January 19-22, 2016
First of all…..
Happy Birthday Theo and Joi!!!
Our friends celebrated their second birthday over the weekend!
Now this weeks blog.
As we all know, young toddlers and babies begin their journey of learning through play. It begins with individual play. Everyone wants their own materials to manipulate, and sharing is somewhat of a struggle. “I do.” is a common phrase in our class, but it means something more. Our toddlers are learning to share and take turns. They observe the strategies and techniques of their peers and teachers and request a turn for them to try as well. Sharing has grown tremendously in our class over the past year, and individual play is becoming group play. Below, Marvrie and Julia were reading books with each other, but then Mavrie stops to see Julia trying to zip-up her jacket. Mavrie watches Julia before asking for a turn to try as well.
Below we can see more of our little ones hard at play. On the Right, Theo, and Luca were working together with the stacking cups when Jacob comes to join them in play. Both Friends stop to observe Jacob’s new game. In the middle photo, our class is working together with mega blocks. Lately, Evan has been making “choo choos” with different manipulative toys and he has inspired many friends to make trains as well. On the right Jacob is watching his friend Elias tap a rhythm with his blocks. This begins a musical moment and all our friends join in to play.
Roll playing helps our one-year-old class learn empathy for others. The animals and bears in our class are not usually called by their animal names (with the exception of Mommy and Baby Owl) they are always called “Baby.” Below our some pictures of our wonderful ones taking care of their babies, they learned to put on a diaper, and they wrap up, hug and kiss their babies.
Our ones class is always busy! This week we played with tape, made a fabric collage, and played with stamps! These are our little creative geniuses in action!
Our friends truly love one another. They often pile onto the floor for group hugs, and they ask “crying?” when their friends are sad and try to comfort them by patting their back and with gentle hugs. We love these sweet moments. Here are some “love” photos from the week.
As you can see, our wonderful ones already have a jump forward for Valentines Day in February where we will be exploring love and friendship, the colors pink and red, and the heart shape. Next week we will be looking into colors and sorting. Exploring cause and effect, and the value of patience.
Stay warm and dry next week, and remember to check city of decatur school closings in the event of bad weather.
And now a big kiss goodbye from little Ella!
