Month of March



Month of March 


Exploring the difference between land and water animals 



The children have been exploring land and water animals. We placed a picture of land on the overhead and gave the children several animals to explore with. The children discussed which animals live on land. The children determined that an elephant, moose, tiger, pig, horse all live on land. Many of the children pointed out that all the animals have legs. We then placed a picture of the water and the children decided that the whale, dolphin and seal live in the water. Together we discussed how the ocean animals have fins or flippers.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Infants and Toddlers 

Strand A, Goal 2: Infants and toddlers experience environments where their social and emotional well-being is nurtured.
Strand B, Goal 1: Infants and toddlers experience environments where the importance of spontaneous play is recognized and play is valued as meaningful learning.
   Strand C, Goal 2: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they gain confidence in and greater control of their bodies.
Strand D, Goal 3: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive about their feelings and thoughts.
Strand E, Goal 3: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they are encouraged to interact and learn with and alongside others.



Exploring Animal Prints 

       
  

We noticed that when many of the children were exploring with the animals in front of the overhead, they would imitate the animal by moving like them and sounding like them. We wanted to respect the children's thinking about how an animal sounds, looks and moves. We placed pictures of animal skins on the overhead. The skins opened the dialog about how animals look and move. We talked about what kind of animals have that kind of skin and how that specific animal would move and act.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Infants and Toddlers 

Strand A, Goal 2: Infants and toddlers experience environments where their social and emotional well-being is nurtured.
Strand B, Goal 1: Infants and toddlers experience environments where the importance of spontaneous play is recognized and play is valued as meaningful learning.
   Strand C, Goal 2: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they gain confidence in and greater control of their bodies.
Strand D, Goal 3: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive about their feelings and thoughts.
Strand E, Goal 3: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they are encouraged to interact and learn with and alongside others.




Exploring how an incline affects the speed of an object



We got the children thinking about how the height of an incline affects the speed of an object with cardboard slats, hollow wooden blocks and cars. We used the hollow wooden blocks to change the height of the incline of the slats. The children explored releasing their car down the slat and watching it travel onto the carpet. The children noticed their car traveled faster on the slats with blocks underneath them. Many children made the connection between the higher the incline the faster the car hit the floor.



Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Infants and Toddlers 

Strand C, Goal 1: Infants and toddlers experience environments where the importance of spontaneous play is recognized and play is valued as meaningful learning.
Strand C, Goal 3: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning.
Strand C, Goal 5: Infants and toddlers experience environments where their interests and initiative provide direction for learning opportunities and for the practice and mastery of developing skills.
Strand D, Goal 1: Infants and toddlers experience environments where they develop attitudes and skills to communicate successfully with others.


Ms. Chinavare's Building Investigation


Initial Interest
At the beginning of this semester I noticed that they children were very interested in building all kinds of different things. After a lot of observation and through conversation with your children I realized that the interest was primarily in building structures. The children were very focused on how they could create a structure that would not fall over because of a superficial bump or disruption to the surface they were building on. I observed the children using many different materials; magnitiles, unifix blocks, castle blocks, and all of the different foam blocks that we have. After reviewing my documentation and reflection of the conversations that I had with the children it became clear that the children were focused on building a structure that was, for lack of a better word, sturdy.
And So It Begins!





We started with talking about different shapes of buildings. In the first picture, you can see Luna examining a picture of a pyramid. We then talked about tall structures vs. short structures. In the second picture, John is building as tall as he can while being mindful about the placement of the blocks to ensure it doesn’t topple over.  Our last building investigation before break was using different shaped foam blocks to see how there are different materials that create a building. In the third pictures, Hamoudy S. and Amira are working together to create what they called a “castle” with different shaped blocks. When talking about the different kinds of structures and how they are made the children became aware through conversation and a little help from the book, The Three Little Pigs that structures need a good “base” and a material that, as they put it, “The wolf can’t just blow down”.



Our Future is Bright
So what comes next? The children and I have been talking a lot about their own houses, how they were built, what they are made out of, and what is on the inside. This investigation has endless opportunities to tie in all kinds of different areas. By using spatial reasoning they are exploring mathematical concepts, the reading of different books that are informational on building they are expanding their language, Science is being introduced when their structure begins to fall over and they need to go back and use physics to correct.
In the weeks to come we will continue the concepts of a strong base and the different attributes that buildings have. We are exploring blueprints of a house and how there are different rooms and how the walls are placed to help bare the load of either more stories or a roof. The future of this investigation lies in what interests the children, their conversations and ideas. Just as David Allan Coe stated that “It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time” It is the early years of learning that will help foster the love of learning and exploring new ideas in the future.



Thank you for making March so Special !!! 



   

 








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