Artistic Expression at Any Age...

 

Jackson Pollock was a well-known influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He became known for his “drip” style of painting.  Jackson would lay his canvas on the floor and use paintbrushes, sticks and even basting syringes to drip or splatter paint onto the canvas. 

When I first heard of Jackson Pollock I was surprised to learn that a well-known artist was using the same techniques children in my preschool classroom were using in their artwork.  I knew I loved the splash of color and the sense of freedom it made me feel as I watch the children chose which colors, which brushes and which way to flick their brush but I didn’t realize how insightful and truly original they were in their approach. Perhaps Jackson Pollock took his cue, knowingly or not from his own childhood experiences when he developed his well-known technique of “drip” painting.

  

Just recently some of the children in the preschool learned about Jackson Pollock and his famous masterpieces.  Later, the children chose a variety of colors of paint and different paintbrushes and collaboratively created their own modern day piece of expressionist artwork, which proudly hangs in their classroom.

 

 

 

Playing with Words...

There are many ways at home and in the preschool environment to teach literacy which you may not even recognize as early learning. A baby pointing at objects in a book, toddlers singing rhyming words in a song and preschoolers dictating a story to the teacher is all early literacy learning in action.

Playing with Language:

Rhyming words and making up sounds is a part of literacy and is a fun activity. As children start to understand how words and sounds rhyme they naturally begin to make up different sounds to make the rhymes work. They will even start to replace words in a song or story with made up words. An example would be replacing E-I-E-I-O with Le Li Le Li Lo in Old MacDonald's Farm.

A favorite song at preschool is:

Willoughby Wallaby Woo,

An Elephant sat on you.

Willoughby Wallaby Wee,

An Elephant sat on me.

Willoughby Wallaby Weter,

An Elephant sat on Peter.

Willoughby Wallaby Willy,

An Elephant sat on Billy.

Syllables:

The awareness of syllables occurs early. In the classroom during circle time the children will begin to clap out the syllables in their names. We discover Sally has two syllables and Christopher has three and so on. It is fun to move to other familiar words in clapping syllables and then progress to how fast we can clap them out. This is a fun thing to do in the car with children.

Writing:

Writing begins with the first scribble. Providing plain paper and crayons/markers for drawing encourages creativity AND the development of turning scribbles into objects and objects into letters and letters into words.

In the classroom the teachers will take dictation when they listen to and write down children's oral stories before the children can write down their own. Sometimes the child will draw a picture and tell a story and other times the teacher will provide a picture from a book or magazine and have the child create a story and the teacher will write it for them.

Providing an area in the classroom or home where paper, note cards, index cards, an old typewriter or keyboard encourages children to practice writing while using their imaginations and having fun.

 

   

Putting it all into action:

In the MWF and Pre-K classrooms this week the children have been learning about the post office and how a letter goes from one location to another. In the process the children have been writing notes, stuffing envelopes and placing them in a mailbox in the room. Then someone becomes the postal worker, gathers the letters from the mailbox and begins delivering them to the proper locations in the room. The children have been using inventive spelling as well as asking teachers how to spell words. They have even walked to the church mailbox and will be waiting for their mail to arrive at home!

In the T/Th classrooms children have been drawing pictures and placing these in the mailbox as well. As they draw their drawings will begin to turn into letters soon.

 

Some books which play with language:

Altoona Baboona, Bearnard Waber

Bearsie Bear, Janie Bynum

Cleaning Up Litter, Dr. Seuss

Cock-A-Doodle-Moo, Jez Alborough

Dancing Feet, Charlotte Pomerantz

Duck in the Truck, Lloyd Moss

Fiddle-i-fee, Shel Silverstein

The Happy Hippopotami, Jane Yolen

The Piggy in the Puddle, Jakki Wood

HICCUPotamus, Aaron Zenz

 

                                                                              

                                                                              
                                                         

Playful Learning

Mr. Roger's once said:

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning.
But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of Childhood."

At St. George's Preschool play is all about learning and learning is all about play. The more fun we have the more we are likely to remember what we have learned and use these facts throughout life. Did you know snowflakes have six points and no two are alike?

Some of the ways we have been learning about the winter season is by making cloud dough out of flour and baby oil, cutting out snowflakes, making snowflakes out of miniature marshmallows and toothpicks, making construction paper snow people by tracing different size circles, cutting them out, gluing the shapes together by size and putting on the finishing touches like faces, boots and hats. Of course these masterpieces would not be complete without the children writing their names on their finished work.

Children have dressed up in mittens, hats and scarfs and even been ice skating in their own classrooms. Yes, you can skate in your own classroom by taping down a large piece of thick plastic to the floor and sprinkling it with a bit of flour. The children then use their wonderful imaginations and skate to music on their very own magical pond in their socks! You will even notice a snow angel or two being made.

These winter activities are finished off by making homemade ice cream or snow cones. Wouldn't you like to join us?




                                                                         
      Enjoy Learning All About Winter
                    Through Play!

 

A Busy Life...

