little giants day care: January 2013

The Little Giants have done so much since the last posting which has included having a holiday pajama party, engaging in a train explorations, learning about winter weather and snow, welcoming a new student, beginning a new project on maps and much, much more! Here's a summary of the past few weeks...

AM time, the children...

have been focusing on winter weather through books such as Snow Amazing, The Snowy Day, and Learn About Weather; Snow.

what makes snow/snowflakes, how many sides they have, are they the same or different, etc. The Little Snowflake
discussed what the animals do during the winter weather and what animals hibernate. Read books such as Bear Snores On and Don't Wake Up the Bear.
What do we wear during the cold winter weather and...
what activities do we do during Winter; build snowmen, sled, ski, snowball fights, etc.

been learning the letters Ww and Mm
been exploring patterns by exploring our environment and doing calendar activities
have begun to explore maps and location through books such as The Gingerbread Village and Somewhere in the World Right Now.

Together the children made a gingerbread man using studio materials.

PM time, the children...

made some beautiful name plates as holiday gifts for our newly married Mrs. Pallarino and Mrs. Nemcek
have listened to many great stories such as The Wing Shop and Fedge the Dragon
have been building with loose objects out on the playground and creating a fun, messy, imaginative hullabaloo.
learned to play shape/color bingo.
explored the school and stopped in to physics teacher, Mr. Fay's, room where he let us play with his "toys"--roller coasters! And we saw his worm farm! His worms eat trash!!!
wrote and delivered a thank you note to Mr. Fay
have been exploring maps--atlas pages, maps in books, and the idea that maps lead us to special things, like buried treasure! This is our latest exploration and here is how it evolved...

The Map Project

On a cold, wet day in early January, the Little Giants set out on an “excellent adventure” to explore the high school. Intrigued with the EXIT signs we’d seen on a previous venture out, the children were excited to go out again and find and count more EXIT signs. While out, we counted EXIT signs and tallied the number on a sheet of paper. We also explored and discovered many new things about the high school such as…

*There are EXIT signs all over the school!!! We counted 20!
*There is a courtyard with real chickens in it!

*There are turtles on the walls! (not real)

*There are classrooms with desks everywhere!
*Mr. Fay, the physics teacher, is very nice and has cool toys and worms that eat his trash!

Upon returning to the classroom, the children were asked to draw about the experience. Some drew chickens and roller coasters (one of the “toys” Mr. Fay let us play with) but quickly the overriding theme became maps. The children began drawing maps to show how to get to places, such as places with hidden treasure. The teachers can only infer that venturing out of the classroom into the “unknown” (along with other experiences they've had unbeknownst to us) spurred the idea of maps with the children, and given their excitement, we have begun to explore the idea from a 3-5 year old perspective.

Early on, the teachers ask the question....

What is a map? (Or what is it for?)

Sophia: It leads you to stuff.

Tommy: So you can find lots of hidden treasure.

Hana: Actually, you find diamonds and gold coins.

Ava: Maps help you get home.

Heike: They lead you to places, to different places to walk at.

Brooke: It’s for stuff you have to get and you look at the map to see where you are going.

Emmett: Somewhere you don’t know where it is so you use a map to find it.

Graham: You look at it to see where you want to go so you can find the buried treasure at the end of it.

Kate: If you forget where you’re going or lose your way.

Niko: If you have a map…to find the right house to go to, you use a map.

Jonah: Something you can find a treasure under the yellow X.

Later the children are presented with pages from an atlas and asked "What do you see?" (The teachers are trying to ascertain what the children already know, get them to share information, listen to each other and build knowledge and understanding together.)

Mrs. Carlson: What do you see?

Child: Maps

Mrs. C.: How do you know they are maps?

C: We can see the roads! (lines on map)

C: And blue is water!

Mrs. C.: If blue is water, which map has the most water?

Children compare and talk about which have more and less water.

C: (pointing to the outline of the U.S.) Look, this shows where we live!

(pointing to an outline of Asia) And this shows where we don’t live!

Mrs. C.: You may choose one of these maps for your very own.

C: But how will we know if we have a map of where we want to go?

Mrs. C.: I don’t have maps of all places so we’ll just have to make do with these maps for now.

You can have these and do what you want with them, even draw on them if you want.

Children each take a map. Two put them in their cubbies. Many draw on them w/ blackline markers, making lines and x’s. They walk around the room with them, look at them with magnifying glasses, and “use” them to go places.

Brooke uses her a magnifying glass while playing with her map.

See our evolving display of the project, along with the children's work, on the bulletin board in our classroom!

Welcome, Caleb!

Please join us in welcoming Caleb to our class! Caleb and his mom and dad, Stephanie and David, live in Highland Park. He is with us on Tues., Wed. and Fri. Welcome to the Little Giants, Caleb!

Valentine's Day Festivities

We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Thursday, February 14th. For this occasion we ask that your child please make a Valentine for each child in the room. Sign your child’s name on each Valentine, but please do not address them individually. For example, “to my friend, from Kayla” would be fine, but not “to Anna, from Kayla.” Not having the cards individually addressed allows for the children to pass them out on their own, rather than requiring the help of a teacher. There are 13 children and 4 teachers in the class. Please include a Valentine for your child from your child, as it tends to be confusing if they are not allowed to put a Valentine into their own bag.

Mrs. Pallarino's Baby Plans

Mrs. Pallarino's baby boy is due on Wednesday, March 13th! Depending on how everyone is feeling, she will begin her maternity leave on Monday, March 11th. While she is away, the other 3 teachers are going to change their schedule to accommodate Mrs. Pallarino being out.

Mrs. Nemcek will be opening everyday at 7am. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays she will be leaving to go over to the other school at 11:15 & on Tuesday and Thursdays at 11:45.

Mrs. Fieldman will be coming everyday from 8am until 4pm.

Mrs. Carlson will be coming at 11:15 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays & 11:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She will stay and close everyday at 5pm.

Conferences
February is conference month for the Little Giants. Throughout the month, Mrs. Pallarino, Mrs. Nemcek and Mrs. Carlson will each be meeting with different families to have a dialogue about your child's experiences and progress in the program so far this year. Conferences last approximately 30 mins. and are held without the child present. Teachers will soon talk to families individually to schedule a conference.

Playground Development Team Update

The Playground Team has met twice, done a lot of talking/brainstorming and research and is making plans to enhance our playground to be not only a playground, but an outdoor classroom. An outdoor classroom is a place where rich discovery, exploratory, and creative experiences can happen in addition to gross motor exercise and activity. Soon we will be adding "trial" elements to the playground to see how the children respond. By the spring, we should have some solid plans in place. Many thanks to the team members Jean, Amy, David, Cathy, Pam, and Eileen.