Preschool II July 2014 Newsletter

Dear Families,

We want to send our appreciation for the efforts and participation on Community Work day.

Many jobs were completed throughout the morning some of which included pruning shrubs,

weeding flower beds, filling compost into raised beds, mulching, and many more.

Curriculum

Cows ~ After hand milking Quartet, we poured the milk into a glass container and observed

it over the next 2 days. The children observed a different in color and texture between the

liquid on bottom and the layer on top. Teachers discussed how the cream separates from

the milk and the cream is used to make butter. This week the children made homemade

bread shaping their piece into the first letter of their name. We then used heavy cream (store

bought) and shook it until we created a small ball of butter. Each child received a tiny

portion of cream and shook it back and forth. This process allowed children to actively

participate in transforming a liquid into a solid. As they shook the heavy cream making first

‘whipped cream’ and then shaking further to separate the buttermilk out leaving the butter

in a small ball. They children asked for the bread recipe so we sent it as an attachment if you

would like to try at home. If you want to make butter the key is to let the heavy cream

become room temperature before shaking it. Enjoy.

Store and Restaurant ~ Booney’s Store is open for business and the children have been busy

running their restaurant. Each day the children negotiate who will be which role such as

chef, wait person, host/hostess, and customer. During role-play the children share more of

their own knowledge of eating at restaurants. One morning Riley and Arwa discussed that

the restaurant tables have flowers and sometimes candles on them. They used materials

from our Beautiful Stuff collection to create the center pieces.

Sensory Table ~ The children have been exploring funnel, tubes, and

inclines in the sensory table. Teachers set up a provocation with funnels

attached to varying sized tubes that were woven through a plastic

crate and then angled at a downward incline at various degrees into

the sensory table or buckets outside the table. The children began this

exploration by trying to follow the hose through the maze and figure out

where their water would come out. Over time demonstrating cognitive

development the children have begun to experiment with stopping

and starting the flow of the water, re-creating their ‘milking’ experience,

and using water pressure to ‘push’ the water around the corners or over

the edge so it will get to the end of the long hose.

Self-portraits~ Throughout the school year children are developing their sense of self. One

way we are exploring this is through multiple self~portraits. During this process children are

developing an awareness of self and an appreciation for the detail in what makes us human

and each of us unique. For the first two experiences we provided the children with paper, a

black felt pen and a mirror. This focuses children to observe and sketch the details in their

features. In the Spring, children began discussing differences in their skin, hair, height and

abilities. We reread several books such as We are all ALIKE We are all DIFFERENT, The Colors of

Us, I like Myself!, SHADES of PEOPLE, and THE Skin YOU LIVE IN. We then offered the children

first paper, black felt pen and mirror. Once they had completed their facial features on their

self~portraits we offered them colored pencils. They children approached the pencils

carefully by holding up the different shades to each feature looking for the color that

matched. Finally, they carefully applied the color to their image.

In this activity, the mirror is a tool for children to learn and observe themselves. Drawing is a

skill that the children practice daily. We experience ourselves from the inside out, the mirror

gives us a brief glimpse of ourselves from the outside. Self~portraits are unique as the children

are both the artist and the subject. They are expressions of how the children see themselves

at that moment in time.

In the hallway, take a moment to see if you can figure out is artist of each self-portrait. Once

you have written your answers see a classroom teacher for the answer key. Have fun.

Beautiful Stuff ~ We brought our Beautiful Stuff collection bags to morning meeting.

Containers were placed in the middle of the rug. We discussed that we would begin our

work by sorting our collections into different groups. Each child was invited to share 3 items

from their collection and sort them into the containers. If they were unsure then peers

assisted them with suggestions or asked questions to help the child make a decision. For

example, “Will it break? It could go in the fragile group.” A few of the categories that the

children choice were plastic, cardboard, food containers, beads, ribbon, cards, rocks, round

things, and fabric. Sorting then became a center choice for the next several days.

The children spent a lot of looking through the collections and observing the different objects

carefully discussing the details they were noticing. Next, we invited children to explore the

materials without attaching the materials. Our intention was to allow for time to explore the

spatial relationships between unique materials. Throughout the year we have utilized loose

parts and recycled materials within our work so the children were quickly ready to move

forward to the construction phase.

Exploration: Allows children to explore multiple ideas with materials and problem solve which

materials will work best for their idea.

A boat. A person. A book. A spy phone.

