We continued meeting new friends and practicing names during our second week of school.  The children continue to learn the daily routines and organization of the classroom.  They are interested in doing and learning so many things, that they are busy all day long!  New students have been introduced to many new materials, and returning students have been returning to old favorites.

During circle time we have been practicing lots of new songs and getting up to dance and move together.  Some favorites were  “The Hokey Pokey,” “Jump Jim Joe,” “Make New Friends,” and “Hickety Pickety Bumblebee,” a song for name sharing which goes “Hickety pickety bumblebee, won’t you say your name for me.”  We also read some great stories, including The Day the Goose Got Loose, The Gruffalo, All the Colors of the Earth, But No Elephants, and Monarch Butterfly.   Every day the children are excited when Henrietta and Wolfgang come down from the piano for a visit.  They usually demonstrate a skill or share a story about something they did that day, such as how they washed their hands before snack and after using the bathroom, or how Henrietta listened to Wolfgang when he asked her to give him some space.

It has been exciting to check the chrysalises every day and watch them getting darker.  We are hoping that we get to see the butterflies emerge next week so we can release them to fly south.

Clay was turned into letters, snowmen, balls, people, pizzas, worms, snakes, and lots of other shapes at the art table this week.  Those fingers worked hard pinching, rolling, pushing, squeezing, and forming the various creations, building strong hand, wrist, and finger muscles.

Monday & Friday students read We Are All Alike, We Are All Different for science, then looked in a mirror at ourselves and discussed eye color, hair color, and skin color.  We then made a bar graph showing the hair color of the students in our class that day.  Next week we will read the book again with the whole class and discuss other ways we are alike and different, such as preferences and temperament.

Students were so busy from the time they arrived at school until they left!  Morning and after care students have been building rocket ships, houses, and everything in between with magna tiles, enjoying some quality time with friends, and enjoying new stories with Tricia.