Creation

Our curriculum for the fall semester involves learning about creation.  Each week or two we will take time to learn about a feature of God's plan for our world.  One of the very best ways to teach children about creation is to allow children to be creators.

The Bunnies rolled marbles covered in gold and white paint over black paper to represent light and dark.

On a different day, they painted bubble wrap with white and gold paint, then pressed a large piece of blue paper on top and rubbed to print the "stars" on the paper.
There will be many more opportunities to be creators and the weeks go by...stay tuned!

Stacking and Stacking and Stacking

One day we had these builders.  They aren't particularly special or unique, but they do fit together nicely and they are easy for little hands to manipulate.  We had one Bunny in particular who spent most of her day around these builders.  At one point she asked Mrs. Magee for help to hold the tower steady while she made it as tall as she possibly could.

Once we see a child really excited about a particular toy or skill, it's our job to help the child fully explore his or her interest.  So, the next day we hauled in Unifix cubes which can be assembled in a similar way.  We cleared off an entire shelf and turned her loose. 

LOOK what happened!!!

With incredible determination, she diligently stacked the cubes and laid them out to cover the ENTIRE length of the shelf.  Amazing!!

The Sensory Table

One of the most favorite places in our Bunny Rabbit room is the sensory table.  It's a big tub and each week there is something different there.  Beans, birdseed, rice, pasta, pompom balls, pine cones, beads (and many others) are all items we will have in our sensory table.

Already we have two little girls who ADORE the sensory table.

It feels great to run your hands through cut up Mardi Gras beads!  By the way, if you have extras at your house that you want to get rid of, send them our way!

The Beginning

At the beginning of the year, we primarily see children playing alone.

This is very normal!  The children don't know each other yet.  Plus, the room is filled with toys and activities they have never seen before.  The Bunnies are so very eager to try it all out that they prefer to go it alone.

Before long, they will be enjoying each other's company in duos and trios. 

First Day Fun

Simple is best on the first day. 

Basic office supplies...

Fresh squishy playdough...

Happy faces!!  It's going to be a great year!

Welcome!

Welcome to a new year in Bunny Rabbits class!  Check this blog often to see what the kids are doing and feel free to share the blog address with grandparents who might want to peek in on their grandkids.

Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Magee are looking forward to a fantastic year!

Spin Art

Do you have an old record player hanging around collecting dust?

Just put a cheap paper plate on the turn table, set the arm aside and turn the record player on.  Give your child some markers to hold on the plate while it spins.
That's how we do spin art SLC style!!

Pet Vet

Pet Vet is an activity that never grows old.  The Bunnies love it!

 We transformed our kitchen area into a vet's office.  We had an exam table and all the necessary examination tools such as thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, tweezers, bandages, shots, and grooming supplies.  We had shelves of dog and cat food, treats, and feeding bowls.  We even had child size medical clothing.

In addition to our own stuffed animal puppy and bunny rabbit (of course!) we encouraged the children to bring a lovey from home.  The children had a blast taking care of their animals and role playing as the doctor and as the "parent" of the animals.

We set up a rest and recovery area for our animals.  The animals had an opportunity to get some rest while their "parents" had other plans such as eating a snack, painting and playing outside.
It was so exciting to hear the the children's conversations with each other about their animals.

YeeHaw!

In the spring we love to explore and celebrate our western heritage.  Most city kids don't have experience with western life even though just an hour outside of our city are miles and miles of ranch and farm land.  In our class, we had a saddle, some farm puzzles, rope art and cowboy and cowgirl clothes.  Year after year one of the Bunnies' favorite activities is udder painting.  Mrs. Magee is the pro.  She filled a couple of rubber gloves with paint, and the kids got to pull on the fingers to squirt the paint out!

Story Time

Every few years or so, we have a Bunny Rabbit who can read fluently.  We do not ever pressure children to read even when we know they can.  We allow that child (and every child!) the opportunity to read in very natural situations.  Inevitably late in the year other children figure it out and suddenly we have impromptu story time.  There is something very captivating about being read to by another child.

