Kim made some wonderful Pinatas for us to help celebrate the summer birthdays (Zach and Makayla)

One last mess before we say goodbye!

And it seems fitting to have a picture of the empty nest...

All is quiet around here now and will be for some time. Makaylas' note to us said "Thanks for helping me grow" and that's what I say to you all, too.

Have a happy summer!

Our trip to Creative Days Art Studio

Joshua, Tyson and Brandon visit with Sgt. Pepper, the studio Guinea Pig.

Building with the Timberworks toys was popular. And what's great is that they are made here in Columbia!

Hazel, Vivan and Kalen add a little sparkle to their wall hangings.


Katy rolls the corn on our arms so we can feel and see what kind of print it might make on our bags.

Katy's surprise when the giant carrot is finally yanked from the ground. This is a fun story with a great recipe for Carrot-Bread Pudding in the back...we know, we tried it last year and the kids gobbled it up!

Little Isabelle’s Carrot Puddin’
(Ask Mama or Papa to help you.)
Combine and blend until smooth:
1 cup peeled and grated carrots
½ cup milk
2 whole eggs
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup honey (I told you it’s as sweet as Isabelle.)
When smooth, stir in gently:
4 slices bread, cut into cubes
1/4 cup raisons
1/4 cup chopped nuts
Pour into greased baking dish. Bake for one hour at
350 degrees F.
Serve hot or cold in coffee cups.
Delicious with ice cream too.


Couldn't leave out the fun they had in these Bilibo's...great for balanacing and oh, so fun to spin around in on the carpet.

Well worth it...it's free!

I want to pass on a little treasure and it's right here under our noses! It's free, the kids can sit up close to the stage on big pillows and did I mention that it's free? Check out the schedule here: http://www.stephens.edu/news/stephensevents/summer_theatre/

Messy-Water Day 2010

What a perfect day for water and gloop and just making a big mess in general!

March, March!

Our musical march across campus

We got to peek inside the piano to see how it works and then enjoyed everything from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to the theme from Spiderman!

The drama of drawing

Some people write so they can know what they think.

I think children (and adults, too) draw for the same reasons. Drawing is a powerful way to show what we know and work out forming ideas. And sometimes, we get the stories as the drawing is unfolding.

Telling tales, painting, constructing

Working by flashlight in the cave

Sebastian holding court in the cave...we didn't hear them, but he said he was telling ghost stories!
Hazel's signature style

Brandon oversees the very elaborate work being done by Willa and Vivian in the block area.

It seemed appropriate to use water in some way to make music today. We listened to the sounds the jars made while empty and then filled them up slowly. We also played with this computer game again. Some of their creations played all morning long as a soundtrack to our worktime.

Just think of the possibilities...

We set up the new light table and created 3-D structures to catch the light.

We have been busy gardeners this week. We have been checking the progress of our already planted beans, sunflowers and zinnias. Now we are preparing the garden bed next to the greenhouse for vegetables. Working with multi-age and the preschool, the folks from Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture have tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce and herb 'starts' for us to plant.

Parent Group Officer Election

To get the newly revitalized SCCS Parent Group off to a good start for the next school year we’re asking for volunteers who would be interested in being officers. We will then hold an election open to all parents to select the following positions with one year terms.

1. Two co-chairs
- The co-chairs would jointly lead the group
- one person with a child in preschool
- one person with a child in multiage
2. Secretary
- Responsible for taking notes from meetings.
3. Treasurer
- Responsible for keeping an accurate balance of the money in the SCCS Parent Group
4. Room Parent
- One from each classroom in preschool* and two from multiage
- Serves as representative of the class
- Help get volunteers for various events and committees
*With the changes expected in the preschool over the summer this concept might have to be revised. We’ll see!

If you’re interested in running for one of these positions, please e-mail Jeanne Sullivan at Jeanne@more.net by Monday, May 10. Also, you’re welcome to include a short paragraph about yourself including your kid(s) and which room they’re in. There will be a meeting scheduled after school ends for the new officers to get together and discuss next steps.Ballots will be sent home to all parents and will be collected by Sue in the office. If she is not available there will be an envelope clearly marked on her desk for the ballots. There will also be an opportunity to vote at a soon to be announced school picnic! New officers will be announced by May 27.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

During worktime yesterday, Kim started reading Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. One, by one, the children began drifting closer to the table where she was reading aloud...ah, the power of a good story.

My, how our little birds have grown!

Cloudy with a Chance of Superheroes

Batman and Superman dance in the clouds.

