It has been a very busy few weeks around here! After we returned from spring break, we jumped right in to play preparations! This year the children will be performing a very silly story, "The Hungry Thing," by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler. The inspiration came from the children's love of rhyming and, of course, all things silly!
Everyone has been busy learning and practicing their lines, discussing what kind of costumes to make, what the scenery should look like and what kind of props we need to collect. So far everything is moving along on schedule! We are so excited for everyone to see our play in a few weeks!
In addition to all of the play preparations, the children have been learning about seeds while we prepare for our veggie and herb garden. We read the story, "One Bean" by Anne Rockwell and we patiently watched our beans sprout a root and a shoot! Once the beans were too big for the plastic bag they sprouted in, they were transfer to the garden on the playground. The beans are going strong and the pumpkin seeds are also popping up out of the ground! Because of the rain lately, we have seen lots of worms on our playground. The children have been helping to collect them to add to our garden. Worms are great for gardens because they make tunnels under the dirt that help the roots grow deeper.
We also celebrated Mother's Day! We talked a lot about how wonderful our mommies are and all of the great things they do for us! When asked, "Why do you love your mommy?" the children gave us LOTS of great answers including "because she gives me cool things for my birthday," "because she like my belly button," "Because she gives really good kisses and hugs," and "because she loves me!" We hope all of the SEE mommies had a wonderful Mother's Day and felt like a queen for the day!
Jackson Pollock was our artist of the month for May. The children learned that his nickname was "Action Jackson" and "Jack the Dripper" because he loved to get messy with his art. The children also learned that Jackson Pollock did not use the nice paintbrushes like we use in our classroom, he mostly used tools like old hard paintbrushes, spatulas, string, turkey basters, sticks and even a bike to ride across his work! The children were simply amazed to find out that art does not aways mean paper and a paintbrush!
Jackson Pollock was our artist of the month for May. The children learned that his nickname was "Action Jackson" and "Jack the Dripper" because he loved to get messy with his art. The children also learned that Jackson Pollock did not use the nice paintbrushes like we use in our classroom, he mostly used tools like old hard paintbrushes, spatulas, string, turkey basters, sticks and even a bike to ride across his work! The children were simply amazed to find out that art does not aways mean paper and a paintbrush!
Finally, our Praying Mantis egg finally hatched! The little babies emerged just as we were returning to school after spring break. Judging by the size of the egg, we didn't anticipate the Praying Mantis babies being as big or as many as there were! After everyone had a chance to check them out, we released them into our outdoor fairy garden!
The blog may be a little quiet over the next few weeks as we continue to prepare for our play! Stay tuned for an end-of-the-year wrap up in a few weeks!
Don't forget about our Little Free Library!
Our Little Free Library is undergoing some book renovations! We need you to help us fill our library up! We are especially looking for children's book (board books are ok too!). Teen and adult books are always welcome as well! We would like to label them with our LFL labels before adding them to the library so the books can continue to be circulated through the LFL community. All you have to do is drop them in the labeled bin right outside of our door and we will do the rest! Thank you all for your support!
Upcoming Dates and Reminders:
May 29: SEE closed in observance of Memorial Day
June 1: June Tuition is Due
June 22 and 23: End-of-the-Year Play and party! Each child has a specific performance date which was listed on the invitation that was sent home last week. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
June 30: Last day of the school year!
July 3-7: SEE closed for Summer Break
July 10- August 29: SEE summer program!
August 30-Septmeber 4: SEE closed for new year prep and Labor Day
September 5: First Day of School!
June 1: June Tuition is Due
June 22 and 23: End-of-the-Year Play and party! Each child has a specific performance date which was listed on the invitation that was sent home last week. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
June 30: Last day of the school year!
July 3-7: SEE closed for Summer Break
July 10- August 29: SEE summer program!
August 30-Septmeber 4: SEE closed for new year prep and Labor Day
September 5: First Day of School!
Some pictures from the last few weeks:
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| The children made yarn balls for the birds to help them make their nests |
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| We have a new family of baby bunnies living in our bushes! |
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| Jackson Pollock recreation in action! |
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| The finished product! |
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| Praying Mantis babies! |
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| Costume making! I hope everyone has a fun Memorial Day Weekend! We'll see you on Tuesday! Joanna |
