Hanging with Almond

 Today in the Atelier the kids went from table to table and did different activities. The third table in the atelier was lined with white paper, red paint and googly eyes. When the kids asked what we were making, I circled back to some of the animals we had talked about the days before, asking them "Do you remember what animal in the ocean that can be red?" One of our oldest in the class remembered immediately, yelling out "Crabs!" Which of course opened another conversation about all the things they remembered about crabs and more ocean animals. 😂 The kids got their hands painted and then placed on the paper beside each other to make the crab body. After washing hands the kiddos used glue and stuck their googly eyes to their thumbprints. So far, the Ocean week seems to be the best one yet!  Indiana Learning Foundations: SC3.1: Demonstrate awareness of life, SC3.2: Demonstrate awareness of the preservation, protection, and care of living creatures and plants, S...

 On Tuesday we opened up a new topic in circle time, "What do you know about the Ocean?" We read the book "Baby Beluga" and sang along while pointing out where the baby whale was going. Some friends pointed out how whales can shoot water out of their heads! Our friends named many animals including the starfish! One friend told us about the starfish living at the bottom of the ocean. We talked about coral reefs and listened to Whale sounds! After circle time we spent some time at the table gluing our starfish cutouts onto our papers and then gluing buttons on our starfish! This kind of activity helps a lot with our fine motor skills and the kids LOVE using all kinds of glue. Their starfish look great, and they did this activity so well independently!  Indiana Learning Foundations: SW1.1: Demonstrate self awareness and confidence, APL1.2: Demonstrate interest and curiosity as a learner, APL3.1: Demonstrate development of sustained attention and persistence,...

 Today we celebrated all Miss KyRonn is! We are so thankful for who she is and what she brings to the Almond classroom. She loves the kiddos and gives them the biggest part of her, her heart. We appreciate everything she does for us and how much she puts into helping me teach the almond friends day in and day out! Thank you for everything today and showing Miss KyRonn how much she means to us! Here are some fun pictures of today and different days we have with Miss KyRonn. Happy 21st Miss KyRonn! 

 On Monday this week the art invitation was black paper and chalk. The kiddos love having chalk outside on the bike track or on the playground to cover the sidewalks in it. It's such a fun and easy activity that leaves the perfect kind of mess. It helps the kids fine motor skills as well so that's an extra added bonus. On Tuesday we decided to explore the different ways you can use chalk, one being, get it wet. The Almond kiddos got to see a little bit of a science experiment added to it when they dropped the chalk in the water and saw how the chalk reacted.. making bubbles as it started to dissolve. After letting it sit for a few minutes they took it out and used it on their black paper, creating chalk paint!  During small group, we talked about the different ways we could break chalk. The kids came up with using a hammer, their hands, throwing it on the floor, or stomping on it with their feet. We laid a big piece of black paper on the floor and let each kiddo choose a piece...