An "S" day! Stomping, squishing and sloshing in the mud!

What a fantastic day.  This week we are learning about the letter "S" and started out on our hikes looking for slugs, snails and spiderwebs.  As it turned out we had much more fun splashing, squishing and stomping in small streams and mud.

We started out the day singing the TOP song for Teacher Tami and then reviewing the TOP hiking and friendship rules before heading out on the trails.

The blue group hiked over to a giant puddled that is surrounded by rocks that are just the right size for throwing.

Today fourchildren in the blue group all wanted to be the "leader" on our hike.  At first they decided to take turns leading and following, but then on their own decided to hold hands and all be leaders together.  They even sang a song, "We are the leaders!".   The rest of the kids decided to be the "caboose" and gathered flowers along the way.

The yellow group hiked with Teacher Tami, squished in the mud, gathered lovely bouquets of flowers and played a rousing game of hide-and-seek.

I am so proud of all your children - they have been working so hard to take turns, be good friends, be kind to nature and each other.  What a great group of kids we have here at TOP.

As the weather (attempts) to warm up it is really important to dress the kids in layers.  When we are in the sun or hiking they get hot quickly, but often get chilly just as quickly once we head into the shaded forest.  A few of the kids have brought small backpacks to help carry discarded layers  - if your child has one please feel free to send it (no need to buy one if you don't already have one, though).  

Teacher Tami will be here again on Thursday and then Teacher Ann will return on Tuesday.

Who is leading whom?

Luca and Jakey as partners in exploration.

Teacher Jen is an awesome reader during snack.

The TOP kids had such fun on Tuesday that we decided to have each group lead the other group to their favorite spot.  The yellow group got to go first.  They remembered the tall grass and mud we were in on Tuesday so we hiked over there.  Then each child got to choose a partner from the other group to lead.
The yellow group took turns choosing a friend and then walking with that friend into the grass.  The kids were very attentive to explaining what was special about that place to their partner.  It was exciting to get to show the other group our special spot from Tuesday.

Then the blue group led us to their nature finds from Tuesday.  We wondered if we would fine a slug like they did and also if the trillium flower would remain where it was.  It wasn't long before we indeed did spy the tall trillium flower in all of its glory.  The next spot they wanted to show us was where the slug had been.  Alas, he had slimed away.  At that time we told the children to say good bye to their partners and we split up for a final walk with our smaller groups.  The yellow group found 5 slugs on their walk back and the blue group hiked for a long time before coming back to lunch.  We read a good book on how to be around friends called the Recess Queen-this was for our "Q" day!

We were so proud of the kids for doing so well with their partners.  It was also interesting to watch them choose to partner with kids we wouldn't have expected.  I think they enjoyed choosing their own friends and taking turns being in charge.  This is a good leadership lesson for them.  Some of them had to walk slower than they liked because their friends were slower and others had to speed up.  But taking the time to think of someone besides themselves is a good reaching goal for them.

Kittens, a slug and a trillium flower!



TOP kids looking at a very tall trillium flower.


The farm has 2 new kittens and today we got to all pet them them!  During our TOP circle we spent a long time taking turns talking about how to handle a kitten.  Everyone had good ideas of how to be with the animals.  "Don't talk loud."  "Don't kick them."  "Be nice to them."  "Don't run around."  Everyone got a chance to say their idea.  After we sang our TOP song we lined our boots up at the Ops building and quietly went in to meet the kittens. Two kids decided that they didn't want to pet the kittens so they sat a few feet away from the circle.  Everyone else was quiet and still, sitting cross-legged on the floor and patiently waited their turn to pet a kitten.  Jen and I were so impressed that the children were able to wait as we went from child to child with the kittens.   For those children un-used to cats, we taught them how to pet from the head to the tail.   We also let the kittens roam the room a bit.  The kids really enjoyed watching where the kittens went.  No one jumped up to follow them.  Afterwards the kids put on their boots and we had a yummy snack in the sun outside along with a fun book about kittens.

The yellow group today went to explore the tall grass.  We crossed 2 small streams while the grass sometimes went over the kids heads!  On the way back there were great puddles to jump in.  The kids asked each other if they wanted to be splashed before making lots of waves. 

The blue group was facinated today by a slug that was crossing the path.  They decided to try an experiment with the slug. They put a pinecone in its way to see if it would go around the pinecone or over it.  After a very long time, the slug went over the pinecone.  Wow!  The kids also carefully looked at a trillium flower they found in the forest.  They are so pretty with their 3 leaves and 3 petals.

Next week is "R" week.  We will be making "roads"  and possibly "roaring" like a lion!

Big Strides for Small People

Helping each other up a tree stump.

