Last week of summer Toddler One

This isn't a picture of Jack, but featured here is his great teacher from the summer, Indica and guess which kid we call "Ambassador Paloma"?
Climbing the hill---once Jack got the hang of it, he helped his friends up!
Working with blocks, that little white-blonde boy is Parker John, he and Jack hit it off right away.

This letter from Jack's teacher:

Dear Toddler 1 Families,

What’s been happening in Toddler 1?

I can’t believe it’s the second to last week of summer, it truly has flown by. The first week of August is now behind us and the last week of summer is upon us. This week the children participated in small group activities inside and outside of the classroom; from going visiting the Preschool classrooms to working on art projects. Another stand-out part of the week was the children’s interest in dramatic play that allowed them to explore their imaginations. Despite the cooler temperatures we as a team made it a point to let the children still have their quality time outdoors through walks and trips to the front grass area.

I noticed over this week during art activities that children were very interested in mixing and making new colors. We daily make a strong effort to provide an opportunity for the children to have access to paint, this week it was set out daily as a small- group table activity. On Monday morning it was painting with Q-tips; Wyatt dipped his Q-tip in red and then smeared blue on top of it. As he blended the colors together he said,” Look,” Paloma glanced over and said , “Hey purple.” This conversation then sparked Evelyn to mix white, red and blue together; as she mixed her colors she loudly explained, “I made purple!” This type of conversation and realization was very present in the classroom during art activities. On Thursday the children spent time mixing water colors together in the morning; Parker discovered he could make a brown/black color by mixing all of the colors together.

The children’s play this week also involved their imaginations greatly. During the mornings the dramatic play area of the classroom was bustling. The children prepared several meals that were distributed among their peers and teachers. The clothes in this area were also put to use; Paloma brought in a hat from home that she explained was her “cowgirl-hat” which sparked an interest in all of the hats in the classroom. Diego and Parker wore construction hats but announced that they were also cowboys. The new and improved sandbox was another setting for dramatic play, it was also transformed into a kitchen. Isaiah baked several dozens of cupcakes. Wyatt also prepared a large cake with aid from Ruby. Through dramatic play the children are able to explore they creativity and incorporate their friends into the imagination.

As the summer is ending Preschool is approaching, this week a few trips were made across the hall to their future classroom and yard. Bonita took a small group on Monday morning after snack and the children played in their future yard until lunch time. They’re always very excited to go to Preschool! Tuesday afternoon provided another opportunity to let Toddler 1 explore the yard, the children seem to becoming more familiar with the space. On Friday morning Ruby, Gus, Isaiah and Ryka were able to spend a significant amount of time in Preschool 2 classroom. Gus and Ryka built with their various block materials and Ruby and Isaiah had a tea party in the kitchen.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Alli