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Fighting fires, a real knife, eating pumpkins and feeling furious: MONDAY F WEEK

Our Monday “Red Day” Class started F week with fire conversation, fire fighter play, a fun snack and fantastic play with friends. The connections between us all strengthen every time we’re together. We saw every child smile today and that is a beautiful gift.

Here are 5 questions you can ask your child to learn more about our day plus 10 bonus YES questions…

What could people put on to pretend to be firefighters today?
What 4 things did Ms Kristin show at Circle Time?
What color was the letter F shape you made?
What kind of swing was up today?
What did we pretend was a pumpkin snack today?

1. What could people put on to pretend to be firefighters today?

Red fire fighter vests! We had a couple of boats serve as FireBoats and outside we used disconnected hoses to put out any fires (objects that are red, yellow and orange). As in real life, firefighters carried on with their regular day of play and work as well.

2. What 4 things did Ms Kristin show at Circle Time?

As the first day on our Serious Pumpkin Project Timeline, we looked at the items needed: our pumpkin, a big tub, an unplugged grow light and a real knife.

These children know how to focus and show up during serious work!

3. What color was the letter F shape you made?

Red! The flames were orange and yellow. Of course there was also a lot of white glue until it dried.

4. What kind of swing was up today?

It is a red and orange fabric swing that we affectionately call the Pumpkin Swing.

It provides womb like body pressure which many children find calming. We have it on our spinner attachment so it can also provide spinning!

5. What did we pretend was a pumpkin snack today?

Oranges…with faces drawn on them!

Thank you, Charlie, for a fantastic F snack with so many F words: food, fresh, Fritos and Fig Newtons!

During Snack Time we continued our conversation about fire things which morphed into camping stories. We take turns telling stories and it is so sweet to see peers captivated by others’ experiences.

Bonus Yes Questions:

Do we have a blanket hideout fort at preschool?

Did we see the trash truck in action today?

Did one friend have to leave his house for a burning smell again?

Did one friend offer his dad’s help to fix the problem?

Did Ms Kristin think she might change her costume to be Max?

Is it okay for her to dress up to be a boy and for a boy to dress up to be a girl?

Can you take your shirt off if you are too hot outside?

Did we all fit in the blue playhouse for story time?

Was there someone who was feeling FURIOUS in our book?

Do your teachers love you?

Happy Monday…stay curious and kind!

Eating earthworms, giant bark, Easter eggs and costume talk: FRIDAY E WEEK

Our Friday “Purple Day” Class finished E week with ease! We played hard inside and out, had a new routine with doing our Journals together and these friends carried their own snack trays from the kitchen to the Big Table! The Puzzle Corner was very busy with friends having success with some of the hardest puzzles we have! Jacob was our Line Leader and an excellent gate rattler!

Ask your Friday preschooler these questions and then read on to see photos and learn more…

What will you get to wear to preschool next Friday?
What did you use glue for today?
What story did you record in your journal today?
What E things did we have at snack time?
5. How big was the piece of bark Ms Kristin got off the log?

1. What will you get to wear to preschool next Friday?

Costumes!

Anyone who has a Halloween costume is welcome to wear it on Friday. We’ve got a running list with many edits and it will be fun to see what comes to be!

2. What did you use glue for today?

There were alphabet projects, rainbow creations, apple cutting projects, pumpkin projects and freeform work at the Project Table. These hands are getting stronger every day with all the glue bottle squeezing.

3. What story did you record in your journal today?

We recalled sad memories, happy memories and as one friend said, “A kind of boring but normal memory.” Enjoy this snippet of Journal Time:

4. What E things did we have at snack time?

Edamame, Egg noodles and Easter Eggs with gummy Earth worms inside. Thank you, Jackson for an excellent and exciting snack!

We also had animal crackers (including elephants!) with Grandpa Kelven at the Snack Store and it was very busy!

