Exploring fall Its fall and the perfect time for exploring nature! During this season we can explore the changes in the plants, weather, and animals. The green leaves that once provided us shade on hot summer days are now turning into beautiful hues of red, orange, yellow, and brown before gently...
Why China? Why now? Last Thursday the Dragontail classroom took some time to talk about a place we don’t know a lot about—China（中国). Why is our class learning about China? One of our former Dragontail teachers, Paul Graff, has moved to China. Mr. Paul, as he is known to the children, has worked at...
Friends and Families Fall is full of fun, friends and family for the Rainbows. We often experience children announcing the arrival of their friends' parents at pick up. Rainbows even join in giving a "PIC push" to parents as they leave in the morning. Children are so happy to share about their...
A PIC Push Goodbye At PIC infants spend almost two years in the infant/young toddler classrooms. They build a loving, trusting relationship with their teachers and get used to the routines in their classroom. It is around the age of two, that children move to a toddler room, like the Sunshines. They...
Life and Death The Grasshoppers went through some really wonderful and new experiences this summer. We helped to care for another classroom’s pet hamster named Dragon. It was exciting, heartwarming, fun, entertaining and became the topic of a study of rodents. What was not so fun, was having Dragon...
Terrific Twos Most of us have heard of the Terrific Twos*, the approximate age when the sweet, agreeable bundles of sunshine we have nurtured since birth somehow transform into unreasonable and often defiant creatures. Children at this stage of development have realized they are their own entities...
Asking good questions In the Roadrunners, we are all scientists. When asked what it means to be a scientist, Roadrunners offer, "it means discovering things," or "doing experiments." But what do all scientists start with? Good questions. A few weeks ago, the Roadrunners instituted Why? Wednesday. On...
Caterpillar Expression The Caterpillars have had a busy summer as they continue to grow and change from infants to young toddlers. The children are challenging themselves with new language, movement, and creative expression. We have seen a new awakening with art. We once had friends that would not...
Building from the ground up The Peanuts have been investigating buildings of all sorts. We started with a discussion of the different aspects of buildings, such as the foundation, the walls, the roof, the floors, and built collaborative sculptures during meeting times. The Peanuts were encouraged to...
written by Lead Teacher Nicole Williams Mushy, gritty, oozing mud! Mud Day 2017 was everything I knew it would be and more! This year, I was prepared. I made sure to wear water shoes, a short sleeve shirt, and pants that I could roll up to my knees. I was ready to get down and dirty. As we entered...
