West Richmond Preschool

As always there was great anticipation for our big buddy day. Prior to their coming, we revisited the Genius 15 topics to refresh their memories. I was very impressed that most of our preschoolers remembered their big buddies's names; even the ones who have two buddies! Our plan for Genius 15 this visit was for the groups to create a multi-dimensional representation of their topic. Our hope was that they could take the knowledge they have gathered from their research and use it to create a piece of  art. We believe children 'speak' in many languages and it is our job to invite them to use these languages to express themselves. We collected various materials, everything from elastic bands to wire to foam to tape to fabric to cotton balls to boxes and on and on. As soon as the teams were paired up, they set to work. There was this intense and focused energy in the room as big and small buddies collected materials from the art table. Designs were discussed, debates over the

It was a most beautiful day to head to the farm- sunny, crisp air and no agenda. The only task we had was to harvest our rutabaga. While on the bus, I overheard one of the children say that we needed to look at 'our' apple tree. I was pleased that they remembered our investigations and initiated this interest on their own. The children could not get out of the bus fast enough to see the tree. One child thought that perhaps it had 're-grown' its apples. However, after close observation, they announced that in fact there were no apples, nor leaves. Instead of going to our own garden plot right away I invited them to explore the front gardens where we helped weed and turn soil with our big buddies. The pathways were frosty and loud crunching sounds echoed loudly. The children ran up and down,  enjoying their 'power' over the ice. They peered in through the window of the "Living Seat"that resides in the front gardens at Terra Nova. They

In keeping with our belief that it is important to expose children to different holidays, we celebrated Hanukkah in class today. Of course, we made potato latkes... We squeezed out all the water- cooking becomes a gross motor activity as we use our whole body! We cracked eggs. Three people and three eggs- phew! We fried them in oil-yum! Comments made while watching them frying in the pan: Kensie: I see it getting brown a little bit. Connor: It smells yummy. It smells like hash browns. Miele: I think it smells good. Connor: Hash browns, I love so much. Miele: Me too! Connor: There is hash browns at Great Wolf Lodge. Miele: I have been there. We had a hot tub and a snow ball fight. Connor: They have a scary ride. Miele: My brother went on that. I can't go on the ride at the PNE. Kensie: I went to the PNE. I saw the dog show. Miele: I went to the dog show. Kensie: Flip them (the latkes). Connor: It smells like crab. Everyone tried the latkes and t

Vampire Bats What we know on Nov 25 Emma: They don’t drink blood at people. They drink blood at cows. Addie: They drink blood from sheep. Joban: They drink blood from horses. Matias: Vampire bats drink blood from owls. Miele: They come from South America. Addie: They live in caves. Makena: They have arms inside their wings (fingers) and they can hear far away. Miele and Addie: They are as big as our thumbs. Addie: They comb each other. Makena:They use echolocation. It means they can see in the dark. Addie: Their echo bounces back off the wall. What do we want to learn Jack: Do they have blood in their bodies? Kensie: What happens if a bat flies into a volcano and it gets hot? Rhys: About their blood. Emma: How big are their eyes? Makena: How big are their tongues? Grace: How big are the bat’s wings? Jordyn: I don’t know what I want to learn. Matias: How big is their nose? Addies: How big are their teeth? Miele: What about their lip

I love how the upcoming buddy visit created this buzz and excitement in the classroom for days before our trip. Since this was our first time going to our buddies' elementary school, there were also some nerves as children did not know what to expect. Aside from talking them through what the day might look like, I also thought it would be helpful to find something that could ground them and make them feel personally invested in going to the school. Typically, I make home-made cookies for our buddies but it dawned on me that is far more meaningful if the preschoolers baked for their big buddies themselves.  And, to further personalize the gift, the preschoolers would decorate bags with their buddies name on it. And, to further the learning around that… we would send home the bag of cookies (stapled as a safety precaution from any looming cookie monsters!) on Wednesday and the children were to bring them back on Friday- certainly learning around responsibility to others and working o