Mrs. Carson's Sunny Sea Friends Blog Spot: Growing From Learning and Learning From Growing

We Love Books!

Mrs. Cummings enjoys reading with the children during free choice time. Soooo cute!

The children brought their favorite books to school to share with their classmates last week. Everyone was very excited to talk about their books, swap them out and show off the pictures they like the best. Together, we graphed the books according to fiction or non-fiction and discussed whether any were by the same author.

Ezra Jack Keats

Speaking of authors.......

Ezra Jack Keats is certainly one of my favorites!

Last week the children embarked upon a journey through the amazing books of Ezra Jack Keats. Reading such favorites as The Snowy Day, A Whistle For Willie, Apartment 3 and more, the children learned that authors like Keats who are also extremely artistically inclined also sometimes illustrate their own books. Keats wrote about, drew and painted what he saw, lived and experienced while growing up in Brooklyn, New York. He understood the simple pleasures and daily experiences of children. Keats is well known for having introduced multiculturalism into mainstream children's literature in America. He inspired authors of all races with his works. We just think his books are really fun and really great! This week the children will read along with and listen to the book

Peter's Chair. Later in the week we will begin studying the books of Leo Lionni. Aren't stories the best! Learning more about and sharing the stories from these amazing authors is such a treat for me and an experience I hope the children will remember always.

The Snowy Day was certainly a crowd pleaser last week!

Transferring

Some of our favorite activities in the Early Childhood Center at Shorecrest are those that work with transferring. Transferring objects, or moving them from one place to another, is not only fun but offers many valuable learning skills to the children. Transferring activities help children to build fine motor skills such as hand/eye coordination, grasping, strengthening hand muscles needed for all sorts of things like using a computer, turning pages in a book, dressing and feeding oneself, writing and so much more!

Pinching the rubber end of eye droppers to collect colored water from one container to move it to another, pouring water and transferring it without spilling a drop (or too much, at least) takes a lot of concentration and sure is a cool experiment when you are four. Scooping colorful beads with a little spoon and moving them from one pretty bowl to another takes a very steady hand. Squeezing a pair of tongs to grasp a sponge and controlling them enough to move and drop the sponge into a space just big enough to fit it strengthens hand muscles. It's also different and cool!

Take a look!

*picking up beads with tweezers to move into tiny suction cups
*using tweezers to separate tiny plastic ladybugs from mini apple erasers

BOTH activities require using the "claw" fingers that grip a pencil or writing utensil to properly work the tweezer in order to pick up each item....good practice!

Learning To Write.....

on paper with pencils is not typically part of our early childhood curriculum other than printing one's name. However, learning to form letters correctly by using fabulously fun and tactile means is always at the top of the curricular list! Take a look at the children enjoying printing and forming letters, always starting at the top of course, in sand, shaving cream, with magnets, roll-a-dough, on the ipads and so much more.

Wet/Dry try on the HWT app on the iPads is GREAT for practicing proper letter formation. The kids love it!!!

Budding Authors!

We have some amazingly creative children in our class. Learning to write is just the beginning. Putting ideas down on paper is something I am seeing them do more and more. Taking illustrations and inquiring about how to spell words that fit them to make stories is something our class has taken a huge interest in. Last week the children visited Barnes and Noble on field trip. There they enjoyed a wonderful story time with the book Rocket Writes A Story. That book is being sent home for your family enjoyment with each of the children on his/her sharing day. This book inspired our class to create a "word tree" in our classroom. Each child shared one word they would like to learn to write. They drew a picture and wrote the word with help from their teachers to place on the tree for future writing endeavors. Pre-made books in the writing center and other bookmaking materials will hopefully entice the children into becoming authors and illustrators. Be on the lookout for awesome "books" coming home!