Reading the Pictures

Each day after cleaning up their snack place, the kids choose a book to read.  We do this in all three of our classes.    This is the Threes class.  Everyone sits, everyone reads while we wait for the others to finish with snack.  Back in September, several of them would say they don't know how to read!  We talk about "picture reading" - looking at the pictures and telling the story that way.  We even practice by looking at a book together and guessing what the words might say based on what they see happening in the illustrations.  We check faces for expressions and talk about how characters might be feeling in the story.  We check for any motion in the illustrations and talk about what that tells us - like splashing water or lines behind a running character.  Although reading aloud to children is so very important, allowing them to "read" to themselves has equal value.  It builds confidence, independence and fosters imagination - just look how engaged these kids are in their "reading!"

Cardboard Tubes

                                 

A cardboard tube makes the best toy!  Sometimes the tube is a tunnel but on this day, these 2 guys are making towers with them and then filling them up with the little cars.  It takes a lot of cars to fill up that big tube!  And then the best part is lifting it up and having all the cars cascade out the bottom.  Big fun for imaginative little guys.  

Class Differences

We love to see how different kids will approach the same toys!  In this case, the first photo shows our Threes classmates working together to put the pegs in the holes.  Their main goal is to fill each hole in no particular order and will little organization - although they did choose to dump all the pegs out onto the table and put the box on the floor.  The Threes kids tend to like to see all their materials at once!

In the second photo, this Pre-kindergarten student is using the same toy but with a different approach.  He has the boards lined up in order, he's counting the pegs as he puts them in and he's left the rest of the pegs in the box.

Both photos show progress towards a goal and all 3 kids are learning important skills whether they know it or not! :)