Colorful Leaves
This week the children made projects with colorful leaves. These are still at school waiting to go onto our bulletin board to decorate our classroom. We have been reciting the poem “Leaves on the….”. A copy went home in the orange folders; I hope your child has read it to you. Ask your child about another version of the poem when leaves fall onto them.
Before the children are given scissors to cut out the pieces of their projects, they first have to learn how to manipulate them. One way we encourage that is by having the children do ‘free cutting’ at the sensory table. The teachers help them get the correct fingers in the holes and turn their wrists so their thumbs are at the top. Then the children work at cutting. First they learn how to snip, snip, snip. Eventually they learn to keep the scissors in place on the paper and cut all the way through. The way to master scissoring skills is through practice, practice, and more practice. The more little bits of paper that collect in the table shows that the children are getting more successful.
Last week the sensory table had jars with lids and apples. The children loved to screw and unscrew the lids. This week we had small beans with spoons, little cups, and vials. The small vials were a hit as the children filled them and screwed on the tops. They needed to use their pincer grasp to lift the small pieces into the skinny vials. Some children enjoyed sorting the colors into different vials.
The children enjoy the challenge when the teachers mix up the the pieces of puzzles or other toys and then show us that they are able to sort it all out. Here are a couple of examples: the pieces of 2 puzzles mixed up and 2 different types of barrel toys that fit only within the right barrels.
These “shape feelers” (I don’t know what else to call them) are a great precursor to writing. Moving the circle around the shapes helps to feel the movement of a pencil as letters are formed.
As a teacher, I get a lot of pleasure when the children take a lesson and apply it to another activity. In our music class, one way Mrs. Wada teaches rhythm to the children is by having them clap “1, 2, 3, 4 pickup” as take an egg shaker out of the basket. These alphabet rubber duckies were on a table on Friday. A group of about 4 children were playing with them when they started saying “1, 2, 3, 4 pickup” as they took a duckie. Later during Circle Time, I passed the container around to each child as they did “1, 2, 3, 4 pickup” and we then sang some of Mrs. Wada’s songs with the duckies. Mrs. Wada will be very happy to hear that the children are absorbing her lessons.
And now for the most important thing about the week: Our Circle Time visitor was Princess Celestia! Her wings light up and she talks! I don’t think anyone figured out that I was pressing a button on her side to make her talk - don’t give away my secret. See if your child remembers some of the things that she said.