Little Boy Blue Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn. The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn. Where is the boy who looks after the sheep? He's under the haystack, fast asleep! We explored sheep across all 7 learning domains in the Experience Early Learning curriculum. Who knew there was so much to do with sheep? During the Nursery Rhyme theme, we counted, sang songs, read books, engineered sheep pens and problem solved how to create a sheep collar. We also made sheep puppets and played with "cows in the corn." Below, children worked through story problem cards during skill time, which is when we focus on school-readiness skills. They also played a math game, where they had to identify the number, then place the correct amount of sheep in the meadow. We created our own props too. The children recited the nursery rhyme while playing with their sheep puppet. One of our provocations involved asking the children to design a sheep pen that would prevent the sheep from escaping. They took this task very seriously and engineered some amazing designs. Relationships are key in our program and so I enjoy asking the children to explain their building to me and asked questions to further their cognitive and language skills. "On another day, we posed the following question: Help, the sheep need a bell so we can hear them when they get loose. Can you help?" We placed wooden beads, bells and pipecleaners on a table to see what they would create. One of our sensory experiences were cows in corn. The children had lots of fun with that! I appreciate that there are many ideas like this in the Teacher's Guide that comes in our Experience Early Learning curriculum each month. The children made horns which we used in many games during Circle Time. Listening skills, cooperation and creative development were the goals of this activity. Thank you for coming along with us this month! Soon, we will begin our On the Pond theme from Experience Early Learning. Make it a great day, friends!
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We have been counting our way through Nursery Rhymes! The children are naturally drawn to the rhyme and rhythm and so adding movements makes it all the more fun. Each month, we receive a subscription box from Experience Early Learning. It has 4 teacher guides (one for each week) and the materials to complete each lesson. I am not sure who is more excited when the box arrives, me or the children! One week we focused on Counting Rhymes and so we learned Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, Hickory, Dickory, Dock, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and so on. For Hickory, Dickory Dock Day, I asked our parents if they had broken clocks they wanted to donate to our class. The next day, three clocks for our Fix It Station and one play clock for the Dramatic Play area arrived. We are so blessed to have families who are always willing to support our learning in the classroom. Above, two boys are measuring a clock. We added screwdrivers and a magnifying glass to the Fix It Station also. This became a very popular area for a few days. They had no idea they were learning math and engineering skills while fine-tuning their small muscle skills. In our curriculum box was this fun Hickory, Dickory Dock game. This was perfect for our small group, skill time activity. I worked with four children as they spun the dial, told me the number it landed on and then moved their playing piece the correct number of spaces. I able to document this learning in our Child Folio app as we played. Parents can see their child's learning take place in real-time through the app. The app contains the learning domains, skills and goals for our Experience Early Learning Curriculum, so we can track progress over time. The information gathered influences future lesson plans. Twice a day, we break into skill time groups. This allows us to get to know the children's strengths and areas where they may need more assistance. One teacher is responsible for the same group of children and documenting their learning. Here, Mrs. Plamondon is working with her group. We learned the rhyme, 1,2, Buckle My Shoe earlier that day. During skill time, Mrs. Plamondon's group took turns rolling the die and laying the correct number of sticks in a row. Mrs. Plamondon was able to see if the child could subitize (quickly and confidently identify the number on the die without counting) and then use one-to-one correspondence as they counted the sticks. At Opening Circle, the children recited ”Old Mother Hubbard” then took turns guessing which bowl the dog bone was under. During Skill Time, my small group played ”Old Mother Hubbard.” The child rolled the die, identified the number and then placed a bone over the corresponding number. We played several rounds. ”Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” proved to be fun also. The children were able to were able to make their puppets and then play with them. I made an extra set for classroom use also.
I hope you joined a peek into our classroom where we counted our way through Nursery Rhymes this month. |
AuthorSheila Anderson has over 25 years experience in the Early Childhood Field and still loves going to "school" everyday. Archives
January 2022
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