Ms. Kaitlin says, “I  love all of the children I have met here at The Grove School.  They definitely brighten my days and further my passion for teaching!  One of the reasons why I was interested in teaching at The Grove School was that it provides a blossoming environment for children to be children while learning at the same time!  I wish this kind of school was around when I was in preschool!”

After planting, caring and growing our pansy garden all fall, our preschool classroom ended the three month project by crafting sun catchers.  We picked our pansy flowers, dried them using a flower press, and placed them in a collage with materials from our classroom art studio.  Now we’ll be able to enjoy the beauty of our pansy garden all winter long!

Ms. Tanya's class marches in a musical parade at the "Carnival"

I had the pleasure of observing Ms. Tanya’s music class this week.  While I was in there, she was teaching a group of Early Preschool students music.  They are in the middle of their Carnival unit.  So during the class, they marched in a parade, played a game of ball toss, and “rode” on a merry-go-round.

We are so fortunate to have such a strong strands program for our students.  In addition to music, Ms. Tanya also teaches them art, fine arts, dramatic play, eco-friends (a science curriculum) and healthy fit (health and physical fitness).  Our students attend these strands everyday as part of the school day.

Enjoy the video below.

Reading Center

I tried a little experiment today.  I visited a Pre-K classroom with my cellphone camera and took 30 seconds to capture what was going on in the classroom.  You can see the photos below.  I was quite pleased to see all the different learning activities going on at the same time.

There was vibrant activity in each of the classroom’s learning centers.  Another of the observations that I could not adequately capture in 30 seconds with my camera was the independent nature of the children’s work.  The teacher was fully engaged with the students, but the students were clearly leading their learning.  It was amazing to watch, even for 30 seconds.

During this time, I observed students reading along with a book in the reading center, students creating a police station in the block center, students working in the computer center, one making lego creations, a student dressing up in dramatic play, one student self-selecting a new center and another completing a writing project in the writing center.  The photos below represent this.

And all of it was done in 30 seconds.

I enjoyed it so much, I think I will make it a routine to do so in all of the classes here.  I think it will be insightful for the students, teachers and families of our school.

Students in the preschool class have been studying about animals.  One of their projects has been the “building” of  a cow that has “real” udders so that the students could then simulate the experience of milking a cow.  Click on the photos or video below to take a closer look.

Nonetheless, it was a fun (and wet) activity on a warm Friday afternoon! Enjoy the photos and the video as a way to share the experience with our students.

More summer fun is on the way in next week’s Under the Sea adventures.

Students are shown making “raincoats” for their little furry friends.  This experiment allowed the students to see if they could design a way to keep their furry friends dry.  By the looks of the after picture, it would seem they did a great job!

Students also made a 3-D beach map showing the water and the sand.  They have also designed a window aquarium with fish swimming around along with a wall model of a beach.

Playing in water is fun whether at the beach or in your classroom.  Students this week have played with ocean toys in our water tables as well as participated in an experiment where they predict which items would sink and which items would float.

The final photo shows one of our students peeking out of the porthole of a boat his class made with a recycled box.

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The Under the Sea fun continues through next week.  The schedule for the remaining five biome adventures is as follows:

• June 21–July 2             Arctic Adventures
• July 6–July 16              Golden Sands and Desert Lands
• July 19-30                     Where the Green Grass Grows
• Aug 2-13                         Bees, Trees and Me
• Aug 16-27                      Outside My Window

Based upon the first three days, I can’t wait to see what is in store for our students, teachers and families.  This is going to be a BLAST!

For EACH lunch, the children must have one food from each category: the Milk, Meat, Veggie/Fruit and Grains/Breads.

Food Item                                                          1-2 yrs                       3-5 yrs.
Milk ½ cup                          ¾ cup

Meat/Meat Alternate
Lean meat, poultry, Boneless fish          1 oz                             1 ½ oz
OR, alternate protein product                  1 oz                             1 ½ oz
OR, cheese                                                         1 oz                             1 ½ oz
Or, egg (large)                                                  ½ egg                         ¾ egg
Or, Cooked dried beans/peas                    ¼ cup                         3/8 cup
Or, Peanut butter (or similar)                    2 tbsp                         3 tbsp
Or, Nuts and/or seeds                                   ½ oz                            ¾ oz
Or, Yogurt, plain or sweetened                 4 oz                             6 oz

Vegetable or fruit or 100% juice ¼ cup                          ½ cup

Grains/Breads (enriched or whole grain)
Bread                                                                    ½ slice                        ½ slice
Or, Cornbread, biscuit, roll                        ½ serving                   ½ serving
Or, Cold dry cereal                                         ¼ cup                          1/3 cup
Or, Hot cooked cereal                                   ¼ cup                          ¼ cup
Or, cooked pasta, noodles, or grains      ¼ cup                          ¼ cup

Even though we have already been serving milk each day during snack time, we will be serving milk at lunch to help with these requirements.  Therefore, please be mindful of the remaining requirements that will need to be included in their lunch brought from home.

I go into the classrooms almost everyday at lunch.  I must tell you that I am impressed with the food our students are eating.  I have never seen a school with so many children eating healthy food everyday. So…good job parents!!!  Keep up the good work.