The work of true affiliation

What is the best way to handle a situation when the same child is picked last for a team? How can caring adults make things fair when children choose to be on a particular child's team, and no children choose to be on another child's team? This happened in our classroom today, and we worked very hard to help the children see what was going on and figure out a way to make sure the same situation didn't happen again. In today's game, one of the children was upset because most of the other children chose to be on a different team. We played the game anyway but this child's team ended up losing----not because of lack of numbers. After the game ended, the child lay down on the floor, covered his face, and was very still. Most of the other children rejoiced in their victory. Two other children entered the room and asked what was wrong with the child on the floor. They showed genuine concern and caring. I called all the children together to talk about the situation. Why was this child so upset? How could everyone help? One by one each child approached the upset child and asked what he or she could do to make him feel better. They said that it made them sad to see him so upset. They said that they hadn't meant to hurt his feelings. Together they brainstormed a number of different ways to form teams the next time they played. Slowly the child on the floor looked up. He then joined in the discussion with his own ideas. Within a few minutes he was playing happily with his classmates in the sandbox. An important lesson was hopefully learned. We are committed to continuing this kind of work in our class.

Playing Together

The presence of the blocks and wooden people created lots of dyad and small group play today for Josh, Audrey, and Molly. After Ilan began playing with the potato heads, he attracted Grayden and Molly. In both groups, there was lots of back and forth dialogue and laughter!

Collaboration

Gabriel and Micah were playing xylophones with gusto today, when Lucy decided to join them. Rather than add another instrument to the mix, she decided to dance along with the music. This spontaneous, expressive performance featured lots of different dance moves as Lucy moved around and between her classmates. The three shared space on our circle rug for quite a while; they even attracted an audience of a few others who later joined in the fun.

Our superb snack!

Abby cutting up the fruit.

Madison and Ben taking turns at the topping table.

Ben scooping his choice of cheerios into his yogurt.

In the Unicorn class, snack has become a time in which we all discuss taking turns and sharing.  We have been using self service snack and the children are prompted with how much take in pictures, number and words.  With the introduction of self-service snack, the children must announce to their snack neighbor that they are going to have a turn to scoop their cereal or fruit, then they will pass the bowl and it will be the next child's turn.  This announcement of intent and communication reinforces the verbalization and understanding of My Turn, Your Turn or sharing.  Today in the Unicorn class, we took our My Turn, Your Turn skills into the kitchen to create and DELICIOUS yogurt parfait!  The children shared space and turns cutting fruit, scooping yogurt, and selecting topping for their cups.  It was a great success, and we look forward to making them again!

Friendly behavior

As relationships continue to evolve within our classroom, it is important to point out and support friendly behavior between children. Holding hands, a friendly pat or hug are all important ways to show someone that we care and that they are important to us.

Including children in games already in progress is another way that children can show friendly behavior. Today, Lizzie and Aleeza were playing "house". Noah Sirlin came over and said that he wanted to join their game. Aleeza bent down and kindly asked Noah who he'd like to be. After some discussion between Aleeza, Noah and myself, Noah decided that he was going to be "the dad". Aleeza said "Ok! Let's go." She took Noah's hand and helped him enter their game. All three children did a great job negotiating and showing friendly behavior!

Archaeology anyone?

An indoor sandbox takes on new meaning when it becomes the site of an "archaeological dig." Today the Kohavim children took turns hiding a plate which had been broken in to 11 pieces. Once all the pieces were found, the children put them together using a photograph of the original plate. Some of the children enjoyed the hiding part the most, others the finding, and still others the assembling of the pieces. It was therefore a fun activity for all. We talked a bit about the symbols on the plate, and their connection to Israel. As part of our curriculum we plan to talk about Israel, and make connections between life here and there. We will be able to draw upon both Tina's and Ellen's relatively recent experiences there as we plan our mock trip some time over the next few months.

Sharing Group Supplies

When children are at the stage of parallel play, we usually make sure that each child has his or her own set of supplies to do their work. Many of the Levana children are moving on to dyad play, and have begun to negotiate the sharing of materials. While Micah glues, Julia watches and then has her turn. Bennett and Elias use playdough with some interesting kitchen utensils, and pass them to one another in turn. While children at the parallel play stage might grab or become frustrated, these children are able to maintain their personal space and cooperate with one another in their play.

Helping Hands

A simple act of kindness makes a huge difference. Matt is often picked up just a little early from lunch bunch to pick up his sister, Abby, from school. When Christine arrived Matt was a disappointed that he didn't have enough time to complete his arm shield. Teddy Post said to Matty "I will make one for your REALLY FAST." Teddy noticed Matt's disappointment and extended a helping hand. Thank you Teddy Post.

Joining the Play

Samantha was playing with the farm animals and I joined her. With a suggestion of an animal parade around the circle, we began to line them up. We invited Bennett and Micah to join our parade. They did so quickly assisting us in making the circle of animals complete. At school teachers help young children in becoming successful playmates by joining into ongoing play themes.

Partner Planting!

Today we asked the children to plant with a buddy. We called the children over two by two and asked them to plant flowers (Delphinium). One teacher stayed with the two children and coached/helped them work smoothly with each other. Each day they will care for their plant together.

Giving children plenty of opportunity for dyad play will prepare them for the more hectic and involved play with three to five children.

Red and blue make...

