Dear Bears Families,
Thank you so much for making the time for parent-teacher conferences earlier this month. The teachers appreciated having an opportunity to speak with you about your child and all the growth they have seen. It has truly been a tremendous year.
Two weeks ago was “Love Week” at the Collective. The Bears learned a new song – “L-O-V-E Spells Love” – which they shared at an assembly with the Rainbows and Little Stars. They also listened attentively to the Rainbows recite a group poem and the Little Stars sing “We Are Family” while strumming their homemade guitars. The Bears combined their focus on planting with Love Week as well, planting grass in small cups with the children’s pictures taped to the front. Now you get to see what your child looks like with green hair sprouting from the top of her/his head. (Perhaps a preview of future adolescence??) A very special book read during this week was “Love is a Family” by Roma Downey. This book is a sensitive exploration of various types of families all held in common by love. The Bears teachers followed this reading with a discussion of how you show love to your family – please check out the experience chart on the wall in the book/circle area.
The Bears have, as always, been enjoying their art activities. They recently painted long paper panels with colorful circles: circles alone, concentric circles, and dots within circles. While the products are truly stunning (see the closet doors in the classroom), the process of creation was beautiful as well as the Bears children shared materials, cooperated, took turns, and followed directions. A new fun material introduced in the Bears this month is colored corrugated cardboard. The children used this cardboard to make a group collage – cutting and gluing the pieces onto a long sheet of butcher paper. They also made individual “rubber-band pictures” by putting a piece of paper inside an open box, wrapping rubber bands of different widths around the box, painting the rubber bands, and then plucking them. The children were captivated by both the paint splattering onto the paper and the sounds of the rubber bands,
Some more fun developments in the Bears:
The water table is open!
Board games are becoming very popular, especially Rhyme Lotto and Bingo. 60-piece puzzles are also a favorite.
The Chrysler Building was recently built in the block area!
The Bears are starting to focus on the five senses in the curriculum.
Have a great week!
Martha