Week in Review October 26th-30th

Week in Review: October 26th- 30th 

Exploring the Movement of Water

We provoked the children's thinking with a tower of three pie pans. Each pie pan had a different amount of holes drilled into it. The children explored pouring the water onto each of the levels. They were drawn to the very top pie pan, which had the most amount of holes. Many of the children noticed how quickly the water dripped out of the pie pan onto the second pie pan. They describe the falling water as "rain." Several children used the scoops to collect the water that was dripping through the holes. 

After reviewing the documentation, we found that the children were thinking about how the could collect the water and how the water travels through objects/containers. Ms. Emily our Strategies student provoked the children with sponges, measuring cups and buckets. She posed the question, "How can we fill
up the bucket with water?" The children developed several different strategies for filling the bucket such as submerging the sponge into the water and then squeezing the water out of the sponge and into the bucket. Another strategy the children developed was using the measuring cups to scoop water from the water table into the bucket. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

1.       1.Early Learning Expectation: Observation and Inquiry. Children develop positive attitudes and gain knowledge about science through observation and active play.

1.       2.Early Learning Expectation: Initiative-Engagement-Persistence Attentiveness. Children demonstrate the quality of showing interest in learning; pursue learning independently.

    5. Early Learning Expectation: Reasoning-Problem Solving-Reflection. Children demonstrate a growing capacity to make meaning, using one’s habits of mind to find a solution or figure something out.

Building In Front of  Light Source

Over the past couple of weeks, the children have been experimenting with building in front of a light source. We recently been exploring how we can change our shadow by rearranging the blocks within our structure. Only a few children noticed the connection between the placement of their blocks and the shape/outline of their shadow. Therefore, we decided provoke the children's thinking with a large white board, blocks and expo markers. We asked the children to build in front of the white board and then traced their structure. Many of the children decided to build tall and then outline their structure, while others aligned their blocks near the bottom of the white board. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met:

1.       5. Early Learning Expectation: Reasoning-Problem Solving-Reflection. Children demonstrate a growing capacity to make meaning, using one’s habits of mind to find a solution or figure something out.

           6. Early Learning Expectation: Fine Motor Development. Children experience growth in fine motor development and use small muscles to improve a variety of fine motor skills both in structured and unstructured settings.

     7. Early Learning Expectation: Geometry. Children build their visual thinking skills through explorations with shape and the spaces in their classrooms and neighborhoods.

Exploring the Inside of the Pumpkin

During group time, we talked about what we know about pumpkins. Many children stated the physical characteristics of the pumpkins "its a circle", "it's orange", and "there are seeds inside." After our group time discussion we opened the pumpkin and let the children explore the contents. The children describe the inside of the pumpkin as being gooey, slimy, and cold. A few children describe the center as "spaghetti." Some children enjoyed using the tweezers to remove the seeds from the middle of the pumpkin. Many of them counted the seeds as they placed them into the bowl. 

 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met:

 1.Early Learning Expectation: Observation and Inquiry. Children develop positive attitudes and gain knowledge about science through observation and active play.

2. Early Learning Expectation: Living and Non-living Things. Children show a beginning awareness of scientific knowledge related to living and non-living things

1.  Early Learning Expectation: Classification and Patterns. Children begin to develop skills of recognizing, comparing and classifying objects, relationships, events and patterns in their environment and in everyday life.

Balancing our Bodies

Over the past two weeks, the children have been exploring how they can balance their bodies. When we introduced the balance beam, many children would fall off on either side of the beam. After they became more familiar with the beam, they children started developing different strategies to help them be successful at finishing the whole length of the beam. Some children discovered that they could control their bodies better when they moved slowly across the beam. While other children placed one foot in front of the other, while holding their hands out. 

This week, we provoked the children's thinking with the balance boards. At first, they looked to the teacher for assistance to move back and forth on the board. Many children discovered how the placement of their feet, affected how well they could maneuver on the balance board. Some children used their hands to help them maintain their balance while they were exploring the board. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

       4. Early Learning Expectation: Body Control and Activity. Children increase their ability to understand and control their bodies and learn that regular physical activity can enhance their overall physical, social, and mental health.

         5. Early Learning Expectation: Gross Motor Development. Children experience growth in gross motor development and use large muscles to improve a variety of gross motor skills in a variety of both structured and unstructured and planned and spontaneous settings.

Highlights from the Halloween Walk