Let's try something new!

Last week we put out a modified "ball pit" by filling a play bowl with coloured balls. The expected play was what you see in the first photo but as play went on, what we got was much more, errr... creative! don't you love the minds of 3 year olds?

Who doesn't dream of relaxing in a ball pit?

Knock knock! Is anyone home? The children started hiding inside!

Look what happens when I kick myself out! Balls everywhere...

You think you're a clever hider but we're starting to suspect there's someone here...

Welcome back!

Welcome to a shiny new school year at BCCNS. We teachers are so excited that you've entrusted your children to us. At this, the beginning of the year, we are teaching new routines and expectations, and learning to be away from mum and dad for a few hours. For some children it takes time but every one of them will learn that school is a super fun place to be, and that mummies and daddies come back every single time. It may be hard to leave while your sweetie is crying but don't worry! For the most part the tears are over in a few minutes once they see how much fun there is to be had here.

I mean, check this stuff out!

Our fish Bubble 

and Squeak

"Way up high in an apple tree..."

I see you!

And you!

Digging in the ball pit

See? Playing at school is so much fun! Don't you wish you were young again?

Yours with love and learning,
Miss Karen

Bye Bye Chickies!

In case you didn't get to visit our class last week, these are the 5 chicks we hatched! They went home with Miss Heidi on Friday and are now living a life of leisure at Red Door Farm. Their names were inspired by Miss Celina who jokingly suggested BBQ sauce favours for our little friends. But not to worry... these are laying chickens that will never know those flavours first hand!

Meet Pepper (short for Peppercorn Ranch)

Bullseye (a personal favourite)

Chip (Chipotle)

Honey (short for Honey Mustard)

And the newest and tiniest, Smoky (Hickory Smoke)

We look forward to lots of updates from Miss Heidi and thank you for your patience. After all, 2 weeks is an awfully long time to wait for these beautiful, fluffy sweethearts!

Love and learning,
The 3s teachers

Look what we found!

We had such a great time outside today because we discovered the biggest, wettest, muddiest puddle in the whole wide world! We explored it with every part of our bodies and got so very wet. Very, very, VERY wet. How lucky were we that the biggest puddle ever chose our yard to hang around in? (And that our emergent learning teachers let us have some preschool appropriate fun?)

Yours in learning,

The 3s teachers

We ran through it

We threw it at the wall

We danced in it

We stomped in it

We tried to catch it before it hit the ground

We shovelled it

We hopped in it

We scooped and dumped it

We spread it

Creativity and teamwork

We love when we put out toys expecting one manner of play, then the children take over and do whatever they want! These magnet blocks were meant for the table. One child realized that they "stick" to the filing cabinet and lo and behold... another play opportunity. Another joined in on the fun and here we have it: creative, imaginative play with friends that lasted much longer that it would have had the blocks been on the boring old table.

A great example of how emergent play is so important. We teachers let play flow and let the children steer the boat, not the other way around. They often have such innovative ideas!

Yours in love and learning,

The 3s teachers

Circle time fun

In our 3s class, we try to come up with interesting talking points at circle time. This is the time of the day when we learn what it's like to be in a classroom. We learn to raise our hands, speak in turn, listen  quietly to others speak and express our feelings without judgement.

Every so often, we teachers will try to have a taste test circle where we try a different food. On this day we tried red pears and Asian pears. We used our senses and talked about how the pears tasted, smelled, looked, felt and even sounded.

Check out the "clothesline" over the cubbies for some of the funny things that were said.

We have a lot of fun in our class!

So the kids want to play? Let's play!

In our class we get a lot of variations of the question "does my child have any friends?". The answer is a version of "yes, and no." Remember when you were little and your best friend in the whole world was the kid you met 5 minutes ago at the park? You bonded over the fact that you were wearing the same shoes.

Most friendships at this age are as deep as a puddle and, guess what? This is perfectly normal! They may love someone one day and treat them like week old leftovers the next. Again, totally on par for this age.

There are three main kinds of play with many stages within. Solitary (playing alone), Parallel (playing side by side but not together), and Co-operative (playing as a group and working together). At 3, this last stage is danced around and flirted with but rarely achieved. But don't worry, it'll happen! The same child will go back and forth between stages, even in one day. 

A good example of  solitary play

Look at this beautiful example of parallel play!

Cooperative play at its very best

So if you are keen for a "save the date" or an interesting meet-cute story for the next 20 years, you may be disappointed. But know that everything is developing the way it should!

Yours in love and learning,

Miss Dorothy, Miss Karen, Miss Heidi and Miss Svetlana