Sorting by Attributes

Here is a March lesson that should have been an October lesson.  Sometimes it's just hard to fit in everything we need to do!
Our block cabinets were disaster zones.  At the end of each day, the kids just chucked the blocks on the shelves and closed the cabinet.  They were totally unorganized in every way, and sometimes we even had little avalanches.  
We had a whole day of block sorting.  We put three orange tape squares on the rug and one blue tape square.  Each orange square was for a specific size block and the blue square was for any blocks that didn't match the ones in the other squares.  It was a classic what-doesn't-belong set up. 
The Bunnies sorted and sorted and sorted.  They did a fantastic job!

Did you know each block has a certain name?  At the top left is the basic size called "units".  The top right shows "half units" and the bottom left shows "doubles".  On the bottom right are all the misfits that need to be matched with blocks in other cabinets.
Admire their hard work!

Can you believe three year olds did that!!
The real challenge: keeping it that way.

Girls and Blocks

Most of the photos of block structures featured on this blog have been built by boys.  Girls are just as capable of building amazing structures as boys!  These girls worked as a team to build this house and they knew specifically what each room was and who lived there.  Way to go, girls!

Sizes

There are many, many ways to teach the concept of size.  Being able to accurately compare and order items by size is a typical preschool skill.  This is a skill that most children learn easily by simply playing.  Many of them naturally line up toys by size even before they know the words "small", "medium", and "large".  At SLC we provide opportunities that reinforce the skill in FUN ways.  One day we painted with small, medium and large balloons.  The children dipped them in paint and pressed them onto paper.  Math through art is a powerful learning experience.

Feeling the Love

We celebrated Valentine's Day in several ways.  The Bunnies made lots of interesting things with hearts.  The most popular item to make was heart garland.  They figured out how to use tape to connect hearts together in long strings.  There were some hearts in the window with the letters L O V E and some of the children copied the letters on to their garlands.  Yay!

  The Bunnies exchanged Valentine cards with each other.  This was so fun!  They just couldn't wait to see what was inside their own Valentine bag.  Don't you remember the anticipation from your days at school?  I do!

The children also made a HUGE heart mural.  It took several days and this photo shows one of the middle stages.  They had opportunities to contribute to the mural with paint and rollers, with tissue paper, with glitter, and with foam shapes.

Busy, Busy

Two seconds before Mrs. O'Connor snapped this photo each child was busy.  Head-down, focused-on-the-task, BUSY!
On the red tray is an alphabet pop-up toy.  On the blue tray is a fine motor activity in which you use small tongs to pick up little dog bones and puppy paws and place them in a tiny tray.  On the yellow tray is another fine motor game in which you use tongs to feed bananas to a monkey.  On the green tray are Oreo shape puzzles in which you must match two shapes and fit the top and bottom together to make a cookie.

In our class, we refer to these as "puzzles and games".  They don't fit the narrow definition of a puzzle (such as a jigsaw puzzle), but they fit the broader definition as a task that is puzzling and needs solving.  These types of activities rotate each week so there is plenty of opportunity to try new and challenging tasks. 

Something Different

This week in Bunny Rabbit class, there were some neat Fisher Price toys.  They are little buildings, people and furniture for various facets of city life.  They are called Sweet Streets, but I don't think F-P makes them any more.  Anyway, the scene on our rug this week looked much different than usual.  GIRLS!! 
What a welcome change!

Sign Up!

Parents, we have two exciting things for you! 

First, you may sign up for a week to take home Benjamin Bunny.  Our stuffed bunny will come to your house for a week and experience life in your family.  Parents should snap a couple of photos and include them in Benjamin's journal with a brief description of what occurred.  Simple and fun!  This children LOVE reading about Benjamin's adventures.

Second, sign up for a Parent/Teacher conference.  The dates are Friday, February 25 and Monday, February 28.  Conferences are brief (20 minutes) and are an opportunity to visit about your child.  Please make plans to attend without your child.

