September 16th, 2020

Pod B

A developing area of interest for the Pod B children is planets. Today Melanie provided a provocation around this topic at the easel. Children used silver circles of varying sizes as a starting off point for their planet paintings.

Oliver: (Looking at picture of Jupiter) "I want to make this rainbow planet. Look, see? Rainbow color."

Fletcher: "One planet is dry and one planet is very very wet. There's a stream of water going to the dry planet."

Games and Puzzles

(Working on a unicorn puzzle together)
Olivia: I seem not to get any pieces.
Aida: I can't make them match.
Melanie:  It can be frustrating, right?
Aida: It's okay.  You can just need to keep trying.  (she sees Melanie make a match) Good work miss Melanie.  Try looking for the pieces that are the same color.  That's called matching pieces.

Exploring Math Concepts

As the children get older their developing interest and knowledge related to math concepts is evident. Pod B has been exploring ways to make 10 using cuisenaire rods.

Pod A

Today was Pod A's first Backwards Day! The children enjoyed playing outside in the cool morning air for an hour! Palmer, Cannon, Maren, Wolf and Nora enjoyed unearthing a large 'rock' in the sand area. Dakota and Gigi had fun doing the obstacle course and going on the slide.

This year's birthday gift is a plant in a personalized pot. Since plants are not easy to wrap, we decided to have a 'birthday reveal box' which the children can lift up to see their gifts. On Monday, when we celebrated our Aida's birthday, it was just a plain box.  Today Maren, Dakota and Nora worked on using beautiful gold and silver paper to 'wrap' the box. It looks LOVELY! The next step is for Pod B to add embellishments. Once the box is finished it will serve as the 'reveal box' for each child's present. It's a great way to be planet-friendly as well!

Math Concepts

During morning meeting we revisited an idea from Palmer's memory box: dice. 
Jill: What games to you play at home?
Palmer: Trouble, Candyland, there's a game called Enchanted Forest you have to get 3 cards to win, Slamwich, Zingo.
Jill: So what does the dice tell you?
Palmer: Trouble has a dice cube in the middle. And there's this big thing around it and you push it and if you get a 5 or a 2 or a 4 you have to move your person.
Jill: So the dice tells you the numbers?
(church bell begins to chime indicating 9:00)
Cannon: Like the church bell!
Brooke: How does it tell numbers?
Cannon: It rings and rings and rings. (makes ringing sounds)
Gigi: As many times (as it rings).
Jill: So if it rings once?
Palmer: It's one o'clock.

Another, and more complex, math concept came up during clay: fractions! 
Palmer: I'm cutting this big piece in half.
Brooke: How do you know it's half?
Palmer: Because it's in 2 pieces.
(Maren cuts a piece into even halves.)
Maren: This is half.
(Brooke cuts a piece into 2 VERY uneven pieces)
Brooke: Did I cut this in half?
Cannon: Yeah, that's half.
Maren agrees with him.
Palmer: I'm not sure.

Later at second meeting Brooke read her notes to the class about the conversation. She cut a piece unevenly and asked what the other children thought.
Brooke: Did I cut it in half?
Gigi: Yes!
Wolf: Yes.
Dakota: I think you cut a big piece and a small piece.
Nora: I think you cut half.

It was interesting to listen to the different ideas around these math concepts. We will continue to explore how we can provide experiences that deepen understanding and spark interest around these topics.

Clay Photos

Sewing Photos