AFC PINE AM

Good morning and happy Thursday! While we are spending so much time at home and making sure we stay healthy and safe, things over at Ambrose have been busy. This week, the Pine teachers had to say a tough "goodbye" to our little classroom. We worked in shifts to maintain safe social distancing with one another, but at the same time worked seamlessly as one person picked up where the last left off.  This photo was taken at the very beginning of the year. Just days before you all walked in for the very first time. Every block, pencil, marker, and other learning material had a place. The chairs waited for you all to climb into, the tables expected to be used for various projects, and the big carpet anticipated all of us gathering together as a class for meetings at the beginning and end of each day.  Thinking about all of this while cleaning made me feel quite sad and happy at the same time. I am so grateful to have spent this year with all of you and the many perso...

Good morning! Oh man, is it hard some days to move around and get some energy out. I know I struggle with ways to keep myself physically going while at home because I am not walking or moving as nearly as much as I was when we were in school. Trust me, I would much rather just lie on the couch or sit in the sun then get up and do some physical activity on this rainy day! Some days I have to get creative on how to move: go for a walk, do yoga, dance party in the kitchen, etc. There are so many ways to do so!  In today's plans for self care, there is a link to participate in some yoga and deep breathing. I encourage you, however, to first follow along with Ms. Julie to expel some extra energy and dance along!  After dancing and moving, click on over to enjoy some calming movement which is equally important! Keep those bodies moving however you can! I am choosing to dance from one room to another to keep the energy and joy flowin'! 

Do you guys remember when we would go to the forest on Tuesdays? Well, it's been a long time since we have been able to go as a class, but Ms. Liz from the front office took a trip there for us! This isn't the same forest we typically go to, but it is one close by. Join a virtual tour with Ms. Liz! Forest Day- A River Walk Check out the video linked below to see Ms. Liz go on a walk through the forest! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NWt06gYg5trsuNrCugDSR4i7ORTmWwEo/view?usp=sharing On my Forest Day, I went walking on my family’s property in Leasburg, Missouri through the forest right down to the Meramec River. While I saw lots of cool stuff that can be seen in the video such as flowers, deer tracks, and a very beautiful Meramec River, on my walk back to the campsite I saw lots more! During my walk down to the river I saw many different deer footprints. In fact, I followed the deer prints all the way down to the river!  But on my way back I saw prin...

Good morning & happy Monday! I hope you all were able to enjoy some of the nice weather over the weekend! I was very happy to be able to get outside and sit in the sun for awhile yesterday. It was too beautiful not to!  Today, Ms. Kari reads "Head to Toe" for us to start off the week. This book is FULL of different actions and imitations that are fun to reenact as Ms. Kari reads!  This kind of imitation kind of reminds me of playing follow the leader! Try playing that today and see if you can incorporate different animals into your own game. I wonder how many more animals you can come up with?

Hello and Happy Thursday! Yesterday, the Pine teachers got to talk to some of our friends from the afternoon class. While talking to our friend M, he stopped for a minute and said, "Wait, I hear something! I hear a lot of birds!" We all stopped what we were doing, sat silently, and listened. We could hear the birds too! That gave Ms. Kim an idea. She thought it might be fun to take a visit to her bird feeder and listen to the birds.  She took a video so we, too, were able to listen to all of the different birds at her bird feeder. What can you hear?  Have you ever fed the birds in your neighborhood?  Can you figure out how to make a bird feeder? Look around at home and see what kinds of materials you could use to make a feeder! Have a great Thursday, and see you all at 10 for our class ZOOM!

Good morning and happy Wednesday! I am so happy some of the Pine friends were able to connect with teachers yesterday! It was so fun getting to see what some of you were up to at home and talk for a little bit. It makes me extra excited for Thursday's class ZOOM!  After the last ZOOM call I had with a friend, I was feeling pretty hungry so I wandered into the kitchen. I opened up my refrigerator and saw that I had a mound of blackberries on the top shelf. I quickly realized Connor and I would not be able to eat all of them in time. But what else can we do with them? After some brainstorming, we came up with an idea: sorbet!  In the video below you can watch as the plump blackberries turn into a smooth frozen treat in just a matter of minutes (thanks to movie magic, of course)!  I hope you all can find something in your kitchen to make today. What's your favorite thing to eat? Can you help a family member make it? 

