Preschool and Kindergarten Ateliers

In preschool this week, we went on a nature walk to find interesting natural objects from outside. After finding the objects, we spent time drawing pictures of them and then shared our drawings in our reflection meeting. We also spent time this week going over how to use glue for collaging and finishing up our painting demos.

Marble run group also met this week. This is a 4-person small group that met last year. They had consistently built structures out of blocks and pvc pipes to run marbles down, building on their ideas of gravity and physics with each new marble run built. When we met on Tuesday, the group was introduced to some new building materials -- washing machine hoses and piping. What resulted, with the help of students from the three-year-old class, was a huge structure that almost reached the sandbox area. Instead of using marbles, the children used water. The children realized that the water was creating a flood at the bottom of the structure. They put down a cooler to try to catch the water, but the water came shooting right back out. How do we catch the water in the cooler so that we can use it for the sandbox? This became the question that we took back to the reflection group. We had lots of ideas given to us by the group, one child suggesting that we run the tube in from the top, while another said it would be best from the side. One student even suggested that we get a bucket that was as big as the world to catch the water and then there wouldn't be a flood. At the beginning of next week, we will put these ideas to the test.

Kindergarten



(Above: We put our arms together to notice all of the different shades of our skin.)

Painting our self-portraits
I hope you all enjoyed Open House last night! This week the children and I talked about painting and coloring in their self-portraits. We discussed the Crayola marker that is provided for skin color in the marker box. We tested it to see if it matched anyone's skin color. Of course, it didn't, and the children had a good laugh about that. Then I demonstrated how to mix paint in order to make a skin color that closely resembles our own. The children mixed the paint, and then tested it by comparing it with their own skin color. After this the children used paint for the background color and colored pencils for hair, lip, and eye color. Great job, Kindergarten!

Posted on August 31, 2006 8:01 AM | Permalink