Dear Brilliant Butterflies Families,
We have been having so much fun learning about outer space over the last week and a half! We started with exploring books and talking about what we wanted to know about outer space. Many children were interested in rockets, stars, and the moon. We discussed the phases of the moon and painted large pictures of 4 of the phases. We practiced jumping and exercising like astronauts, watched videos of real astronauts in the International Space Station, and explored constellations with flashlights. We talked a little bit about each planet, and many children were interested in the fact that Pluto is no longer considered a planet because it is too small. Several children felt sad about it and said they still wanted to call it a planet anyway!
We spent last Friday building a class rocket ship out of cardboard boxes and a “control panel” out of another large sheet of cardboard. The children worked together so well and were very proud of their work! We will be putting their creations out as part of our dramatic play center next week.
We have been loving reading the Moonbear books by Frank Asch all of last week. The children think it is so funny how Moonbear really believes that the moon is dancing with him and giving him gifts. Many of our friends are getting interested in writing letters, words, or drawing more details in their journals. We are going to put a bit more emphasis on the letters toward the end of the year with creating an ABC chart for the walls and providing additional opportunities to write when children show interest. We have been practicing some phonics songs and dances at circle time and working on our fine motor skills in some new ways. We will never force children to write or work on things they aren’t interested in, but we will simply provide fun ways to practice throughout the day.
It has been fun to watch the development of the children both socially and academically. They have come so far since the beginning of the year!
Thanks so much,
Hannah, Wynne, and Shelby 🙂
