this. is. why. i. love. the. multi-age. classroom.
our youngest student with one of our oldest.
connecting, honing compassion, learning new skills, modeling patience, finding common ground.
while there are no doubt challenges, this is the environment i find ideal.
a satisfying challenge:
to build a tower taller than you are.
i like watching the number of kids who move in and out of this project as it’s going on.
happy valentine’s day.
we enjoyed days of a mailbox made fancy and looking through valentines “show and tell style” (where i hold up each one to find out who brought it).
just like gus didn’t give any valentines, but got one, everyone at school gets valentines whether you bring them or not.
when we had 3 bags of marshmallows come to preschool, we made time for a campfire to “roast” them.
using our battery tea light candles, some smooth dowels (thank you otis) and a red scarf, we had a delightful campfire.
i am grateful that no one got hurt with the skewers and i hope there aren’t too many cavities.
i plan to keep the tea lights, dowel rods and scarf as a kit for children to use. i think it would make a great gift for a young child too!
more red showed up this week at school in honor of valentine’s day starting with heart lights in our story corner (thank you micah):
:: ::
i pulled out all the red legos for a little lego-playmobil fusion.
:: :: ::
there were paper hearts growing from our play plants and real flowers for the table (thank you, elsie):
:: :: ::
there was a red tape line all around the room…perfect for lego trains and walking along.
:: :: ::
we had chocolate scented playdoh to make pretend heart cookies and cakes (a regular recipe for playdoh with some cocoa in place of the flour):
:: :: ::
there were foam hearts floating in the water table with measuring cups to catch them.
some friends brought our scales in the water table and determined that the hearts didn’t weigh anything. : )
:: :: ::
it was a week of loveliness.
to help remember the size of your valentine’s hand in 2010…
white paint on a tray to rub hand in then pressed on red mat board.
things i notice and love:
kids lounging
no shoes
smiles
some coming, some going, some staying
coffee
tidy floors
a preschooler-modified schedule board
i don’t know what we were doing, but i like it.
