Classroom and Curriculum
The Blue Group Curriculum
October 2, 2007
Dear Blue Group Families,
It’s hard to believe that we’ve been together for about a month already! So much has happened in that short amount of time. Whether your child was a Red Grouper, a Green Grouper, or came from another school, he or she is most definitely now a Blue Grouper. The children have been very busy learning about each other and creating a new community for themselves. Recently, the children have been learning more about each other by sharing what each child is an ‘expert’ at and what each child is ‘working on’. Soon their ideas will be in the forms of books for everyone to read. These books offer the children an opportunity to see that everyone has both things that are easy for them to do as well as things that are hard for them to do. We will also help the children to see that although they may be ‘working on’ a skill, such as ‘building puzzles’, there may be some friends who are ‘experts’ at this and could help them out.
Our work around the book Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot Air Balloon Ride has wrapped up with their final retelling of the story caught on video! We hope you enjoyed the performance and the glimpse into what literacy often looks like for preschoolers. Their excitement about vehicles has morphed into exploring other features of a city. During choice time they have been matching different street signs, driving scooters in the group area, and putting on the finishing touches of a ‘paper roll’ city. Shortly, we will begin to talk about the immediate community of TEDCC. We will investigate who the people are that work in our building and how they impact TEDCC, as well as some of the people and places from Tufts University that help keep our school safe and running smoothly.
During Literacy Centers, Blue Groupers have come to learn the routine of writing in their journals, have been exploring the different lines that letters are made out of, and becoming familiar with each other’s names. Many of the activities right now have also been designed to help strengthen their hands and fingers which will help them with their writing.
Initially, children were broken into Special Interest Groups focused on different science topics. Liz’s group studied the five senses; Jess’ group studied the various states of water and Sarah’s group worked with the different colors. These small groups have allowed the children to have small discussions and explore materials up close and hands on. Last week we started working on new topics and have reshuffled the children so that they can better get to know a new group of children. These new groups are created around building pretend play skills, sequencing various steps and building teamwork, all skills important to preschool.
We’ll keep you posted on the rest of our exciting endeavors from time to time, but be sure to occasionally check out displays in the classroom, or in the halls to glimpse some of the hard work going on in the Blue Group. Also, feel free to ask your child to show you his or her writing portfolio and other work around the classroom. They’re all quite proud of their work! You’ll have another chance to see their work and learn more about our classroom goals, routines and the general development of social, emotional, physical and pre-academic skills of Blue Groupers at our Curriculum Night on October 16th, from 5:30-7:30. Pizza and childcare are provided for the children; please bring a potluck dish for the adults to share!
Sincerely,
The Blue Group Teaching Team
Dates to Remember: OCTOBER 16, 5:30-7:30 Curriculum Night
September 6, 2007
Dear Blue Group Families,
Greetings from the fourth day of the Blue Group! We have thoroughly enjoyed our first three days with your children. They have impressed us with their hard work, interest in each other and the materials in the classroom, and their eagerness to participate in Exploration Group, Special Interest Groups, and Movement Groups. All the children are quickly learning the routines of the classroom and working hard at saying goodbye to their families in the morning and goodbye to their teachers in the evening.
Over the last three days we have spent time talking about some of the things the children miss about their former classrooms and what they like about the Blue Group. Some thoughts about the Red Group include: “I miss the snake Olivia,” “I miss my old cubby, Rachel, and Angela,” and “I liked to play with the bears and the monkey and the jungle.” Former Green Groupers have mentioned missing their cubbies, nap time, and the blocks. While acknowledging the people, animals, and activities that your children are missing, we are also seeking to find out what they like about the Blue Group, including: “my new cubby,” “the building toys and construction workers,” “the lego loft, and the downstairs, and my nap spot,” and “Willow.” Giving the children the opportunity to express their thoughts about the transition, and illustrate their ideas, has helped ease their transition. We have also been talking about some of the differences between the Blue Group and the children’s previous classrooms, such as having two choice times, helping themselves to seconds at lunch, and pouring their own juice during morning snack. After just three days, your children are very proud of themselves and their increased independence.
