Let's Go!: Windsor Terrace Library

Morning Assembly read-aloud introduced us to a new, very important word--Mother.  When asked if they had mothers, our friends gave a decisive, No! However, after reading, P.D. Eastman's tale of a lost baby bird "Are You My Mother?", we quickly realized that "Mommies" and "Mothers" are one and the same and worth further discussion! Along came tales of mommies, daddies, brothers, and sisters as our friends made connections between their own families and the family in our story.

This week, led by our observations of the children's increased interest in independent "reading", we headed to the Windsor Terrace library to explore. Our time at the library gave us the opportunity to work on our community skills - using quiet voices, browsing shelves and making choices, reading with much interest, and even cleaning up our treasured books after enjoying them. We were incredibly impressed with our scholars! Look at em go!

Our walk back to class brought us through a long tunnel where we re-discovered the joy of ECHO! Excited to unleash our LOUD voices after the quiet library, our friends enthusiastically shouted the word, "Echoooooo!"

Our wagon train grows longer each week as more friends join the fun of learning at Play by the Park!

This week: Pumpkins!

Autumn offers much opportunity for exciting color and texture exploration at Play by the Park. This week we   got elbow deep in pumpkins and used our hands to explore its smooth surface and seed filled, gooey innards.

Our study extended to the color of pumpkins ("ORANGE!" offered enthusiastically by the class) and inspired an Orange Scavenger walk through the neighborhood. Afterward we brought back photos of our orange neighborhood finds and created our own masterpieces with bright orange paint!

Practicing our cutting with orange paper strips illuminated by our classroom light table, we observe the many shapes and sizes we can create with our scissors.

Finally, we celebrated our fun pumpkin study with a hands-on session of Cooking with Ms. Gilly, creating amazing pumpkin bread that proved a delectable autumn treat!

Yum Yum! Autumn continues with wonders for all of our senses!

Let's go!: Farmer's Market

Today we enjoyed our first walking field trip to the Prospect Park Farmer's Market.  After enjoying the vibrant illustrations in Lois Ehlert's book, "Eating the Alphabet" we were ready to explore hands on!

 

Potatoes, pumpkins, beets, leeks! The market was a delight to our senses. We enjoyed a tasting of local, fresh, ripe apples and juicy peaches. 

 

Led by adventure we found the one tree in the park that had sprouted the most vivid fall colors! Sitting underneath the canopy of leaves we sang, "The leaves are falling down!" 






All around us were pine cones that had rolled downhill from a nearby pine tree. Our wagon is chock full of pine cone booty!

On our hike back up the hill toward school we spotted a tree with a wide gaping hole filled with pine cones, acorns and leaves.  We wondered if it was a squirrels secret hiding spot.








Over the market and through the woods, we spoke of all the many sights we'd seen and tastes we enjoyed. I wonder what adventure tomorrow will bring!

"Mommy Camp": Reggio Emilia-inspired life

When my son was an infant, during the summers, I would really miss working at summer camp. Summer camp was a huge part of my life and I had just resigned from Brooklyn Children's Museum to be home. It was a rough transition.  To cope, I planned different outings and activities for my son and I. Though he was not walking, we had a blast and thus "mommy camp" began.  As he grew older, and with the addition of my daughter, mommy camps became our way of life during his preschool breaks and my class breaks. It was a way for us to get to know each other again and spend time together.

This year, mommy camp was one full week in the summer (squished between summer camp, work and family vacation). We embarked on a whole new type of mommy camp.