We passed 100!

We passed our 100th post without even realizing it! To celebrate, I'm going to let you in on a little secret : )

How to make these lovelies on a preschool teacher's budget--less than $5 each!

What to do:

Order habotai silk scarves from Dharma Trading Company

Use this tutorial to color them.

If you follow the directions like I didn't, they will turn out a nice solid color. If you want them marbly like these, then don't do a lot of stirring.

Need I tell you about the myriad of uses for these scarves????????????

capes, 

baby blankets, 

table cloths, 

bandanas, 

props for circle time and movement activities, 

fort-making sheets, 

room decor...

to name a few.

Some user footnotes:
Using a larger container or pot where the scarves have a lot of space to move around will help the dye flow through the creases.  Just explore with it. It's fun, I have more ideas on how to make it look purposefully discolored for next time.  The directions and observations in the link will tell you everything you need to know. It will take less than thirty minutes from start to finish. You may end up. like I did, dumping the jars into the pot (like colors, of course), and boiling until the dye is set, like in the reds and oranges, which took a lot longer.

*Stephanie*

Lessons in death--FAIL

Kids have been exploring death for some time now.  It started with bugs, then in their superhero "bad guy" play, and then snowmen dying (melting) and being resurrected, and now... 

 family members thought to be dead but then "waking up" because they were simply sleeping.

So naturally, when a puffer fish in my office tank died, it would be a nice, real way to explore concepts of death.  So the day after I discovered my poor dead fish in the tank, I made an announcement to the children that after lunchtime we would have a burial for the fish.  Children anxiously shared stories about  their own fish death experiences and asked me more about why the fish died.

After lunch, we dug a hole in the garden (for the fish's grave) and I took a group of children into my office to net out the dead fish.  We brought a shell to carry the dead body to the grave site.  I carefully placed the dead fish onto the shell, and began to dry off drips of water that had splattered about.

As we were preparing to leave, Ja announces, "Hey! The fish is trying to say something!"  I looked down at the fish and, indeed, the fish was gasping for air.  It was alive!!! Lessons in death? FAIL!!!

We put it back into the tank and in an attempt to resuccitate it back to optimal health, gave it some worms to eat and fresh water.

Unfortunately, it did die two days later.  Being the weekend and all, I had my own personal burial for the fish.

Child-initiated graphs and charts

Za wanted to keep track of how many boys and girls were at school, so we made a chart

Sa liked the idea and made his own version

Za wanted the girls to win 

Ak, inspired by the linearity of it all, mapped out her activities for the day

Ladies and gentlemen, pre-literacy and math, right before our eyes.  

When the student is ready...

the learning unfolds!!!

Sun day, Fun day!

In line with our beach theme, we've been exploring topics of the sun and light this week.  As a modifaction to yesterday's light table, I repurposed the corn starch and made a little beach scene.  I love the little wooden/felt people that I got from Zooble and with our sun house, pieces of driftwood, shells, and small ball jars (to refract the light), we have a very complete beach hut scene.

Next up in the sun category was our sunprints. Each child chose two objects to place on construction paper which was left in the sun for a few hours.  As my 14-year-old niece put it, it is a "negative tan".

We also painted through light, inspired by Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.

At circle, we sang a modified version of "This Little Light of Mine".

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

I'm gonna put on some sunscreen, and then I'll let it shine!...

I'm gonna put on my sunglasses, and then I'll let it shine!...

I'm gonna put on my sun hat, and then I'll let it shine!...

Now that the kids get the flow of the song, I'll let them come up with ways to prepare for the beach and sing their ideas. I love modifying songs according to kids' ideas.

Next it was time to introduce the solar oven!  Simply a shoe box with a closeable hole cut in the lid, lined with foil (and the hole in the lid lined with saran wrap or wax paper)...our cheesey open quesadillas melted nicely!

Lastly, a paper mache sun. Sorry no photo of the finished product yet (because they'll make it in the afternoon!) Here are the ingredients, minus the foam soccer ball and/or balloons, tbd!

The thing I totally forgot to do but plan on it was to make a Sunflower Sundial using milestones in the day, like circletime, lunch time, story time, nap, snack, etc. Considering how much of our day is spent outdoors, this can be a very interactive timekeeper!

Living up to my dream

I don't remember much about my childhood, but I distinctly remember telling many people that when I grow up, I want to be a carpenter and a nurse.  I could see the pride in my father, who was in construction, as I imparted the greatest form of flattery.  It's flattering observe children being teachers in their pretend play, especially when they want to be "Stephanie".

I realized as I tried to complete a reading nook that, as a preschool teacher, I am a carpenter.  And a nurse.  And so many other things.  I guess by following my natural course in life, I've reached my childhood goals.

As a side note, I thought of this article on embracing failure in the scientific process when I embarked on the reading nook project, a very simple exercise in carpentry skills that has gone terribly wrong.  The article says:

"We can learn nearly as much from an experiment that does not work as from one that does. Failure is not something to be avoided but rather something to be cultivated. That's a lesson from science that benefits not only laboratory research, but design, sport, engineering, art, entrepreneurship, and even daily life itself. All creative avenues yield the maximum when failures are embraced."

Aside from making a great case for child-led exploration, it reminds me that it's okay that I've completely abandoned the reading nook project, because I'm a carpenter in the making, not a carpenter in perfection.  


I'm also a nurse, a librarian, a scientist, a counselor, sometimes a marriage counselor, a janitor, a nutritionist, a diplomat, an assumed expert in many areas of interest (like aquatic science, botany, paleontology, and entomology), and these are just some of the in-the-classroom roles.   I'm happy--no, honored-- to be a part of a field of well-roundedness, even when my attempts at carpentry look like this...

...and ultimately crumble into smithereens.  

But, as my friend Craig reminds me, "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another without the loss of enthusiasm." (Winston Churchill).


Lucky for us, Beansprouts was sent a version of said reading nook, thank you Renee and Gary for your hard work and generosity!

And when my carpentry skills don't come through, pvc frames work, too!

Discovering Light

Ingredients for fun:

Cornstarch

Party lights

Props (we used shells for our beach theme)

While it looks as though we had the lights off for this, we totally didn't.  In fact, this room has a huge window just across from this activity table, so the room was quite well-let.  As a variation I would place larger props in the area because then the light really has the ability to make colored shadows (try it, you'll see what I mean!).  You can buy the party bulbs and clip-on lamps for for under $40 (for everything) at the hardware store.  Supervision is required, of course, but the bulbs don't get incredibly hot and the wiring can be hidden (for the impulsive ones in your group).

This activity ties into our beach theme because this week we'll discuss the sun and discover light.

Cleanup provisions: Yes, it took ten minutes to sweep/vacuum the cornstarch from the floor.  

Uh, worth it!

Variations: I'd love to add some prisms, drinking glasses or ball jars, and more mirrors to this station.  

Tomorrow : )

*Stephanie*

Evidence of fun

Today I will save my explanations about why "fun" is good for children and assume that we're all in agreement that children's receptivity to learning is heightened during play.

I enjoy finding "evidence" of children's fun. 

 Color

 Probable unrestricted use of paint

 Child-initiated clean up station

Sand splatters (e.g. from overflowing food) 

Self-serve water

Kids using containers meant for adult use

Sand toys being used as stylish apparel 

Have a fun week!

*Stephanie*

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