AFC PINE AM

  This morning some of the Pine kids took the opportunity to check out a small pumpkin the Dogwood class had in their room! For the last few weeks, Dogwoods class has been exploring pumpkins and invited our class to check them out too!  B & L loved using most of their senses to explore the pumpkin. Any sensory activity that allows the kids to fully experience something is always a big hit in our morning class. These boys are definitely all in when it comes to partaking in activities around the room.  Have a safe and relaxing weekend! We will see you all Monday!  Just a reminder- we will not be in session for school Tuesday Nov. 3

  The Pine room could not be more grateful for these rain suits! A HUGE thank you goes out to PTO for making all of our outdoor dreams come true by being able to play without completely ruining clothes! The kids had a blast being able to pretty much do anything in these suits that they could handle. From rolling down the hill to crawling through the mud everyone found a way to take full advantage of these suits. 

  With everyone coming in all bundled up on this rainy morning, we thought it would be a good idea to warm up with some hot chocolate at snack!  Before snack, we had a meeting to talk about it being cold outside and ways we can warm up. Although not everyone wanted to drink the hot chocolate, they sure did like getting a cup of it to smell and look at. Just look at all those smiles! 

  Monday mornings are usually pretty tough on everyone. It's sometimes so hard to come back to school after an enjoyable weekend at home. It's sometimes hard to get back into the routines and follow expectations on a Monday. Instead of allowing ourselves to get worked up when things don't go our way, or activities may not go as planned, and even this rainy cold weather preventing us from doing too much outside we can always look to the opportunities these challenges bring us. There's always a bright side, right?  This morning, instead of leaning into the Monday blues, the boys took some time to reconnect and focus before getting started with our day. Painting has been one of the more preferred activities in the classroom. Almost everyone is itching to get to the table to pick up a brush and express themselves through colors and brush strokes.  The shells were quite fun to paint. B, N, and A all took the time to first explore the texture of the shell before putting some

  Man oh man was the Pine class happy to see the sunshine today! Nobody seemed to enjoy themselves more in the wet rocks today than T did!  T did not hesitate to dive into some messy play in the wet rocks by the cave. As soon as we arrived outside he headed straight to the pebbles and began filling and pouring rocks in and out the bucket with B.  The two played side by side for awhile as they filled their containers up and poured them out. Many smiles and happy chit chat occurred between the two for the duration of their play. After awhile though, B got up and wandered off to do something else. T on the other hand took full advantage of the damp ground.  In this very moment you could feel the joy radiating off of T. He was so immersed in the messy play that he didn't mind the many leaves stuck to his shirt, in his pants, and even on his face! He would roll around, make some rock angles, and drop them right into his lap. In this very moment T was so happy to be right where he was, w

  The rain never stops us from enjoying ourselves outside! Although we typically go to the forest on Wednesdays, we opted to play out on the playscape instead. The slide/rock box is one of their favorite sections to play in so we figured we would take advantage. As you can imagine most everything was soaking wet so after the kids put some rain boots and jackets on we were ready to go.  All of the kids were quite excited to go down the slide, but because of the dampness, they slid down going in slow motion! It was hilarious because the kids would quickly climb up the stairs or rocks, sit down, prepare for a slick ride, and then just stop in the middle or barely move down. We were cracking up and it didn't seem to bother anyone! Most of them said "stuck" or "slow" to describe their sliding experience today. I honestly think it made more of the kids want to slide down because they weren't going down as fast as they normally were!  T is one kid in particular tha

  Since the beginning of school classrooms across the whole building have been able to play out on the playscape, but it is a lot different than it has ever been. In an attempt to reduce the amount of contact children have with one another and maintaining social distance guidelines, each class has a different section of the playscape they are responsible for that day. This has been so great for our kids! Not only are we able to safely play near other classrooms, but it also gives the kids a chance to expand their play schemes rather than engaging in the same play day after day.  Not every area of the playscape is highly preferred by the Pine kids. Because we only get to visit places like the sand, the slide, or the cave once every two weeks the kids are sometimes upset and have a hard time engaging in play in certain roped off areas. One challenging area has been at the top of the playscape under the pergola and in the musical garden.  Today, on the other hand, T & N found a way to

  Good morning and happy Monday!  In an effort to continue our learning about each child and their individualities, the Pine class teachers will be participating in a building wide study based off of last years book study group "Really Seeing Children." Last year, we focused a lot on how to tell our class' story through the use of the blog and focusing on just one aspect of a child's day. This year, we will be continuing our study by focusing on seeing and understanding the perspective of the child during the school day.  That being said, today was our first day in really trying to get the perspective of A and his time spent in our classroom.  A sat down at the sand table and just stared at the sand and the many toys inside of it. He examined each individual toy, but ended up just using his fingers instead.  As I watched A press his fingers into the sand, I noticed he was just more interested in mushing it between his fingers rather than using his whole hand. He did n

This morning we continued our journey of looking at ourselves and trying to recreate them. Since we have been using playdoh all week to do so, I figured it was time to upgrade to paper and pen. This was much easier for the kids to envision. I noticed that the kids had a hard time pretending the loose materials used were different parts of their faces, but when given a pen and paper they were able to begin to recreate their faces and bodies no problem!  N began naming all the different parts of face and his body as he drew.  "Eyes, mouth, legs, arms..."   It is always so interesting to me how kids go straight from making their head to adding arms and legs jetting out from it. As I watched N draw the arms and legs, I thought about how we don't normally address the torso when we start identifying our body parts. How do we start? What do we say? It's something that seems so obvious, but clearly, it's not.  T sat down no problem and immediately showed off how well he c

  It's always a good day when we get to add another friend to the Pine class. Today, all of the boys have really displayed a lot of patience, kindness, and love towards one another!  On the way to the forest, B noticed L was sitting in the wagon. At first, he was a bit jealous, but quickly was able to figure out another way he could be a part of the wagon experience. With a little bit of guidance, B walked right up behind the wagon and began to help me "push" the wagon all the way to the forest!  The boys looked at one another, sharing eye contact and some other communication. L would point to the different things he saw and B looked with him. The two babbled back and forth and really seemed to make a little bit of a connection as we strolled on to the forest.  The rest of our time spent at the forest all of the boys enjoyed playing side by side. They would help one another out, look for each other on the paths, and were especially  happy to be sitting and eating with one

  Although yesterday was not the day we anticipated, the boys were really on their game today! Our meeting with Ms. Julie was filled with lots of movement, music, and connection with one another. The boys really showed their abilities to follow along and participate- way to go! We spent most of the morning out in garden area. Since the boys have been so interested in watching the leaves fall and have even tried to recreate the experience in our room we were able to capitalize on all of the dried leaves that were on the ground!  B picked up a rake and got right to work. He made great effort in trying to pile them up to then gather them in his arms and toss them in the air! L immediately noticed and headed over to help B out.  The two boys laughed and watched the leaves fall around them. They rolled around, picked up them, and attempted to toss them into the air by themselves.  It's great that we are able to make so many different connections inside and outside of the classroom. The

Today has been the Monday of all Mondays. The boys were full of wiggles, giggles, and even a little sleepy at times. We did our best to try and get our bodies and minds ready for a new week of school, but not every activity went as hoped. Oh well! We also welcomed a new friend today! He had the opportunity to get to know the other kids, check out the spaces around school, and overall get a feel for our classroom.  Tomorrow is a new day and I can't wait to see the boys absolutely rock it!