Did you know Ms. Margie has her own polar bear?! Okay, well maybe not a real one, but she was able to make her own and even make a cave for him! With the help of her trusty bear friend, Toffee, Ms. Margie found materials around her house to create a polar bear cave. I wonder if any of you can do that!  If not a polar bear cave, what else can you make? What kind of homes can you make for the different animals you may have at your house? I wonder what kind of materials you guys can use to create animal homes!  Enjoy watching Ms. Margie and Toffee create a polar bear cave. Polar bears need to stay home too 😊

I hope you all enjoyed such a beautiful weekend! It was so nice to be able to enjoy the sunshine and spend some time outside, safely social distancing of course 😊 On Saturday I spent some time outside and was noticing a lot of the different sounds I was hearing. There were birds chirping, bees buzzing, cars driving by, and sometimes the low hum of an air conditioning unit. I stopped what I was doing and took a second to just listen. I was able to hear so much more! I decided to make a list of the different sounds I heard and then wanted to draw/paint pictures of those different sounds. It was a really fun memory game to play with myself. I wonder if that's something you can do too? Here's a look at one of the paintings I made!  Can you make a list of all the different things you hear? Can you draw, paint, or even just describe what was making that sound?  Try it out! Upload your pictures or videos to the Google Photos folder so we can see what you made to...

Hello & good morning! I hope you all had an enjoyable week filled with all kinds of different activities and good family time.  Today, I hope you can relax! One way I like to relax is listening to my favorite music. I remembered how much you guys like to sing the 5 little ducks song, and so Ms. Kari decided to sing it for you all! I hope you can follow along with her on this rainy Friday morning! Have a great weekend and continue to stay safe! 

Hello!  I woke up this morning and was feeling a little down. I don't know about any of you, but I am starting to wake up feeling a little bit sad. It is perfectly okay to feel sad, but it's also important to make sure we are taking care of ourselves! One thing I have to remind myself to do is laugh. Laughing always helps me feel better, even if just a little bit.  What do you do to keep your spirits up? Is there anything at home you play with or anyone in your family to help you feel better? As I was thinking about what would make me feel better, I remembered a video from a while back showing our two friends B & T finding some happiness in playing with one another. It made me smile and even gave me some ideas on what I can do to make myself feel better.   I hope you are all able to find something you like to do and that makes you happy today! Don't forget to add any of those experiences onto our shared Google Photos folder- it really is so fun to se...

Good  morning! Today, Ms. Kim is going to show you what she did with a box she found at home. She demonstrates using the core words and even has a special guest to help her with the video. Have you figured out what to do with a box you have at your house? What did you make? What can you make?  Remember when we built a submarine? There were so many different parts to it! I wonder if you can do something like that at home! 

I'll be honest, some days I am very bored and can't always think of something to do. Like all of you, I am staying home to stay healthy and I don't always want to. I wish I could go for a hike, go to library, or even just go to a favorite store to go shopping. It just isn't an option right now. My mom was a huge influence for today's video. She always reminded me that it wasn't a bad thing to be bored and often told me to "figure it out" when I complained. She always told me there were plenty of things to do, I just had to go looking for them. In this video, I did exactly that!  I am so thankful for the times I was bored growing up and still even as an adult. It forces me to slow down and really think about what I can do even when I think there isn't anything to do. I am thinking about you all and hope you too are staying safe and well, even if you are a little bored 😊

Good morning and happy Monday everyone! It's a new week with new opportunities ahead! This week we are going to focus on the core words you/make/not and look at different ways we can incorporate them into our daily schedules. Before heading into a book reading with Ms. Kari, the Pine teaching team wanted to sing you just one of the many good morning songs we sing in our classroom! Follow along as we sing for each and every one of you.  In the video below you can read along with Ms. Kari and the book "Not a Box." This was one of our very favorites when it was first introduced.   Not a Box with Ms. Kari There are SO many ways in which we can use a box, I wonder what all of you can do? Have a box at home? Give it a try! There are so many kinds of boxes: big, small, long, short, and the list goes on and on. Have a small box? I wonder if there is a way you can create something for your cars to go through? Have a really big box? Is there a way you can make it ...