What started as an individual work of art with very distinct and bold swaths of red and blue was transformed as Molly welcomed Josh's participation at the easel. I overheard them talking. Josh asked, "Do you think red and blue will make purple?" As they continued to combine the colors, they exclaimed......

"It did! It did! We made purple!"

We are seeing more examples of dyad play as the children find ways to work and play with a partner. We also see the spontaneous formation of small groups at play. It is wonderful to see them discovering the joy of being part of a team - whether it's painting, washing a table, or building a tower.

Kehillah

Yesterday, the Unicorns began a new practice of inviting a member of the TBS community to join us and share what they do while they are at TBS each day. We hope to integrate and build on the value of kehillah (community) by gaining some understanding of how the people we see at TBS contribute to our community. Through understanding the different responsibilities each person has, we gain respect and and an understanding for how our school/community functions. Our first guest was Rachel! Rachel is the person we first see every day when we come in. Rachel helps us with our coats every day, and we visit her every time we go to our cubbies!

We had many questions for Rachel! Before Rachel's visit we guessed what Rachel does while she is at TBS every day. Guesses included "She uses the computer." "She needs lots of privacy."

Rachel showed us that each family has their photo on the computer. She also told each child they have a file with their name on it. This was new and exciting news, and Rachel showed us each one.

We wrote Rachel thank you notes the next day to show her we appreciated the time she spent with us. We learned many new things. Thank you Rachel!!

Working in a Small Group

Zachary, Lizzie, Max and Micah were in the mood for painting.  I poured two jars of paint, one magenta and one yellow, and gave each child brushes.  in the middle of the table I arranged shapes cut from watercolor paper.  So each child had their own brushes, but had to negotiate the sharing of the paper and paints.

Moving more working and playing with one other child to working and playing in small groups is challenging and requires mastery of many new skills.  Our faculty has been reading about teaching children the social scripts and skills of turn taking.  By setting the table in this way, the children were practicing asking for turns, passing the materials to each other, and working side by side with shared materials.  When Max needed a fresh paper shape, Micah reached for one and passed it to Max.  When Zachary needed more yellow paint, Max brought the empty container to me for refilling.

Learning to Use Scissors

Over the last few weeks, Sauci and I have noticed that a lot of our students have had trouble with cutting with scissors properly. We decided that we would put scissors and scrap paper in the sensory table, and help the students practice their form. I have been modeling the proper way to cut, and they have been showing one another how to do it as well! I love seeing organic peer teaching moments!

-Alison

Fun With Floam

Is it candy...dippin dots ice cream...sprinkles? No, its floam! A colorful, bumpy, squishy, substance that molds any way you like it and can be taken apart and put back together again quite easily. Floam is a favorite amongst the Rainbow kids and today was no exception. The kids created everything from Challah to fish to cake with lots of laughter, sharing and cooperation going on. The kids shared the cutting tools without prompting, and they even said ,"When you're done, can I have a turn?" The floam was brought out after Ellen came in to do the mystery game. The kids decided to carry the 'mystery' over to the floam, asking each other, "guess what I made?"

Growing Everyday

There's a special tree growing in the Levana classroom, and the children contribute their talents to its growth in many different ways. Some practice their cutting skills, and others tear paper to make leaves for the canopy. Olivia and Mia sat together at the table and chatted. Samantha and Eliana both spent long periods of time working individually, spreading glue and applying paper. Later, they worked together, passing materials back and forth, with each working on an area in need of greenery. Our  tree project has provided  opportunities for the children to work alone, with partners, or as part of a small group.

Being a friend

Today, Jaedyn wasn't feeling so great. She was sad and wanted her mommy. After some cuddles, we suggested that she make a picture for her mommy. She asked Judi to draw her mommy and daddy. After the portraits were done, she wanted to add some stickers. Jaedyn took the stickers to the "kitchen" table and, shortly thereafter, Aleeza joined her. She asked Jaedyn if she could help her and the two girls added stickers together. Aleeza definitely wanted to help Jaedyn feel better. This act of kindness and display of being a friend is something that we try to highlight during our day. Kudos to Aleeza and all of the sunshines for working hard to use friendly and compassionate behavior at school!

Taking Turns

In the Levana class, we are learning the language of turn-taking. Turn-taking is a skill that we model and talk about in our interactions with the children so that they can learn what it means to have a turn, and can learn to say to one another, "Can I use that when you are done?" The children are gaining confidence that, while they may be watching and waiting at this moment, they will soon be able to perform; after we have our turn, then someone else will have a turn. One way that we demonstrate and practice turn-taking is by using musical instruments, such as the xylophone, together. The mallet is passed from one musician to another; knowing that our turn is coming up helps us to relax and enjoy the music. After Bennett played, he handed the mallet across to Elias and said, "Your turn!"

That's Friendly

Learning to negotiate, share space, and be welcoming to one another are skills and values that are learned. Negotiating a shared building vision, welcoming a classmate into a play scenario, and extending kindness, providing a helping hand, taking care of our world, each other, and ourselves are values we are developing as children play. We hear and see a "mitzvah' kindness extended, we identify the action, making them aware that their actions, or words, are behaviors that are "friendly, kind, or helpful." Oliver, Sam, and Joshua were negotiating the 'design' of their buildings. We heard "Can I build next to you. Can I be your neighbor?" Matty came over and asked if he could build with them. Then the play became a shared home, the addresses were put on top. They were welcoming and worked together towards a shared vision. We are filling each other's buckets with kindness.