This morning our friends made a ramp in the blocks! They tested the ramp at various heights and noticed that the car rolls faster when the ramp is higher! They are learning valuable math and science skills, and equally important they are fostering the intrinsic motivation to learn!
When we went outside today, many of the friends were excited to see the geese!
We love the big playground!
We played Wiggle Worm again during morning meeting.
We also made a list of questions about catapults during morning meeting. We discussed that a question is something we want to know but don't know. Forming questions is very tricky, even for older children. I am so excited to share the list of questions our friends came up with! I did not help any of the children form these questions. They formed them independently!! This is very impressive!!
"What is a catapult?"
"How does it fly off the ground?"
"How does...how do we know which team we're on?"
"How do you shoot it?"
"What do catapults do?"
"Why does a catapult have holders to shoot it off?"
"How do we measure it?"
"How does it go far?"
"How do the catapults fly?"
Some of the friends attended a gymnastics class this morning as well! If your child has not had a turn at the gymnastics class, he/she will attend the class tomorrow. :)
During small group time, we painted with black watercolor. This allows an opportunity to gain fine motor control and express creativity!
We also tested the catapults independently. The children shared their observations with one another.
"Look! This one goes so far!"
"This one bounces high!"
We drew pictures on the SMARTboard too!
Each group worked with me to test the catapults. One of the friends shot the catapult. One of the friends measured how far the cotton ball went. Another friend recorded the measurement. We are learning so much through this activity! We are learning to take turns, practice recognizing and writing numbers, practice measuring, and practice working together. We will do this again with our big catapult on Friday!
During second free choice time, we left all of the items out for the children to explore independently. Allowing the children to practice what they learned during small group time helps the learning process.
You will notice that the children are willingly measuring, counting, and writing. This is a goal of early childhood education! We help the children learn skills that they are able to use to not only enhance their play, but also benefit them throughout their lives!
Castle play provides an opportunity to further identify questions about the roles people play in castles, practice positive conflict resolution, and develop creative play scenarios!
We continued to draw on the SMARTbaord during second free choice time as well!
Some of the knights created a battle between two castles using the catapults! We used this battle as a way to practice predicting and testing our predictions through experimentation. ("How close will the catapult have to be to hit the castle?")
Many of the friends continued to measure various items throughout the classroom!
Creating in the art center
During Jesus time, we learned the story of the Widow's Mite found in Like 21:1-4. We learned that sometimes we don't want to give our time, talents, and/or money to Jesus. We learned that Jesus gives us the riches of heaven: the best gift ever! Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can willingly give our time, talents, and money to Jesus trusting that we have all that we need!
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