Dear Rainbow Families,

The Home Curriculum is reaching its conclusion with the incredible Rainbow project of shoe-box homes! (Now you know why we kept asking you for shoe boxes….) The Rainbows have each taken a shoe box and re-created their homes by painting them inside and out, then filling them with found objects (e.g., plastic containers, bottle tops, photo film pieces, foam pieces, carpet scraps) to represent different parts of their homes – sofas, beds, toilets, toys, TVs, etc. As each child has described their home, a teacher has written the words for their home-parts to label them. The children have also written their street numbers on the boxes for their addresses. PLEASE be sure to take a look at these magnificent creations – the children have put so much thought and effort (and fun!) into making them.

The Rainbows have also moved from their Body Curriculum into learning about their 5 senses. Starting with the sense of hearing, the Rainbows have read “Hearing” by Sharon Gordon and “My Ears” by Lloyd G. Douglas; played a guessing game in which someone would mimic a sound and the group would guess what it is; and discussed where you use your sense of hearing.  The Rainbows have also explored the sense of touch through finger-painting and painting with a mixture of glue and paint with their hands and/or sponges; played a game of identifying objects hidden in a bag by using their hands only; and made lists of objects that are hard, soft, sharp, and smooth.

Following suit, the words of the week are:

tongue – lengua

eyes – ojos

ears – orejas

hands – manos

And finally, the Rainbow teachers recently asked the children: “When your amazing body grows up, what do you want to be?” This question was an opportunity for the children to distinguish between pretend and real, especially as it occurs in their play. The children have taken these ideas and brought them into the dramatic play area where they have been doctors, mommies, construction workers, and grocery shoppers. It has been a delight to see the children making sense of their world around them through these play opportunities.

Cheers,

Martha