getting married today."

Allie: "To who?"

Damon: "Not ME!"

Alaira: "People fall in love and then they put a cape on their head and get married."

Allie: "Yep, they do that."

Scenes from the Naproom:

We've started a trend at nap time. I make the children into sandwiches. I thought that you might want to know about it , since it's a pretty popular naptime ritual.

First we put down one freshly baked slice of bread ( the nap mat) and then we put in the 'ingredients' (the child and whatever they've brought to sleep with), and finally we put on the top slice of bread (their blanket). And then I say, " Sleep tight little mayonnaise, cashew butter, green bean, popcorn sandwich (or whatever they're pretending to be)--I love you."

Here is a list of the most popular ingredients:

mayonnaise

yellow cheese

white cheese

cashew butter

green beans

popcorn

jelly

corn

sun spread

avocado

cereal

chocolate

grapes

Scenes from Outside:

Ryland, sitting back to review his sidewalk chalk creation: "This is a masterpiece!"

Mia S. and I doing partner tree pose together on one of the toad stool seats.

Mia S. in the sandbox: "Mommy and I went to the Domain but there were too many people there and we couldn't park so we went away."

Ava, placing a kind hand on her shoulder: "Parking is tough sometimes!"

Recently, at Terra Luz (Krista)

Scenes from the Classroom:

Tea Time:

Alaira: "I drink tea when I have coughs and hiccups."

Mia: "Here everyone, would you like a lot of tea for your good body?"

Jalie: "I sometimes like to dip just a little something sweet into my tea, and that's what my body needs."

Dramatic Play:

Ava, putting on one of the white bonnets: "I'm dressing up as somebody else's grandma."

Alaira: "I'm not old, I still young...it's not fun to be old."

On Halloween:

Jalie: "My nan was a stick in the mud for Halloween."

Anika: "This is true...we have REAL CANDY in our house right now!"

Atticus and Jason using the cylinder shaped blocks as rhythm sticks and imitating Andrea when she leads our welcoming songs.

Outside:

The children have been exploring light and shadow together, they chase each other's shadows and practice yoga poses, marveling at how looooooong their shadows are.

Jason, standing on one of the beautiful tree stump stools, blowing into one of the sea shells as if it were a conch shell. He looked so centered and regal...

Alaira and Ava sitting on the patio, arm in arm. Ava had just shared how she was missing Sophia. Alaira:"I know that you really love Sophia. She's having fun, but she be back to you."

Our Yoga Practice:

Princess, Dancer, Tree, Talking Turtle (in connection with our Spanish language study, we pop our heads up and say, "Hola' & "Adios"), Silly to Calm, Helicopter Breathing, Horse, Donkey, Seaweed Breathing, Take 5 Breath.

Recently, at Terra Luz (Krista)

Conversations about Autumn

As we painted with Autumnal colors, I asked the children, "What does Fall mean?"

Ava: "The leaves turn colors."

Alaira: "The Sun is farther away from the Earth...my daddy told me that--he knows everything."

Corbin: "We wear long sleeves."

Anika: "The leaves turn colors."

Mia S: "It rains more...this rain is CRAZY, and it's so, so COLD!"

Jalie: "There might be some germs going around...in our mucus."

Our Yoga Practice:

Lately, we've been chanting a peace mantra in our closing: OM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI.

Like many mantras, this one begins with Om. Om is usually translated as, "The Universal Sound". Shanti means peace. We repeat it 3 times and use corresponding words and hand gestures to symbolize peace in my thoughts, peace in my words, peace in my heart.

Our physical yoga practice has been centered around: hoot owl, tree, frog, rainbow, elevator breathing, gorilla, cobra, lion, happy baby, fish, sky to ground, star, falling star, body drumming, gorilla drums, flower and birthday candle breath, and donkey.

The Classroom Experience:

Allie:"I'm just a grown-up having tea."

Me: "What will you eat?"

Allie:"Let's eat noodles, bread and tea and birthday cake."

Anika: "Maybe, when I get older, I can make some of that yummy, fancy food, like roti."

Anika, showing her babies to Ava: "My babies are sleeping now, so we just have to be really quiet. This one's name is Anika, like me. She's going to be 4 on her next birthday."

Corbin and Gwen, working with the small animals-- naming them, arranging them, counting them, and telling each other stories about animals they know.

Jason and Allie, collaborating on a zoo made out of books.

Sophia, Ava and Allie, playing doctor and talking about germs.

Dia De Los Muertos, as explained by Allie J:

"It's when we give dead people good food because they died. The Day of the Dead is in Spanish. That means that it's a party and we celebrate it."

In the Sandbox:

Ryland, after spending the afternoon on a project, " It's done! I built a canyon!"

Atticus, narrating, "There's a sandbox over here. I'm going to get IN the sandbox. I'm raking the sand, and LOOK, there is an excavator!"

The Nap room:

Ava, taking great care to tenderly comb every one's hair and tuck them in, before, reluctantly, going to her own nap mat.

Planting Seeds (Krista's group)

So much has happened this week!

Atelier

This week we explored, what I like to call, "Sticky, three ways". The children worked with multi-sensory paper, scissors, glue, tape and contact paper. They worked with the materials individually on Tuesday, and then collaborated on large scale murals yesterday and today. The murals look very Matisse-inspired to me. As a guide, it's fun to see the ideas that the children bring to each experience. Yesterday, I prepared the environment with a large sheet of clear contact paper, trays of paper (collected from past cutting experiences) and a basket of scissors. Corbin worked with the available materials for a few minutes and then pulled the flats of oil pastels off of the shelf and distributed them to his friends. He said, "Let's use these,too!"

Outside

The theme this week appears to be, "Princess/ Super-hero". The children have seemingly abandoned their love of baby dolls and racetracks in favor of fairy tales and comic books. The energy outside is much more physical this week--perhaps because of the cooler weather? Jumping from the small slide( with or without a guide's hand) is one way to show that you are, indeed, a princess/super-hero.

Classroom

I've really been enjoying the organic flow from room to room. Kelly Ann and her sweet group of girls have been exploring the school, and have spent time with both groups of older children. I've have been able to spend individual time with everyone and it's been great! I especially love that I have the opportunity to read so many books. Recently, the two most requested books are, 5 little monkeys and 5 little sharks. Without fail, every time I read one of these books, the children ask to hear the other version, and then compare stories, noting similarities and differences between the two. I think it might be fun for us to create our own book...

Comments

Yesterday I was helping Anika wash hands and get ready for lunch. We typically talk about what it will be like when her brother arrives. It's a great time for discussion and a nice transition to our day. Here's what we talked about:

Me: "How has your day been so far?"

A: "It's nice."

Me: "I noticed that your mama had a pretty dress on this morning."

A: "It's her dancing dress."

Me: "Oh, does she like to dance?"

A: "She's going to dance after my brother comes."

Yoga

Lately, I've been seeing yoga poses incorporated into outside play. Princess pose and frog pose are favorites. This week, we've practiced: horse, lion, rag doll flop, mountain, firelog, child's, camel, potty dog, cat and cow, bee buzzing breath, flower sniffing pose and dolphin.

Planting Seeds

These first weeks of school are all about community building and feeling comfortable in the space. Truly, this is the most important time of the year for us. As we welcome new friends and experience the environment, a sense of belonging and ownership builds. The children are exploring their space, experimenting with the toys and materials, and becoming comfortable with the flow of the day. Common fascinations are discovered and relationships are being nurtured. From these seeds, great things will grow!

