All in the family

This week was the last week we talked specifically about families. It all tied in with Valentine's Day, and love. It also went over Family Day on February 18th.

The children  and I spoke about the dynamics of families and how different they can be. We talked about parents, siblings and grandparents. During last circle we went around the circle and asked all of the children how many people were in their families. I reminded them that not everyone had to live in the same house, as there are older siblings who live on their own - but we tried to keep it to parents and siblings.
I wrote each child's name on a house and we put it next to the number each child's family matched.
After, we talked which number had the most, and which had the least. The Monday/Wednesday went RIGHT off the chart with the number 4.
It was neat to see the difference between the two classes.

 

Once we went over the amount of people in our families,we spent the rest of the week talking about "pets" and how they can also be considered part of our family. We will talk more about pets through the month, and even get to go to the Edmonton Humane Society to see various pets.

As a craft, we put some fur on cats and dogs using string and blocks.

The children were allowed to choose from a dog or cat template. Then, they cut the animal out with little to no assistance from an adult.

If the children seemed to still need reminders about keeping their thumbs up, they allowed me to draw a tiny heart or star on their thumb. Even the children who needed NO help wanted me to draw the stamp though!

 

During play we transformed our house center into a pet store, and a place to adopt animals.
It offered the children some fun dramatic play for pretending to purchase animal food and toys. They have a cash register, which has been very popular! It's the greatest when we have the chance to enjoy math! The cash register is also a calculator and makes awesome sounds.

We had pets in the house center, sand center, block center, and even some matching pet games on the tables. Of course, it is unavoidable and lots of fun to take the animals away from where they are "supposed" to be and find new places to explore our understanding of animals.

 

We made fish bowls for our fish - and even bought fish food from the pet store.

Lastly, in the gym we played a new game called "doggy doggy". It is similar to other games we've played, in which we sit in a circle and take turns being "it". One of our friends hide their eyes in the middle, while a peer hides the dog biscuit behind their back. We then sing
" Doggy, Doggy - where's your bone? Somebody took it from your home! Guess who? Maybe you, maybe the monkey from the zoo? Wake up doggy, find your bone!" And we take 3 turns to guess who is hiding it behind their back. Once we were all done the children enjoyed free play with the balls.

We're so fortunate to have access to the gym and all of the equipment. They love throwing the balls, bouncing them, sharing them, tossing them and rolling them.


Christian Note:

In class I told the children the story People Wave Palms. 
As a craft, in reflection from our bible story we made the donkey that Jesus asks for from his disciples. 

The children used their hands to make the donkey, before adding eyes and coats.

Lastly, we wrote "Hosanna!" at the top and Luke 1:37 "Nothing is impossible with God"

Sincerely,

Ms Asha