On Monday we will begin using the book Hot Air: the (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot Air Balloon Ride by Marjorie Priceman to learn more about the Blue Groupers, their families, and the community at TEDCC. Through this book, we will explore concepts of community, developing relationships, and appreciating each others’ strengths and challenges. This book will help us continue to build our community, learn more important and exciting information about each other, and collaborate on ways to establish a safe and productive learning community. There is already a lovely, productive hum around the room as children are busy learning, playing, and enjoying each others’ company. Mark your calendars for a Blue Group Family Breakfast on September 28th from 8:00-9:30 AM. This will be an opportunity for parents and families to meet each other and for our whole community to come together to celebrate the children.
We are attaching a copy of our daily schedule. We hope that it gives you a better idea of what happens in the Blue Group during the day. We are currently planning a Curriculum Night for early October. During Curriculum Night we will have a special presentation of the Blue Group day and share with you the many goals that we have for the Blue Group and the reasoning behind many of the things that we do each day. This evening will begin at 5:30pm and childcare and dinner will be provided for the children in another classroom at the Center. We will give you more specific information about this evening in the coming weeks.
As always, thank your for giving us the opportunity to work with your fabulous children. It is a great privilege for each of us! Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or ideas.
Sincerely,
The Blue Group Team
Jess, Sarah, Rachel, Danielle, Joelle, Diana, Tasha, Max, Anabel & Liz
Dates to Remember
Friday, September 28, 8:00-9:30 AM—Blue Group Family Breakfast
More info to come on Curriculum Night in October
June 1st, 2007
Dear Blue Group families,
Over the course of the last two weeks we have wrapped up our academic school year and are in the process of making the shift to the summer schedule. We have said goodbye to many wonderful people: our dear friends, Henry and Lena, Special Friends, Work Study students, and some one-on-one teachers. We will also have the pleasure of welcoming a number of new faces to the Blue Group for the summer while Bob, Liz and Jess each take some vacation time. Sophie Foster-Fink and Kaileigh Callender will be with the Blue Group all summer. Sophie just finished her junior year at Tufts University where she is majoring in psychology. She spent her spring semester in the Kindergarten as a Field Work student. Returning for her third summer, Kaileigh was once a Blue Grouper herself. She is currently a rising sophomore at Brown University in Rhode Island. We are very excited to have Kaileigh as our very own artist in residence. She’s already brainstorming ideas for our summer t-shirts. Danielle Walsh and Jesse Wong also attended TEDCC as children and are now returning as teachers. This will be Danielle’s second summer in the Blue Group and Jesse’s first. Ben MacNamee will be returning this summer. Last year he was instrumental in helping classrooms prepare for summer activities and to get ready for September. Caroline Davit will return in July from her semester abroad in Australia, and we are very happy to have her back. Please join us in welcoming so many new faces to our classroom and to the center. Their energy, creativity, and enthusiasm will allow us to have a fun, exciting, and WET summer!
Beginning on Monday, June 4, Bob, Jess, and Liz will rotate out for their summer vacations. Ana will switch to full time for the summer so that there will always be three full time teachers in the Blue Group, and we’re thrilled that Max will be staying with us through the summer as well.
We all know that summer is approaching and that means…a lot of…WATER PLAY!
With that said, cubbies should be cleaned out and stocked with summer clothes. Each child should have extra shirts and shorts in his/her cubby at all times. Please make sure that your child has 2 bathing suits, a SMALL towel and water shoes with a closed back. LABEL EVERYTHING. During the summer months, we use sunscreen before we go outside to protect the children from sunburns. Please note-it would be very helpful if you could send your child to school with sunscreen already applied, especially on days that we open outside on the playground, and we will re-apply throughout the day.
During the summer months, the Blue Group will open outside on the playground on Mondays and Thursdays. Our field trip days will be Tuesdays and Fridays. We will post our field trip schedule monthly in the classroom, but be aware that it is subject to change at any moment!! There will be many trips involving public transportation which require a permission slip be signed. Please be sure to check in with teachers periodically to see if we need your signature.
Again, our summer schedule officially begins next week. Our activities will all be contingent on the weather, but the teacher schedule is set. Thanks for a wonderful school year, and we’re looking forward to a great summer!!!
Thank you, as always, for sharing your children with us!
Sincerely,
The Blue Group Team
January 29, 2007
As our Rosa Parks unit comes to an end, it’s time to begin to think about our annual ‘Special Day’s’ unit. Special Days are an integral part of the curriculum at TEDCC and provide an exciting opportunity for each member of the class to be celebrated and to share something unique and personal about his or her life. We also invite family members to come celebrate with their child during his or her Special Day Group.
