Junk and Trash
How can we reuse junk? How can we create less trash ? Junk and trash were two topics of discussion during the past few weeks. Many items we throw in the trash can be used as a instrument of your child's imagination. Instead of throwing away a box , we used them to make robots. Your child picked out a recycled box and painted it the color of their choice. After we painted the box, it was time to find our eyes, and a nose. We looked through our recycled items to find the perfect pieces. A box that would have been thrown in the trash helped your child exercise their fine motor skills. We found a great use for our large boxes in our recycle area. A large box in our home living center became a dog house as your child pretended to be a dog. Our ability to balance and stand on one foot was amazing as the children climbed in and out of their dog house.
Our music time was filled with a special beat as we used milk cartons for drums and water bottles for drum sticks. We took turns using our items and we learned that we could make sound from almost any of our items. This activity let your child explore musical concepts and gave them the freedom to express their feelings.
The letter T is for truck and trash. Children love big trucks and they noticed that we have a large trash truck that visits our school every Tuesday and Friday. We took a walk to find out what happens to our trash after it leaves our class. We found a large , green dumpster on our campus. The number six was spotted on our large dumpster. We are learning to look for numbers and shapes everywhere. I must say the highlight of that discussion was watching the trash truck pick up our huge dumpster and take our trash away. All of our trash is taken to our city dump . We also found some liter on our walk , we are learning to keep our earth clean and put items that we can't recycle into a trash can.
Lets recycle our items. I used our computer time to let this class take a virtual tour of a recycling center. After watching the tour, we created our own recycling center in the classroom. Your child pretended to be at work , using their sorting skills to determine what items were made of plastic or paper.
Physical Education is flourishing as your child is learning to use their gross motor skills and math skills together. We played a game called junkyard. The object of this physical education lesson is to clean up the junkyard. The children were divided into two groups during last weeks class. Each group tries to keep their side of the junkyard clean as they throw the junk cubes and junk spheres over the net until the music stops. This class knows when the music stops they stop moving, then it is time to count. Mrs. Nicole had each group count their cubes and spheres, and then determine which group had more items. Lets clean up the junkyard! This game is fun, but it also helps your child with spatial awareness, and math skills. Your child is using their ability to be aware of their body in space. They are learning how hard they will have to throw their cube or sphere to get it over the net.
Valentine's Day was full of love! We had a great time with a name recognition exercise. The children had a blast passing out valentines and searching for names. A great big thank you to all our parents for helping with this event.
Grandparent's Day was a joy and a blessing. I know every grandparent was proud of their grandchild on this special day. I know I was very proud of this class , it is amazing to watch these children sing on stage for their family. We enjoyed all of our visitors and I know everyone enjoyed visiting the classroom and looking at all of the children's work.
