Calabazas y Esqueletos!

October is almost a wrap! The weeks are just flying by. The second half of this month we’ve been learning about pumpkins. Ms. Jessie taught us the life cycle of a pumpkin, and we also looked at the inside of a pumpkin. We examined the fibrous strands which give nutrition to all of the seeds, looked at the flesh or pulp of the pumpkin, and checked out the skin and learned how it protects the pumpkin. Ms. Sadie showed us the pumpkin and we got to smell inside it, mmmm! Most of us liked how it smelled, but some of us were a little grossed out by it!

We have learned about our five senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. We played a game where we had to close our eyes and listen carefully to identify the sound that was made: cutting paper, ripping paper, the bell, pouring grains, snapping fingers, and pulling off a piece of tape. We also learned that sometimes people do not have one of these senses, or their sense works a little differently – such as color blindness.

Ms. Julie has been working with us to make little skeletons of ourselves! We’ve had our pictures taken, and then we glued them onto little bodies and used Q-tips for our skeletons. We look spooooooky!

For young learners who are still developing a three finger pincer grasp with which to hold a pencil, play-doh and clay are wonderful tools to help strengthen hand muscles. On Fridays, Ms. Julie makes us a special batch of play-doh! We encourage them to roll the dough, shape it, and create with it. All the while, they’re building those muscles! You can encourage them to use play-doh and clay at home as well since they do have limited opportunities to use it here.

When our friends want to talk to us or interrupt us, we encourage them to place their hand quietly on either our shoulder or on our hip and wait quietly. When they do that, we lightly touch their hand so that they know we know they are there. This way, we are able to finish what we are doing without being interrupted. You can encourage your child to do this at home too. When you are busy speaking with someone else, whether that is another child, your partner, or on a phone call, encourage your child to place their hand on you and wait. This teaches children that other people are important too and that sometimes we have to wait our turn, patiently! You’ll be amazed at how quickly they pick it up and how refreshing it is to not be interrupted!

If you have not already, please switch out your child’s extra clothes for pants and long sleeves for the cooler weather.

Click the link below to view pictures from the last two weeks.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13Q-PB1tJCB4Jfoivyn-8Ndg4tig3kCJ1?usp=sharing

Dates to Remember:
November 11: NO SCHOOL
November 12: NO SCHOOL

Love,
The P2 Team

“What the hand does, the mind remembers.”
~Maria Montessori