October 11th, 2017

Lunch is a huge part of the KW program.  Everyday, we start with table setters.  Here, Mac carefully arranges materials to create a centerpiece.  There's more to the table-setting process, however.  Children need to be aware of how many children are in attendance on a certain day.  They also set out a place card for each child, which helps them understand one-to-one correspondence.  
Today, Mac also introduced us to a new lunch time ritual.  After Ellee and Prate led the group in a moment of silence, Mac rang the mindfulness bell.  He explained that everyone should eat silently until they no long could hear the sound of the bell.  He also advised against eating crunchy foods at this time.  With this practice, our lunch got off to a peaceful start.  
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After lunch, our crew was eager to get to work!  We posed a construction challenge in the block area today: build the Cathedral that we saw on on our Friday visit to the Bishop's Garden.  The final structure is in the Tucker Room, so check it out when you arrive in the morning.  Another group of children worked with smaller materials to re-create the Bishop's Garden.  Here's some of the things they said as they built:
   Hadley - We're actually building the path.
   Lila - (With a clipboard) And I'm drawing the path.
   Hadley - We had an idea!  This (some netting) can be the fishy pond!  Can I make the castle?
   Lila - And I'm checking the things they build.  A  fish pond...check!
   Prater - (Bringing a butterfly drawing over to the area)   I had a good idea.  This can be a butterfly for the garden.
   Hadley - (Using small brick block to build the gazebo)  It has windows... and we're in there.
   Lila - Window... check!

There were two opportunities for drawing today: small and large.  The large drawings took place at the easel with projected images.  Children participated in the process in different ways.  Ellee traced a butterfly, Mac traced a treasure map, while other children  drew more fanciful people and things that were inspired by the projected image.  We finished the day with reading a Halloween book (one of our favorite things to do), eating the banana bread that we baked yesterday, and a few rounds of "Doggie, Doggie, Where's Your Bone"  (another favorite thing).