Wait--- it's Art!

Do you ever wonder why your child sometimes 

comes home looking like this?

....and why your child's folder/backpack contains a massive amount of this?

Well, it's because Mrs. Powell finally got brave enough last year to make our art center completely open ended!!! I will admit, it took me a long time to be ready for an entire classroom of preschoolers to be responsible to take out any art material their little hearts desired, create, create some more, and then clean everything up AND put it back where it belongs!

To my greatest amazement, our four year old friends are more than capable! I now have a soft spot in my heart for open ended art, and soon I hope you do, too! Open ended art is having a variety of materials readily accessible to students to use at their own free will, in any way they choose. What looks like it may have been slapped on a piece of paper in 2.7 seconds, is really well thought out art with carefully chosen materials and resources. Our little friends often spend a great deal of time creating one piece of art at the art center. 

Here's what our art center looks like....

An assortment of paper, glue, foam, paint, yarn, fabric paint brushes

More! Ink pads, stencils, noodles, stickers, markers, colored pencils, bingo dabbers, feathers, cotton, glitter, and googly eyes!

So, when your little artist comes home with *interesting* art, ask them how they made it! What did they use? Why did they choose those materials? Refrain from asking "What is it?" Instead, say "Tell me about it!" There's always an interesting story, memory or meaning behind their art! 

I Spy Readers!

Today we spent some time brainstorming all the things that readers read! We were pleased to find so many adults and students at Lincoln school reading a variety of material. We found: 

•  Mrs. Meyers, our administrative assistant, reading lists
• Mrs. Murray reading over student work
• Mr. Hanson, our principal, was reading important information on his computer
• 4th graders were reading math books
• Jr. Kindergarten students were reading books about a variety of topics during snack time
• Mr. Finstrom was reading a catalog/magazine for school supplies
• Miss Campbell, the music teacher, was reading music
• Mrs. O's Kindergarteners were reading letters and big alphabet charts

Our classes also brainstormed all the things that people can read for our "What Do Readers Read?" chart. Stop into our classroom later this week to read our charts and all of the great ideas that our students contributed to them! 

Music & Movement

Our little ones sure like to move around and get the wiggles out!! Ms. Schneider, our Associate Teacher, does a FaNtAsTiC job of giving our friends some quality music and movement time!! Her hard work is truly appreciated as she strives toward engaging the children and teaching concepts through whole body movements that really grasp their attention and have meaning. We aspire to teach to all types of learners - some children are more interested in music than others - and our friends who prefer auditory learning, body-kinesthetic learning, and a chance to move around, really benefit from this part of our day! For others, it's a fun, relaxing, silly experience. If nothing else, the children get a good laugh at their singing, dancing, goofy teachers! 

Here our AM class works on color recognition and turn taking with the Gummy Bear Song! 

This is our snack song that teaches healthy eating habits, and good food/exercise choices. Sign language is included, but this was only our first time with this song! 

ENJOY!!!