In the beginning of the year, Blue Groupers spent most of their time learning about each other during our, “We Are the Blue Group” unit. And more recently one of the ways in which we learned about Rosa Parks and her work was by learning about her family and how the way they lived influenced her beliefs and ideas as an adult. Now, it is time to learn more about each other by investigating a little bit of our own history.
Family traditions are a way of keeping families together and passing on important beliefs and customs from generation to generation. Our Special Day unit: “The Blue Group Family History”, will be a way to learn more about our families and our favorite family traditions. Maybe these are traditions that have been passed down for generations, or maybe they are new traditions that you have created with your children.
A Special Day Calendar is hanging in the Blue Group for you and your Blue Grouper to choose a day that will be his or her Special Day. A few days before his or her Special Day, we will give you a Special Day kit to take home. This kit will contain all the materials you need to make a page for what will be our, “Blue Group Family History” scrapbook. Each page will contain a photo of your child, a family recipe, a map pinpointing your family’s origin, and a drawing or photo of a family tradition.
On your child’s Special Day, you and your child will reveal the scrapbook page during a whole group time and share a little bit more about your family tradition. When the scrapbook is finished, each child will receive a copy of the book at a ‘Family History’ potluck dinner where you will be invited to prepare the recipe that was included in the scrapbook.
We hope that this will create many great conversations between you and your child and we look forward to celebrating your child and their family!
Stay warm,
The Blue Group Team
November 30, 2006
Hello Blue Group Families,
The Blue Groupers have been working hard learning about the respiratory system. They have been working on a model of the respiratory system. It is a work in progress and should be complete early next week. They have learned the functions of parts of the respiratory system such as the lungs, larynx and diaphragm. They know that the diaphragm is a muscle and we have been learning about other muscles in the body. We have been using levers and pulleys as a way to feel our muscles doing work in various ways. The children have been very interested in the books we have on the Human Body and often ask for them at nap time. During math centers we have been learning the power of number and exploring counting in various ways. The children look forward to these choice times each day and you can often find them working together as they try to solve mathematical problems.
At the beginning of last week all of the books were removed from the classroom. The children were tossing them around, leaving them lying around the floor, and stepping on them. We talked about the importance of books and respecting the classrooms materials. On Monday the books were slowly reintroduced into the classroom. The children demonstrated they could take care of the books and now all the books have been returned. The children have continued to show us they can be responsible and remind each other to take care of the books.
The Blue groupers have been complaining about having nap time. I told them that we had to have nap each day and Sarah said “Is it a law?” I told her it was like a law and Luke said “I don’t like that law.” We talked about what you can do when you don’t like a law and the children decided they wanted to write a letter. They each illustrated a page saying why they wanted to cancel nap and a page about what they wanted to do instead of nap. Some of there responses were as follows:
“I want to cancel nap because I like to talk”
“I want to cancel nap because it’s boring”
“Instead of nap we should eat popcorn and watch a movie”
“Instead of nap we should go to the hair dresser”
We are going to send these letters off to the Department of Early Education and Care and see if they will respond. This activity, developed by the children, is a great lead-in to our next curriculum unit. Next week we will begin to learn about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Some of our goals for this unit will be to learn about fair vs. unfair, advocacy, and self evaluation. For the latter goal we will revisit the expert/working on pages and evaluate how we are doing towards obtaining our goals. We will end this unit by performing a play based on the children’s interpretation of the story. During literacy centers we will be doing an author study on Dr. Seuss. His book Sneetches will be used in our study of Rosa Parks as we talk about fair vs. unfair.
**One final note, as many of you already know, is that there have been a lot of junk words being used in the classroom. This is something that happens most years in the Blue Group and Kindergarten. The first group we had to discuss this problem involved the children telling us some of the words and phrases they say or have heard at school. We separated these words in to two lists. One list is called “Swear words we may never say at school” and the other list is called “Teasing words we should not say to each other.” There is a chart on the door where the children will chart their progress towards their goal. Each day we will have a group to talk about what swear words and teasing words were used during the day. Our goal is to have zero swear words and less teasing words by December 22. If we can reach this goal we will have a party to celebrate our hard work. If you have any questions around this please ask one of us as we will be more than happy to discuss this with you.