Look for a pink sign up sheet for Benjamin Bunny and a green sign up sheet for conferences!

Teamwork

This is the time of year when we really begin to see children collaborating together.  These two Bunnies worked as a team to solve this darling puzzle of Little Bear characters.  They were so proud of themselves when it was all done!

Light and Joy

I adore this photo.  Just look at the joy on her face as she plays at the light table.  Can't you just imagine how good those little stars feel falling through her fingers!

A Complete, Correct Example

When children are introduced to a new toy or puzzle, they don't necessarily know how to play with it.  For open ended toys with infinite possibilities, free exploration is the best way for a child to learn what to do.  That means, just dump it out on the table and have fun. 

For toys that have a specific purpose or order, it is important to provide a complete, correct example.  A child may not follow your example, but at least he or she will have an idea of the reason for the toy and an idea of what the end product can be as a reference point.  In the photo above, we provided a complete, correct example.  The tower on the left is stacked in size order and the other towers should be stacked in a similar way.  Guess what?  Not ONE child followed the example to solve the puzzle of stacking. 

And that is perfectly fine. 

Creativity in the Class

This little Bunny is new to our class and she's still experimenting with all the materials we have to offer.  We have so much to do in our class that the possibilities are endless.

These Bunnies have had lots of experiences with the materials in our class and they still have creative uses for familiar items.  The possibilities are endless for them, too.

Each day the children can count on some new materials mixed in with some familiar materials.  Having both allows them to really shine!

Carpentry Continued

The Bunnies continued their carpentry experiences by using hand drills.  We've never used these particular tools in Bunny Rabbit class before so we weren't sure what to expect.  My goodness, the children thought the drills were so neat.  We're definitely going to use them again!

Precarious

Check out this way cool structure.  If you look closely you will see just how precariously placed the blocks are on the top.  Only two or three small cylinders stacked on two or three large cylinders are supporting the weight of the entire top level.  All the other blocks on the rug are part of the overall design but offer no structural support. Materials and opportunity allowed these guys to learn about weight and balance through play.
Awesome!

Silly Sally Day

Every year in January when we have just one day to meet as a class, we have Silly Sally Day.  Get yourself a copy of Silly Sally.  Kids love it!
To celebrate Silly Sally Day we turned things upside down - literally - and we did a few unexpected wacky things.  Art was under the table.  We had huge white butcher paper taped to the bottom of the table and a bucket of markers.  The children crawled under the table, laid on their backs and colored up in the air.  Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Magee also got under the table to color, but there is no photographic evidence.  We even had a few puzzles and games under the table.  Some children had fun with that idea right away.  One little Bunny girl kept moving the games to the top of the table when no one was looking.  heehee.  She had a hard time understanding that we put the games under the table purposely!  Any guesses who it might have been?  At the easel, the children used dot markers to decorate an upside down girl as Silly Sally.  At the sensory table we had fake snow.  Not glitter or plastic-y fake Christmas snow.  We call it "real fake snow".  It is powdery white like sugar until you add water.  Then poof!  It becomes snow - cool to the touch, delicate and smooth.  It's an unexpected delight for Southerners like us.

Guess what! Jesus Grew Up

Through the years we have learned that most children know Jesus was a tiny baby born in a stable.  They also know Jesus was a grownup who did wonderful things. 

Most of them are super surprised that Jesus was a little boy!

We have a fantastic book called If I Had Lived in Jesus' Time.  It shows drawings of modern life and ancient life.  It's perfect for comparing and contrasting they way we live today with the way Jesus lived.  The Bunnies were amazed that Jesus probably slept on a mat on the floor - no bed!!! 

In our class, we learn the things Jesus probably learned like carpentry and sewing.

Jesus learned carpentry from his father, Joseph.  For us, carpentry involves lots of glue.  The children each added small wooden bits to a large piece of wood.  They will continue to work on these from time to time and then we'll send them home.

