Friday Fun!

Happy Friday! This morning we spent some time exploring the classroom materials such as loose parts, magnetic blocks, and insect puppets. Some of the children made patterns with the loose parts and some made faces to show how they were feeling. During our morning meeting we welcomed all of our class to school with our good morning song. Our song goes like this: "Good morning ___, good morning ___, good morning ___, we're so glad you came to school!" Then I say hi to the child and they can tell the class how they are feeling by saying it or using their thumb to give a thumbs up, thumb in the middle or thumb down. You can practice this song and question at home with your child and family. This is a great way to help your child express how they are feeling.

We spent a lot of time outside this morning exploring the rock cave area of the playscape. Our class loved climbing on the cave, jumping off, playing inside the cave, and exploring this area of the playscape. We even found a bug on a box of colorful blocks we brought outside. I asked all of the children to come see the bug and asked them what kind of bug do you think it might be? They decided together that it was a stinkbug and it was brown. We continued to talk about bugs and insects and look for them on the playscape. Ms. Kelly joined us for a walk after our picnic lunch outside. On our walk we decided to look and listen for different bugs we could find on our walk. Ask your child about what bugs we found and heard! Have a great long weekend, we will see everyone on Tuesday!

Ms. Brittany

Slide fun

Hi Birch families! Today we had a busy morning playing, exploring and talking about our feelings. For one of our morning choices we had a invitation on the table that said "Can you draw how you are feeling today?" with colored pencils and paper on the table. Some of the class took time to draw a picture of how they were feeling this morning. We have been talking a lot about our feelings during our morning meetings and explaining that it's okay to feel sad, mad, or frustrated. We read about book called Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day. Our class had a discussion about our feelings and how we can calm our body down by taking breaths or taking a break in the calming corner. During these first couple weeks of school we will continue to talk about our moods and feelings to show children how to handle different situations and feelings.

During our outdoor time this morning we explored the slide, climbing wall and boat area of our playscape. Our class had a blast sliding down the slide, racing up the climbing wall, and digging in the small rock area of the boat. They really enjoyed being in this area of the playscape and having time outside to explore. After we had our outdoor time we did some movement songs in the classroom and had lunch. Our class is also working on creating classroom agreements. Classroom Agreements are rules that we decide on as a class such as listening to our teachers and friends. We will continue to work on our classroom agreements and work together as a class to learn the rules together. Have a great evening!

Ms. Brittany

Outdoor music fun

Happy Wednesday! Today we spent most of our morning outside on the playscape. You may have noticed during drop off and pick up that our playspace is now divided into different sections with ropes. As a classroom we will rotate from one area to another each day. Today we got to enjoy the pergola area at the top of the playscape and explore the big rocks, tables under the pergola and outdoor music area. Many of our Birch students enjoyed climbing on the rocks, making a bridge with a piece of wood, and exploring this outdoor area. We also really enjoyed making music on the outdoor chimes and piano area. Some children even asked how these instruments make music and were curious to learn more about instruments and sounds.

During our morning meeting today we had a discussion on why we wear masks to school. Many of the children shared their ideas on why we wear masks to keep us safe at school. We read a book called "Wearing a Mask at School" and learned about how to properly wear a mask. This book also taught us to ask for help putting on our mask and to keep our mask on unless we are eating or drinking water. We will continue to encourage our class to try to put on their own masks and proper mask wearing protocol. Ms. Kelly and I are amazed at how well they are keeping their masks on at school! Have a great evening!

Ms. Brittany

Exploring our playscape and classroom

Today we spent some time exploring our classroom during morning choice time. Our class really enjoyed stacking colored cups on the light table, reading books to our baby dolls, and playing with our insect puppets! Some of our friends noticed they could see through the cups and what color they could see the classroom and their friends in. During our morning meeting we learned about our calming corner and the materials we have in that area. We talked about being sad, mad, or frustrated and how we could use the materials in the calm down corner to help us feel better.

We also got a chance to explore a part of our playscape this morning and enjoy the cool weather before it rained. We loved playing hopscotch, pushing each other on the bench swings, and playing games. On Tuesdays we will normally go to the forest and explore but due to the rain today we didn't make it to the forest. Ms. Kelly came to school a little bit early and joined us for a quick walk around the school before lunchtime. Some of the students were asking about our tapping sticks so we introduced them to the class today. All of our students enjoyed playing the tapping sticks on the carpet along to songs. Ask your child about how we use our tapping sticks.

Ms. Brittany 

First day in the Birch room!

We had a great first day of school in the Birch room today! After drop off we spent some time exploring and playing in the classroom. All of the children enjoyed playing with magnetic blocks, creating with loose parts, building with legos, taking care of the baby dolls and focusing on puzzles! We had our morning meeting and sang our welcome song to all of our new friends! We had a morning meeting about staying safe outside, sticking together as a class, wearing our masks, and having fun! We spent a lot of time outside this morning exploring a fallen tree, playing red light, green light and exploring new building materials. Take a look at the pictures below of our Birch friends having a great time back at Ambrose!

Ms. Brittany