The Blue Group Team
September 5, 2006
Welcome to the Blue Group,
It’s hard to believe that a new year has started. We are excited about teaching and learning from your children. We are starting the year off with a unit entitled WE ARE THE BLUE GROUP. Most of the children have been together already but there are a few new children being added to the group and it is important to begin the year by building a strong sense of community. The trust and respect we develop with each other at the beginning of the year will help facilitate the learning and friendship that will happen throughout the year. Some of the books we will be using include: It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr, We All Have A Heritage by Sandy Lynne Holman, Whoever You Are by Leslie Staub, and The Color of Us by Karen Katz.
In the group area you will find the Special Interest Groups chart. During choice time and literacy centers a small group of children will spend some time exploring various topics. We will be starting with Science and will change topics about once a month. Each group may or may not be working on the same science idea but they will be able to share what they have learned during group time.
Quotes and examples from day one:
At Literacy Group we asked the children what they missed about their old classroom. There will be a display soon showing all of the responses but here are a few samples: “I miss Olivia the snake”, “I miss my nap spot”, “the friends who left, Samantha and Ludgie”, “listening to I Like To Move It Move It”, and “Corianne”. Something the Blue Groupers love to do is dance. Many times during the day they would request to dance and have a Dance Party.
Attached you will find a copy of the classroom schedule and teacher schedule.
Here’s to a great year,
The Blue Group Team
August 11, 2006
Dear Blue Group Families,
Welcome to the Blue Group for the 2006-2007 school year! The beginning of the school year is approaching quickly, and we are enthusiastically preparing for the first weeks of school. We would like to take this opportunity to introduce each member of the team, as well as discuss the transition to a new classroom or to a new school for your children and for you.
The Blue Group team is composed of three full-time teachers, and an Advanced Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). Bob Rivera-Dowling attended Tufts University as an undergraduate student and began working at TEDCC in 1990 as a work study student. Among other roles, Bob taught in the Kindergarten for two years, was the Mentor in the Green Group, and is excited to be the Mentor in the Blue Group for a fourth year. Bob is also a Special Education Coordinator at TEDCC. For those of you who have met Bob, he needs no explanation. For those of you who have not yet met him, you will soon find that he has a truly exceptional way of engaging children in creative, complex ways of thinking while making sure that children have fun in each learning experience.
Liz Exton has been a member of the TEDCC community since 1998. While earning her Bachelor’s degree in Child Development from Tufts University and a teaching certificate in Early Childhood Education, Liz was a Special Friend. Liz is currently finishing up her Master’s degree in Child Development with a concentration in Children with Special Needs. After teaching in the Kindergarten for two years, Liz is excited to be starting her third year in the Blue Group, where she enjoys engaging children in a variety of literacy experiences and cooperative outdoor games.
Having begun her days at TEDCC as a one-on-one teacher, Jess Colby is excited to be a full time teacher in the Blue Group this year. Previously, Jess was the GTA in the Red Group and a summer teacher in Kindergarten. Jess received her Bachelor’s degree and a teaching certificate in Early Childhood Education from Tufts University. She is currently working on a Master’s degree in Child Development, and has a special interest in special education and inclusion. This will be Jess’ second year with many of the incoming Blue Groupers, and she is eager to share her knowledge of the children while building new relationships with the incoming members of the Blue Group community.
Ana Fernandes, our advanced Graduate Teaching Assistant, studied Child Development as an undergraduate at Tufts, and is currently working on her Masters Degree in Child Development with a clinical concentration. This will be Ana’s second year in the Blue Group. Prior to that Ana was a summer teacher in the Kindergarten and a one-on-one Special Education teacher in the Green Group. Ana looks forward to her second year in the Blue Group where she enjoys capitalizing on unique and little known facts about each child.
As you may know and are probably already anticipating, the first few weeks of school can bring some challenging issues around transitions and separations. Please know that each member of the teaching team recognizes these stressors, and is prepared to help make the transition go smoothly for your children and for you. It is important to give yourself extra time in the mornings and in the afternoons to spend with your child before drop-offs and pick-ups. We understand that these times are extremely hectic for families, as well as recognize that the extra time in the first weeks of school help each child transition to and from school each day. Your children will be eager to share their new classroom with you, and spending time in the classroom will be a great way to share these new experiences with your children. To help you and your child transition into the Blue Group each morning, we have Morning Freeplay from 8:00-9:15am. We encourage families to make sure their children are at school by 9:15am because entering the classroom once we begin more structured activities can make children feel as though they have already missed a part of the day.
