Aleph Academy

The fall weather and the need to identify our mystery item prompted a walk to Moana Nursery.   Yesterday, we opened up a few of the mystery items (pods).  These were some of the student’s guesses:   Marley (a pineapple), Natasha (a bird egg), Dovid (a bird wing), Austin (bones) and Ruby (an herb).  Since we were unable to agree on our mystery item’s scientific name, we decided to go ask the experts at Moana Nursery.  Our question was answered by a very kind employee who identified our mystery item as a milk weed pod.

We also started a word of the day activity.  Today’s word was friendship and our class defined it as “meaning love,” “sharing,” and “listening to friends when they are talking.”   Friendship ended up being the perfect word for the day as we officially welcomed a new student-Yonaton.

I also want to thank Shannon for bringing in the super fun yellow watermelon.  Great afternoon snack!

P.S.  I just added some photos to yesterday’s blog.

Utilizing our newly updated atelier.

Checking out the newly cleared planting bed. Roly pollys, worms and insects galore!

Yonaton discovers the wonderful Truckee River.

Marley and Dovid identify a grasshopper.

Inside Moana Nursery.

Our walk through the nursery.

Natasha checking out our word of the day "friendship."

Green!

Dovid'd duck and Austin's dinasour compositions.

Ruby and her snail.

Zoe delighted in making red balls.

“Blue and yellow make green, green, green!”- Ruby  As you can probably tell, we continued our exploration of color.  We also examined a mystery item (which will be identified tomorrow) and talked about how to keep ourselves, friends and toys safe.  Our school day concluded with visitors (a potential new 2-year-old student and his parents).  The class exhibited their usual warmth/welcoming and the father complimented the class cohesiveness.  The children really have become good friends who love to learn and play together.

Friday was fantastic.  A few of the day’s focal points were our conversation about flowers, painting, and watching the elementary play about the life cycle.   The children really enjoyed looking at the inside of a flower with the magnifying glasses and expressed interest in learning more about flowers.  As for painting, it was the highlight of my day.  While experimenting with paint outside, the children discovered that white and red make pink.  The children’s eyes grew wide with excitement as they literally shouted with joy about their discovery.  It was an uplifting moment for all of us.  The elementary class invited us to watch their play and the children looked forward to the performance all day.  When the time finally came (2:40 p.m.), they were wonderful audience members.  I was very impressed with their listening skills and ability to answer questions about the play after the performance.

Next week will begin working with the school clinician, Mirit.  We will also be focusing on the children’s self identity by starting a “celebrating me and my world” project.  The children’s identity dolls will be introduced along with an identity panel about each child’s name.  I am also going to put photos of the children up on the classroom walls.  Much of the children’s social conversations revolve around their personal experiences and preferences.  Hopefully, these “celebrating me and my world” provocations will inspire deeper, more meaningful conversations.

Two parents have asked about singing in the classroom.  We have done little singing, but that will change.  We are going to begin on Tuesday with our clean up song.  It is to the tune of Frere Jacques and the words are as follows:  Are you helping? Are you helping? Pick up toys. Pick up toys. Everybody’s cleaning.  Everybody’s cleaning.  Girls and boys.  Girls and boys.  I will continue to post the lyrics to the songs we sing and appreciate the parental input regarding this issue.

Giving Chef Lisa thank you cards.

Fun with challa.

Elementary play.

Such a great audience.

Red and white make pink!

Flower observation.

Paint clean up.

One of today’s highlights was an impromptu birthday party.  The children decided to pretend it was Austin’s birthday and the entire class participated in the imaginary party.  Cake was served, songs sung and presents doled out all without a single “sharing” argument.  It was wonderful to watch.  Sharing is something we have been talking a lot about this week and will continue to address next week when Mirit (our school clinician) visits our classroom.

Another exciting learning moment occurred during outdoor exploration.  We smelled something strange in the air and utilized our sense of smell to solve a “mystery.”  First the students attempted to identify the odor and created a hypothesis (the smell was garlic bread from the kitchen).  Next the students collected data.  They determined the smell was stronger as we walked towards the open kitchen window, and made the connection that it was almost time for lunch.  We finalized our conclusion when we sat down for lunch of noodles and garlic bread.  This was a fun way to introduce the scientific process and further the student’s self identification as little scientists.

Carey

P.S.  I often post during nap time, but continue to take photos throughout the day.  Therefore, I may include photos from the previous afternoon.

We had a day filled with arts. It began with the exploration of paint (green, blue and red) outdoors. The students used their fingers to make designs on the wooden table. Instead of asking for paper today, they took it upon themselves to add water. They made observations about the texture of the paint and decided it was slimy prior the addition of water and slippery after wards. We also talked about how the colors appeared to lighten after the addition of water.
The texture theme continued during drama with Morah Tova. She lead the very enthusiastic children in imaginary movement activities. They pretend to walk in various elements-water, sand, the sun, a rainbow, clouds, glass and cakes. As they acted, they verbalized how each element felt. Gooey, hot, cold, stick and slimy were some of my favorite descriptions.

Carey

Photos of our day.

Carey

Making observations.

Ruby digging for samples in the compost 9-21-09.

Zoe having fun with our new science tool.

Dovid inspecting rocks.

Ethan rides his trike to check out the sensory tubs.

Ruby and Natasha "cooking."

Austin playing the drums.