AFC PINE AM

Good morning! Today's focus is about creating a space in your home that can be used as a calm space for your child. This space is reserved for times when your child is feeling those big emotions and may need more support in order to regulate those feelings.  Create an environment that is both calming and comfortable. It is often suggested to find a corner of a room and fill it with pillows, blankets, and toys that a child can use to focus on while they are coping with their frustration, sadness, or any other big feeling.  In our space at school, we use the cube.  It's a small define space in which the kids can crawl into and get comfortable- if they choose. The space you can create in your home is a place they can choose to go to. It is meant as an invitation, and not a punishment. Have your child help create the space in hopes to make it a place they choose to go to when feeling upset.  The video below gives two breathing examples you can practice...

Hello & good morning! Today marks the official first day of remote learning. It is still quite crazy to me that this is how our class will be interacting over the next few weeks until we can return to school. Until then, I am excited to share the plans you can carry out in the comfort of your own home.  Below is a way in incorporate playdoh into just one of the many activities for this week!  Stop/ Go song Playdoh Recipe Because playdoh is a big hit in our classroom I figured we could ease into this first day of remote learning with something preferred and that will last all week long. Making playdoh isn't necessary, but a fun way to hit a lot of different learning objectives like math, literacy, fine motor, and language. You can absolutely use playdoh you already have at home! Unfortunately, I don't have any children of my own and therefore don't have any playdoh. Fortunately, I like making it and playing with it too!  I also want to say a ...

Good afternoon! I hope you're having a fantastic Thursday so far. I wanted to share another celebration with you today in addition to what I am having for lunch in the video below. I hope you can all contribute to our class's shared Google Photo album so we can see what everyone is up to at home! It's been so fun seeing all the cool things kids have done with their families during this odd time of learning from home. Please keep sharing, it's great to see!  

Hey everyone! I almost forgot to give you an update on Goldie! Well, he's doing great and I wanted to make sure you all could see him swimming around in his bowl. He even says "hi!" at the very end of the video.Please sing along with me to one of our favorite songs as a tribute to our favorite fish friend. Have a great day! 

Hi everyone! Just wanted to pop in and say hi! I miss you all so much and can't wait to see you again. Have a great day! Stay healthy and safe 😊

On our last day before spring break, the Pine kids wanted to make a quick hand washing video demonstrating appropriate ways to wash your hands. They have been SO great making sure they have clean hands every time they re-enter our classroom, go to the bathroom, and get read for snack. In the following video you will see four different kids taking 4 different approaches on how they make sure they are washing for 20 seconds!  B says the ABCs, V counts to 20 in her head, E counts to 20 out loud, and C makes sure he scrubs while his hands are under the water.  Everyone please stay clean and healthy over this break! Enjoy times with your families and we will see you when you get back 😊

This morning the Pine class took advantage of the overcast dry weather outside and went on a walk. We decided that we could walk around the neighborhood to check for signs of the spring season starting.  "We might see flowers! Wild flowers!" "There might be bugs out. There are always bugs in the spring. They don't come out in the winter." "We can look for grass that's growing too!" As we walked, the kids noticed so many flowers that were all different colors.  "We have flowers growing at my house too." "Look, there are purple ones!" "There's yellow ones too. I think they are sun flowers!" Just then, we all heard a loud humming and grinding sound.  "What's that noise?" "It's so loud!" To our surprise we happened upon a wood chipper down the road. "Look at that big truck! They are putting Christmas trees in it!"  We stopped and watched.  ...

On this gloomy Tuesday morning the Pine class headed down to the gym to start the day. Many of the kids settled into playing with blocks to build or the dollhouse to participate in some pretend play. F & E, on the other hand, were chasing one another across the blue mat with big yoga balls. They would laugh and giggle as they would occasionally bump into one another and fall down. The game seemed to be working well, until more kids wanted to join. Chaos ensued. Instead of eliminating the play entirely and putting the yoga balls away, we came up with another game we could practice taking turns, working together, and lastly using the yoga balls that were clearly a lot of fun to play with!  The boys set up the "pins" and took turns rolling the ball towards them to knock them over.  E showed some impressive skills by knocking over every block just about any time he rolled the ball. F, as you can see, was equally excited for him and cheered every ti...

Wow, what a beautiful day to spend outside with friends! This morning F & J spent some time together rolling the playground ball down the hill. They had to work pretty hard to take turns with one another, but figured it out by the end. The kids are so happy to be back outside and taking in the fresh air. Have a great weekend! 

This morning B sat down at the table to cut out some shapes. As he sat cutting, he thought out loud, "I don't know what to make with the shapes." He paused on the triangle he was cutting out and frantically began searching for a circle . "I need to find a circle to cut out. It has to be a circle because I want to make a t-rex. The t-rex has to be perfect." Unsuccessful in his attempt to find a circle, he decided to just draw his own and cut it out. He sat quietly cutting around the circle he carefully drew. Just then, he threw the scissors down and crossed his arms. "I can't do it! It isn't coming out perfect. It has to be a perfect circle!" B continued to become more and more upset at the fact he was unable to cut the circle out just the way he imagined it.  "It has to be perfect. It just does. It has to look just like a t-rex!" B gave up on cutting and began drawing again. He started drawing a t-rex, bec...

Today some of the Pine friends headed to the kitchen to make some playdoh. Not only is it one of their favorite things to make in the kitchen, it's also one of their favorite choices in the classroom.  While making playdoh the kids need work on a number of skills throughout the process. They followed so many different directions including the recipe for the playdoh itself, mixing, pouring, and lastly cleaning up. Learning all of these skills in somewhere as preferential as the kitchen allows the kids to see how taking care of their materials and spaces gives them opportunities to work there in the future.  By the end of the day the kids were excited to celebrate the accomplishments of working together and cleaning up. What a great morning! 

The Pine friends are so excited to have a new friend join our class! We all got to know L a little better today through play, exploration, and chatting. The kids were happy to show L the routines and make him feel a part of the Pine family. Welcome L, we are so glad you're here!