Week 5 in Enrichment

Happy October!

September flew by and here we are raking leaves and thinking about bundling up. The kids have been great about putting on their jackets and sweatshirts when we go out for recess. To be honest, we haven't needed them most days in the afternoon, so the kids can put them in their backpacks. But they've been necessary in the morning coming in, so our little New Englanders are getting good practice at preparing for two (or three) different seasons in one day! Lol!

As you may, or may not have noticed, your little learners may be coming home talking about conflicts or problems they've had with classmates recently. This is not uncommon, especially considering the goodbye (or lack there of) that we had last school year. The children are becoming more comfortable with each other, which is wonderful, except that it can mean that they are less patient, which can create some misunderstandings. At this age, they're still learning that the way they see things isn't the only way to see things. If I'm playing with a friend and I want the toy they're playing with, I know my friend so well that he/she will know that I want it, so I can just take it. Or, my friend knows that I want to go to a center with them, so why is someone else taking my spot? These conflicts are a normal part of development, and we'll continue to work through them together. That being said, they are working very well together! Their kindness and love is amazing!

Part of working through those conflicts in our classroom is the use of our "Cookie Jar". GOOD NEWS!! Working together, the students earned 10 cookies by taking care of their friends, teacher, and our things. Using kind words, being attentive while other friends are talking, and cleaning up at the appropriate time are all examples of the things that earn them cookies. And with earning 10 cookies they get a reward! TUESDAY, OCT. 13TH WILL BE PAJAMA DAY for our class! Please keep the temperature, comfort, and bathroom accessibility in mind when having them dress for the day. They can wear slippers if they have a rubber sole, for safety reasons. And if they DO wear slippers, please send shoes to change into for our time on the playground.

Our book this week was Waiting is Not Easy! by Mo Willems. Gerald the Elephant became very upset when his best friend, Piggie, told him she had a surprise for him, but that he would have to wait for it. With lots of groaning and getting angry with Piggie, Gerald learns that the surprise was the beautiful starry sky, and that it was "worth the wait".

This is what's new in our classroom this week...

Our pretend center is now taking care of babies and using the kitchen
Our sensory bins now have corn kernels, pretend leaves, pumpkin/leaf/ acorn gems, spoons, and cups for scooping and dumping
Our yellow bins have Bristle Blocks
Our Blue bins were all about number recognition. The children rolled a dice with numbered pumpkins and it, and colored in the corresponding pumpkin on a paper.
Art this week was using glue and cut out shapes to make their own jack-o'-lantern. Once the glue is dry I'll hang them up in the hallway to welcome the children back into school! We also used dot markers to paint pictures of pumpkins.
The class voted last week for me to make Brown Playdough for October. There are scissors, a rolling pin, and a pumpkin cookie cutter in with their playdough as well.