AFC PINE AM

  Wow we cannot believe today is the last day of school! It has been such a wonderful year despite the many challenges we all have faced. We all feel so lucky to have taught, laughed, and loved these boys over the last 9 months. Thank you for such a great year, it's appreciate you!  Pictures don't want to upload 😔   I will be sharing photos with you in an email. So sorry! 

  The boys enjoyed a very special treat from Kona Ice after playing out on the small playscape. It didn't take long for the boys to get excited as they noticed the truck playing music at the bottom of the hill and knew something was up. Snow cones! A great way to wrap up our last Wednesday of the school year. Wow has time flown by!  

This morning we headed off to the forest with our friends from Dogwood to run around and play as well as make some cool tye dye shirts! Thank you J & his family for sending in some cute white t-shirts that the boys got to help decorate. It was quite an experience! The boys chose which colors they wanted and we got to work. I am so excited to see how these shirts turn out! They are going to stay at school until they are ready to be washed out and worn on Thursday 😊 Stay tuned... 

  A nice warm morning was the perfect start to our water day today! The boys really enjoyed their time playing in the water and never ending bubbles that floated across the playscape.  After splashing around for a bit the boys enjoyed some popsicles on the hillside to dry off before heading home. A lovely day!  Here is our best attempt at a class picture, we love these boys! 💖

  On Monday one of our PM kids brought in tadpoles for both classes to watch grow over the last few days we have in school. It wasn't until this morning that B finally noticed the little amphibians swimming around in the tank! He ran over all excited and started pointing at the teeny tiny tadpoles wriggling around in the murky water. Within a few minutes all the boys were rushing over to see! There were mixed reactions as the kids noticed the tadpoles. Some boys couldn't stop watching and even started swimming around like the tadpoles while others had furrowed brows and weren't sure what to think! We love having live animals in our room, it always provides for some of the best conversation and entertainment. 

We brought a piece of the collaboratory with us into the room this week since it is one of the highly preferred places. We figured why not play with it in the room too? Over the last two days the boys have played so appropriately with all of the different tubes and connectors stuck to our magnetic board. Because the pieces are moveable and separate, the boys are able to manipulate them into all kinds of different tracks and paths. As we wind down towards the end of the year it is interesting to look back at this same activity we did months ago and see how far the boys have come.  Happy Tuesday and stay dry! 

  We were so close to being able to play outside before the rain came, but unfortunately we only made it outside for a few minutes before it started pouring! This changed our plans a bit and we had to find a space inside to play today. After meeting the boys all lined up and we headed to the collaboratory.   The boys immediately went separate ways and began playing individually for about the first 10 minutes or so.  B made his way over to the ramps. He was fascinated by his ability to be able to rock the ball back and forth along the curved piece of wood. He was much more interested in holding it than building a tower for it to roll down.  T found himself at one of his favorite toys in the collaboratory- the wind tunnel! He cracked himself up as he tried a variety of materials in the tunnel, but would smile as the scarves successfully floated in and out.  W made his way to the blocks and began building tall towers to stand on. He would occasionally fall off and rebuild it as he tested

  Another day with Ms. Julie means another day to try a self regulation game! This morning the boys gave their go at musical chairs. As you can imagine, the first round was a lot of herding and redirecting to sit in a chair when the music stopped. It was quite exhausting for everyone 😅 BUT! By the second and third time we played the boys were understanding that when the music turned off it was time to find a chair. It was too funny! A lot of the game the boys did need prompting to get to their chairs, but then we tested it out... would they make their way to the chairs if a teacher didn't help?  Well, 5 out of the 6 boys made it to the chairs! It was a success in our book 😊 Such an easy game to play at home too, especially getting the whole family involved.  Have a great weekend! 

  We are so lucky to have the community we do at Ambrose. I say that because sometimes the different classes, even those on the other side of the building, need to help each other out. We are so thankful for our friends down in the Seedling class for allowing us to play out on their small playground off their room. The big playscape can be an overwhelming place for our guys sometimes due to the amount of space and plenty of distractions. This smaller playscape, however, is the perfect size for our AM class. They also LOVED the novelty of the new space.  Our morning was spent going down a smaller slide, swinging on swings, crawling through tunnels, and playing in the sand. It was great! 

  We always love when Ms. Julie comes to play in our room on Thursdays! Today, she surprised us with an activity we have done before and the kids really like. She brought in 5 different jars with cotton balls. What could be inside? As Ms. Julie opened the jars some of the boys started getting really excited, so excited they fell right out of their chairs! It took a bit of effort to have the kids wait, but it was totally worth it. Ms. Julie opened the jar and placed it under each kids' nose.  So many different scents! If you watch the video you can see how different kids react to each scent. So good! This was great to get some of the kids to awaken their senses and get ready for the rest of our day.  Have a great weekend! 

Out in the rockbox this morning the boys noticed something different inside the enclosed rock pit. Some of the boys jumped right in and began exploring.  "What's that?" T asked as he inspected it a little closer.  B came over and peered inside the whole running down the center.  "Rock!" B yelled in excitement  A, T, and B gathered around the giant wooden spool and began filling up the whole in the middle. They continued to explore the wooden spool as it was brand new material in the space. Always a good time getting to explore new materials!     

Nobody told me that this morning class would be so good at playing basketball! I mean seriously we have the all-star team here in the Pine room. Today in the gym, the boys took their turns shooting baskets, attempting alley-oops, and big dunks! Very impressive 😉 This was so fun to watch the boys consistently participate, take turns, and persist when the ball wouldn't go in the hoop. A great day spent in the gym.