Back to School!

Hello Families,

For this September blog entry, I am excited to share what we have been doing in the Red Classroom:

We took our buckets and magnifying glasses and went on a nature walk around the building.  We found leaves, rocks, and flowers. We felt two different types of moss growing on some back stairs and noted how it felt like “green carpet.” When we came back into the class, we traced our leaves into our nature books.  Some of the classroom TAs helped us write in our books what we drew.  

We have been working on our pencil grip.  I write the children’s names in yellow marker and they use the pencil with a pencil grip to trace their name.  We have been testing out several different pencil grip designs.  This is something we will continue to work on throughout the year.

During the past week, your child may have asked you, “What color zone are you in?” We introduced the Zones of Regulation, a social-emotional concept in our classroom.  During circle time, I heard the children say, “I’m in the yellow zone because I am excited to eat what is in my lunch box.”  I have also heard, “I am in the blue zone because someone isn’t sharing with me.”  In certain situations, it gave us a chance to talk about our feelings and find strategies to get back in the green zone, our calm and happy zone.

I am sure you all had the chance to see some of the wonderful art you children have made over the past few weeks.  One rainy day, we stayed inside and made watercolors.  We went through a few drafts before we learned how to make a watercolor picture without making a hole in it.  The end result was absolutely beautiful!  

The children worked on many other projects this month as well. Some examples are handprint trees and easel painting with texture brushes.

We just began our Alphabet book project.  This is a year-long project.  At the end of the school year, you are going to receive an alphabet book created by your child.  Every week, there is a letter of the week.  Feel free to ask your questions about the letter of the week.

Until next time…

Mrs. Chen (posted by Kathy Reiss for Mrs. Chen)