Valentines Day So Fun!

The Ladybugs had a great Valentine's Day week! We had mentors, science experiments, slime making  and a wonderful Valentine's Day party! Thank you to Chrissy and Amanda for putting on such a wonderful party!

Our mentors came and helped us with a lesson on thinking of things we are good at and things we want to be good at. They took it to the next level by helping the little ones think of ways they could become good at that certain thing they wanted to be good at. This was a great way for our kids to work on this idea of "working" towards a goal.

Antarctica and more

Antarctica and More

The Ladybugs have been studying Antarctica! These young children have learned so many interesting facts about amazing creatures. We used our "I think", "I wonder" and "I discovered" model to help us organize our thoughts and lead us into exploration! 

The Ladybugs have also been working on Symmetry. These children are really impressive! They have shown their understanding of symmetry in many different ways. Through paintings, stickers and now pattern blocks. Here you see them creating a line of symmetry with a ruler, and then exploring symmetry by making designs on either side of the line that match perfectly. I was so impressed with them!

Math Continued...

Challenging our math skills!

In the ladybug room this week we are working on skip counting and introducing subtraction. Each child gets to explore these ideas at their own pace and level. You will notice in the pictures that there are some kids counting by 2's while others are working on counting by 10's. We give assistance where needed, but try to give them work that challenges them and allows them to reach beyond their comfort level. 

In subtraction, I introduced the concept whole group on the rug and then sent them off to stations to explore it further. There were four stations of subtraction and each child got to try at least two of those stations. There was an opportunity to use manipulatives to show the equation, a number line to practice hopping up and down on and writing strips to write the equation. We will touch on these concepts many times between now and the end of the year.

Skip Counting

Subtraction Stations

Getting back into the "Math: groove!

Ladybug Math

We are getting back into the groove of school, and especially math! Here is a glimpse of what our math might look like. Here you see the Ladybugs first with their stem boxes, using problem solving, spatial awareness, counting and rhyming. Then you see math stations at the tables. We rotated through, so each child got to use each station's manipulatives. Today we used geo boards, stacking cubes and pattern blocks.

Because these are open ended activities, they can take my initial instruction (i.e. make me a snowman with the geo boards, make me a challenging pattern with the cubes or mimic a design with the pattern blocks) and take it as far and as detailed as they desire.

Stem Boxes:

Math Table Centers: