WCM Class Blogs

Hi Toddler Parents,

We had a great week back. I had put out some holiday/winter materials such as a wooden menorah, Nativity scene, nesting Santa, spooning “Christmas ornaments”, and sorting holiday items. The toddlers had a lot of fun with these materials. In the afternoon they are making paper chains and stringing Cheerios onto pipecleaners to decorate the outdoor tree for the birds.

On Wednesday we practiced our “Emergency Evacuation.” In the event of a fire or if we had to evacuate the school we would get the toddlers out of the classroom and go to the front gate. Once we got there, we would walk up the hill, past the W&L football stadium, across the bridge, and then over to the Stackhouse Theater in the W&L Commons. The toddlers did a fabulous job with this. It took us 25 seconds to exit the classroom and get to the gate, 20 minutes to walk to the theater and then 15 minutes to walk back.

On Thursday we welcomed Owen to our class. The toddlers did a great job of making him feel welcome and he has really had a great time learning about the materials and making new friends.

Soren and Trey, the pre-toddlers who will be joining our class in January, have been coming down to visit our classroom, meet the toddlers, and become familiar with the room. They have been a bit hesitant at first when they enter the room, but today when Amanda asked if they wanted to go back upstairs, Soren said “No.” He must have been having fun!

As you can tell we have had a busy, fun-filled week.

Have a great weekend. Enjoy all of the special holiday events in the area and see you on Monday.

Chat

Hi Parents,

     I hope you had as much fun at our Stone Soup Feast as much as the toddlers had making it. On Monday we peeled and chopped carrots and celery, cut green onions with scissors, and shook cream in a jar to make butter. I took the vegetables home and cooked them a bit so they would be ready for Tuesday. On Tuesday we added the corn, peas, and beans and warmed it in the Crock-Pots. It was a great time and we thank all the families for providing a portion of the food for the feast.

Thank you parents and grandparents for joining our annual Stone Soup Celebration and for all the help and “magic ingredient…sharing” which made today’s festivities possible.  The children worked so avidly and have been very excited for today, as I’m sure you could see as each of you arrived and were met by your delighted children.  We hope you enjoyed our brief role-playing and singing in addition to the food; the idea was simply to invite you into the joyful experience we are (I feel) so fortunate to share as a class community each day.  Special thanks to the Watson-Lowney family for the following photographs.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What We Are Thankful For in Primary II

Chase - I’m thankful for my little bird houses…at the Dollar Store they make them.

Claire - For  my whole family

Connor - The whole world.

Elizabeth: Family

Emily - A bird, I like birds, they fly and I like wings.

John - My whole family

Keaton - Shoes

Madison - My Mama

Susanne - My cats and Mom and Dad

Will - Pop guns!

Willa - My bird house, necklace, pretty dress, rings, and green costume.

Ashley - My family

Dawn - I feel so grateful for the opportunity to be with my family over the holidays this year!

As the weather has been shifting from an autumn to more brisk wintery feel, the children have been excited to talk about the snow and even suggested we begin singing about it this week.  Through out the fall we have sung several songs about the sun, rainbows, and the earth, but this week those songs transformed to a more cool weather focus and the children even re-wrote the words to “Mr. Sun” so we now have our very own class original:

“Mr. Snow” by Primary II

1st verse

Oh Mr. Snow, Snow, Mr. Frosty Snow

Please fall down on me.

Oh Mr. Snow, Snow, Mr. Frosty Snow

Hiding above the trees,

All these children are waiting for you,

Oh Mr. Snow, Snow, Mr. Frosty Snow

Please snow down an’

We can build a snowman

Please snow down on me!

2nd verse:

Oh Mr. Snow, Snow, Mr. Frosty Snow

Please don’t snow so loud.

Oh Mr. Snow, Snow, Mr. Frosty Snow

Hiding up in the cloud

All these children are waiting for you,

Oh Mr. Snow, Snow, Mr. Frosty Snow

Please snow down an’

We can build a snow man

Please snow down on me!

We have also been busily preparing for our Stone Soup Celebration coming up on Monday!  In addition to reading the story and acting out a little of “Stone Soup,” the children chose which ingredient each wanted to bring, then collectively worked to wash, dry, peel, and chop the vegetables they then placed in the pot.  We also took a walk to find just the right stones for our soup (yes they are real, but very thoroughly cleaned).

Hi Toddler Parents,

    I know it is only Tuesday, but we have been so busy this week. Some of the ingredients for out Stone Soup feast are already trickling in. The toddlers are very excited about it and think it will be great that they will be cooking for their parents. We made some handprint turkeys on Monday. The toddlers watched as I painted the sponge with the rainbow colors. Some toddlers did a great job independently putting their hand on the sponge and squishing the paint on it and then putting it on the paper and others were very enthusiastic and needed a bit of help stamping just the paper and not the table. All were fascinated by having a rainbow of paint on their hand and took time to look at how their hand looked when they took it off of the sponge-filled paint. They had so much fun doing the hand stamps that we did them again on Tuesday. I heard toddlers say “I made one for Mom, but Dad needs one” or “I want to make one for my Mimi and Papa” or “Grammy will want one.” How could we resist making more!

      On Tuesday we also made our “Tree of Thanks.” We have been reading books such as “Giving Thanks” and “I’m Thankful Each Day” and talking about what we are thankful for. Today I showed them the tree I painted and how all the branches were bare. Then I showed them the leaves I cut out and asked them to think about what they were thankful for. I told them I was thankful for my family, but they could be thankful for anything. For the non-verbal toddlers I listed things and they shook their heads “no” or “yes” and I wrote down what they wanted. Here is what they are thankful for:

• “Mommy” -Greta
• “My Daddy”- Ryan
• “Ball”- Noah      
• “My Daddy”- Ainsley
• “My Dumptruck”- Owen
• “My Mommy and Daddy”- Ethan
• “My Mommy”- Tyler
• “Santa brought me a cool choo-choo train to my bedroom” -Malcolm
• “My family”- Maddie
• “Mommy and Daddy”- Jesse
• “Books”- Oliver

       We have also been learning some fingerplays about Thanksgiving and turkeys. I will send the words home in an email this week. We also have been reading a short book entitled “One little Pilgrim” and talks about both pilgrim and the Wampanog Native Americans  children and the chores they did to help with the first Thanksgiving.

      I have put out some new materials such as natural branch blocks and Audubon birds that make the actual bird songs. The toddlers have had a great time exploring these new materials. Here are some pictures of them hard at work with the classroom materials. Enjoy!

 Please be sure to let me know if you are going to be able to attend the Stone Soup feast. This will help us know how many chairs we might need. And does anyone know where we can borrow some “big people” chairs?

   Chat

We have been busy with some interesting projects this week. The children have made turkey handprints and also made their own “Tree Of Thanks” .  These projects are displayed there in our room and we will be sending them home with the children next week.      Also, a few reminders, we will be having picture day  on Wednesday, November 19. There will be an early school closing on November 25 ( 1:00 pm) and we will be closed on November 26, 27 and 28 for the Thanksgiving holiday. May you and your families have a wonderful holiday!       Amanda

We’ve been busy with adventuring and just this week left our study of North America and begun to delve into Europe starting with a morning hello song with French and Spanish verses as well as introducing a few European animal lessons into our classroom.  An official welcome to Ashley, our new assistant, has been warmly extended by all and though we miss and love saying hi to Claudia when she pops her head in occasionally, it is wonderful to have our newest community member  in the classroom.  Ashley has brought in her festive spirit and and ideas, and helped the children learn about what is inside a pumpkin just before Halloween.  The children had planned to take out all the strings and seeds inside, but when Ashley carved open the top, the children decided they preferred to keep their hands out of the gooey, stringy innards…

Our pumpkin was a fun guest on our porch!  In addition to seasonal exploration, we have had the privelege of Nancy Saylor visiting weekly to teach us about our bodies and how to explore their great potential through creative movement and dance.  Here are just a few snapshots of the children exploring their personal space in personal space bags as well as exploring space as a group (in the big pink bag).

The children are exploring and learning new things about the world around them, abroad, as well as their own space and bodies.  With each week our classroom enjoys more serenity, challenging works becoming easier, new vocabulary, and the children’s regard of concern and willingness to help one another whether it be to fetch an ice pack for a crying child or to help a younger child solve a puzzle, our class has become a community of caring helpers.

Hi everyone, 

We had a special treat in the Toddler Room today. Claudia’s friend, Mr. Dickerson, came to school and brought his three Native American flutes and played for us and told some Native American stories. As you can see from the pictures the toddlers were captivated and listened intently to the music. They liked the high pitch of the small flute and thought it sounded like a bird. Mr. Dickerson made the big flute sound like the croaking of a bull frog. After noticing Honey Bunny he told a story about why rabbits thump their feet and do a hopping dance. The toddlers were fascinated by the fringe on his flute bag and he let them pass it around so they could see the beadwork and touch the soft leather. He also accompanied us on the flute as we all sang “Old MacDonald”. It was a very special visit and we all enjoyed it.