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As early childhood professionals, we understand that math operations do not need to be taught to children as young as four. Rather, it is first necessary to ensure that students  understand that objects have value, and that counting is more than just saying numbers. Number awareness is a fundamental concept that must be introduced before higher operations are conceptualized. When I walked into Ms. Leah’s class last week, I loved the way she  reinforced the math skill of counting objects, while introducing the children to the basic concept of addition. I asked Ms. Leah to write a short summary of her lesson and explain how she integrated it with the “healthy mind, healthy body, and healthy planet” values of The Grove School.

During the unit Outside My Window, we talked a lot about recycling and taking care of our earth.  We have been learning how to write and recognize our numbers, so a fun activity we decided to try was Nature Addition.  This was the first time most of these kids had seen or talked about addition.  We discussed what a plus sign and equal sign does.  We then had some fun picking out different pieces of nature (leaves, grass, wood chips, rocks, etc) and putting them on our addition mats.  We put a few pieces on one side of the plus sign and a few more pieces on the other side, then we counted each side individually and then counted all of them together to see find the total.  It was fun to get to start practicing big kid math , and what better way to do that then to use little pieces of the world around us!

 

Leah Hull teaches pre-K at The Grove School of Plano.

 

 

This week in Strands, we discussed how important it is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. On Tuesday, I surprised the children with a REALLY messy playground-litter EVERYWHERE, plastic bottles, cans, paper bags, etc.Prior to observing playground, I asked the children these questions: What if your playground was full of trash? Do you think you would be able to play in a dirty environment? Would you even want to play if there was trash everywhere?  A few of the responses I received were:“Our play ground would never be trashy, it stays clean, don’t you know this Ms. Lauren” (Brycen) “shewwww-weeeeee” (Zachary) “I would hate to play in the trash, then we would be extra dirty” (Waylon). Much to their surprise, they walked out to a completely trashed play ground and literally panicked. After about two minutes of “Oh No! Who would do this to us?” they decided that it would be a great idea to clean up their playground and recycle the items they collected. We also created a recycle bin for the plastic, paper, and metal that we gathered. After that, we sorted the recyclable items that we collected and discussed how the items could be reused. We said that paper and cardboard products can be processed and made into more paper products and other things. Plastic trash can be transformed into many different things, including homebuilding products. Aluminum cans can be recycled. That means many parts of our trash can be recycled and used again in different ways. WAY TO GO TEAM GREEN!!!

Lauren is the Strands teacher at The Grove School of Plano.

 

 

For the month of August, the Early Preschool class in Plano has been discussing the sky. Within this theme, we talked about air transportation. As a class we discussed where a plane travels, if it is loud or not, and it the speed it travels. The weather has finally cooled down, so we were able to go outside and look for airplaines ourselves. The class congregated outside and laid on their backs, looking at the sky. They didn’t have any luck this way, so they ran around the play area looking at different angels to see if they could find one. Finally, a large plane flew overhead. The children were so excited, clapping and waving their hands to the plane they had so anticipated seeing.  Blue skies, sunshine, and an airplane in the sky: What a beautiful way to spend our morning!

 

 

Do trees breathe? Our summer camp kids set out to find the answer to this question. On a sunny day, we used a piece of string to tie a clear plastic bag around a clump of green leaves on the end of a tree branch.  We left it there for about an hour. When we came back, the inside of the bag was coated with drops of water. Why? Instead of a nose and mouth, plants have lots of tiny holes, or stomata, in their leaves through which they breathe. Just like our own breath, plant exhalation is full of moisture, which condenses on the bag as it’s heated by the sun. Campers learned that this same principle is at work when they fog up a mirror with their breath. The  were surpised to learn that all living things must breath, but they do it in different ways. Our summer camp is filled with all kinds of exciting scientific exploration. We can’t wait to see what we’ll learn next!

 

 

 Preschoolers have some of the most imaginative and expansive minds. What better way to get those amazing little minds turning than a “hands on brains on” science experiment. This science experiment was not a “Watch and see what happens” experiment. Rather an experiment involving hypotheses and predictions.  You may ask, “How might a preschooler be able to make predictions?” Yes, preschool minds are mostly engaged in the present, but when they are interested in a topic and have the ability to observe, feel, smell, explore, and investigate the subject their engagement turns from interest to fascination.

During the desert unit my class had a great interest in the cactus. We read the book Cactus Hotel during a morning circle and afterward cacti came up during conversation throughout the day as well as many questions about this interesting desert plant. We decided to complete an experiment of our own to see firsthand how this plant can survive in an extreme desert climate.

We discussed how cacti need water to survive, just like other plants. The class understood that the desert is dry, and rarely has rain. When it does rain cacti needs to somehow to collect and absorb as much water as possible.  Cacti have a unique waxy coating that helps protect from absorption. Once discovering this characteristic, our experiment began. 

We began by cutting sponges in the shape of cacti. We added toothpicks to resemble the protective spikes. We then filled two small glass jars with equal amounts of water using the new tablespoons added to our science center. We placed each “cactus” into a jar and watched them immediately soak up water. We then made predictions as to how much water would be gone in the morning. This question really got the class thinking with some prompting. What does a sponge do? How does a cactus receive water when it rains? Some of the predictions were: “I think it is going to soak up all the water.” “The water is going to get smaller.” “The cactus water is going to be gone and we are going to find out and talk about it tomorrow.”

Testing Cacti Sponges

The following day we observed the two cacti. They had both soaked up almost every drop of water. We decided they must have been very thirsty in the “dry desert”. We were excited to find out that our predictions were correct. We continued the experiment by putting wax paper around one of the cacti to observe how the waxy protective barrier that a real cactus has in the desert helps store the water during the long hot months without rain. We asked the class how the waxy protective coating would help the cacti. Some of their predictions were: “It won’t end up dead.” “So it won’t dry up.” “It will stay wet.” “So it can keep growing.”

We left the two cacti on a tray over night. One was wrapped in wax paper (the protective coating) and the other was left exposed to “the elements.” We made predictions as to which cactus would dry out faster and checked our predictions in the morning.  We also asked the class what they through would happen to the cactus without the protective waxy coating. Some of their predictions were: “The one will die without wax paper.” “The one that is covered will

Observing Waxy Protective Coating

keep soaping the water and the other one will die.” “The cactus will keep drinking water.”

We are happy to report our findings from our experiment. The cactus with the waxy protective coating held its water throughout the night and even through the next few days. The cactus without any protective coating was all dried out after one night. The protective coating is one of the main reasons why the cactus can survive in the dry desert. 

We were able to learn so much from this experiment. The class used great teamwork each day to share their thoughts with one another and put them all together to form one big idea. During this experiment we also were able to explore the properties of a sponge and wax paper. Each day the class was so excited to find out if their predictions were going to be correct. The exploration of the cactus was one they will never forget.

 

 

Ms. Leah has been teaching the pre-K class in Plano since July, and we are so happy to see the progress her students are making. Leah was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She graduated from Harding University in Arkansas with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Leah comes to us with a variety of experiences, including nannying and working in pre-K and 1st grade classes. Leah enjoys going to movies and spending time with her fiance, Kevin. She’s getting married in October! Leah is a very creative teacher, and she uses a variety of approaches to delivering instruction and managing her classroom. We’re fortunate to have her with us at The Grove!