Another way to help your child transition to school in the mornings is to establish a good-bye ritual that is comfortable for your child. Many families find that joining their child in an activity for a few minutes before departing helps the child ease into the day and prepare for their family’s departure. The window on the far left of the group area overlooks the stairs that lead to the gate of the playground. Blue Groupers often call this the “good-bye window.” Many children find it helpful to use the window to wave or blow kisses to their families as they depart. Teachers are available to help children with this routine. You will soon find that your child will be able to use the good-bye window independently and then go back to a morning activity. Please feel free to put photographs of your family in your child’s cubby, or to send your child to school with a favorite blanket or cuddly toy to help with the transition. These familiar objects will help your child feel more comfortable during these transitions.
Wondering what to send to school with your child?Please make sure that your child has a few complete changes of clothes in his/her cubby and a blanket and pillow for nap time each day.
We are all very excited to welcome you to the Blue Group. The Blue Group year is an exciting year full of many wonderful learning opportunities and growth. We are honored to share this year of your children’s lives with you. We’ll see you on September 5th!
Sincerely,
The Blue Group Team
May 24, 2006
Dear Blue Group Families,
It is hard to imagine that we are about to wrap up the academic school year and make the shift to our summer schedule! We would like to share some information with you about this change and what it will look like in the classroom, as well as introduce you to some new summer teachers!
The Blue Groupers have been pretending to be Super Heroes now for many weeks. Their Super Hero trading cards have been extremely popular and they have been passionate about this curriculum unit. There were many great community-building opportunities that came out of this unit. The children have solidified their understanding of each others' unique strengths as well as what we are all working on. They have taken ownership of their own strengths and weaknesses as well as fostered an empathetic outlook toward one another’s unique characteristics. Each Blue Grouper has enjoyed the opportunity to feel powerful and demonstrate their own super powers. The Blue Group has been busy with twenty one kids all ready so save the day in their own wonderful ways! It was striking to see how quickly they realized how much more powerful they could be if the combined their super powers. When Carter left for his vacation, he gave us all some of his power to use while he was away. It has been rewarding to us to sit back and see how this group of children has come together and been able to celebrate one another. Victor’s Special Friend, Jeff, put all of the Blue Groupers thoughts and ideas about super heroes together in a song “Super Hero.” He did his debut of the song for the kids last week. It has been a wonderful culmination to this unit. Thank you Jeff!!
We are planning a Celebration for Wednesday May 31st from 5:30-7pm to celebrate the culmination of our unit on Super Heroes. We will show the music video of Superhero and the kids will all be able to wear their super hero costumes. The biographies that the children wrote about each other will be on display for you to read. The Celebration will be a potluck, so please bring a favorite dish!
We are excited to introduce our summer teachers to you, and look forward to welcoming them to the Blue Group. Danielle Walsh just completed her first year at Assumption College studying English and is back for her second summer teaching at TEDCC. Danielle was a summer teacher in the Red Group last year and is excited to see all of the former red groupers here in Blue! Danielle is a TEDCC alum! Patrick Manahan will be a senior in the fall at Tufts University majoring in English. He hopes to teach after college, and has experience with children with special needs. Max Rothbaum has been a 1:1 Special Education teacher here at TEDCC for two years. Before this role, he was a summer teacher. Max attends Lesley University, majoring in Special Education. Max will be a teacher in the Blue Group during the month of August.
Beginning the first week of June, Liz, Bob and Aimee will rotate out for their summer vacations. Ana will switch to full time for the summer so that there will always be three full time teachers in the Blue Group. We're thrilled that Rachelle will be staying with us for the summer as well. She will also switch to a full time schedule.
So summer begins shortly, and we all know what that means…a lot of…WATER PLAY! As the weather continues to get warmer, please make sure your child’s cubbies are stocked with a bathing suit, towel, water shoes, and plenty of extra summer clothing.
Thank you, as always, for sharing your children with us!
January 9, 2006
Happy New Year!!!
We hope that you enjoyed the holidays. It was nice to have everyone back together on Tuesday after a week of mixed-up schedules. The kids greeted one another with hugs, and quickly returned to their schedules in the Blue Group. With the second half of the year ahead, we would like to update you on our curriculum projects, teacher schedules, and play that we will be performing in a couple weeks!
We have wrapped up our unit on the human body. The children enjoyed learning about the digestive and urinary systems, and had a chance to take a closer examination of the functions of many different organs in the human body. One of the highlights of the unit was looking more closely at how water is filtered. We did some interesting experiments filtering our own water using coffee filters. Each child did a life size representation of their bodies and what they look like on the inside.