Restorative Yoga for Mommies! [A Note from Krista]

Yes! Mommies need (and deserve) yoga too! We would like to see if there is any interest from the mommies in receiving some self-care with Restorative Yoga sessions with Krista. The sessions will be held here at Terra Luz in the large room upstairs which will provide a zen-like environment, while the children have free play outside with Kellyann for that hour. We are looking at having the session one day a week here after school, from approximately 3:40-4:40. And the cost will be less than classess offered at yoga studios. Krista has been working with me and all I can say is, wow. I had no idea what I was missing. I've always been very good about self care, I take my daily 15 minutes of sitting in silence, but I wasn't doing anything with my body. I look forward to getting put into more poses. ;)

Below is a note from Krista.

::

I envision spending an hour together each week where we will practice gentle yin yoga, incorporating restorative poses and ending with a period of deep relaxation (savasana). I would also like to weave in buddhist meditation practices, mantras, as well as some study of the 7 chakras…By giving yourself the gift of a regular yoga practice, you will:

• Strengthen your back
• Strengthen abdominal and pelivc floor muscles

• Release tension in shoulders and neck muscles 

• Improve posture 

• Decrease overall stress and promote relaxation
• Rejuvenate your mind and increase energy 

• Relax more deeply than you thought possible 

• Fit meditation into a busy life 

• Free up your energy for more vitality and creativity
• Discover practices that you absolutely love and want to do 

• Let whatever is going on in your body, mind, and heart lead you deeper into your core 

• Experience more balance, clarity, and alertness
• Experience profound release of tension 

• Honor your instincts and inner authority 


• Get in touch with your body's natural rhythms and emerge nourished, revitalized, and joyful. 

• Gain a refreshing, rejuvenating rest that is deeper than sleep.
• Relieve stress for optimal mental and physical health.
• Rest in your inner silence and hear your true voice

::

Please let us know if you're interested and we will get out the details.

Rocks | Thiebeau | Diffusing Watercolors

Science
If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian is the new book on our shelf this week.



When you find a rock, you don't always know what kind of rock it is.

Have you found a hiding rock? Or a rock to skip in the water? It might be a wishing rock, or a climbing rock, or a rock to kick in front of you, all the way home.

Or you might have found a rock that doesn't have a name yet.
And that might be the best rock of all.

If you find more rocks, please send them in. We are continuing this fun focus.

Literature (and Math, and Art, too)
The children had an introduction to the art of Wayne Thiebeau. He's an American painter whose most famous works are of cakes, pastries, boots, toilets, toys and lipsticks. His last name is pronounced "Tee-bo" in case any of you are wondering. ;) He is associated with the Pop art movement because of his interest in objects of mass culture, although his works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists.



We read Counting with Wayne Thiebaud, and although I didn't buy the book to talk about math, (but what a fun way to demonstrate counting), but rather, to introduce the children to contemporary art in a *scrumptious* form!



Attention was brought to the 'creaminess' of this painting below.
Makes us just want to eat it right off the page!


Pie Slice Oil on board, 1991


Seven Hot Dogs Pastel and Watercolor on Paper, 2006


Candy Apples Watercolor over Monotype, 1989



Celebration Cakes Pastel on Paper, 1992.

Art
Watercolor extension. Final work placed on light table for investigation.





Snippets
Tracing on the light table.



Stacking



Storytime



On Wednesday, Lulu turned 3 years old!
*Happy Birthday*



Yoga
Photos by Kellyann







Closing circle


Now the children are beginning to learn group work in yoga. Ms. Krista was describing some of the things they will be working on, and it sounds really neat!

Final Savasanah

It's the Process, not the Product

ART
Stage 2 of our clay exploration continues.

Mia and Lulu discovered that the more water they apply to their clay, the more pliable it becomes. Mia began dunking her clay directly into the water dish. Like I talked about last week, we are avoiding the temptation to interrupt their research to give direction about how much water to use. This is all part of the process.





At this early stage, we encourage children to see any sculptural work they do as temporary, not something to save or take home. This will strengthen the disposition to "mess around" and focus on the process more than product. As children grow into this, they become more relaxed with an art medium. This leaves space for an idea to take form, and children become more comfy with revisiting and revising earlier work.





