PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: Bodily-Kinesthetic

During our Shape Walk around campus, the Cardinals were challenged to create a shape. Arranged into small groups of four, each group was given a basic geometrical shape and their task was to make that shape using their bodies.  

Not only is this a way to asses basic geometric shape recognition and formation, but this activity also helped Noel learn about body awareness and the use of his limbs. This seemingly simple and creative activity required the use of Noel’s creative-thinking, language skills, spatial awareness, and interpersonal intelligence as he used his body to create a square.

3’s /4’s CURRICULUM SUMMARY

3’s /4’s Curriculum Summary

Social and Emotional Development:

The development of social relationships is a primary focus in early childhood. Early childhood education gives children the opportunity to develop relationships with peers and adults.  During their early years, children learn to trust adults who are not family members, to become friends with other children, to experience and work out conflicts, to ask for assistance and to help themselves with many everyday tasks.

Language and Literacy Development:

Young children learn through their senses while engaging in hands-on experiences, enjoying ample time for independent exploration, contemplation and group sharing and listening experiences.  Class meetings provide opportunities to develop listening and speaking skills as children discuss literature, share research homework, make plans for the day, and participate in sharing.  The children are intentionally surrounded by words: books of fiction, factual material, poetry, experience charts and their own creative writing, both in the classroom and in the library.  Children write names, create lists, label objects in the classroom, write notes to others, illustrate and author individual books, dictate stories and “kid write” in journals.  Class books are made from studies, special interests and group experiences.  Learners listen to stories for pleasure and to gain information.  The children regularly share their work and gain appreciation for the work of their peers.

Cognitive Development:

In the beginning of the year, children are exploring all aspects of their environment, and actively processing what they experience. While young children are mastering many facts, they are primarily experimenting with ideas and learning how to think about problems.  They explore their world by physically interacting with concrete materials, taking in information with all of their senses. Through their investigations, they learn about properties, patterns, relationships and mathematical concepts.  Learners explore and discover in direct connection with play, in conversations with peers and teachers, through independent activities and in small group guided experiences.  

Physical Development:

Young children are constantly learning with their whole bodies. On the nature playground and in the classroom, they are developing strength, stamina and coordination. In large motor activities, they strengthen their running, climbing and balance skills, building up muscles that allow them to move and hold themselves in increasingly complex ways. Through myriad activities like manipulating play dough, playing in the sandbox, doing puzzles, building, drawing, writing, painting, cutting and crafting, they are developing the fine motor coordination.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Mathematics, Shapes

Throughout their early years, children notice and explore mathematical dimensions of their world. They compare quantities, find patterns, navigate in space, and grapple with real problems such as balancing a tall block building or sharing a bowl of pretzels fairly with a friend. Mathematics helps children make sense of their world outside of school and helps them construct a solid foundation for success in school.

Throughout his school day, Noel is provided with endless opportunities to develop and enhance his mathematical skills. An example is the introduction of our math workshops. We launched our first Math Workshop with the mathematical concept of plane geometry, 2-D shapes. We first read Tana Hoban’s book, circles, triangles and squares. 

  

Using no text, this book introduces the geometric concepts of circles, triangles and squares demonstrated in photographs of bridges, buildings, windows, tires, boats, and other objects. After the read aloud, the Cardinals had a discussion on basic geometric shapes and their characteristics. After the thought-provoking discussion on two dimensional geometry shapes, the Cardinals set out to attend the workshops.

One station was set up with Shape Bingo ....

Another was the Playdough Shape Station with circle, square and rectangle cookie cutters.

Additional was a Shape Stamping Station where Noel and the other Cardinals were encouraged to make a bird using 2-D shape stamps.

Lastly was the Rock Shape Challenge Station in the Rock Sculpting Center where Noel and the other Cardinals picked a challenge and created the design using rocks.  

Throughout all these activities, Noel demonstrated his exceptional recognition of basic geometric shapes such as square, circle, rectangle, triangle and oval.

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Letter Awareness

A print rich environment that allows children to practice literacy skills in real-life experiences, combined with explicit teaching of key concepts, is the foundation of literacy learning in the early years. We develop literacy by continually exposing the Cardinals to oral and written language, and by building on prior knowledge and language experiences. Read alouds, storytelling, songs, thought-provoking discussions, journals, and dramatic play are just a few of the many fun and engaging strategies we use in the Cardinals’ classroom to develop literacy. 

The Cardinals were introduced to the idea of Literacy Workshops.  As a means of adding a tactile component to practice shaping the letters of the alphabet with different materials, three stations were set up for the Cardinals.  

Here we see Noel in the playdough station where he was encouraged to “shape” a name, not just his but a friend’s or a teacher's name.

The same concept was applied in the alphabet stamping station were Noel used the letter stamps to “write” a friends’ and/or teachers’ name.

And, in the final station the Cardinals were provided with wood pieces as an activity to make capital letters. These wood pieces are a component of the Handwriting Without Tears program. Without any formal introduction to the program, the children are first invited to explore the wood pieces and use them to create as many letters as they could. The four wooden pieces are the basis for teaching children the skills of creating letters.  The pieces are referred to as big line, little line, big curve, little curve. Using only these shapes, the children learn how to form letters.

All of these activities help Noel internalize the shapes of letters, while developing motor skills but, in his mind .... he's just playing!  

Noel has solid letter recognition skills. He confidently recognizes both lower case and upper case letters and on some, Noel is able to associate the sounds they represent. He is able to hear and identify rhymes and can generate his own, e.g., sit-mit, fun-cun, hog-nog. Using the name cards, Noel is able to practice name recognition skills as well as sight vocabulary. 