We are continuing our author study on Gerald McDermott. Some of the books that he has written include: Coyote, Arrow to the Sun, The Stone Cutter, Jabuti, and Anansi the Spider. The children have enjoyed reading these stories, as well as studying the art of Gerald McDermott. Each child had done their own painting in the style of Gerald McDermott and has told a story about their paintings. These will be up for viewing soon!!! We are also learning many of the signs in the story Coyote during ASL with Jayne. We will be performing the play Coyote in ASL for Jayne on Thursday January 19th at 10:30am. Please feel free to come join us for the play!
We are thrilled to begin our unit on Special Days next week. Special Days are a wonderful way to celebrate each child in the classroom and to get to know about each other and their families. Each child will have his or her own Special Day to share their Special Day project with the children, and have the opportunity to set up their own choices for the class. The theme for Special Day this year is Child Biographers. Each child will asked to interview a child be it a family member or a close friend. The Blue Groupers will collaborate on thinking about which questions should be included in the interview. On your child’s Special Day, he/she will present their project to the rest of the class. Special Days are very important and memorable, and we would like to invite and encourage you to attend your child’s Special Day Group. Other members of your family are welcome to join us as well. We will have a calendar up in the classroom so that you can pick your child’s Special Day.
We are excited to welcome Alexis Berry to the Blue Group this semester. Alexis is a Graduate Student in Child Development here at Tufts, and is doing her student teaching in our classroom. Alexis started on Tuesday, and the children have enjoyed playing and reading with Alexis, and are already very comfortable asking Alexis for help. Alexis will be in the Blue Group Monday through Thursday.
Our teacher schedule has changed slightly this semester. Here is our new schedule, which begins January 9th:
Monday/Friday Tuesday/Thursday Wednesday
8-3 Bob 8-3 Bob 8-3 Liz
8:30-3:30 Liz 8:30-3:30 Aimee 8:30-3:30 Aimee
10:30-5:30 Aimee 10:30-5:30 Liz 10:30-5:30 Bob
2:30-5:30 Ana 2:30-5:30 Ana 2:30-5:30 Ana
Also, mid-year progress reports are being written now. The contact teacher for your child will be in touch with you to schedule a date and time for conferences.
We look forward to the second half of the school year, and as always thank you for sharing your children with us!
Sincerely,
The Blue Team
Important Dates:
Monday January 9th: Family Advisory Board Meeting at 5:30
Friday January 13th: Let’s Get Together hosted by the Kindergarten at 12:00
Monday January 16th: TEDCC is closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Thursday January 19th: The Blue Group Performance of Coyote at 10:30am
October 26, 2005
Dear Families:
We recently added a verse to the Mighty Mighty Song. The Blue Groupers shared ideas on what they felt the Blue Group was about and we put their thoughts into the song. The song goes as follows:
We are the Blue Group
The mighty mighty Blue Group
Everywhere we go
People want to know
Who we are
So we tell them
We love playing with each other
We don’t hurt one another
We love magnets,dancing,morning meeting
Letters are intriguing (back to the top)
The Blue Group has been very busy over the last few weeks. We have been learning about Leo Lionni and discussing some of the topics of his books. His book entitled It’s Mine! is a story about playmates having difficulty sharing power in their relationship. We have used this book to help the Blue Groupers talk about things that are difficult when they are playing with their friends. They mentioned things such as “he never let’s me play”, “we always fight”, “she teases me”. We have begun talking about why these things might be happening and what the alternatives might entail. The children have turned the house area into an interview room. They will use this area as they research their books on each other.
A topic that the children have been curious about is the Human Body. They are interested in what makes a girl a girl or a boy a boy. They have begun to experiment with language relating to the body. They use words such penis, breasts, and vagina. We will be starting a unit on this topic so the children will be able to expand their knowledge and explore their interest in the Human Body through the activities we have designed. Some of the activities we have planned include: having the children draw their bodies, exploring the senses, noting similarities and differences about each other, making skeletons, and talking about the physics of the human body in how it moves and works. We will keep you informed of questions the children ask during this unit and let you know how we have responded. Also, continue to feel free to ask any questions around this topic or any other. One final note, we are in need of plastic bags so if you can spare any please bring some in.
Thank You,
Liz, Bob, Aimee, Ana