Jesus probably learned a bit of sewing from his mother, Mary.  Can young children learn to sew?  Absolutely!  We use burlap, yarn, a big plastic needle and a large embroidery hoop.  The Bunnies love it!  We will have sewing out from time to time and by the end of the year we'll have a fancy mat.

Good-bye and Hello

We are beginning the second half of our school year with some good-byes and some hellos.
Henry and Jaina left our class and Yeremi and Rebecca joined us.  Parents, we will get new photo rosters to you soon!

Happy New Year and Brrr!

I hope eveyone has greeted the new year with a smile and is ready to feel showered with blessings!

  Did you know that this is the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar?! 

I have lots of pictures to post, so stay tuned to see some neat things the children did right before our Christmas holidays.

The weather has gotten significantly colder.  Even on very cold days, we go outside to play.  It may surprise you to know that cold weather gives children excellent sensory information!  Please be sure to send warm coats, hats, gloves or whatever else you think your child would need.  LABEL EVERYTHING!

Merry Christmas

Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Magee had some fun activities planned for celebrating Advent in the classroom.  Turns out the Bunnies had some fun plans of their own.  They had a blast making cards and ornaments for our big tree.  They used recycled Christmas cards and cut them up, added a pipe clearner as a hook and decorated our tree from top to bottom.  Charlie made so many ornaments that Mrs. Magee was calling him Christopher Radko. heehee!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

At School for Little Children, we keep our eyes focused on the real meaning of Christmas.  We try to give the children some reasons for the traditions we have in our homes and in our community.  There is a wonderful little book called Jesus, Me and My Christmas Tree.  It uses rhyme to explain what goes on a tree and why.  We have a teeny tiny tree and lots of decorations that follow the book.  The children got to decorate the tree and then we sang a cute song with motions to get us moving.

Chimes

Mrs. Vaughn, our music teacher, does a fantastic job!  She has been introducing the Bunnies to a variety of musical instruments.  One day she brought chimes and taught them a little song.  Each child got to play the chimes and Mrs. Vaughn sang along with their beat.  What a hoot!  Some kids played really fast and some played slowly.  The Bunnies really look forward to music.

Creation

Our focus on creation lasted the entire first semester of school!  It seems like ages ago that we began with light and dark.  Here's a recap of the activities you can see in the children's art above.
light and dark - marble art
sun - painting on paper plates
stars - fingerprints in paint and glitter
the world - water color on giant coffee filters
birds - owl faces on paper plates
plants - rubber stamping ferns, leaves
animals - farm animal stencilling and wild animal stamping
people and families - die cut shapes of Jesus' family and each child's family

The best way to teach children about creation is to allow them to be creators!

Construction

In every class there is a great builder.  We never know who it will be.  Usually a few months into school the identity of the great builder emerges.  What's neat about having a great builder is that they inspire other children to be great builders, too.  When kids see cool structures being built, they can't resist pulling blocks off the shelf and building one of their own.  It's a win-win!

According to the builder, this house has "lots of rooms and bathrooms and roofs and a loooong sidewalk".  Usually the child who is the great builder has very creative ways to play with other block enrichment toys.

Recognize that little blue tennis shoe?  He's our great builder!

Making Literacy Meaningful - A Three Part Series with a Fourth Part

Recently we read a fun book called Mrs. Wishy Washy's Farm.  In this book, the farm animals don't like getting baths, so they run away to the big city.  It's a classic fish-out-of-water story and when they return to the farm, they decide baths are just fine. 

To reinforce the concepts in this story, we had story props.  We had a bucket, little stuffed animals, felt patches to represent mud and a little scrub brush.  The Bunnies chose an animal, and pretended to scrub the mud off.  It was fun and they liked it.  However, it was a little limiting. 

To further the bath experience, we filled our sensory table with bubble bath and added our play farm animals and some small sponges. 

This was a big hit - everyone loved giving the animals a real bath!  We overheard one little Bunny talking to an animal saying, "See, a bath isn't so bad!" 
There are so many ways to connect to books!  At School for Little Children we provide a variety of play opportunities to develop literacy.  This is how children learn through play!!