ART CLASS CURRICULUM SUMMARY: Fall/Winter 2013-14

In the 3 and 4 year old art class, students explore a variety of media in order to gain an understanding of art processes and techniques and the ability to make thoughtful choices about tools and materials in their artistic self-expression. Art experiences allow young artists to strengthen their fine motor skills, spatial awareness and rehearse shape and line formation. This fall, the Cardinals have worked with paint, using both watercolor and tempera paint and a variety of tools, to explore mark-making, visual texture, color mixing and opacity in painting.

In an integration with their classroom study, the Cardinals created sculptural birds using clay. In a clay introduction, students were able to explore the materiality of clay, its density when mixed with water and how it can be manipulated by hand to create a variety of shapes and forms. The students identified the main shapes in the pictures of their birds and transferred that knowledge to creating those shapes in clay to represent their birds.

SPANISH CLASS CURRICULUM SUMMARY: Fall/Winter 2013-14

During the Fall/Winter 2013-14 school term, the 3’s / 4’s students will begin to become familiar and comfortable hearing and speaking the Spanish language. They will be provided with learning experiences to explore Spanish language through songs, chants, dialogues, and storybooks. The Cardinals, Owls, Doves, and Catbirds will explore correct pronunciation, rhythm and intonation by participating in songs and games in Spanish. Topics introduced will include: greeting words accompanied by a common and polite gesture such as a hand shake or a wave, manner words, names of Spanish speaking countries, basic verbal commands such as sit down and stand-up, numbers 1-10, basic colors, basic geometrical shapes, modes of transportation, parts of our body, and family members.

We follow an Emergent Curriculum/Project Approach which means that themes, projects and studies most often come from the ideas and interests of the children in each of the 3's / 4's classroom. Therefore, seldom are the four classes engaged in the same study at the same time. This approach provides the opportunity for each class to learn additional Spanish vocabulary that connects with their theme of study or topic of interest, making the learning meaningful.

LIBRARY/TECH CLASS CURRICULUM SUMMARY: Fall/Winter 2013-14

The library is a wonderful place for the three and four year old children to indulge in the joy of books. Our youngest students engage with books by listening to a story, reflecting on what was read, sharing a book with a friend, or even sitting alone to look through pictures. Students are also invited to select books to borrow for their classroom community. Library extends and enriches the topics studied in the classrooms. 

MUSIC & MOVEMENT CLASS CURRICULUM SUMMARY: Fall/Winter 2013-14

The 3’s & 4’s classes meet twice a week for music, once in the music room and once in the classroom. We have been working on individual and ensemble listening and responding skills, early music literacy, improvising and creating sounds and music. Our activities include rhymes, songs, poems, movement, structured dance and instruments. The musical concepts on which the lessons are based include:

·         A sense of pulse (steady beat)

·         A sense of duration (long/short, patterns, rhythm)

·         A sense of tempo (fast/slow)

·         A sense of pitch (high/low)

·         A sense of dynamics (loud/soft)

·         A sense of structure (same/different)

·         A sense of timbre (tone color)

·         A sense of texture (one sound/several sounds)

·         A sense of style

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL: Same & Different

Building a sense of community where children learn to respect  each other and honor our similarities and differences is  one of our most important goals that we set for the year . We decided to begin our discussion by posing questions that would help our children focus on looking at themselves and each other and taking notice of how we are all the same and different. 

We introduced the Cardinals to a variety of age-appropriate diversity literature. Two of the many books we read helped us explore the many different shades of human skin color. The Colors of Us by Karen Katz presented a colorful and creative way that describes the many beautiful shades of skin tone in our society. Shelley Rotner’s  book Shades of People, was filled with wonderful photographs of children, all with varying skin tones, hair colors and textures, and facial features. 

 

After our conversations on the incredible range of skin color shades, we created an activity for the Cardinals to help further understand these ideas and make them more concrete. We began by posing the question, “If you could name a color to describe your skin tone, what color would you call it?” 

Kaya – “golden”

Kate – “tan”

Wyatt – “golden”

Trace – “golden”

Young – “golden”

Noel – “white”

Katy – “whitish”

Audrey – “white”

Evan – “peachish and brownish”

Samuel – “golden”

Violet – “peach”

Lilly – “peach”

Radha – “brownish”

Jayden – “very, very, very golden”

Stella – “peachish gold”

Tori – “little brown”

To add more fun to the mix of shades within our Cardinal family, paint swatches were brought in. We matched our skin shades to paint swatches and had fun pronouncing the funny names that went along with them.

Kaya – “Peach Smoothie”

Kate – “Mojave Sunset”

Wyatt – “Messa Sans”

Trace – “Spring of Pearls”

Young – “Sandstone”

Noel – “Woodbrow Wilsom Blush”

Katy – “Tailored Linen”

Audrey – “Tailored Linen”

Evan – “Terra Cotta Trail”

Samuel – “Dark Walnut”

Violet – “Peppermint Brige”

Lilly – “Sonoran”

Radha – “Filoli Majestic Oak”

Jayden – “Muddy Mississippi”

Stella – “Peach Biege”

Tori – “Peach Smoothie”

Inspired by our many conversations and hands-on experiments, we felt that having each child create a self- portrait would be a natural extension to our learning. A self-portrait project is a wonderful way for young learners to discover art and self-concept as well as an introduction to the various cultures within the classroom community.

Using a mirror, Noel looked closely at his facial features and selected materials that best resembled his image. As Noel focused on his specific attributes or features such as hair color and texture, shapes, and eye color he was exploring with the concept of self. This visual art helped Noel learn about what people look like, how similar and yet different people are, and built on additional skills such as shape and color recognition.  

Creating a self-portrait is a community-building activity that helps Noel, and all Cardinals, to get to know each other and feel comfortable in their classroom space.