The Whole Child: Monday Group 9.11.17 & 9.18.17
What a fantastic start to our Monday group! The past two weeks have been filled with laughs, questions, discussions, and walks!
*Together Time*
After we all have physically arrived at the studio, we take a little bit of time together in the morning to fully arrive as individuals who are ready to learn! We began writing in our Whole Child floor book by brainstorming about how we felt on our first day.
*Outdoor Creative Play*
We have been lucky to have BEAUTIFUL days to spend outside moving our bodies!
*Hide & Seek*
Our Monday group is particularly fond of Hide & Seek! We have spent a good helping of our time outside taking turns counting and finding. Hide & Seek is a great method of practicing our numbers and resisting our temptation at peeking! :-)
*Building and Sketching Invitation*
In order to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather, we have been taking our invitations outside! Our friends have enjoyed building with our wooden blocks so I set up an area for them to not only continue building, but to also encourage the opportunity for planning and sketching their finished towers. W enjoyed using the sketching supplies to "draw numbers". Together we practiced writing the number 2. He carried his clipboard with him all day!
*Loose Parts - Face Making*
On our first day together we talked a lot about our feelings. This included discussions on how we could identify certain feelings based upon certain facial clues. Using a book of faces as a resource, our students independently made faces using a variety of loose parts. We were very interested in the stones. E picked up a stone and noticed that it was a "flat" stone. EG said it was "a very good skipping stone." EG went on to say that she wasn't very good at skipping stones. E said that he was very good at it and would teach us!
*Self-Portrait Invitation*
On our first day we talked about our own faces, too! Students were able to use hand held mirrors to look at their face and draw what they observed. They could either draw on the mirror or on the paper. Some chose to get a really close look at themselves! :-)
*Cloud Painting Invitation*
*Stamp Making Invitation*
Not only did this invitation provoke the creation of shapes - it also furthered our discussion on shapes and numbers. We practiced our fine motor skills through cutting a different medium other than paper - foam. C was having difficulty with the scissors and foam so she solved her problem by ripping the foam. We made triangles which have 3 sides and squares which have 4 sides of the same size. EG even made a pentagon which we discovered has 5 sides! She knew how to make a pentagon because "it's a square with a triangle on top."
*Nature Walks*
Every day we will all go on a nature walk. Both days we decided to bring our journals to document our walk. This week we stopped at the fire station to look at the fire trucks. We met a fireman and he gave us books to take home! We will have to thank them! Our walks are filled with conversations about the plants we find. We discuss their physical characteristics and decide if we like their smell. We almost always do! :-)
*Indoor Creative Play & Tinkering*
*Gourd Painting Invitation*
Our invitations are set up throughout the room & outdoors in order to provoke independent thinking. The children are able to find them individually and explore them one-on-one. EG was drawn to this invitation as she made her way to our magnetic tunnel maze.
*Reading Together*
We will ALWAYS save time to come together and read a story or multiple stories! A favorite of our friends is "It's Okay to Be Different" by Todd Parr.
I now look forward to Monday mornings! This group of kiddos are an ABSOLUTE blast! I will be updating our blog every other week with a recap of our adventures!
See you next Monday!
--Victoria
