Welcome to the Young 4's Class!

Hi Everyone!

First off, it was so great seeing you all at curriculum night. We’ve got such a great classroom community and I am looking forward to a fun and exciting year.

Now… down to business…

Over the last two weeks, things have been off to a great start. During phase-in week, we learned how to wash our hands by rubbing the soap on the fronts and backs of our hands until they start to get foamy, and we should definitely see lots of bubbles in the sink while we rinse. We used that rainy Thursday as an opportunity to further talk about water and how important it is for all living things. The children got to explore the sounds of the rain-stick and ways to alter the sound, make observational art from the classroom windows, noticing the rain drops and umbrellas, and we also read the book, Rain, by Manya Stojic. While reading the story, the question “what does rain smell like” prompted some very interesting responses including jelly, peanut butter, camouflage, drops, paint and candy; such imaginations.

We also read the story, Fran’s Flower, by Lisa Bruce. We discussed all of the things a seed needs to grow. Water, soil, sun and a safe place to live are all very important things for a seed, but they definitely don’t need pizza and cookies like Fran thought. The children have even started to grow their own classroom plant. Make sure you’re watching it to see how they’ve been taking care of it! Take a peak at their window boxes, too. They’ve been working on them for days and have added some leaves they collected at the Community Garden most recently.

Along with collecting leaves, our garden visit also consisted of taking careful observations of what we see using a magnifying class. Some saw ladybugs, flowers, bumble-bees, and even a television. The magnifying glasses are exploration tools often revisited by the kids. We’ve looked at berries, seeds, rocks, shells and dirt. They love being able to observe things so closely, and the idea of making something small appear larger.

The children have also been able to observe how cornstarch changes the appearance of water, and what happens to sodium bicarbonate (aka Alka-Seltzer tablets) when water is added to it:

“It bubbled. It’s crunchy! It’s gone…”

“It’s fuzzing. It melted.”

“It’s floating away… Squirt it!”

“It kind of looks like medicine…”

“It’s floating. I see a reflection of the bubbles.”

Along with our various science experiments and activities, the class has shown a strong interest in building and blocks. We have had many dinosaur houses and schools—even an interpretation of our very own Columbus Pre-School. They have also been exploring building and math manipulatives with their friends from McKenzie’s class. The kids will have the opportunity to do this twice a week, alternating between visiting McKenzie’s classroom and staying in our own.

After all of their hard work, it is time for a well deserved rest. Rest has been something new for many of your children, and they have been adjusting to it well. It is a low key part of the day where each child has their own rest mat, and has the option of holding a rest toy, pillow or reading a book quietly. This is a time to rest their bodies and talk quietly to their neighbors. It is not necessary to sleep, but we have had a few exhausted students who couldn’t resist.

Inevitably, we’ve been paying extra attention to learning and understanding the importance of using safe hands, taking care of our classroom and classroom materials, and listening to our teachers, friends and others when it is their time to talk, especially after everyone has listened when it was their own turn. We came up with a great list of classroom rules that will soon become second nature to them. Special focus has been given to taking care of our library books. You’ll notice that our bookshelves are empty now! Stories will still be read in school, but the kids will be making their own books for the shelves in order to demonstrate they’re ready to take better care of the school’s books.

Gym has started this week and it has been a lot of jumping and balancing fun. Music will begin this upcoming week, and dance will begin the following Monday. All of the kids are really looking forward to these special activities. And, now that they have their aprons ready and decorated, we will also begin our food science activities. Yummy!!

We ended our week talking about apples, leaves and the fall. We learned that there are so many different kinds of apples, even one called Anna… just like their teacher! Next week we will be taking a trip to central park in order to add to our fall collection of leaves and other natural materials. I wonder what we’ll do with them…

**Remember** There is no school on Monday. Also, great job with on-time drop off and pick up. Transitions are always better for your children when they are arriving at the same time as their friends, and you know it’s never any fun being the last one picked up.

If you have not yet sent in a family photo, please do so!! We want all of our families represented on our family portrait wall.

Have a great weekend!

Amanda