During the past week the children have begun constructing their ideas. Once they complete

their work the children are labeling their piece with a title. We will have an Art Show on

Thursday, August 14th for the children to share their work. We will give you more details as we

get closer.

Kindergarten visit ~ To support the upcoming transition to Kindergarten two current

Kindergartens, Sophia and Roddy, visited during morning meeting. They answered the

children’s questions regarding what it is like to be in Kindergarten. This experience gave the

children control over their emotions, excitement and/or anxiety about transition to

Kindergarten in a couple of months. The children were able to ask any questions they had

and they were answered by familiar peers that were going through the experience.

Teachers correlated the information from CSDC into public school. For example, Sophia: We

go to gymnastics on Wednesdays and do tumbles, balance beam and bars. Teachers: If you

are attending Gonic, Mast Way, etc. this would be gym class or some schools call it physical

education. You will participate in different sports, learn ways to keep your body healthy and

strong.

A few of the questions were…

What kind of toys do you have?

How do you fall asleep when it is light in your classroom?

Do you have blocks and dinosaurs?

Do you have journals?

Do you go outside three times a day?

What do you do at morning meeting?

Learning Garden ~ We brought our seeds to the UNH Greenhouses and met Jonathan. He

showed us which greenhouse to place our seeds and talked with us about how plants grow.

He asked us if we wanted to watch him feed the Venus fly traps some flies. The children gave

an excited chorus of ‘yes.’ We followed Jonathan into the hot house and watched as he

used tweezers to transfer flies (caught on pest strips) to the open plants. The children

watched as the plant reacted quickly to the pressure of the insect and closed it’s ‘mouth’ to

capture the insect. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and used our Nature Journals to capture

images from our environment that inspired or intrigued us.

Over the last two weeks we have been planting seeds that we ‘direct sow’ in the Learning

Garden such as bean, peas and carrots. We want to thank Shimaa (Arwa’s mom) and Lara

(Elias’ mom)for joining us to help plant.

Little Red Wagon ~ The UNH Theatre group The Little Red Wagon preformed a dress rehearsal

of their show Nightingale at CSDC. The children were very interested to watch how the

production set was constructed. They carefully observed the process. During the show they

enjoyed the different types of puppets and were so inspired by the Nightingale that later in

the day they wore rainbow ribbons on their arms as they raced across the front lawn.

Teachers will be scaffolding from this experience as we begin working on creating plays from

the fairytales that we have studies this year. Recently, we discussed the different fairytales

we have read. The children wrote the names of the stories on chart paper and then placed

their picture near the title they wanted to participate in. Next, the children will be

collaborating to write their own scripts.

Music ~ The children’s interest and love of sound and different rhythm patterns continues to

flourish. They develop their own unique rhythmical patterns. Many children explore singing by

making up words as they play rhythms on their drums. The children have been requesting to

use the instruments such as the guitar, drums, gong, and slide drum. Last week we

introduced an instrument called the Glockenspiel. (similar to a xylophone, it is from Sweden)

Abigail enjoyed the different tones of the bars and played for over 30 minutes.

We recently purchased an 8 thumb piano for the children to continue to explore their

musical interests. Children have been experimenting holding and placing the instrument on

a surface listening to the change in tone. Arwa: It vibrates better when I put it on the table

and play it.

Recently, Riley was interested in writing a song on the thumb piano. I (Beth) discussed that a

composer writes the names of the notes down so they can play the song again. I then

labeled the keys. Riley tested a few notes, listened, replayed some, and then gathered

paper and pencil to begin writing his song down. Riley has now become a peer mentor as

he shares his knowledge of the names of the notes, how to play the new instrument, and

how to compose a song with his peers.

Upcoming Events

CSDC will be closed on Friday, July 4th.

Thursday, July 10th we will travel to the UNH Greenhouses to thank them for tending our

plants. We will travel on the UNH Shuttle Bus and have a picnic lunch there. Please pack a

picnic lunch for your child on this day.

Shut-down Week~ CSDC will close the week of July 14-18th. We will re-open on Monday,

July 21 at 7:30.

Tuesday, August 5th – Dairy Bar and picnic lunch.

Wednesday, August 13th – Campout Day. We share more details as this event gets closer.

Thursday, August 14th – Art Show. The children will display several pieces of their work and

we will have a dinner potluck afterwards.

The last day of Preschool 2 is Tuesday, August 19th.

Warmly,

Beth and Jamie