Teacher Jen says: I am so proud of the TOP kids!  Today while while we were hiking we stopped to explore on a hill.  We only had a few spoons and one magnifying glass and everyone did such a great job sharing and taking turns.  I heard.."Can I use that when you are done?". "May I use that next?". "Can I dig with you?".   And that was only the blue group!  The yellow group were extraordinary in their ability to climb together on a huge fallen tree.  Kids were saying "excuse me" to get by each other and helping each other if they were stuck.  One child gave suggestions to how to get down from a high place by saying,  "sit down then turn around and come down on your tummy. "

The kids are working so well together.  They take turns and chat while they play with toys.  Their ability to be aware of where they are in space (not pushing or knocking into each other) has grown dramatically.  They are able to pick up sticks and play with them without hitting anyone. We are so proud of the TOP kids accomplishments---You should be too!

Partners in digging!

TOP Kids happily digging and making dirt castles by the big tree.

Today we worked in pairs and groups to fill up buckets with dirt.  The kids could choose where to dig in the meadow.  Some chose mole hills and others chose the dirt by the big tree.  While they dug in the earth you could hear them speaking to each other and helping each other out.  We had fun tipping the full buckets over to make castles of the dirt.  Of course, we ended the fun by filling back in the holes we had dug so we didn't impact nature.

There was only time for a quick hike through the woods.  During the hike we climbed over logs, lay down on the bridge and observed the different sized rocks in the stream and slid down the mud slide. 

Back again to our picnic tables, now in the sun (yippee!) we finished lunch in time to make a face on a paper cup and then fill it with dirt and grass seed so we can watch the cup's hair grow!  We suggest spraying the grass every day or so-but not pouring water into the dirt.  We are looking forward to hearing about how the grass is growing at home!

Out on the old wagon trail!

Fern fronds unfurling in the spring;  This is how they look through a magnifying glass.

This last thursday was so beautiful that we loaded up the wagon and went on a search for the perfect picnic spot.  The Yellow group got to pull the wagon to Juel Park and the Blue group pulled on the return trip.  Along the way we ran into a elementary school group reenacting a wagon train!  The girls were dressed in prairie dresses and the boys had hats on.  We had to wait till they crossed our trail in order to continue to Juel Park. 

When we got to our wooded destination, each child got to use a magnifying glass.  The kids looked closely at fern fronds just unfurling, mushrooms and moss and lichen. We read a special book while eating lunch next to a stream in the woods.  The Tiny Seed follows a special seed from a flower as it sails on the wind.  The children listened closely to the tale as they ate lunch.

Eric Carle's creative book about seeds and how they are spread around the world.

We are happy with the children's response to our new guidelines for school. 
We have told them that it is everyone's job at school to do your best at joining in on the group activities.
One of these activities is singing.  Everyone is supposed to do their best at singing while we are in circle time.  Since we have started this concept, many more of the children are joining in and doing the hand motions and lifting their beautiful voices in song.  We have been praising them for singing along.

We also have a song for crossing the street.  It goes:
Look to the left, Look to the right, listen with your ears, is it alright?
We sing this while we hold hands and look left and right -then ask each other if it is safe to cross. 

Hope your Easter/Passover/Spring weekend was lovely.  The weather certainly cooperated on Saturday!

P is for Puddles!

Checking out the fun patterns the overflowing stream makes!

Today we continued with our "P" week by visiting the pig and all of the other animals in the barn.  Daisy the Cow was very excited to see us and moo-ed very loudly!  (Her food was coming right behind us-so that MAY have been the reason!)  We saw 3 eggs in the chicken coop and learned that the sow was going to go visit another farm today and we were going to get a different pregnant sow back.  We can't wait to find out when there will be piglets to watch!

We celebrated Theo's birthday today with a very funny book called Gruffalo.    We all enjoyed the story together in the meadow while the sky threatened to rain.  Thank you Theo for the yummy, gummy treats for after class!

Next we were off hiking within our color groups.

 

The blue group found a flooded path and investigated areas where the creek overflowed its banks onto the foot path.  Everyone was very interested in the paths the water took when it left the stream.  Of course, we splashed in the great puddles!

The yellow group hiked a long way until we found the perfect spot for stories and snack.  Along the way we saw a beautiful white trillium flower, lichen,  ferns unfolding

and small purple flowers.  In our secret place the kids hunted for beads among the moss and grass. 

At lunch we began our Earth Day project of  making Bird Feeders with pinecones.  They will come home on Tuesday.

Next week we will be focusing on Earth Day and what we can do to help the environment.  You can talk with your child about ideas that they can share with the class during circle time next week. 

PS  After having 2 weeks off from TOP we have found that many kids have forgotten some of the TOP concepts.  We will be working on these in the upcoming weeks.  Your kids have not heard the condensed version I have here.  But this is how it will go:

1. Be Nice to your friends at preschool. (no bad words or hard touches)

2. Be Safe  (listen to what the teacher says - remember the hiking rules for TOP)

3. Be Loving to nature. (don't pick plants that are living-be quiet around animals)