Building Up, Up, Up The Moonbeams have really been into building lately. This includes building with blocks, Legos, and most recently, the sound tubes. While building, children are developing social and emotional skills, learning teamwork and experiencing feelings of competence. They are also...

Exploring Light and Color This month, the children in the infant and toddler classes at PIC are exploring light and color. Light, shadow, and color permeates everything we see and captures children’s interest from the earliest moments of infancy. Our intention in the classroom is to give the...

Fall Discovery As the days began to get cooler, the Leapfrogs began to talk about how the leaves were changing colors. Some began to gather leaves that had fallen to the ground, while others collected acorns in small sandwich bags. As teachers, we figured it was a good time to investigate more about...

Learning to Be Safe, Kind, Careful, Healthy, and Respectful In the Peanut classroom, our daily routine gives children time for lots of free-play, while also providing structured experiences and food/rest for growing bodies and minds. The interactions that happen each day in the classroom let the...

Transition Time Shows Growth Transitions into or out of a classroom have various effects on children, their parents, and their teachers. Anticipation, with undoubtedly a little anxiety exists as our new and soon-to-be two and three-year-olds move up to a toddler or preschool classroom. It is...

Exploring the "Little" Things Class trips can be a great educational experience for children. Visiting museums, parks and local businesses inspires wonder and curiosity. Of course, for the Bumblebees many of those types of places would be too far a trip. Luckily there are many opportunities for...

Camouflage and Cider On a September rainy day, the Starlights and Dragontails took a trolley to Bartram’s Garden. The Starlights learned about camouflage by using Model Magic to sculpt and color an animal to hide in an environmental drawing of its habitat. Then the group was challenged to find the...

A Paper Project The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood learning is based on a variety of learning principles. One such element is incorporating emergent curriculum into the classroom by making a place where children create their own experiences, rather than merely receive only guided learning...

It all started with the leaves The Starfish recently found several leaves on a tree at Penn Alexander's playground. Upon closer observation, they noticed how these leaves were the same. They all had bulbous growths on their undersides that opened up to holes on the tops of the leaves. This began a...

More Sand Play When our “tot lot” was under renovation recently, the Wild Things teachers discovered different and more creative ways to get everyone outside. We have been going on interesting neighborhood walks, playing in the Penn Alexander grassy areas, and spending time in the sandbox near the...