"Traveling" to Mexico: the Orca Class takes a "trip!"

One of the best ways for children to learn and practice self-regulation skills is through mature dramatic play. As children are developing the ability to engage in this mature play on their own, they can do it with adult assistance. So the Orca class (4-5 year olds) is learning about transportation, and the country of Mexico, and enjoying this type of mature play while we take a "trip" to Mexico.

We started by learning about different kinds of transportation, and looking at maps to see how we could get from Bainbridge Island to Mexico. We have had first-hand learning about cars, the ferry, and the train.

At the same time, we have been learning about Mexico, it's geography, and language, and food and culture. We have been singing and speaking some Spanish, and reading stories about Mexico. We have painted murals of Mexico's volcanos, and of her jungles. We have painted the American and Mexican flags. We made our own fresh corn tortillas and homemade salsa. We have made suitcases, maps, and passports. We created a travel store and bought what we need to take to Mexico, and our suitcases are packed.

Today we start on our trip. We will play both the passengers, as well as the ferry and train workers. We will go through customs in Mexico, get our passports stamped, and exchange our American dollars for pesos (both of which we made). We will check into a hotel, and call it a day. Then, tomorrow we will play that we are in Mexico. We will board a tour bus to see the country and take our binoculars and cameras with us. We will go swimming at the beach, have a fiesta complete with a pinata, and end our day by taking in a bullfight. This is going to be fun!

Funny videos from school

Well, I have moved up into the ranks of those with iphones. Watch out for videos! Now, let's see if I can upload these.

December at ICP

Maybe I have figured out what has been keeping me from posting on this blog. I love technology when it does what I want, and get so frustrated when it doesn't!

Lots has been happening at ICP since November. We had a wonderful tree planting event, with lots of particpation from community families. We have had grandparent's days in all classes, and baked homemade pizzas, and learned about winter and celebrated with a Celebration of Light Party when the preschool was filled to the brim with Christmas lights.

We have been learning about transportation since we came back from Winter Break. The kids have explored all of the parts of a real car, and made cardboard box cars. They all had driver's licenses, too. We have played bus, and train, and are preparing for some ferry field trips. The Orcas will also visit the train station and tour an Amtrack train. They are preparing for a "trip" to Mexico, so along with learning how they could travel there, they have been learning some Spanish, and we made our own delicious tortillas in class!

It snowed one day at school, so we sang our snowmen songs and pretended we were snwmen. I hope we didn't wish too hard for snow, because we all got dumped on! I know the kids will have lots of stories to tell about their snowy adventures when we return to school Monday.

    

ICP is busily preparing for our tree planting event this Friday, November 11. Through the "Trees for the 21st Century" program, hosted by the National Wildlife Federation, we will be planting 50 douglas fir trees on Bainbrudge Parks land.
     Through the Trees for the 21st Century initiative, we aim to teach children about the value of the environment; expand the world inventory of trees to protect and improve natural resources; and to help children value long term stewardship of trees, Earth’s “perfect organic machines.”
     So far we have lots of Island families coming to help. The parks department will be mowing the planting site and flagging where the trees should go. They are also providing mulch for the children to spread around their baby trees.
     We will be bringing in Jim Trainer, local arborist and naturalist, to give a hands-on presentation about trees, their importance in our environment, and the animals who rely on trees. He will be bringing a variety of interesting artifacts for children to see and touch.
     Friday, November 11, 10-11:30 at Meigs Farm, SW corner of Koura Rd and Hwy 305. Wear your boots, and bring your shovel and a bucket to carry the mulch. Please RSVP to info@islandcooperativepreschool.org

Fall at Island Co-op

We have been learning a lot about the fall season at ICP. The Orca class hiked the Grand Forest on their monthly Nature Day. They catalogued how many deciduous or evergreen trees they saw. Evergreen's won out! They also adopted a tree at school, and used their new Nature Journals to record their observations.

The Dolphin class has also been busy, painting fall trees and making Magic Leaves. The applesauce they made was delicious, and so were the roasted pumpkin seeds! The Sea Otter class has been exploring leaves and pumpkins, and all classes visited the pumpkin patch.

We are preparing for a community tree planting on November 11. Wacth for more information!

Pumpkins and corn and the farm...

I am sorry it has been almost a month since I last posted. I kind of forgot how to do this, but, thankfully, I have figured it out!
A lot has been happening at school this past month. We harvested corn from Day Road Farms to be eaten in the piblic school lunch program. Those older sibs were very proud to eat the corn we had harvested. It rained cats and dogs that day, and we all got wet, but it gave us lots of opportunities for puddle jumping!
We harvested all of the pumpkins from our farm plot at Morales Farm, loaded them in the car, and took them, and a load of potatoes that we also grew, to Helpline for the food bank. They were so appreciative, and the children worked so hard hauling those pumpkins!
The Orca class has tasted raw pumpkin, steamed pumpkin with butter, and sauteed pumpkin with brown sugar and spices. Guess which one they liked the best?
The three older classes have been learning about safety, and we visited the fire station. You should see how quickly the Dolphins and Orcas can get under the tables for an earthquake drill! We have been playing fire fighters at school, and even made smoke alarms for the Housekeeping Center.

We are beginning to see how much garbage and recycling we generate at school. This is a part of us learning about waste reduction as a part of our Eco-Action Plan while working to become an Eco-School.

Fabulous first week of school!

Our first week is nearing the end, and it has been a fabulous week! The children were excited to come to school, and so were the parents. We enjoyed time together in the classroom, learning about each other and the school day. Those parents who worried about how their child would handle separation were pleasantly surprised!
In the Dolphin and Orca classes we explored potatoes. We washed loads of potatoes that we had harvested from the farm. We tipped out of the pots the potato plants we had planted last spring and discovered white potatoes! The Orcas guessed how many potatoes we would find, and we were all surprised to find 13 beautiful potatoes. We worked together to cut the potatoes, and then we fried them up! YUM!!
The sweet little kids in the Penguin and Sea Otter classes are figuring it all out, and trying everything. They all seem pretty comfortable at school, and it will be so much fun to explore and learn together!
Monday the Dolphin and Orca classes will be helping to harvest 500 ears of corn destined to end up in the public school lunch program. We are excited about doing this! Watch for pictures.