It is great to be back at home and start the normal routines. I loved the way my purple room children hugged me, kissed me and gave me a warm welcome. They were ready to share all the stories that I had missed for two weeks and updated me with everything that happened. In short they bought me to the same page as them :) - something that is really important as we work together. I am so proud of them!
Last week L picked up a quill and started to pretend writing with the tip. Truly speaking I had this activity of writing with the quill already set in my mind and therefore I put the quills out. But little did I know that my friends will catch the writing part even before setting it out as a station.
Later we opened up paints and quills and they immediately chose to draw and write using those materials. Some children got frustrated since it took them a while to even draw a line with it. On this note, we discussed writing in olden days with quills dipped in ink and how long it took them to write anything. We also connected it to the quick writing today using ink in pens or lead in pencils. This motivated them to at least try using quills as to my surprise their interest grew in it as they worked on it. Some made free drawings where some even tried to write their names!
They all noticed my hand which had henna drawing and wanted to try doing the same. They asked me to trace my hand so that they can draw on it and even paint the nails just like mine.
Free drawing...
Henna drawing...
Richa got some lovely daffodils and we were ready to experience the flavor of spring arriving. Extending their interest in different writing materials, we chose to the daffodils picture using the green flower stems. Again, the patient children learned to overcome the frustration of it taking so long to draw, just because they were so interested to copy what they saw and using stems as a new material!
Letter Q started with a Quack...we did the song, 'Five little ducks went out one day", brainstormed 'Q' words and made letter Q collages using cutouts of a queen, quail, and quill. Now this shall surprise you all just like it did us. A friend during circle time noticed that all the words that started with Q were always followed with a 'u', and was so proud to announce it to other friends. It was a great catch!
Some Q words were so interesting for them that the rest of the week was spent doing projects related to those. Quail, Quilts, and Questions dominated the discussion. We learned what a question is, what mark we put after the question, and each one of them got a chance to frame a question. The most funny one that made us burst out laughing was, "knock knock, who's there?" (yes the knock knock joke) Hahahahahaha!!!!
We spoke about the bird Quail, looked at its real eggs (thank you teacher Thaovy for getting those from the market), hard boiled them and maybe you got a chance as a family to taste them since we sent each one home.
Looking at them and feeling them, talking about eggs, their size, color, and other characteristics...
seeing the transformation after cooking, and comparing the raw and the boiled one...
J said that every egg has a different pattern! Great observation skills!
We got to see some real quilts from friends who brought them as a share, and talked about how special they are. We noticed that each one was one of
a kind, colorful with different designs and patterns, and with many patches sewn together. They loved it and we decided to color our own designer quilts.
Believe it or not, they sat there focused for more than thirty minutes to finish it and make it beautiful. They made it with so much dedication and excitement. Reflecting on their interest, we decided to put a purple room quilt together with each one of them making a fabric piece to add.
The quilt now beautifies the Purple Room Wall, and friends feel so proud to see their exclusive work each day!
Making Quesadillas...
Both Purple room and Blue room enjoyed this cooking project together. It was tremendous to see them sprinkling the tortilla with cheese, taking it carefully to a teacher to put on the hot griddle, keeping a safe distance between them and the griddle, remembering the position of their quesadillas, waiting for the cheese to melt, and waiting to gulp it down.
Last week M's new baby sister came to our room. Friends were really excited to see her, gathered around the carseat, making this a perfect time to practice being 'Quiet', since she was sleeping.
J going 'shhhhhhhh' with a finger on his lips :) How thoughtful!
Some other highlights of the week:
Working on sensory with salt. Even here they put their academic skills into practice :)
Practicing letter Q...
Free style...
Building structures with foam blocks...
Obstacle course with step stones, hula hoops, tunnel, and striking a bat on the tire.
I feel totally blessed to have such children and families to work with. You all are an important part of me, the reason I missed being here in spite of my visit to my near and dear ones. It feels great to be back!
I will keep seeing you all around,
Hugs,
Rashida.
