November 30th, 2021

In the classroom, there continues to be an increased interest in "doctor" dramatic play, taking care of ourselves/each other, and conversations about our bodies. This week at morning meeting we wanted to get to know more about the children's specific interests in this area and their questions and knowledge about bodies. 
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"What do you know about your body?"

** interest in bones, their placement and function **

​Daniel: Your head looks like a skeleton and your brain. I know about my legs because they’re long and you see the feet are like that. It’s connected to your legs. 
Frannie: My ribs. (Where are your ribs in your body?) Here (pointing to her hips).
Remy: They’re your hips.
Daniel: Right there! (Pointing to his ribcage) 
Remy: Yeah, they’re moving.

​​​** differentiation between inside and outside (skin, bones, organs, blood)**
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Wilder: I can feel my blood pumping in my body.
Sam: So we have blood in our body?
Frannie: And our bones are in our body.
Finlay: Inside your head is your bone, it is shaped like your head and inside inside of your bone is your brain. So your bone is inside of your head is protecting your brain.
Ines: So bones are are to protect what’s inside our body, our organs. 
Sam: Organs, that means all of the things that help your body be alive. It’s on the inside of your body, we can’t see them. 
Luke: I know blood is, and have bones. But a blood is inside. Bones are inside. 
Daniel: Everything is inside your body, remember?
Ines: Everything? Are there parts of your body that are outside?

Luke: I want to tell you something special. So I draw that person but it’s me and I put my hand up so I can share something and it’s special like that. (pointing out his painting, which he identified on the documentation board)
Sam: Is that about your body? What part of your body?
Luke: Like the skin. 
Sam: So that’s why it’s on the documentation board about bodies because it’s a painting about Luke’s skin. Is that part of his body? (Yeah!) And it looks like Cate made this painting. What part of the body was this painting?
Cate: The heart.

Sam: Is that inside or outside your body?
Cate: Inside.
Daniel: It’s in your belly.
Sam: Luke, tell us about this painting.
Luke: It’s a organ.
Sam is reading the notes on the drawing "It’s a lung. Where air goes in."
Sam: Let’s take a deep breath. Inside your body are two organs that fill up with air in your chest, they help you breathe. 
​Bea: Your organs are protecting your body, when your body is protected and then it’s good and then you’re safe. 

** interest in specific function of organs, protective qualities of body parts and exploring the question of safety and wellbeing **

Cate and Bea painting hearts with water colors 

​** interest in blood and circulatory system, injuries and healing process **
​
Wilder: Your heart pumps your blood around.
Sam: Do you know what your biggest organ is? Your skin! And does your skin protect your body? (Yes!)
Wilder: When someone scratches you and bited you that will go through your skin.
Daniel: Can you break your bone?
Remy: Yes. You know my dad breaks one of his bones. 
Daniel: Did he die?
Remy: No! (he went to the doctor)
Luke: If you get sick you can die.
Ines: What happens when you scratch your skin?
Wilder: It breaks. 
Ines: But does it stay like that?
Wilder: No, it heals. It’s not a cut anymore.
Wilder: Can I tell you something about bodies. It’s about boo boos. When I was scooting I fell off and scraped my knee and it was a booboo but now, there was three but one is still healing but the other two already healed. 
Sam: Wilder, was this a big enough, you called it a booboo, was it a big enough injury that you had to go to a doctor?
Wilder: No, I just needed a bandaid.
Sam: So you can take care of it at home by yourself or maybe with mom or dad’s help.
Daniel: My booboos were there for one day. Just one day.

Saul: I know that I have blood and it’s trying to move around and it’s trying to see my body and trying to get out of it.
Sam: Saul, you said something interesting, your blood moves around. How does it do that?
Bea: You move your body and your blood moves around (wiggling her body)
Wilder: And your heart moves your blood.
Saul: Every morning the blood keeps moving and moving and moving.
Wilder: Except when you sleep.
Ines: Is the blood the blood still moving and is the heart still beating when you’re asleep.
Saul: Yes, it is!
Bea: You just, when you’re moving around and when you’re sleeping, your heart keeps beating and your blood keeps moving.
Daniel: And right now it’s doing that.
Wilder: When I am sleeping I never move.
Daniel: When you don’t move it still keeps (beating).

** change and differences (size, appearance) **
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Sam: Do bodies always stay the same or do they change? 
Finlay: They change.
Sam: How?
Wilder: Well actually, they stay how they are but different people and differender than them. And there’s different people between boys and girls. Boys are not girls and girls are not boys.
Luke: They’re different kind of color. And sometimes we have not the same hair. Them have different hair like blue hair or green hair. 
Ines: But do we always look the exact same? Are we always the same size?
Wilder:  No, cause when you sleep and eat you grow bigger.
Frannie: And if you eat carrots you can see in the dark.
Cate: And when you turn a different age you can still get bigger.
Lucas: Without you can not see that much stuff and when it’s still night time if your eyes will adjust. 
Ines: How do they adjust?
Lucas: I don’t know. My eyes, when I asleep and my head is on the pillow my eyes don’t adjust.
Saul: My eyes do it in the afternoon. They adjust to green and then blue.

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Sam: It sounds like most of us have talked about what we find interesting about inside our bodies. Is that what we would like to learn more about?
Finlay: Yes, because we know all the things that are outside because we can see it. And we can’t see inside, inside of your body. 


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Transforming photo booth
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After gradually introducing new materials in our photo booth area, such as baby dolls, cribs, and doctor materials, the focus of the area shifted away from mainly photography. Was the description "photo booth" still appropriate and fitting for the area? We brought our questions and thoughts to the children... They shared that they still have a strong interest in both, family and doctor play and came up with ideas on how to possibly connect the two interests in the area.

​Daniel: Babies can be the patients!
Wilder: A baby nursing place is when people are getting their new babies they go to the doctor and get their babies out so I think we can use photo booth as a doctor area so people can get their babies out. 
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We debated which of the terms, hospital, nursing place or doctor's office, would be most fitting for the changing area. After sharing thoughts and voting for our preference, we decided on calling it  Rainey Room Doctor's Office.

New materials in the doctor's office include tongue depressors, syringes, blood pressure cuffs, bandages, clipboards for taking notes, writing diagnoses or prescriptions, medication containers and stethoscopes. These materials support the children in their emerging interest and in taking on the roles of patients and nurses/doctors. We thank everyone who has already donated these fantastic materials! 

We would welcome any further support!
Here are some ideas of potential items you may have at home and could be willing to donate to the classroom:
- thermometer
- syringes / medicine dispensers (spoons, cups)
- bandages
- Elastic "ACE" bandages 
- athletic tape/wrap 
- cotton balls
- gauze 
- simple bandaids (we will most likely go trough a lot of them)
- prescription bottles (cleaned and with personal information removed please) ​

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Some medical items we have already explored together in the classroom:

Stethoscope 
Lily: Stethoscope. To see inside your body. 
Daniel: No, to hear your heart!
Sam: Okay, so these pieces go into  my ears.
Daniel: And then put the one next to your belly and you will hear the heart. 

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Syringe
Lily: To get medicine. Put it in the mouth. 
Wilder: I have that for real life at my house.
Finlay: So I use the tiny one. So listen, you can dig it onto your skin and put medicine in and you stick it in and push into your skin (giving shots)

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Some of our reactions to hearing heart beats

Michael: It sounds like a cricket!

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Wilder: I feel it really loud like giant feet. Thumpety thump thumpety thump.

Cate:  I hear it, too. Bumpy.
​Like big rocks tumbling over.

​​discovering and exploring new materials around the classroom