More Space Exploration Fun!
10/25/2019
This week the Belugas continued last week’s theme of “Space”. This topic is really so broad that we were only able to scratch the surface, but we mainly focused on the sun, the planets in our solar system, and the kinds of things astronauts do on the space station. We talked a bit about why the earth is the only planet that we can live on, which means we need to take good care of it. It was a great opportunity to begin laying the foundation for our "Recycling and Taking Care of the Earth" theme, which we will be doing later in the year. Day-to-day life as an astronaut is super interesting to children (and adults, too!). We watched just a few videos about life on the International Space Station which captivated the kids. Here are the links to two of the most popular:
We also learned a couple of cute songs about the planets in our solar system:
Space-themed activities were everywhere in the classroom, and even spilled over into recess! The solar system puzzle was very popular, and the students also enjoyed building rockets out of various kinds of blocks. Sensory play, such as the space bin and galaxy dough, were engaging and calming activities, as were the math activities. While playing outdoors, many of the children pretended to be astronauts blasting off into outer space! Even with a short week due to parent teacher conferences, we managed to squeeze in these and other activities which were designed to both engage the children and also heighten their curiosity about space and the many adventures which wait for them outside Earth’s atmosphere.
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Blasting Off to Space with Imagination
10/19/2019
What an exciting week we’ve had! Space Week was a so much fun for the entire school, and our Beluga class has enjoyed it so much that we’re going to continue with it as long as the children are engaged! The children were involved in all kinds of enriching activities which had space as their theme, including reading books about space, creating art projects of planets and rockets, adding our faces to the astronauts we colored, and exploring our new space-themed sensor bin. A big hit was playing with the galaxy dough which looked like the night sky, and the children worked on fine motor skills as they had fun searching for the marble planets which were mixed in it. Our week culminated with our Space Museum event, which was so much fun, and very well attended! One of the greatest highlights of the week was visiting with our special visitors from NASA who did a fabulous job of engaging with the children and answering all their questions. They brought real moon rocks and an actual space suit to explore and ignite our imaginations! Imagination is such an important and wonderful part of early childhood, and it’s one of the things which makes working with young children so engaging – anything is possible to a child! With this in mind, we began this week by reading and discussing “The Terrible Suitcase” by Emma Allen and Freya Blackwood. This is a great story about a young girl who receives a “terrible suitcase” instead of the rocket backpack she had really wanted. She is very unhappy with it, but by the end of the story it has become a wonderful prop used in several different ways to help her and her friends imagine themselves as astronauts on a space exploration. Sir Ken Robinson, British author, speaker and international advisor on education in the arts noted “…one of the roles of education is to awaken and develop (the) powers of creativity. Instead, what we have is a culture of standardization.” At PNA our motto is “We educate students to be exceptional learners and independent thinkers of vision, courage, and integrity.” As educators we are constantly striving to provide the kind of education Sir Robinson is advocating – one rich in experiences which will “awaken and develop the powers of creativity”. In Early Kindergarten we work to begin this process of by preparing an environment which fosters both imagination and creativity. Einstein is quoted as saying “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere”. That is one of the main goals in our classroom: provide the environment, materials and experiences which will help our students develop the kind of powerful imaginations that, as they grow, will take them anywhere and everywhere they desire.
In our Beluga pod this week we wrapped up our apple theme this week playing with green apple- and apple pie-scented play dough, reading many apple-themed books, and even making apple muffins. Sensory play in early childhood is valuable learning time. As children manipulate all kinds of wonderful sensory materials in the bins, they are using their senses explore and have fun, but this kind of play also provides learning experiences and growth several different developmental domains. Children learn best through “hands on” experiences, and though it can be a bit messy at times, the concepts which they learn in this way contribute powerfully to cognitive development, social and emotional development, fine motor development, and creativity. Sensory play helps children develop in their understanding of such science concepts as cause and effect, physical forces (i.e. gravity), classifying and sorting. The also learn all kinds of mathematical concepts such as size, counting, conservation, estimation, matching, etc. It can also encourage children’s’ emotional and social growth. Skills such as decision-making, self-control, sharing of resources, using good manners, and other cooperative skills are all being developed as the children are stirring, squishing, pouring and just enjoying the materials in the bin. One often-overlooked values of these kinds of sensory activities is that they invite the children to explore how the materials make them feel. Many times, children are calmed by sensory play, as it provides a good way for relieving tension. There are many other benefits of sensory play. I invite you to check out this article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children: https://issuu.com/naeyc/docs/meeting_sensory_needs_thompson_0513
Our Apple Bin will be joined next week by a Space Bin, which will have different materials. It will be exciting! Amazing Apples!
10/7/2019
We have had an exciting time this week as we have begun our theme about apples. We began by talking about the different parts of apples and labeling a big chart. Then we jumped right in investigating a few kinds of apples by doing a taste-test. The goal for this activity was that the children would be introduced to scientific concepts of data collection, organizing and representing information, and drawing conclusions. After talking about the different parts of an apple, we sliced three different kinds and then tasted each of them. After everyone had decided which they liked best, we talked about how we could make a special math picture called a graph to help us understand our information. We talked about what we could see from the graph using math words such as “greater than”, “less than”, and “equal to”. Later in the week we had an adventure making and tasting fresh apple juice, and we also worked together peeling and chopping apples to make applesauce. In between our apple activities we were busy with lots of other activities! We're always working on our social skills while we play in the dramatic play area pretending to be community helpers building block towers with friends in the block area, and exploring science and math materials. We love learning together at PNA!!
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Melissa SmithMs. Smith has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has taught kindergarten for many years. Alaska has been home to Ms. Smith for 28 years, and she can't imagine living anywhere else! She has four children, a dog and two cats. She loves reading, camping, gardening, and genealogy! Archives
April 2021
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