10/22/10

Dear Families,

This week in the Owl Room, we have begun a study of vehicles, including trains, trucks, cars, boats, and planes. We began by asking the children to tell us what they knew about one specific mode of transportation: trains. It was amazing to hear how much the children knew: that trains drive on tracks; that some trains use coal for energy, etc. The next day, we asked the children to discuss some of the things that they are interested in learning about trains. This enables us to develop an emergent curriculum that balances the skills that four-year-olds need to acquire with their own interests and curiosities.

Vehicles have begun to appear throughout the room and curriculum. The children have cut out trains, planes, and trucks from play-dough using cookie cutters. This strengthens the muscles in their hands, which is important as they develop fine-motor skills for writing. The children played with new boats in the water table, and enjoyed the challenge of nesting the boats in size order. At the art table this week, the children created many steering wheels. They had a fabulous time bringing the steering wheels to the dramatic play area, which they have used to pretend to be airplane pilots.

The children also enjoyed playing with new foam train tracks and new toy cars. It is always a challenge for four and five-year-olds to share toys, and with so many new, appealing toys in the room this week, we have focused on ways to use language to negotiate sharing. At Circle Time this week, the children participated in brief puppet shows (“performed” by Morah Larissa). We used puppets to demonstrate problems that happen when children struggle with sharing (for example, one puppet might grab a toy). The children then worked together to discuss a better solution to the problem. We talked about how to ask for a toy (“May I please use the car when you are done with it?”) and that sometimes children have to wait for a friend to be all done, but that they can find a different toy to play with while they are waiting. Having an opportunity to discuss a puppet’s problems gives them an opportunity to do their own problem solving when they are not in the thick of an argument, and it allows them to learn the language needed for negotiation with peers.
Related to our study of vehicles this week, we also took some time to talk about safety – what children do to stay safe in cars or when walking near busy streets with adults. We followed this conversation with an opportunity to do some observations of real vehicles on Beacon Street. The children sat on the front stairs of the synagogue, and we saw many kinds of vehicles! There were SUVs, cars, trucks, bicycles, and of course, the T! The children drew their observations and dictated some thoughts about their work to teachers. It is wonderful to have an opportunity to learn about vehicles in action! Bringing crayons and clipboards to do observations allows the children to communicate their own interests, as well as to build their fine motor skills.

Enjoy the weekend, and we will see you next week when we continue our study of vehicles!

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Larissa and Morah Kate