Happy Friday!! While we don't normally see each other on these days, I still wanted to say hello! I hope you all have a restful weekend filled with laughter, joy, and love. We are hoping to do a class ZOOM meeting some time next week so please look out for that email! Miss you all very much 😊  Here's a video you can follow the link to see Ms. Kari singing Old McDonald! Sing along with her if you'd like!  Ms. Kari Singing Old McDonald

Happy Thursday! We made it through another week, nice work everyone 😊 For today, the Pine team thought it would be fun to have you all try and guess who is who in the pictures below! It is just one way we incorporated using the core word into our daily activities.  Please enjoy the pictures of the Pine team below when we were YOUR age. Make your guesses in the comment section below! Your guesses can be on the following: Ms. Kim, Ms. Julie, Ms. Kari, Ms. Jill, and Ms. Margie WHO is it?!  A .  B .  C .  D.   E.  Enjoy this video of Ms. Margie and her favorite bear, Toffee, using the core words in a fun game featuring all of you!  Have a great relaxing weekend everyone! We love being able to see what you guys are up to through the Google Photos folder. It's just one way we can stay connected through all of this. Stay well 💗

Good morning! I can't believe we have been so lucky to have such beautiful sunny days! I hope you all are getting to enjoy them in some capacity.  Today I wanted to share a video with you showing you what I have done with the few loose materials I had around my house and how I incorporated them into playing with playdoh.   I know I say this just about every day, but I really do miss you all and your smiling faces.  Take care, stay healthy, and keep washing those hands! 

Good morning! I have a question for you. Have you ever created an art piece with your family? I wonder if you can do that today?!  We often talk about working together to build and clean in the Pine class, but have we ever considered what we can create together? Right now is a difficult time for everyone and in challenging times it is important to remember that we can always create and express how we are feeling through art.  In the video below, Ms Kim shows us how we can make art together! While she is sitting outside on her driveway, this can be done anywhere! Find some painters tape, chalk, paint, markers, etc. and get to work. We would love to see any creations you make posted in the Google Photos folder. Have a great sunny Tuesday! 

Is anyone else able to enjoy some of this warm spring weather?! I am trying my best to do so! One thing I have also taken the opportunity to do is clean! Spring cleaning is happening over at my house and it's been quite therapeutic to really take the time to rearrange, clean, and bring some fresh air into all of the rooms.  Now that we are all at home, what a great opportunity it might be to take on a new project and clean up just one space at home. Everyone can help too! Young children often respond well to being a helper and often want to help an adult around the house. Providing a 'job' for your child can give them a sense of pride and belonging.  In the video below, Ms. Julie shows you how cleaning can provide children with purposeful heavy work that may help with burning off some energy as well as giving kids some responsibility.  Cleaning with Ms. Julie I hope you all have a great Monday! As we head into the new week, remember to look for celebr...

Hello! We made it to Thursday, nice work 😊 Since we are trying to navigate through these crazy times, what better way to build community in your own home by doing things together?! Today, let's focus on the positives of being together- even though we are very much apart. I think it's safe to say that the impact this is all creating makes us reach for any sense of community and connection.  Before we left for spring break, the Pine class was working a lot on family and what each of our families look like. We talked about how some have moms and dads, some just have dads, and other families may include grandparents, aunts and uncles. There are so many ways in which we can be a part of a family! The Pine room is its own kind of family. We have a wide range of abilities, ages, and personalities that keep our classroom the fun loving place it truly is.  How can you build more community in your own home? Maybe it can be as simple as working together on a project, or e...

Good morning!  I also wanted to share with you a video Ms. Julie & Ms. Kari made about movement and music! Since this week we are focusing on the core words go & stop- this movement is perfect! Grab some sticks or anything around your house you can hit together and dance with them. Miss you all SO much!  Freeze Dance with Ms. Kari & Ms. Julie