Block Area
The block area continues to be an area of interest. The children have been building elaborate structures that have specific purpose. We have also been observing a lot of dramatic play in the block area. Children have been building hotels with swimming pools, bicycles that are going to Florida, ice hockey rinks, and cow barns! The children have been working very well together, negotiating for the blocks that they need. We have seen the play become very cooperative!

Dramatic Play
We have added some new baby dolls and doll clothes to our dramatic play area. The children have been very interested in the new materials and are excited to spend time in the loft. We have also seen many more children spending time in the bottom of the loft, cooking and role playing. We have been hearing many conversations about roles, “You be the daddy and go to work, I’m the baby!” As we shared above, cooperative play is really exploding right now in our classroom. The children have all been working so well together to make sure that everyone’s ideas are heard. We are so proud of their hard work! We have also heard children negotiating roles. One child commented that there could not be two mommies in the loft. Another child was insistent that there could be two mommies. As teachers, we enjoy hearing children explain their ideas to each other. It is also encouraging for us to hear children stand behind their ideas. The new baby dolls have allowed children to delve deeper into their own identities, talking about gender, roles, and race.

Diversity & Self Identity
In Preschool I children are often working hard to learn about what makes them who they are. We spend a lot of time talking about identity in our classroom. We recently added block people of differing abilities to our block area. The people have brought up many questions in our classroom. Tessa noticed that one woman has a cane. A teacher explained to her that the cane helps the woman to walk because she is blind. Tessa was very curious to know what being blind means. After talking with a teacher for a while, Tessa was then teaching other children in the classroom how the woman uses her cane to help her see without her eyes! This is just one example of the many conversations that are happening in our classroom! In addition to diversity in the block area, we have completed our second series of self portraits. The children all worked very hard to complete their sketches. Many of the children were very focused on looking at themselves in the mirror and then drawing what they saw. Self portraits allow children to talk about who they are, what makes them special, and also bring many diversity discussions into our classroom.

The Colors of Our Skins...

This painting was a collaboration between the 15 children in the Preschool I classroom. We began this painting after reading The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. Each child began selecting paint colors that they felt best represented their skin tone. We painted the colors directly onto children’s skin so that they could determine whether or not the color was a match. We did a great deal of color mixing to perfect each child’s beautiful skin tone. The finished product is a true representation of all the “colors of our skins” in Preschool I. The children were able to discover that although many of us may look the same, each one of us is different. We talked about all the different shades that we are and how beautiful we all look when we’re together.

Volcanoes
: One of the children in our classroom has been very interested in volcanoes. He brought in some books from home to share with our class. We have been reading the books at circle time, and have been asking children questions about volcanoes: “What is a volcano? What does a volcano do?” The children have offered us a great deal of variety in their answers. All of the children are very excited about this investigation. We have seen volcanoes being built in our block area, formed in the sand table, and sketched. Our plan is for children to continue to sketch volcanoes and then to introduce clay into their representations. We also anticipate constructing a volcano of our own, with lava of course!