Early Literacy Drop-In Nov 19th 2014

All of the children had a turn drumming today with our visitor Jacqueline Watts.  We learned a new song and practiced keeping a steady 1-beat with the music.  You can listen here:

listen to ‘Jacqueline Watts -Early Literacy Morning Drumming’ on audioBoom

Rhythm and beat are important Early Reading skills - at home you can encourage your child to practise this by clapping or by using pots and pans.  Practice drumming out the beats to names of family members or with everyday objects: ce-re-l, ta-ble, wa-ter, sun-glass-es...

Donna, the Literacy Lady, joined us for stories from the Pine Forest and we learned a new song about the drumming circle.    All of the children drummed, we used logs to build a log house and the children made bright yellow suns.

Drop-In every Wednesday Morning 
8:45- 12:00.  

Our Story Circle starts at 9:45.

Everyone is welcome.

Outdoor play morning - Nov.14th

Today during our Outdoor Drop-In we use water to paint words and pictures on the pavement.  This is an easy way for  children to develop hand and arm muscles needed for writing.  We also add numbers and a dice to the environment - our visitors threw balls at the numbers.

"This is a fun game!"

The logs were also out today and the children used dump trucks to transport the wood.  Their play evolved as they used their imagination to plan what they would build.  Following the lead of our learners we will add some hard hats and clipboard to the area.

"I'm a worker.  Let's pretend
my hat is a hard hat!"

Come and join us outside every Friday morning 8:45-10:00am.

On Friday November 21st we will have a guest drummer!

Rain or Shine!

Everyone is welcome.

    

Early Literacy Drop In - November 12th

Donna, the Literacy Lady, was here on Fifth St. for our Wednesday morning drop-in.  She shared Elder Mabel Mitchell's version of "When Seagull Stole the Sun."  The boys and girls were re-introduced to the characters and we all learned some hul'qumi'num words to go along with the story.

Each week during our Early Literacy Drop-In the children are invited to do some centre activities that are related to the stories we have learned.   It's a great way for boys and girls to playfully explore and understand stories in more detail.  

Story-telling teaches children of all ages about communication skills, about emotions and allows them to build their vocabulary.  This week we made sea-urchins using play dough and toothpicks.  We also did some alphabet sewing and some sponge painting!  

Visit our Educator's blog for more information about this lesson.

Please come by next Wednesday for another Early Literacy Drop-In 8:45-12:00.  

Circle time is at 9:45 ~ on Wednesday November 19th, our friend Jacqueline will be here drumming and singing.

Everyone is welcome!

Outdoor Drop In

During our Outdoor Drop In Mornings we add  natural objects to the space so that children can use their imaginations to explore, build and create. 

Today we add chalk roads to the pavement so our visitors can transport dry leaves using some big dump trucks.  I wonder what else we can move?  Do you know what sounds a dump truck makes?  

Alphabet letters are attached to our fence with a bucket of balls.  Children practise the letter names and sounds as well as develop gross motor skills by throwing soft balls.  

Our Outdoor Drop-In is every Friday morning from 8:45-10:00am.

Rain or shine.

Everyone is welcome!

Raven Steals the Sun

A big thank you to our Literacy Lady, Donna, for bringing in so many props for our story-telling session on Wednesday.  Stories are always so much more engaging when children have real-life objects to touch and feel.  Today we spent some time sharing ideas about where light comes from, why light is important as well as how we might feel if we had no light.

During our activity centres we used salt trays to draw characters from Elder Ellen White's Raven Steals the Sun story - this is a great way to hear what details children remember from the story and we worked on our patterning skills.  We also took some time to sit, share and read books alongside our stuffed animals.  Three stories a day that's the way!


Interested educators can always visit our Growing Up to Read blog for reflections on our teaching practise.

Join us every Wednesday morning

 at 20 Fifth St.  for our Literacy Drop-In from 8:45-12:00. 

Our Story Circle is at 9:45.

Everyone is Welcome!