I don't know about you but I can feel like a hamster on a turning wheel most days.  I spin and spin to accomplish daily work and chores with hopes I will be able to check them all off my list before bedtime.   It came to me one day that I was viewing my social life in the same manner.  Time I enjoy spending with good friends and family I began viewing as things to get done as well. That is when I knew I needed to stop and think about my approach to my daily life whether at work, home or socially.   

I received a daily calendar from a friend for Christmas and thought the teachers would enjoy the little saying for the day so I have been posting them on the office bulletin board.  Each afternoon I read the next one before hanging it up and when I saw "Busyness" at the top of the page I knew I needed to pay attention. 

Perhaps you can gain some insight as well from the questions we can all ask ourselves:

Who have I hurt or ignored with my busyness including myself?
Do I use my busyness as an excuse?
Do I become blind to the beauty of life around me by hurrying from one thing to the next?

I believe three of the most important questions we should ask ourselves are:
 
What have I taught my child about how to live their life?
As my child goes off on their own will I regret being too busy for most of their life?
What if I have taught them to be too busy for me?
                                                                                                          

Do You Believe...

Do you remember when you were young and it seemed like Christmas would never come? 
Do you remember making your Christmas list and writing your letter to Santa?
Do you remember the anticipation of that special morning?

Christmas brings back all kinds of memories, but the ones we usually cherish the most are the ones of childhood.  As we grow up, Christmas brings on different meanings and different memories.  When we become parents, we have the opportunity to see the magic of Christmas once again through the eyes of our children. 

The holidays can bring stress with all that needs to be done from buying gifts to decorating and cooking, but if you just slow down long enough to watch a child - whether it is your own or someone elses, you may just feel that magic once again.

Children do not have a difficult time believing, whether it be in the real meaning of Christmas or in Santa Claus.  They embrace the spirit and live in the moment.  Take just a few moments to stop, to watch and remember your own childhood - your own sense of wonder.  Feel the magic and rejoice.

Merry Christmas 

Five Fat Turkeys

 

Five Fat Turkeys are We

We Slept All Night in a Tree

When the Cook Came Around We Couldn't Be Found

So That's Why We're Here You See!

This is one of the children's favorite songs to sing during the Thanksgiving season.  They love the idea of the trukeys climbing in the tree to hide from the cook.  "Gobble, Gobble!"

 

Thankful can be a difficult word for young children to understand but that does not mean they do not understand the concept of being thankful.  At first we will say thankful is kind of like being happy.  When asked what makes them happy - they are able to come up with all kinds of ideas from their favorite toy, to their favorite place to go or perhaps their favorite food.  They are even able to grasp the idea of the turkeys being happy they were able to get away from the cook.

 

As the conversation continues we explain to the children that being thankful is more than being happy.   Thankful is a feeling we have WAY down in our heart towards someone or something.  Immediately the children know what they are thankful for and on the top of their list is MOMMY and DADDY!  Grandparents, siblings, pets, blankets and stuffed animals are quickly added to the list of the many things the children know give them real joy, hope, love and security. 

 

Young children do understand thankfulness.  It just may take a little explaining before they completely understand what the question means. When we take the time to have meaningful conversations with children about life they can give us answers that melt hearts. 

What are you thankful for in your life?

 

Blending Trends

I believe things develop and grow in cycles from humans, animals, plants and even trends.

Children used to run out the front door in the morning and return as the streets lights came on. There was much to explore and do in one’s own neighborhood from riding bikes, playing ball, roller skating, climbing trees, collecting rocks, pinecones, seeds, insects and more. Children negotiated their own schedules and agendas and played mutually with siblings and next door neighbors.

Children were learning how to figure out social situations, understand time, be creative thinkers and problem solvers all on their own. They learned not only about themselves but the natural environment around them, how things worked, all while their bodies grew and developed along with their minds.

Of course our world was safer then, not as many people, cars or need for closer supervision. For a variety of reasons the trend started to turn more towards providing a variety of different activities for our children.

Lessons and activities like dance, sports and art that seemed more productive and educational emerged, while taking place in safer environments rather than running around the neighborhood. These activities would teach things where you could see the progress from one lesson to the next all while being safe, social and fun for the children.

With these new activities new challenges developed from time management becoming a family discussion with who would be doing what activity, where and when and how to get there not to mention the added cost. We want the best for our children, we want them to participate in what others do, so we adapt.

I question whether we are missing something as we have shifted from one trend to another. Would it be perhaps better to blend the two together and provide a more balanced experience for our children? Can we still learn how to dance or play a sport while still running out into our own backyards to explore the outdoors with our siblings and friends? Perhaps arrange to go on a hike to explore nature and take a picnic lunch instead of having the play date at a fast food place and play center.

I am not only asking these questions of parents but of teachers as well. Our motto is children learn through discovery and play. Our goal this year is to bring back much more of the natural environment to our yards and classrooms. To blend trends, to provide real items mixed with the beautifully manufactured items for our children to learn, grow and develop as they explore and engage together in safe and exciting environments.

The children are using cedar slices, tree limb blocks, tree stumps, river rock and wild animals to explore and create.   Later on spray bottles filled with water were used to wet the wood and rocks to see the interesting details of these natural items and it also brought out the wonderful scent of the wood.