Kindergarten class September 2020

Hello Families,

We’ll be updating you periodically on kinder happenings through this blog. Feel free to share the password with your extended families if they’d like a peek into Orchard School. At this time, the other teachers are not using their blogs, preferring instead to email parents directly with photos and news. However, you can also browse past blog entries for any class as you wish.

We’re off to a great start to the year. The children have bonded beautifully and we see many examples daily of kindness and inclusivity. They are open to problem solving and adept at verbalizing their feelings. They’ve been playing really hard and it’s clear that they are thrilled to be together in this idyllic setting with so many opportunities to socialize and connect.

We’ve been fully immersed in apple curriculum these past days. We’ve used apples as a jumping off point in math, science and language arts, and of course in art, singing and cooking class too. Today we went to pick apples and then peeled, cut and turned them into a delicious apple cake.

In science, we looked at what happens when apples are put in different solutions (water, air, vinegar, lemon juice), we did a taste test and we looked a momentum and gravity while rolling different-sized apples down incline planes (rain gutters).

We’ve also spent a lot of time working on the fine motor skills so important to these early years and academic development. This has included pencil grip, scissor work, beading, and tying.

In language arts, we’ve looked at the letters and sounds for A, a for apple and C,c, T,t, and S,s. The children wrote a group story about apples. They also spent some time practicing writing their names with the first letter a capital and the rest in lower case. If you write with them at home, please encourage this as much as possible. Capitals are learned in preschool, lowercase takes time and are the letters we use almost exclusively, except for the first letter in a sentence or proper names.

In math, the kids measured the circumference of apples with string and graphed the results of the apple taste test. We’ve been looking extensively at patterns, in color, shape, and sound. See gallery of photos below. The children beaded patterns, designed patterns out of blocks and then recorded their patterns on paper, and made kebab fruit patterns too.

Here the children cut family photos and collaged their work onto apples they painted with wet on wet watercolors. Colleen is laminating these and they’ll come home soon.

Some words from Colleen:

This may look like a simple activity of playing with sponges and dinosaurs in the water table, but make no mistake, teachers are always crafting up activities that teach, connect, extend thinking, and are enjoyable.  The kids have no idea the hidden layers being carefully planned when they are immersed in the fun. 

     In the midst of letter recognition, small motor development for writing skills, math exercises,  etc. I have been adding my personal efforts during the day that fortify the connection and unity of the class.

    The class has, on a whole, had a large focus every day on dinosaur play in the sand box so when I saw those big sponges at the store, I couldn't resist the idea of creating more all-class activities to keep the bonds growing. During recess, nearly all joined in the washing activity. Turns were taken, laughter happened and dinosaurs were cleaned.

     What teachers know to be true is that the atmosphere of a class is as equally as important as what is being taught.