Is it Thanksgiving yet ?
It seems like we have been getting ready for Thanksgiving for a very long time. You know I am not a crafty type person so doing ” crafts” take a little longer and looks a little different here. We dont sit down and do a twelve step craft . Did you know our older preschool children are only expected to follow two step directions at this point in the year ? So, doing a 12 step craft can get a little tricky . We did work more on our placemats and turkey headbands today.
More importantly I wanted to share good news today.
Every day you and your child do a question of the day. There was talk over the weekend with my other friend providers about whether preschools should be taught or should know the facts about Thanksgiving. Today our question was did the pilgrims ride a boat or a car to America. While the children were eating breakfast we thought we would test our theory of play based learning . We have put props and games out that are Thanksgiving themed and we had read books about Thanksgiving. We have not had a circle time that I have taught ” This is the Mayflower . This is what the pilgrims rode to American in. ” So,today I asked ” How did the Pilgrims get to America? ” The children answered ” The Mayflower .” Dallas said ” And what letter does Mayflower start with ?” The children answered ” M.” Play based learning does work if you trust the process and have faith that the children are learning what they need to learn when it is appropriate for them to learn it.
Each morning during family time we look at our ” wish you well” board to see who is missing for the day so we can wish them well. One of our littles said her brother was hurt and not feeling well and asked could we pray for him or wish him well , so the children did. Ah….. I love when they make those connections from home to school
At some point today Jasmin was playing in the cranberries. We have a sensory tub out this week with water and cranberries. She explained to Dallas that by accident one was busted. Dallas kicked in her skills as a preschool teacher to say ” Tell me more.” They ended up charting the difference between the seed that was found inside the cranberry and the cranberry itself.
It has been a good day.