These friends excelled in their ability to pause and get very quiet, an important safety skill even if they don’t realize that they’re doing it! Here are a couple of videos of the quiet magic:

We took the extra edamame and egg noodles outside to finish them up. Once the gummy earthworms were gone, children filled their plastic eggs (and dumped them out) with edamame, noodles or animal crackers.

5. How big was the piece of bark Ms Kristin got off the log?

Bigger than some preschoolers and for sure bigger than the baby brothers!

We discovered that when we pull bark from the big logs, we can find insects scurrying to a new shelter. The logs we were working with are from the old mulberry tree that had to be taken down a couple of years ago.

Rolling pumpkins, quintuple touchdowns, eating eyeballs and running from a tornado: THURSDAY E WEEK

Our Thursday “Blue Day” Class had another dynamic day of wonderful play. We acted like elephants in really using our memories and these kids are sharp! In addition to our October orange things and an ongoing game of Tornado Shelter with Mama Having a Baby (there is no tornado, there is hiding in designated shelter areas and a baby is always born), we got to have a visit from Mr Micah (Ms Kristin’s son who was a regular teacher in years past) and Pastor Shana. Hooray!

Here are 5 questions you can ask your preschooler about today, then read on to learn more about them!

1. Where were there eyeballs today?

2. What will happen to the real pumpkin?

3. What did you remember and record at Journal Time?

4. What did we pretend were pumpkins at Snack Time?

5. Who kept yelling, “Touchdown…Kansas City!” today?

1. Where were there eyeballs today?

In the play dough, at a drawing station (with erasers!) and even at Snack Time! Ms Brenda got the mirror out so we could look at our own eyes.

2. What will happen to the real pumpkin?

Ms Kristin will cut the top off and we will add dirt to it to grow pumpkin plants!

Today was the last day we had to feel the whole pumpkin before Ms Kristin cuts the top off. We found the grooves, the stem, the part where the flower was and the flat spot from the ground. It was nice and cool to feel at the beginning of Circle Time.

3. What did you remember and record at Journal Time?

At the end of Circle Time, we all worked in our journals drawing and dictating anything we remember…there were dreams, food preferences, animal encounters and family time. It is really sweet to watch children practice the art of putting pencil to paper to record their experiences.

4. What did we pretend were pumpkins at Snack Time?

Cheese balls! We acted out our 5 Little Pumpkin poem and let the cheese ball pumpkins roll away into the muffin tins.

Thank you, Scarlet for a wonderful snack that was also full of eyeballs…it felt like a real October party!

5. Who kept yelling, “Touchdown…Kansas City!” today?

Ms Kristin!

There are no photos of this play, but here follow up yes and no questions to this very specific Tuesday/Thursday class game:

Can anyone make a touchdown? YES

Were there any real footballs? NO

Were there made up double, triple, quadruple and quintuple touchdowns? YES

Did anyone rattle the gate? NO

Did we make a group touchdown? YES

Did Ms Kristin say you could do a touchdown dance? YES

Does Ms Kristin watch a lot of football or understand a lot of it? NO lololol

Bonus:

Here are a couple snippets of the morning so you can experience the liveliness:

Eating eggs, a barking dog, remembering things and a flat spot on the pumpkin : WEDNESDAY E WEEK

Our Wednesday “Green Day” Class enjoyed each other even though a few friends were gone today. We looked at last week’s “In the dark” picture, using our memories to recall elements of it.

We always have scissors and glue bottles available and today’s class made good use of them. After spending at least half of her time cutting, one friend had an entire journey with scissors going from 2 handed to one handed scissor work

A highlight was one friend bringing a surprise joke snack, so ask your child these questions then read on for answers and photos of our fun day.

1. What did you remember to write in your journal?

2. What did you eat for snack today?

3. What did you feel on the real pumpkin?

4. What could we hear outside when we got very quiet?

5. What do we have to clean up before Circle Time?

We talked about elephants being known for having good memories and then used our brains to record a memory in our journal. Some friends drew, some dictated and some did both.

