// Weeks of Feb 25 & March 4 //
For any Birthday Celebrations.... please be aware:
// Curriculum Update: Week of Feb. 18 //
We celebrate love and friendship by creating cards, marble painting hearts, making heart sun catchers, and writing about the ones we love. We also celebrate Black History Month by learning about some influential African Americans through non-fiction books and by listening to jazz during lunch by Miles Davis. Another celebration this week was Ms. Jing’s birthday. The children all shared something they love about Ms. Jing, another way we are practicing kindness and friendship.
Many of our friends told us we did not have school Monday because it was President’s Day. One child told us its when we “celebrate good presidents”. We discussed what the job of the president is and the children shared the president works to “make our country better”, “makes us have fun”, “makes peace”, “makes us feel love” and creates “kindness and fairness”.
// Presidents' Day Week //
// Week of February 11 ❤️ //
This week...
Believe it or not, the water in our vase (that was originally an ice cube) is gone! With this observation, we discussed the water cycle. We learned about precipitation, accumulation, evaporation, and condensation. We sang a song to help us learn these scientific words, we read a book called “Down Comes the Rain”, and we moved like water in the phases of the water cycle. We also experimented with water by sorting objects that sink from objects that float.
The children continue to discuss states of matter as well. On our way to the park, we saw a man delivering water to the local businesses and one of our youngest students proclaimed “Look at the liquid truck!” We all turned to see bottles of beverages pictured on the side of the truck.
As a follow up from our human body exploration, we discussed how to keep our bodies healthy through sleep, exercise, drinking water, and by eating healthy. We practice learning five food groups by sorting foods.
The kindergarteners had their first publishing party this week. They bravely and confidently read their stories to their parents. We couldn’t Be more proud of our young authors!
We also have many new works in Practical Life. The children are building their fine-motor, concentration, and independence through scrubbing a baby, pouring and then spooning, and pouring from one container into three to name a few. We also introduced more glass into the classroom as our friends learn to be careful with the materials.
We had a very busy week!
// Week of Feb 4 //
// Curriculum Update: Week of Jan 28 //
Lately, we have observed rainy days and a few snow flurries as well. This sparked a discussion on states of matter. We had a group lesson on solids, liquids, and gases, focusing primarily on water, but also naming other solids, liquids, and gases we could think of. We discovered that water is a liquid,but we can turn it into a gas by heating it and we can turn it into a solid by freezing it. The children were excited to see an ice cube melt into water by the end of the day sitting on a shelf in our classroom! We are waiting to see if the water will still be in the vase a week later. They were also excited to see water freeze when we put it in an ice tray and placed it in the freezer. We added color to the ice cube tray and decided to paint with the ice the next day. We all felt the cold ice and warm steam as well. These exciting experiments ignited conversations about why snowmen melt and why it snows when it is cold outside.
// Week of January 28 //
// Week of January 21 //
We hope everyone enjoyed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and took a minute to reflect on what we have learned from him. The children have shown a lot of interest and ask many questions about the human body. They continue to explore the skeleton, the organs, the systems that keep us alive, and recently we had a group lesson on the parts of the face. Not only was this a great body vocabulary discussion, it also complimented our discussions about how we are all different on the outside when learning about Martin Luther King Jr.
// Week of Martin Luther King Day //
// Curriculum Update: Week of Jan. 14 //
As we prepare for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we have been reading books about his accomplishments and discussing how he made the United States a more peaceful and loving place. We learned how MLK showed people how to make change through love instead of hate. We read “My Uncle Martin’s Big Heart” by Angela Farris Watkins. This story, about Martin Luther King Jr., is told through the eyes of his niece. We also made a poster to express how we are peaceful and kind in the Red Room and we remember how to solve conflicts the way MLK said to- through our words. We read another story called “Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King” by Jean Marzollo. We discussed how we are all different on the outside, but what truly matters is who we are on the inside.
We practice peace in Red Room through singing “We all Sing with the Same Voice” and “Peace Like a River”. We also notice peace in the sights, smells, tastes, feelings, and the words we hear in the classroom.
We have also enjoyed seeing our friends’ joyful faces as they show their families their favorite works in the classroom. We hope you have enjoyed Work With Your Child Week!
// Enjoy Photos from the week of Jan. 14 //
// Curriculum Update: Week of Jan 7 //
This week, we continue our discussion on the human body. We have learned the names of different organs in the human body, such as the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, intestines, and lungs, to name a few. We have been exploring our five senses as well; for example, we used the sense of sight to see different colors, we used the sense of smell to match scents such as lemon, vanilla, and mint, and we used the sense of taste when we learned how to juice an orange.
// Week of January 7 //
// Curriculum Update, New Year! //
Our friends came back to Red Room after the winter break singing their own songs to express their excitement about being back; music to the teachers’ ears! We heard many tales of travels near and far, exciting adventures, and special moments shared with family. We are so please everyone enjoyed their break!
The children settled back into school very smoothly; they all seem so grown up! They have been eager to work, returning to familiar activities and exploring new concepts, such as discovering the human body. We are beginning to discuss the human body and read non-fiction stories about our amazing body.
We had a special visit from Eric’s baby brother, Luke. The children noticed how little and peaceful he was in his mother’s arms. Thank you Roberta and Eric for introducing us to Luke and congratulations!
We have many new artworks to express our creativity. Our artworks reflect the new season, winter. We also had a circle lesson on mixing primary colors to make secondary colors.
// HAPPY NEW YEAR! //
// Hibernation Week: Curriculum Update //
We had a lovely presentation last Friday from Maddie’s family. Her mom and dad taught the children about Hanukkah, showed them a real menorah, gave them a dreidel to take home, and everyone enjoyed a donut. We added a dreidel work to the culture shelf and the children have been learning how to play. Thank you Allison and Evan for coming in and teaching us!
We continue our discussion about animals in winter as we prepare for Hibernation Day this Friday. We discussed birds that migrate and birds that adapt. We also did a sound matching lesson where the children had to match birds by their bird calls. They were excited to hear the different sounds several New Jersey native winter birds make.
We read the story The Giving Tree . The children thought about what they can give to a tree. Using evergreen branches, they decorated Red Room’s “tree” with their “gifts” such as gentle hands, food, water, and kisses.
// Hibernation Week //
// Curriculum Update: First Week in December //
The children were excited when they realize it is December, the last month of 2018. We have been very busy artists in Red Room, preparing for the art show on December 12th. We have also been painting snow on evergreens, stamping stars and candy canes, using watercolor pencils to make cardinals and blue jays, and gluing triangles to make evergreens.
We sorted animals that hibernate from animals that adapt to winter in New Jersey. Using a model of a forest, we place the hibernating animals under rocks, logs, and in the pond under the mud. We put the animals that adapt out in the snow to search for food.
We also read “The Mitten” by Jan Brett. The children created their own mittens and the animal characters from the story. We practice sequencing as we place the animals in the mitten in the correct order.