Light table continues to be a great discovery tool.
Will do a new exploration on it next week. Couldn't get to it this week with all the other fun.



Lulu and Mia doing clay exploration.
Damon pretend playing with the groceries.
Ms. Kellyann documenting.









Conversing




Representational Painting
"It's the number OCHO!", says Corbin.



Corbin's Artful Hands
Self Applied


Damon loves to pretend play


And he brought muffins to share this week.
They were delicious and the children devoured them during snack.





Practical Life
Mia and Lulu helping set the table



Damon and Sophia relaxing.



Yoga Snippets



Bridge Pose



Happy Baby Pose





The children love Ms. Kellyann.
It's great having an assistant because we can often break into small groups as the children want it.





Next week, we'll begin our focus on Seeds! We'll plant our spring garden too!

P.S.

Sooooo...

I viewed the *perfect* property this week. There is some punch work that needs to be done and here's hoping that it will work out. We also have to run a P&L report to see if it's a financially viable option since it will only house a small group of children (which is TOTALLY what I want, but the lease is a bit higher than I'm comfortable with). I am trying not to get my hopes up in case is doesn't work out. Don't want to get my passion zapped, ya know. It's also for sale, price recently dropped from $580K to $500K. Still a bit above the budget.

But, did I mention it's ADORABLE??
It has Terra Luz written all over it! It's a historical building with CHARACTER.

Clay, Suncatchers, and Love Notes

ART
Clay Exploration – Stage Two



This week we began Stage Two of our Clay Exploration, which is building on the foundation of what the children experienced last week with full body play. We moved the clay to the table and each child was given a sponge and a canvas covered wood board (gotta love the hubby who runs to Home Depot at 7:00 the night before to buy wood and then saw it into squares).

This stage invites children to work with individual chunks and changing the clay’s texture by adding water to it. The children continue building their physical knowledge of clay, experiencing its movement and texture, as they move toward eventual sculpting work. We had fun, and boy, was it messy fun!

Che immersed himself in the full on sensory exploration of clay’s qualities by almost dissolving his clay into goopey mud. He was being a researcher, investigating the contact of water on the clay. Us, as teachers, are encouraged to avoid the temptation to interrupt their research since this research is an important step in their journey toward representational work.

Lulu opted for extended clay time long after the table cleared. This is the beauty of running an Reggian-inspired program. Kids don't all have to "go with the group" and "work at the same pace". There is no fragmented periods of time here. And she has moved into the representational stage. She is hard at work creating a sculpture for her mama.

~*~

The light table has been a bit hit. Ms. Krista (our yoga teacher, who is a former Reggian teacher) gave me a GREAT idea on what we can do on the table, which will be an extension of a previous project we did. We’ll do that next week! Stay tuned!

We learned two new Good Morning Songs and a new Cleaning Up Song.

This week, we read There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. We read the contemporary version and also the original version, which has these really cool “vintage” illustrations.

We also enjoyed the Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood.

This story also a cumulative tale like the There Was an Old Lady stories.



Ms. Kellyann and the children singing Ring around the Rosie

Yoga Snippets

Spreading Love
We usually don't do "crafty" things here with all the art exploration and projects we already do, but I thought it would be fun to make Valentine Suncatchers this week.







Now that I have Kellyann here, we have been able to keep up with portfolios. A LOT of work goes into these (which we would love to share with you all soon) and I will be able to begin creating the Documentation Boards on our Art Explorations, which is basically what I do on my blog, but with a bit more detail. These will be great to take with us when I move offsite so parents can see how a project can evolve over time.

Hope your children enjoyed finding their love notes from me in their lunchboxes this week.

I got much joy out of writing them all.

"Love grows by giving.
The love we give away is the only love we keep.
The only way to retain love is to give it away."

-Elbert Hubbard