"Do bees go to those flowers?"

This afternoon we put this on the table. We added some paint and paper, and waited.

"This is my flower, like that one."
educator-can this flower be planted outside here and the bees will come?
"No, its cold here. It will die."

"Do bees come to this flower?"
educator-I don't know, but I bet we can find out. Shall I get the iPad out and look?
"Yaaaa"
educator-it says here they grow in the ground in Florida where it is warm and bees pollinate the Poinsettia .

Add caption

"I'm just doing this. what is this?"
educator-this is paint.
"oh, I'm painting. Can I bring this home?"

educator- F, tell me about all your lines and colours.
(looks at her picture) "I have nothing to say."
educator-well I like it. I see you use a lot of red and black. This is an abstract painting. It still reminds me of the poinsettia.
(new fancy word)

Sometimes the children are very focused that they have nothing to say.
But tomorrow when she looks at her piece again and can reflect, I know she will have a lot to tell me.
I can't wait to hear it.

"wanna know what this is? It's a red storm."
educator-why is your storm red?
"it just is, It's red."

"I want to paint Naughty Mabel."
(thats a dog we just read about)



Educator- this flower is also called a Christmas flower.
"I have these at home."
"Me too, but mine are plastic so they don't get dead."
"These leaves are soft."
"They aren't just red ya know."

So not all provocations go as you expect, sometimes the children go somewhere else with their work. And thats ok, tomorrow we will try again.

A peek inside a day of kindergarten

Look at the amazing things we see and do throughout our day.

"I have all 6's"
(can you figure out what X means by this? His thinking here is fantastic.)
"I have 6 blue gems, 6 dark blue stones, 6 of these glass, 6 stones. I got it to the end of the line."
educator-how did you know that 6 and 6 and 6 and 6 would fill up that whole line?"
"I don't know :) "

"this one looks like Repunzal's hair"

"I'm making my letters."
educator- "the letters in your name?
"no, all the letters. I'm cutting and glueing them all."

"I'm putting my name on here with these letters. I can't find an 'A'. Can you help me find an 'A'?"

educator "I see you wrote her name Rapunzel. How did you know how to spell it all by yourself?"
"I used her name tag on the word wall and got it on paper. Can I show the kids today what I did?"

"I want a turn with the stroller, and she always has the stroller."
educator-"thats a real problem, how can we solve this?"
another child answers- "i know, no one gets it, then its fair."
educator-"but the kids really want to take their babies out for a walk, what can they do?"
"We can make one!"



There is so much learning going on. Independence is growing, personal interests are developing. Friendships are growing and problem solving is happening. Creating and trying new things is becoming exciting, not scary.
This is a place where making mistakes is expected, where it is safe to try, thats how new discoveries are made.

Zipper Club

Zipper Club is in full swing.

Rules to being in the Zipper Club:
You must show a teacher you can zip your coat all on your own
The new member must sign their name on a card and place it on the Zipper Club
The member must take an oath  to the Zipper Club

Member is proving his abilities

Vetren club member welcoming the new member

Another new member showing off his skills. He really wants to be a part of the club

New "Zipster" signing in, to add his name to the roster of zippers

Hand up, taking his oath...
"I promise to zip my coat all by myself everyday and help my friends zip their coats too."

So, to all our friends, practise, practise, practise...we want everyone to place their name on the Zipper Club Wall of Fame!!

PALS

Some parents have been asking what PALS is. This is an instructional time led by the PALS teacher that focuses on literacy.

Here are a few pictures of the work that they do during this time.

In partners, one child points to the letters and asks "what sound?"
The other child responds with the sound.

They repeat the top portion, and then jump over the line to the next section.
"What word?" These are the high frequency words we focus on during the next 2 years in the FDK program.
The next section focuses on how to sound out. Sound it, sing it, read it.

Partnership is going well here!!

This is an example of a lesson we work on daily. One letter is the main focus.

This is a partnership in action. Lots of great dialogue going on here.

Health Class

This is a great You tube site that Mrs. G found for the children to practise stretching and breathing and quieting their minds. But it is all done in a child friendly way.

Mixing Colours

We wanted to make coloured ice cubes.
The children decided that food colouring would work to make the ice cubes.
We predicated what we would do with them.

Some children thought if they melted they would turn into new colours.
Some children thought we could eat the coloured ice cubes.
And some children were excited to have coloured ice cubes for there bumps and bruises.

The next day, this is what happened.
"Can I have green and yellow?"
"The light makes me see the colour."

"If you squish it around in the bag, the water follows the ice cube."

"I'm melting mine to see what colour I get."

"Mine is making green."

"Red and Green kinda makes brown."

M and S are creating the same colour on their paper as in the bag of liquid.

R and E are creating a colour together.
"Put more blue on your finger."
"It's Purple."
The 2 of them added more blue then more red and continued making new shades.

"From here, (twists neck) it looks like 6's"
"Mine is getting a darker green. It gets lighter if you push on it hard. See?

"It's pink, then purple."

Listen to the children's voice-some awesome things are said. Sometimes saying nothing says a lot too. They are focused, and they are commenting on each others work, expressing their observations, working sensory and fine motor. Observing that mixing colours creates new colours, using different mediums to create art. The list goes on. This inquiry from beginning to end was enriched in so much learning, learning that they will remember because it was their interest that provoked the inquiry, it was meaningful and purposeful play!!!

Our friend on vacation

Teacher- how many children are at school today? Let's count.

Children count to 23.

Teacher- oh, how many children are we missing?

Child - we are supposed to have 24. We have 23,  we're missing 1. 

Child- it's "M", he's not here. We could draw him so he's here with us.

So the children drew him. They all took turns adding parts to him.

 "Can we cut M out so he can do things with us"

M is having snack with his friends and he participated in PALS. 

I wonder what he will do on Monday. Stay tuned for more M adventures. 

This did truly warm my heart, as the children must miss him and want him to be apart of their day. Beautiful friendships are blossoming. This is an important time in their lives, to learn how to make and keep friendships. This is a skill that will follow them for their whole lives. Be proud parents....you have good,kind, thoughtful children!

St. Anne's fitness leadership class

During our gym class today, we were lucky enough to have 4 St.Anne's students come to practise their leadership skills in fitness with children. 

We were AMAZED!

Hot potato 

What time is it Mr. Wolf

Red light, green light

Ball passing, get to know you warm ups

The Book with No Pictures

This is one of our classroom favourites. I enjoy reading this book so much. It is just pure silliness and riotous. And we LOVE it!
Listen with you children.

Teachers learn a thing or two

These children amaze me. Some of our littlest learners are the best teachers.

In these pictures, "A" was the teacher. He was teaching the students, Mrs. Long and "R"  how to say our sounds.

He was waiting patiently for me to say the sound.
"what sound? Thats 'bu' "

                                  This was the best dance lesson I have ever had. "F" was showing me her ballet moves. It was very detailed. I learned 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Also how to plie holding onto the bar. We practiced our graceful ballet hands too.


These are just few candid moments that everyone appreciates. Moments that warm your heart. My goal is to capture every child doing what they love in their environment, when they are in their element and share it here.