January 17
January 17 was my first day at practicum. I have been observing the daily routines of the 3-5 room and have been enjoying watching Ashley and Zoe in their element; they are both so knowledgeable and I look forward to absorbing all they have to teach me. This week it finally warmed up and snowed so we spent a lot of time sledding on the hill outside. The sledding hill is quite steep, and these kids are so brave! As the hill got icier, the children brainstormed with us to establish ways to ensure safety going down the hill. We came up with building a big snow wall, and only going feet first from halfway up the hill. It was interesting to observe the children being able to understand their limits for the most part, and when some children would get overconfident, their friends would remind them of the rules. Overall, it has been super fun for both the children and the educators to enjoy the snow and finally get to spend some time outside after the cold snap!
January 24
This morning we did table activities and I noticed how good one of the children’s fine motor skills were. She was using small tongs to put the popcorn kernels, one by one, into the bowl. We had morning snack and then we went for a big walk around the loop. It was such a nice day, and the kids found a fun way to get through the snow without getting stuck: by walking like polar bears!
January 25
We started the day with table activities and I set out a loose parts activity I prepared. The children were very curious and each made different things. Nash made a ‘perfect size’ campfire, Olivia made her big sister, Malcolm made his family and put extra care into making his baby sister, Ben made a bracelet, and Camilla made a fairy house.
January 31
Today we took the children to the baseball field and had them running around, playing games, and exploring. I noticed the children were particularly interested in the red ball diamond sand. They loved how squishy it was in their rain boots and they noticed their feet were getting suctioned to the ground. We tried matching each footprint to each child and the children were excited about searching for their footprints. When we got back to the centre, we played in the huge puddle in the yard. Some children made potions, some made soup. All children were participating in the exploration of the giant puddle. Following this, we went inside to prepare for lunch and I led a circle time while we waited for lunches to be prepared. I am looking forward to February as we will be doing an exploration of families.
February 2
Today we went on a walk around the loop. The view was beautiful and we all appreciated the warmth of the sun! We ended up at the park and played there for a little while before we headed back to the centre for lunch. After nap, the children were well rested and we spent some more time in the yard to soak up the rest of the sun.
February 21
We went for an early walk up to the fairy garden today. The children were having a blast exploring the trail on the way there! We finally got there and got to see all of the new pieces that were added since we’d been there last. The children were very respectful of the garden and reminded each other to only look with their eyes and not touch! We talked about potentially collecting rocks to paint at the centre that we can contribute to the Aberdeen Fairy Garden. We continued our walk around the loop in the foggy weather and then headed back to our centre.
February 22
On this foggy day, we found a strange picture at the picnic table on the loop (pictured below.) The children were so curious as to what it was and told us that it looked scary. We told them that it was just the friendly Demigorgan creature. They had a hoot with that idea and began expressing their curiosity about the creature. On the duration of the walk, we found deer footprints and the children told us that they were “Demigorgan footprints.” One of the children said “Where do the Demigorgans live?” and another child responded, “They live in the lights!” He pointed up to a single street light that was on and said “If the light is on, the demigorgan is in there fixing it.” It was amazing to see how one picture on our walk created so much room for curiosity.
March 1
Today we were drawing with the children and they chose to draw their own Demigorgans and give them names. My mentor educator and I decided to respond to the original Demigorgan we saw on our walk the day prior. We got to work on laminating their pictures and then we went on another walk to put them where the children wanted. The children decided to put them where we found the original creature that had now disappeared. We taped them to the sign at the picnic tables and the children were so excited!
March 13
Tomorrow we will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day! The children wanted to catch the leprechauns, so we made leprechaun traps to prepare! The children got this idea from what they heard about leprechauns pinching them if they do not wear green, so we all are planning to wear green tomorrow! Ashley and I are going to set up a scavenger hunt for the children to find a treasure chest of gold. After this, we are going on a walk to see if we can find our demigorgans.
March 23
Today I brought out some modelling clay to see what the children would create. Cory gave us this idea in class when he described clay as having more permanence. I used today as a test run to observe how the children would use the clay. I could barely move it with my hands, so I worried that their little hands might have trouble maneuvering it. Although it was not as easy to form as playdough, the children managed to create some interesting pieces with it. In the future, I plan to let the things they create air dry and potentially paint them. During this activity, there was a ton of conversation going on. The children were explaining their methods to each other on how they were imprinting the clay, and describing what they were making.
March 25
We stuck around the yard today, and planned out our goals for making the yard more of a yes space. The children used chalk and drew letters, hopscotch, their families, and jellyfish. Nash interacted with his drawing by pretending that the person he drew was picking up rocks with the digger. I plan on making a mud kitchen for the children in my free time, and look forward to making the yard a space that we enjoy being in.