The dad (aka Sebastian) drives the space ship, while Zachary and Brandon work on their laptop computers, preparing for a space walk. Kalen's grandmother has been providing some wonderful recycled materials ("upcycled" would be more appropriate as they have definitely used the boxes and packing materials with great purpose!)

The Chocolate Factory and the Alligator

During sign-in this morning, Tyson, Sebastian and Brandon talked about their small block structures being chocolate factories...and then our wheels started turning. What if we gave them all the recycled boxes and other materials?

Plans were made..and building began on the chocolate factory. Catherine is showing us where the chocolate comes out.

Zachary found a box in all our recycled building materials that spoke to him...or perhaps growled? As an alligator might do? And he (with Miss Teresa's help) added eyes, teeth, and a tail. "He's a brown alligator because he eats chocolate. He's the pet alligator, not mean at all." And then some of the others got busy in the creation station making candy for him. They decided they needed to put it into a freezer in the factory because the alligator likes frozen things.


And let me say it again...their work never ceases to amaze and delight us!

"Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees..."

This was what the nest looked like

as we prepared to leave for the weekend...

And here's what we came back to school to discover!

Special Guest

On Wednesday, Willa's mom came to visit our classroom as our special guest. She has a dog grooming business and showed the students several ways she takes care of them. They learned how to brush, comb, and clean the dog's ears. They also had a blast petting Bernie and Franky!

Blind as a Worm

On Tuesday we did an experiment and pretended like we were a worm. Since worms don't have eyes, they closed their eyes and relied on their sense of touch and reached in a paper bag to choose an item. They then used descriptive words to describe their object.

Zachary said, "It's round and bumpy. On the inside it's tickley."

Tyson said, "What is it?"

Zachary said, "I don't know."

Tyson said, "Open your eyes. Look."

Zachary said, "It's a lid!"

Vivian said, "It's hard Not crunchy. Very hard." (plastic toy dog)

Kalen said, "Um... It's hard."

Alphabet worms?

After taking a closer look at our night crawlers, some of the children discovered that we could use the worms to make letters! Kalen said "Look, Ms. Catherine, it's a 'U'!"

** No worms were harmed in the making of this project!** While they may have preferred to be left alone, we managed to safely deposit all the worms in the compost bin...still alive!

Brandon shows us his drawing of a worm, teeth and all!

Multimedia Art

We ended the day by painting outside. It evolved into multimedia when Makayla incorporated the acorn tops which was quickly followed by leaves and grass clippings. As you can see they had fun adding the finishing touches to their masterpieces.

Creating a Worm Habitat

Today we created the worm habitats in our classroom based upon a book Tyson brought in for us! Everyone paired up and went outside in search of their "ingredients." The jars were layered with dirt, peat moss, sand, water, worms, leaves, and grass clippings. We then covered the jars with a cloth and placed them in a cool place. Ask your child about watching the worms move in the jars!

Exploring Color

"I've got a great idea... Color... and look!!!!"

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

On Thursday some of the students wanted to bring out the big blocks as well as some of the smaller blocks during work time to build a ship outside. Multiage just happened to be out for their recess time as well and enjoyed brainstorming and constructing the structure with us. Later, Michelle's class joined us and it transformed into a spaceship traveling to Saturn and then Jupiter.

New Website!

We discovered a new website today, www.gamequarium.org. They LOVED the music video

"Green Anaconda." You will have to check it out at http://www.gamequarium.org/cgi-bin/search/linfo.cgi?id=3522

Worms!!

Many students have shown an interest in learning more about worms. They have loved digging outside in search of them to add to our garden and compost bin. We've decided to explore them further taking a look at their anatomy and habitat. Questions of inquiry that have come up have included: Do they have eyes? Which end is the head? What do they eat?

A New Friend!

We had a new friend named Koen join our classroom today! He and his family are from Colorado and we are very excited to have him with us.

Clouds made of milk?

We read this imaginative story today. Ask your child what sorts of beautiful things happen.

What do you see?

During worktime, some chose to take a trip over to our tree. We discussed what we saw and they drew a picture in their observation journal of such things as the tree, the lawn mower, and the lights.

Tilling up the Garden

Everyone carried our bean plants out to the garden and had fun searching for worms and planting their bean plants. We also planted some sunflowers, marigolds, and zinnias that we hope will come up before the year is over!

~portrait of Zachary, by Sebastian

I am so proud and amazed by the work our preschoolers do everyday. Their work reinforces why it is so important to me as a teacher to provide a space for them to be creative, to show us what they know through their drawing, block structures, singing, clay creations...As Kim said today--looking at their work and the stories they tell "I want to be in that place where they are, where all that comes from." It's poetic and it makes me smile.

"Stephens Island"

Fun work in the sand box with water