Love and Kindness

We read the book Last Stop on Market Street   a few times this week, and continued our conversations about the power of our words and actions.  We often talk about being kind, respectful, and helping each other, and this book is an example of a child who learns to see the beauty in his surroundings as his Nana reminds him to really look. 

"CJ saw the perfect rainbow arcing over their soup kitchen. He wondered how his nana always found beautiful where he never even thought to look."   (we talked about the soup kitchen as a place to go to eat together where people help each other, and that it helps everyone get enough to eat).

As we learn to be a part of a cooperative and caring group, we see that our words have consequences. When there is a need in the classroom, teachers are apt to say something like "look at _____; they are  very sad (angry, upset, etc). Please check in with them." This intervention gives the child notice that they had an effect on their peer, and the peer the opportunity to speak up for themself.  We also spend time talking about our own feelings and emotions, and that, as Pete the Cat says, "Because it's all good." It's important to give the children the opportunity to express themselves in an environment where they feel safe and known.   

Even though we don't celebrate holidays at our school, we do celebrate LOVE and KINDNESS!  We asked the children "What is Love?" and wrote their quotes on a heart that they decorated with paint. There is a lot of love in these children's lives, we can tell by their words! They never hesitated with their explanations. 

We tried "spin art" this week, and then made shakers to celebrate SOUND !

We shared encouraging words with the assembly crew on Friday-and the shakers helped to calm the babies....

 

Magnets are a big topic in our classroom. The sensory table has been set up with a collection of magnets and materials that are attracted to them.  The force of the magnets is a surprise to the children, as well as the attraction of materials.  This has been a week of exploration, and we'll add some concepts to the free exploration as time goes on. The children have been trying to make a chain of magnets to the floor from the side of the table, and with their persistence I'm sure they will figure it out!   

getting there!

And, finally, some scenes from a busy classroom!  

Until Next Time,

Michele

Black History Month, Black Tea, and SNOW.....

These few days have been packed with activity and thought. This week we have been reading the following books, and they have given us space and time for thought and conversation. 

Speak Up by Miranda Paul and Ebony Glen

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufmann

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kwamkanda, Bryan Mealer, and Elizabeth Zunon 

Each Kindness by Jaqueline Woodson and E.B.Lewis

Our conversations have been about how we treat others, and that our words and behavior have power. We learned about Garrett Morgan, the man who invented the traffic light. We learned that he was not treated well because of his dark skin and that he had to work hard to share his ideas. We were glad that Garrett Morgan didn't give up because his ideas were important!  We talked about how that made us feel, and even how it feels to us when we are not included. I said that made me uncomfortable. We talked about how we need to treat people, our favorite colors, and kindness! Our rule at school is, if someone asks to play we need to say "yes!".  We hope to convey to the children that it is important to be kind and accepting of everyone. We even talked about colors, as one of the children said "that's a boy color!"  We decided that colors are all acceptable and we can have our own favorites.  The world is a wonderful rainbow of color! When we have discussions like this, teachers are careful not to say "that's not right!" but rather to ask and converse. and empower.  

We colored traffic lights and learned a traffic light song to honor the history of Garrett Morgan. 

The book Speak UP!  gave us ideas about how to speak up for others and ourselves. We know, in our classroom, that we have the ability to comfort each other, as we practice it every day.  We learned from the story that we can ask for help, be an ally, and that kindness goes a long long way. The children put the words of the book into action by creating their own signs.  Some of the words that they used to "speak up" were "you can sit next to me!"  "I love you!"  "you can play with me!"  and "do you want to play with me?"  

Another topic running through our classroom has been the book The Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson.  We have been reading this book and gathering materials to fill a box, which is called a "jackdaw", that we will contribute to the jackdaw treasure hunt this Friday.  We noticed that whenever we read the words "and they brewed black tea" the children, as a group, chorused "EWWWW." That gave us the idea to actually TRY brewing black tea in the classroom and get a good look at it and even taste it. Sometimes a strong reaction might denote fear of the unknown. We gave it a try, and opened tea bags, glued tea to cardboard, smelled black tea, brewed it in a teapot and tried it, and even painted with brewed tea (it smelled very good but did not make much color!). Most interestingly, the tea tasted "like nothing" or "like water" or "delicious".  We realized that black tea is only a name for tea.  We are happy to be tea authorities.  We might even be able to spell "tea." 

fashion statements, that's all !

The snow was quite a story this week, as you know. We spent a lot of time outdoors, moving snow, trying to walk in snow, and enjoying the snow!

We tried and tried to make an igloo. We'll let you know if we get there!

There's a new child in our classroom to welcome! 

And here's some scenes from the classroom! 

Until Next Time,

Michele