Kindergarten class March/April

We are two more months into this busy, busy year and only two months from the end of kindergarten. Every year, it is unbelievable to me. When I look back on the photos from the beginning of this year, your children look so much younger. I know it’s obvious but it is still astounding, somehow, the passage of time and especially the incredible development that happens during this key year.

As you may already know, David will be moving on to 1st grade at Rio Del Mar Elementary next year. His last day is on May 21st, then he’s taking off to Arizona and New Mexico for big brother graduations and to start his summer. I hope he comes back to visit next year and we will miss him terribly.

Olive will be repeating kindergarten as she is more than a full year younger than several in the class. I am so lucky.

The rest will be moving on to Orchard first grade which will either be a straight first, with several new students, or a first/second grade.

Now for classroom curriculum:

The class has been fully engaged in a project-based learning unit that has included elements of math, science, art, and science, all rolled into one giant project: Creating a “Me Museum”. We intend to invite the pen pals to come visit, much as they did with the “Rock Museum”, to find out more about their little buddies. Steps for this project have included:

Continued observational drawing skills put into action with the kindergarten self-portraits. Almost all of you guessed the right drawing to match your child. See photos below. You should frame these. I love them. I still have the self-portrait Ty did his kindergarten year.

From left to right we have on the top row: Luz, Ayla, Olive, Norah, and on the bottom row: Wilder, Sky, David, Junie, with Abel on the third row.

Other elements for the Me Museum:

We studied fingerprints and the children categorized their own prints into the three types (whorl, loop or arch) and then drew them, as well as stamping them, and creating art using these stamps.

We folded origami houses and the kids drew their families and pets inside, counting and calculating how many feet lived in their houses. This is based on a literature study of the classic story, “The Napping House.” It provided good counting by twos practice. We have kept up our ritual of counting fingers and toes at morning circle by tens and fives and then other body parts by twos.

The children used their house homework (“research”) to draw an accurate drawing of their homes, paying attention to all of the details they listed such as the color of their doors, how many windows, plants growing in front etc.

Next, I read a story recommend by Mirna (The Big Orange Splot) about a man who defies conformity and paints his house to reflect his dreams (with splendid colors and murals) in what was until then a cookie cutter neighborhood where everything was neat and tidy. This provided the inspiration for the kinders to draw the houses of their dreams. You should come see what they created. It’s all on display in the tile room. I forgot to take photos of these projects but you’ll see them when they come home if you haven’t or can’t make it in to look beforehand.

David is trying to figure out Wilder’s eye color — Wilder didn’t know and we kept getting different results based on what he was wearing and where he stood. We settled on green with some blue.

We also studied eyes, how they work and the terminology for the different parts of the eye. Then they partnered and took a close look at a classmate’s eye color and drew an eye diagram to show what their friend’s eye looked like.

We graphed eye color and fingerprint type and did some basic work reading the graphs to see what they told us — who had more, less, how many more, how many people are reflected on the graphs and so forth. This is foundational, conceptual math work that not only shows the kids a real world math application and gets them invested, it also practices basic skills and terminology that will come up again and again through the years.

Sky and Abel drawing each other’s eyes.

In science, we discussed magnetism and compasses, and then went on a “north walk”, heading across campus in a long line, sprinkling flour on the ground as we walked to trace the direction. It stayed on the ground for a few days and all the kids on campus were intrigued to find out what the flour meant and which way north was. We then magnetized needles and floated them in water so they would all point north, and it worked! They pointed the same direction we had walked. See gallery of photos below.

We will tie this work into our museum by drawing a giant map of Orchard School, complete with a compass rose at the top, and affixing it to the carpet in the tile room. We’ll discuss mapping components, like what a landmark is and how to create a legend. The kinders will also be working on their yearbook bios. And finishing up their “Me Books”, little autobiography books they been writing and drawing in all month. As you can see, the museum is all about them: what they look like, their homes, families, lives, preferences, and their school.

Here’s the third installment of the persimmon tree study: Spring. We’ll likely draw it one more time, just before school gets out.

Another project based unit has been the Snuffle’s project, the culmination of which the children took home last week. This is a math study that begins with a story about a little hedgehog who needs to find a new home. It’s an exciting, hands-on way to work on geometry (2D and 3D shapes). They shaped modeling clay to make hedgehogs, painted cubes and purchased decorating supplies in an art shop I set up (where they had to think hard how to spend their 10 pennies and how to calculate how many items of each product a penny would buy by reading the shop signs). They also worked on scissor skills and were delighted folding and gluing flat shapes to make them into 3D shapes (cylinders, cones and so on).

Another cool activity we did this month was gather flowers and then hammer them onto fabric to release their color and dye the fabric.

Thursdays and Friday Mornings with Jane

Great shot snapped by Ty, who aides the kinders on Thursday afternoons. The kids all ended up sitting in their cubbies to eat their banana ice cream.

The transition from Colleen to Jane has felt pretty good, all things considered. Of course we all miss Colleen and look forward to her return in June but the children are lucky to have Jane sharing her many skills with them. They’ve been gardening and cooking up a storm. Projects have included planting seeds, picking flowers, watering the big garden up top, watercolor painting and sketching in the garden, painting and assembling their own flower presses, several hikes up to the redwoods, baking Wilder’s original apple bread recipe, pumpkin bread, making banana ice cream, and focaccia bread. Photos here, top row is the focaccia bread, next row is gardening, third row is flower press building, and last row features David kazooing in the redwoods, and kinders touching Ty’s hair, something they enjoy. It is pretty fluffy.

Another highlight this month has been welcoming Kathleen back to kindergarten. She is coming every Friday from 2-3, performing a puppet show using all her handmade dolls, and then we together do needle felting with the children. What a joy to have her magical presence and sweet energy. I am happy she has been able to meet your kids, after a hard year at home and out of the classroom. Fingers crossed she will be partnering with me again next year as planned.

Sky’s tortoise Pearl came for a visit.

I was told this was the “I just learned to climb the pole club”. There are a few others who qualify to join as well but here are the founders.