2. What did you eat for snack today?

Eggs!

But the joke is…they were cookies with frosting and a yellow m&m for the yolk! We also had carrots, crackers and snap peas. There was careful work in extricating the peas from the pod. A couple friends took them home in hopes of planting them…see the video!

3. What did you feel on the real pumpkin?

The grooves/lines.

We found the spot of the pumpkin where it had been laying in the field, the spot where the flower once was and the stem where it had been connected to the vine. We talked about the inside of the pumpkin and made a plan for next week when we cut the lid off.

4. What could we hear outside when we got very quiet?

A dog barking! Thanks to Ms Brenda having the windows open, we could hear a dog in the neighborhood barking. Here is a movie with how very quiet we were so we could hear the dog bark again….

Later on the playground we could see a dog down the block who was also barking…perhaps it was the same dog?

5. What do we have to clean up before Circle Time?

The rugs!

Since we will still use things at the tables so we don’t have to clean all of those things up. Today we had a wonderful collection of things to clean up at what had been a very busy Block Rug and Circle Rug!

A lost tooth, jumping elephant, hiding pumpkin and clogged glue bottles: TUESDAY E WEEK

Our Tuesday “Yellow Day” Class gained a lot of information today and we’ll see how much we remember when we’re back together on Thursday (the shoes Ms Kristin is wearing, where the real pumpkin is, what animal is on the E card and more!). It was a special day with 3 Golden Letter friends and one of them was also the Birthday Friend! We’re carrying on with orange collage items, pumpkins in the cloud dough, Halloween books and a list of “What we want to dress up like” which may or may not be part of the family plans.

Read on to find answers and photos for the following questions:

What special snacks filled all the holes in our snack tray today?
How do you erase the dry erase markers?
What kind of costume did Ms Kristin put on at Circle Time?
What do you do if your glue bottle doesn’t work?
How many people can go in the Sound Cradle at once?

1. What special snacks filled all the holes in our snack tray today?

Essie the Golden Letter Birthday Friend brought enough different foods to fill each hole of the snack tray: a Funfetti cookie (she’s been telling us about them for weeks!), carrots, strawberries and Cheez-It Mix. Yum!

We had some helpers fill water cups and today everyone carried their own tray from the kitchen to the Big Table. These children are learning so much! During Snack Time, we also learned the story of Golden Letter friend Ella losing her tooth in her sleep and her daddy finding it in her bed! We recorded it in her journal.

2. How do you erase the dry erase markers?

I’m curious what the children’s answers will be on this one. We have erasers specifically for dry erase markers, but we also discover that rubbing them with our fingers or on the rug gets the markers off too!

This dry erase marker activity allows for very natural “sharing of space” and pushes them into cooperative or associative play. They can either draw together on the big board or independently on the little dry erase letter boards while we all share the markers and erasers.

3. What kind of costume did Ms Kristin put on at Circle Time?

The elephant giving a ride costume.

Today there were some friends who were more skeptical which makes sense! It’s a real mind bender to see it in action even if we know how it works (my real legs are in the costume elephant legs. What look like my legs are actually just part of the costume…stuffed fabric like pillows). The costume is available for inspection anytime!

4. What do you do if your glue bottle doesn’t work?

Get a new one!

This means you can go anywhere in the room to get a different glue bottle to see if it works better for you. You can also take your non-working glue bottle to a teacher and we can help get it working. The critical thinking and problem solving is impressive! The hand muscle strength is exciting to see!

Ms Kristin still had all the elephant ears so when children finished making their capital E shape, they found her to get an ear!

5. How many people can go in the Sound Cradle Boat at once?

As many as can fit!

If anyone ever feels too crowded, they can get out and wait for it to be less crowded. Though sometimes just taking a break is all they need and then they get back in. We’ve had up to 8 children in the Sound Cradle at once! Maybe this year it will be more!