Upcoming Dates and Announcements:
- Friday, February 27th- March 8th- Spring Break
- Saturday, March 28th- Mark your calendars for CELEBRATE!
- Your child will be coming home with Raffle Tickets that the PFA is selling for a Disney Trip or a $3,000 Uniglobe gift card. You are encouraged to sell your tickets and return cash or a check to the office. Proceeds support field trips, faculty and student appreciation week, field day and more! Additional tickets can be picked up in the office, or can be purchased online here: https://app.betterunite.com/WheelingCountryDaySchool-celebrategamenight Ticket stubs and money are due on or before March 28th. Winner will be drawn at CELEBRATE! Winner need not be present.
Snack helper: Donato
CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENT
Good Morning Families,
One of our favorite things about being your children’s teachers is how closely we get to observe their play. When we truly slow down and watch, their imaginations lead the way and that play so beautifully turns into meaningful learning experiences.
This week, our center time transformed into a very busy doctor’s office! We noticed the children inviting one another in for appointments while holding clipboards and saying, “Come on in!” They examined their patients, asked thoughtful questions, and collaborated just like real medical professionals. One very special patient was even a dinosaur with a broken leg!
Following their lead, we thoughtfully set up provocations to extend their learning. While the dramatic play doctor’s office was exciting, we noticed their curiosity shifting more toward the human body itself.
At the light table, the children examined x-rays of a human spine and ribcage. With clipboards and blank paper in hand, they were prompted to “draw what you see.” As a group of them carefully studied an image, they all excitedly shared, “Yeah, that’s what these things are!” while pointing to the ribcage.
We then introduced a brand new classroom tool, the microscopes! After a quick crash course on how to use them, the children revisited the petri dishes we used weeks ago to collect germ samples from around camp. What a sight! They were amazed at what they could see and eagerly recorded their observations.
The exploration continued with an human body apron that had velcro plush organs (which was a huge hit!). We talked about how all of those organs fit inside our bodies. The children explored nonfiction books about the human body, drew detailed pictures of what they found most interesting, and discovered fascinating new facts. To bring it all together, they used clay to sculpt full bodies carefully forming heads, arms, legs, and even adding internal details inspired by their research!
In math, we explored positional words using cups and bears. The children were challenged to place the bear in a variety of places in reference to the cup. For example, “put the bear (on, in, next to, behind, under, near, far away, etc.) the cup.”
During phonics, we read There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the ABC’s and then played a mystery bag beginning sound game. Each child reached inside, pulled out an object, identified its beginning sound, and matched it to the correct letter card. To make it even more personal, we clipped the first letter of each child’s name onto their shirt and practiced saying the beginning sound of their name with big smiles and lots of confidence!
We also introduced the letter Ee this week! We practiced writing uppercase and lowercase E on our dry erase boards, explored its sound, and created a word web filled with all the exciting words we could think of that begin with E.
We feel so lucky to watch these ideas in their little minds unfold each day! We can’t wait to see what happens next!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Miss Gina and Miss Liz
