AFC PINE PM

Did you know we have a class that comes in the morning? This isn't something we often talk about in the classroom simply because we are working on two different things! Today, however, we had the opportunity to connect with our AM class in the forest!  How do we bridge community? How do we bring the AM class and the PM classes together without actually having to be together? Well, I will tell you just one way we decided to start bringing our two classes together. This morning our AM boys painted some rocks and then hid them among the greenery, logs, and trees. The intention was to have our PM friends then go and try and find the rocks!  All was going well, until we could NOT find the blue rock... where did the blue rock go?  "We can't find it. It's lost!" "We have the purple, pink, and orange, but no blue!"  This was unexpected! Where could it possible be? It took a bit of asking around, but we found out that the Sycamore class found the blue rock this m...

  This Tuesday afternoon we moved our bodies SO much! Not only did we have a great time working on our self regulation with Ms. Julie, we also started a project to help us really focus on stop and go!  One of our favorite games to play in the Pine class is red light/green light. Sometimes though, some friends have a hard time stopping when they hear the word, "stop!" We chatted as a class and decided that a good solution would be to create our own stoplight!  In order to do so the kids pointed out we needed two colors: red and green. We got right to work! While they painted, they had some conversation: "We have to make it green because green means go." "Yeah, green is go!" "But we need red too." "Red means stop! I think we can do it on the other side." "What about yellow?" "Um, I don't know where to put that." Unfortunately it didn't dry in time for us to use it, so we will be waiting until tomorrow. At the s...

  What a gorgeous afternoon to spend so much time outside! The kids got right down to business as soon as we entered our area for the day. Unfortunately the sand was still soaking wet from the rain last night, but that didn't stop anyone from having fun!  The large log on the playscape is by far one of the kids' favorite place to climb on when they are looking for an adventure. They are usually climbing up on top, crawling across it, and then finally jumping off the end. Today, however, J had a different plan. He took a much closer look at the log and the many lines and grooves that run length wise.  "Look! Do you see these lines?! What happened?" J traced his finger along the squiggly lines and then noticed they are all over the log!  "There are so many! What happened? Why are there lines? Olivia, look at the lines!"  The two explored the lines on the log and tried to decided what could have possibly made them.  "I think it was a bear!" "Oh I...

What a great Thursday afternoon! Not only did we get to play outside in this absolutely gorgeous weather, but the kids also worked SO hard on one particular task.  When our class approached the cave area the kids noticed a giant yellow tub.  "What's that?" "What's in there?"  As they got closer they saw all different kinds of tools: spray bottles, paint brushes, and eye droppers.  "What are we going to do with these?" Moments later 4 ice pucks were dropped into the tub.  "There's stuff in there!" "We have to get them out!" "Let's use the paint brushes to break the ice!" All the kids began hitting the ice chunks with the opposite end of the paint brush, squirting the blocks of ice with water, and attempting to use the eye droppers.  "It won't break!"  "It has to come out!" "Ice is cold!!" "I see a ship." "There's a horse! I want the horse!" They were incr...

Well it took no time at all for O and L to become the best of friends! Today these two have been doing everything together. When leaving to go to the forest, L grabbed O's hand and walked side by side together. I figured as soon as they got to the forest they would go their separate ways, but it was quite the opposite! The two girls stayed near each other and found each other when they weren't. They experienced a LOT together.    L led O into the forest. O looked a little nervous and cautious, but L assured her it was not scary.  "I think there's a bear in here." "Bears are scary! No bears in here!" "Okay. Let's look for one!" "Bears are scary! Rawrrrrrrrr!" The girls were unsuccessful in finding a bear, BUT that didn't stop their fun. Instead of giving up completely on hunting for something, they started looking for flowers instead!  "We found white flowers." "I want pink ones!" "There's some pink...

While sitting at the road map table, L was on a mission. As he sat quietly by himself he started to building a really tall tower with legos. He noticed the ball dangling in front of him, picked it up and swung it over the table. The ball missed.  "It didn't hit it! Why didn't it work?" He let the ball stop in the middle of the table, dangling above fallen lego pieces. He continued to build onto the same tower, but it kept falling over. "I am so frustrated! It keeps falling over, I don' t like it!" He sat in silence for a minute with arms crossed. He picked up the legos and started to build again. This time he created several different small lego buildings creating something representing a city. He picked up the ball and yelled,  "THE STORM IS COMING!" L was disappointed when the ball only knocked over one of the towers... why did it only hit that one? "The storm didn't hit all of them. I think they are too small." What to do?  All...

  Today was such an exciting day! We had two friends join our class this afternoon and they fit right in. Today L & O took some time to explore the different areas of our classroom as well as get acquainted with the playscape. We spent a majority of our day outside enjoying the sunshine and the breeze.  L invited his cousin O to join him on the swing! O sat back as L used his legs to propel the swing back and forth.  L, O, & J used a marble to paint! All three loved being able to rock the tray back and forth and watch the marbles get coated in paint and roll across the paper.  The girls are such a great addition to our afternoon class! We are so happy our little community is growing one day at a time. Looking forward to the weeks ahead 😊

We spent the afternoon hanging out on the hillside. One task that the boys are always trying to complete is to successfully climb up the snail and ride on his back. This has been a challenge both boys have faced and today L figured out a way to get on!  "Ms. Jill, look! I did it! I got on the snails back and I am going to ride him to the slime store!"   We both cheered in his success for reaching the top of the snail. I had to know... how did he do it?  "I just put these two things on top of each other and then climbed up! It was easy! I will show you again." But, before L could show me how he got up, he had to come down... a much more difficult task.  "Whoa! That was slippery and kind of tricky. I don't think I should go down like that. I fell off! It's okay, I'm okay. I will show you how to do it." Success!! L did it again! There is so much problem solving that happens daily at the preschool, but this felt like the biggest victory today.