Each morning and afternoon when children enter the classroom, there are invitations for them set out on the table. Invitations to create, discover and problem solve! This might be one of my favourite times in our day. It is a peaceful transition time as everyone comes in and begins the day together. It's a time when children know they need to play independently while I do the attendance and greet everyone at the door. Here are a couple of our morning invitations from this week...

Tuesday's focus was literacy. I always offer enough stations to address a variety of skill levels and give the children the ability to choose what they would like to engage in. I was SO proud of the writing that happened on this day. We're all writers now!!! Every single one of us.

 

 

On Wednesday, I offered a variety of loose parts on the tables and said, "CREATE!" They dove in without hesitation and created so many cool and interesting things! I love the diversity of what they came up with. 

"Loose parts play is a type of play that supports invention, divergent thinking, problem solving and offers a sense of wonder to children. They are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials."

Guardian Childcare & Education

 

 

 

 

 

In preparation for our student-led conferences on March 19th and 20th, the children have been preparing some quiz questions to ask you about what animals do in the winter. They are SO excited about this. Start studying now :)

 

On the following day, we explored a new app on the iPads called ChatterKid. We used the app to make our animal art from last week come alive! They loved every second of this. The adorable video clips we made wouldn't load onto this blog post, so you'll have to come in and view them in person! The kiddos are excited to teach you how they created these.

 

This week's letter was J. The children have been exploring new and interesting places in the classroom to do their work. 

Classroom Information and Reminders

1. We have been extra-diligent with our hand-washing in class lately. Please reinforce this at home by reminding your children how to properly wash their hands with soap, for an adequate amount of time. 

2. Exciting news! We have a new student starting in our morning class on Monday. This wasn't confirmed until today so I didn't have a chance to share this with the morning group. If at all possible, please have a conversation with your child about what it would be like to start in a brand new school and how they can make our new friend feel welcome at Briar Hill School. 

Have a beautiful weekend!

Miss Roberts :)

 

We loved "Drop Everything And Read" time this week!