Upcoming Dates and Announcements:
Click the link to find out what’s happening at WCDS https://here.wcdsedu.com/events/
- Tuesday, November 11- Veterans Day and No School for Students
- Tuesday, November 25 – Alumni Kickball, Thanksgiving Lunch, and Early Dismissal at 12:30 (No Aftercare)
- Wednesday – Friday, November 26th-28th – No School
Snack helper: Ripley
Hello JK families,
Although any given day in early childhood can be messy, we in Junior Kindergarten have officially named the first day of our week, “Messy Mondays!” This Monday slime and orbeez took center stage! The children were presented with clear slime and a variety of wire kitchen tools to test the limits of the gooey material. Some children stretched to see how far the slime could go, others made balls, and lots waited patiently for the the slime to ooze down through the wire racks. Meanwhile, orbeez bounced all around our outdoor space and we will likely still be finding them rolling around in May! But oh how the children loved pouring and mixing them through a variety of vessels.
Messy Monday
As we continue to honor the children’s interests, we devoted some time to explore movement and sound. We know how much they love to throw, roll, and launch objects so we decided to give them fans and hair dryers to help propel objects. Ping pong balls and scarves flew across the classroom and the children giggled with delight! Using large plastic and cardboard tubes, the kiddos figured out how to work together to get the balls from one side to the other using a hair dryer. And of course they also yelled messages to each other from one end of the tube to the other! To continue exploring sound, we presented the kids with suspended spoons on a windy day! They painted the spoons and listened to their clinking sound as they worked, but their true interest was found in the act of mixing the paint colors together.
Movement and Sound
After watching the kiddos mix and mix instead of actually painting we knew we needed to read the story Mix it Up by Herve Tulle and show the children a color mixing demonstration with the primary colors. We squirted red + yellow, red + blue, and yellow + blue in a ziplock bag and showed them how quickly they could make the secondary colors: orange, purple, and green. They were then invited to mix up their own colors and work to match the swatches on a paint sample chip. The results were beautiful!
Color Mixing
In language and literacy, the children practiced the sound and formation for the letter Cc. They continue to love our phonemic awareness drills and nursery rhyme practice. In math the children learned the number 8 and worked hard to replicate the tricky curves of the number. They felt a true sense of accomplishment when they were able to write it.
In social emotional learning (character development) the children learned about two different parts of the brain. The lizard brain (amygdala) and the wizard brain (prefrontal cortex). We explained how the lizard brain will often react quickly and erracticly because it’s main job is to keep us safe. The wizard brain is calmer and helps us make reasonable decisions. We then gave the children different scenarios and asked them which brain should they choose. For example, “Which brain would you use if there was a fire and you needed to get out?” Lizard! “What if a friend walked by and knocked over your tower?” Stay calm, and use that wizard brain! After some practice, it was wonderful to see them begin to understand the difference. We also took some time to explore our differences. We read It’s Ok to be Different by Todd Parr and asked the children to share something about themselves that makes them feel special. Here’s a few quotes:
Avery- “Picking nuts and apple cider, giving them to my Mom. Archie’s a good speller.”
Abigail- “Helping friends and teachers on the ABC.”
Leland – “I love my mom and building with Legos with my friends.”
Sebastian- “Being respectful.”
Gemma- “Helping friends in the classroom.”
Levi- “Drawing letters and names.”
Lennon- “Helping people.”
Archie- “I can read.”
Kemper- “Play and clean up.”
Atticus- “Welcoming friends into the classroom.”
Lincoln- “Showing friends how to use the slide for the first time.”
Ripley- “I have a lot of teeth.”
Destry- “Because Mom and me went on a date.”
Nala- “Sharing and giving food to share. Being good and nice.”
Clara- “Because I had a boo boo.”
Character Development, Literacy, and Math
Outdoor and Classroom Fun
Have a wonderful weekend!
Miss Liz and Miss Gina