Happy New Year!

Dear Families,

Welcome back and happy new year! It was wonderful to see the children again, remember familiar routines and explore new materials and ideas in our very short first week back. We began reading, Winter Awake!,  a beautifully written and illustrated verse poem about the animals and plants asking Winter to wake so they can be covered with snow and take time to rest.  There is an add-on chorus at the end of each stanza and I am so amazed and impressed by the children’s ability and obvious pleasure in wrapping their minds, memories and mouths around challenging new phrases, sounds, meanings and rhythms. It reminds me that all the work we do every day singing, reading, reciting and moving to lyrical language becomes a part of the reservoir of experiences they will draw upon as they continue to discover and master the joys of reading, writing and self-expression.

We received a large order of mosaic tiles over the break and it was interesting to see how the children responded to this new material. Small designs were created and then sorting and stockpiling began.  I asked if we should organize into colors and the children said ,“Yes!” We got several clear jars out and the work began.  I was very surprised that this task was so engaging and that the group stayed together as a whole for several work periods and requested returning to the table, “We need to finish our job!” There was much discussion about gradations of color – was this blue or green?  The children decided on their own that tan, orange and pink could be categorized together and they decided as a whole to transfer green into a small jar because there were more white tiles.  When the last tile had been placed they were overjoyed. “Look, it’s all done!” “Look, Mrs. Cooke it’s all in the jar.”  “What are we going to do with these?” I asked. “Make a picture!”  “OK, what kind of picture?” “A doggie with a string around his neck and two ears and a tail that goes like this.”