Enjoying The Beautiful Weather

                         Weekend News



Molly - Me play doctor with mommy and daddy. Me go outside. Me go park and eat french fries.

Cam -  I eat pizza and then I was playing. Mom start to put new stuff in my room. She put a new chair and a bench that when you open it toys are on the bottom. I buy stuff at Target with mommy and daddy and I saw Beverly. She sneak up on me and we laugh. Then we went home for a little bit. 

Vivian - I had a sleepover at grandma's house. My little cousin came over and played with us. I played with chalk outside the next day at my house. My aunt and uncle and some of my friends came over to my house the next day.

Joseph - We play outside at Saturday.  

Amelia - I bring Golden to the vet. She got shots and she did not cry. I give her treats. I go to grandma's house and I made a doll with mommy. We eat dinner at grandma's house. We eat hamburgers and then we went home and I listen to music in the car.  I sing some songs in the car too. I watch Frozen 2 at my house. My pop-pop paid for the show. 

Thea - I played outside with Quinn and we build a structure for me and Quinn's bouncy ball. Quinn took a nap and I draw and made a card for my great-grandma. Her birthday is in 12 days. 

Cameron - I play inside with Ben. I was at the sculpture play. I drink lemonade and I eat strawberries with cream on it.  I also eat a blueberry muffin but I did like it. Ben and me got sculptures.

April - I go to grandma's birthday. We surprised her. We go outside with mommy and daddy and Joey. 

Alycia - I play new things. I eat chicken and soup.

Jamesy -  I go grandfather house with Sissy. 

Almy - I went to Cora's house and we played in the backyard. We were making a big machine and it's called the gas station.  Yesterday, I play with Catherine on our school playground.

Milan - My brother went to sleep in afternoon. I watch Toy Story 3, but not the whole thing cause it was a little scary.

James - I play with Harry. We play magna-tiles. I build a rocketship. 

On this warm and sunny day, the Cardinals spent most of the morning outside enjoying the weather. We went over to the big Smith Field to run around and have some large motor fun and fresh air before library class. 

We began library class with deep breathing to settle.  Michelle read two books called If you Give a Moose a Muffin and The Kitten Who Cried Dog. Most Cardinals made connections with these books. Such as, "That one is like The Boy who Cried Wolf." "I know the one If you Take a Mouse to School and one more but I forget the name." The Cardinals then chose and checked out their own individual book to bring back to our classroom.

After library, we went back outside to play. We came inside and listened to a read-aloud before going back outside to have a picnic lunch.

Ask you Cardinals what they enjoyed most about being outside today?

Team Building

Yesterday the Cardinals took part in team building. To begin the activity we read If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen. In the story, the main character uses his imagination to create all different rooms and spaces. We discussed how the boy in the story used his imagination to build and create fun, special and magical places to be. We turned it over to the Cardinals and explained that they would get the chance to build a structure and make it into anything that their imagination desires. Friends chose their partners by selecting a friend that they do not usually play with.

Cameron and Jacob built with duplos to create The Underwater Creation. Jacob said, "In the morning, the mermaid swims around in the ocean and then it's nighttime and she sleeps in her underwater bed." Cameron shared, "So if she wants to go over here and there's water blocking her, she can get through by swimming through the underwater ocean spinner."

Vivian and James worked with k'nex and made Eyeball Tower. Vivi described it as, "There's a scary game you play where you go in line and then we make kids step on a monster foot, but not a real monster foot, and then they step on a shoot ladder, and then they look away and say, "Not too scary." Then they look and the monster eyes are open." James said, "There's a ghost helping the monster scare away all the grown-ups and kids. It's fun cause it's not real"

Milan and Reyn used cups to build The Princess Building. Milan shared, "There's a lookout, and there's another lookout. The princesses eat on the lookout." Reyn said, "That's the princess's house. We got cups and we builded."

Joseph, Jamesy, and April used the marble run to build Marble Run. Joseph said, "It rolls it down into that part. I made this part for it to go down." Jamesy shared, "We just build it. My marble goes right here." April said, "It go down."

Cameron and Thea built with gears to create, Buttercup Farm. Thea shared, "I standed up and picked them out and put them on. Cows live on the farm. This is to make the cows go right here (jingles a bell). This is the water ice truck, a flower truck, and a fruit punch truck." Cameron said, "I put this thing on and this. When you turn this milk comes out. The cows stand right here and the milk comes out. This part regenerates the milk to make the milk come out. It's when something runs out and people come to fill it up."

Amelia and Alycia created The Long Stick using Unifix cubes. Alycia said, "I build together with Amelia. We made it bigger than Amelia." Amelia explained, "We used these and make it longer. We used chairs to make it stable so it won't fall down."

 Through these amazing creations, the Cardinals worked to further developed their social, cognitive, and language skills. As they compromised, problem solved and worked to find a common agreement. Friends enjoyed this work and asked to do it again! 

Peluches and Math Workshop

Lately in Spanish, when Alicia has gone around greeting friends and asking como estas?, she has been tallying friends' responses on a white board. Response choices include muy bien, asi-asi, and no muy bien. The Cardinals get a kick out of being silly with this exercise and like to answer Alicia with "no muy bien." Today, however, some friends switched up their regular responses. When we counted up the tallies, muy bien was the winner!

Alicia has been talking with the Cardinals about the word stereotype. Alicia explained it as an idea that is made up about a group of people, but that is not true. For example, all girls are ballerinas or only boys like blue. The Cardinals did not agree with these statements at all. Friends shared their ideas, stories and experiences when people say this is for boys or this is for girls. 

After the conversation, Alicia read the book, Want to Play Trucks? Friends talked about the story and then shared toys and peluches (stuffed animals) they like to play with.

Ask your Cardinal what peluche they like to play with.

Today in the classroom, the Cardinals took part in a math workshop. We focused on one to one correspondence, number recognition and order, simple equations, and spatial relationships. At one table, friends worked on a 1-10 number maze where they had to start at one, where there was an apple tree, and work their way through the maze in order to 10 to put the apples in the basket. 

At another center, friends worked in pairs to roll dice and make up simple addition problems. Whichever number the dice landed on, the friends added those two number together, sometimes mentally or using their fingers. 

There were a few other centers for friends to work on one to one correspondence. Friends practiced identifying the number, and then placing that number of objects in the designated space. 

In the building area, friends worked with large red cups to build, stack and balance. 

Some friends also worked with pattern blocks. The Cardinals did a very nice job working in groups and independently. We are impressed with their skills, and are looking forward to challenging them more in these areas!

Ask your Cardinal to solve a simple math problem, or to count a certain number of objects.