Just Another Week in PreK4!

 There are many reasons to celebrate each day in the PreK4 classroom, and we make sure to say it out loud!  This week, we had a visit from the 7th grade, and they shared "BOB", a statue of our school's namesake, Robert C Parker, as a child.  The 7th grade had dressed the statue as a sports lover, as Bob was, complete with a helmet, whistle, and sports shirt.  We have decided, that since BOB loved the outdoors and WE love the outdoors, that we will somehow dress BOB up with outdoor decorations.  We'll keep you posted!  

As a group we have decided to create a "guidebook" to the Parker Ground, since we notice SO many things out there.  On the list of contents to the book are nuts, moss, mushrooms, sunflowers, rabbits, pinecones, flowers, birds, and trees. We will investigate and create!

We continue to celebrate nuts in all forms, and have labeled the acorns and hickory nuts that are collected on the science table.  Children are using the nutcracker to open the nuts, and have also conducted an experiment outside on the picnic table to see "what happens to nuts in the rain."  (So far, they seem to turn black). Leiana, the lower school science teacher, will be making a visit to our classroom to talk about the nuts that we've found. We baked corn muffins with sunflower seeds!

We are also finding a lot of fungi outside, and moss. Last week we created a moss terrarium which is a perfect habitat for a few mushrooms that have been found kicked over by running feet.  We are attempting a "spore print" from likely candidates.  

The children do not touch the fungi, but are eager to point them out to us! We leave nature to nature....unless it's a teacher finding fallen over mushrooms. 

The outside is wet but wonderful! 

In the classroom, fall and colors are continually celebrated!  We had a morning meeting and celebrated Latin Heritage Month by singing the colors in Spanish and waving colorful scarves.  We made "cool down" bottles with colorful water beads and bottles of water, and have been painting with all sorts of colorful materials.  The children printed with leaf cookie cutters and bright orange, yellow, and red paint on green.  

Our best time is our social time, (all the time!) as the children are forging strong friendships and learning to negotiate the use of materials, taking turns, and sharing of ideas. We are able to sit back and watch the magic!  Sometimes, as teachers, we need to ask a game to be "changed"- as in the time that there was a bunny game that involved "blocking" -oops!  

Until Next Time,

Michele and Charlene