Tent Caterpillars

This group of toddler was greeted by an interesting site when they took their morning walk into the forest; a large group of tent caterpillars amassed on top of a tree branch. Tent caterpillars are considered to be social as they tend to build one large tent in the branches of trees. These creatures give birth to moths not butterflies.

Oh That Blustery Wind!!

Like A Windy Day by Frank and Devin Asch

 

Wind is like a snake and its white like paper. I can't see the wind, but I can feel it. When the wind blows everything goes sideways, trees, grass, leaves, and flowers. But not people, they go back and forth and their hair flies everywhere.

By Madison

Rainy Day Blues or Not?

Who would have thought that a clear umbrella could lead to this wonderful interpretation of a Monet painting.

The Campfire

Watching this young girl "pitch her tent" and prepare her fire suggests that she is an avid camper or is she? How do children mimic rituals with such precision?

She begins by assembling an external structure that looks like a house.

She uses brown mural paper to drape over the top and makes a fire pit.

She ignites the fire and prepare to roast her marshmallows.

The Hideaway

A Child's Story

Last night while we were all sleeping a group of big kids came to the forest. They're big so they're not afraid of the dark woods. They knew that we liked to play here so they decided to make us this special hideaway. It's for us and for all the creatures of the forest. The birds can come to make a nest. The worms can hide under the twigs. The squirrels can collects things and hide them from the bigger animals.

A wonderful surprise waited for the children when they entered the forest.

Who could have constructed this hideaway?

These two friends sit down to draw out their theory as to how this hideaway came to be.

"Summer In the Mirrors"

When we paint with children, one of our common practices is to reach for paper or canvas. Here is an alternate approach. These two students used a series of mirrors as the backdrop for their summer painting.

A-B-C Come Follow Me

We don't have to sit children at a desk with photocopied letters to teach them the alphabets and their sounds. Move the classroom outdoors and discover the alphabet in nature!



The letter Y!



I made the letter A!

I joined the ends to make an O.

Nicola's Daisy



A great deal of the discussion around the making of this vase of daisies focused on color and shading. Nicola paid great attention to the tones, textures, as well as the warmth and coolness of her color choices.



A Baby and His Flower

Each day babies experience the wonders of life. This bunch of flowers provided a perfect opportunity to document how babies explore and store information.

The teacher offers the child the flower.

As expected he gathers information on the flowers using his senses.

He takes the flowers into the mirrored cube and sees them multiply.

Catch The Color

Working with light always produces wonderful thinking strategies with the children. A teacher's inventive thinking in filling these tubes with colored water led to this experience.



The tubes are filled with colored water and stacked. When the light hits them, at first glance, the shadows appear to be black.



Sekora takes a tube and holds it close to the screen hoping to see an orange shadow.



After moving it in many different positions she finally finds one that catches the orange and lime green shadows!

Sekora holds the blue tube close to her face and a classmates shouts, "You're turning blue!"

The Art of A Somersault

Quite a few muscles groups are required to perform the perfect somersault. The arms are needed to hold the body's weight; the abs stabilize the body and keep it from rolling to the side; the legs provide thrust as the body is lifted into the air and the gluteus maximus assists in the propulsion. Imagine then why this particular experience was fascinating to watch.

She bends at the waist and extends her legs.

"Can you see me," she asks her teachers who is snapping the photograph.

She lifts her foot to propel herself forward but she loses the position necessary to push forward.

She returns to her original pose and her friend encourages her to lift her leg.

"I can't move, I'm stuck her," she giggles.

Her friends decide to give her a demonstration.

Chapter Books-My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

Chapter books, even for children as young as four and five, offer an alternate perspective to working with stories. Unlike the traditional picture books early childhood educators read, these types of books provide a richer context for exploring written text. Chapter books require attentiveness as the children learn to identify the characters in the story, follow the plot, and identify the settings. Over the course of the school year the children become familiar with a variety of literary terms.