Presenting: Preschool!: Ahh, Fall...

It's here! Fall is here, and the children have noticed. They have talked about all the leaves they see on the ground, and have asked such terrific questions like: Why do the leaves turn from green to other colors? Enter CHLOROPHYLL ! We will be talking about this more as school goes on. We took the children to Central Park this week so that we could observe, gather, and comment on some of the changes we are seeing. Below is a sample of the objects the children collected in the park. We talked about them all, and then put them out during freeplay so that the children could make observational art based upon the display. Their work will be hanging up on one of our bulletin boards soon, so be sure to check it out!

On a separate note, the children (and teachers) are still eagerly awaiting the arrival of our live ladybugs from California, so that we can perhaps make observational drawings of them, too, and see what else we can study about the lovely ladybug (technically a 'beetle'). Although they were ordered back in September, the children ask every day if they have arrived yet. I have learned that I must exercise patience, since I am so used to getting things 2-3 days after you order them, thanks to the Internet / global marketplace. We've figured that the ladybugs must be literally flying their way to the East Coast, because why else would it take this long?!??!

This week, we witnessed a creative explosion in the block area. Although the blocks have been out and available to use since the first day of school, the children either preferred to play with our smaller blocks, or didn't really notice the block area. Either way, we saw some great creations this week, including two types of fire stations, an airport, and an FBI building. Working in the block area creates opportunities for teamwork, spatial relationships, early physics, and FUN!

The children all have wonderfully expressive faces, so we put out some materials at freeplay that let them see how expressive they can be! We recently received small mirrors for the children to use, and they go great with this expression game we have. The children try to match their expression to the ones on the card... or they can make up their own!

Below are some photos from our first two dance classes with Adelaide. Yesterday, we started to learn some of the procedures for the waltz. To see the children working on this is absolutely priceless. We will be working on this through the winter, so we will have plenty of time to practice.