Winter

Winter is a wonder to children and adults alike and during this season kindergarten took the time to notice the QUIET winter brings. We recalled the sights and sounds we see and hear in the fall season, remembering that fall is a season of color and busy animal activity preparing for rest! By contrast, winter is a time of rest – the world becomes dormant. To fully appreciate QUIET, we took a walk in the woods to the river. We all sat – SILENTLY – and listened. When we came back inside we recalled all we had heard and seen – and…WHY we heard and saw what we did! This is what we discovered:

We Saw: Animal footprints (we think they were from a deer) The Children Thought: "They want the berries!" "They want a drink of water!" We Saw: Ice by the water's sides The Children Thought: "The water does not move as fast there." "The land warms the sides of the water!" We Saw: The water in the river was moving fast and there was MORE water than in the fall The Children Thought: "All the snow melted into the river!" We Saw: Brown leaves underneath the snow The Children Thought: "The leaves fell off the tree and no one raked them" We Saw: A lot of broken branches The Children Thought: "The wind broke them" "The snow is heavy" We Heard: The wind The Children Thought: "Outside has no roof, so you hear the trees move" We Heard: The river The Children Thought: "The wind blowing made it move We Heard: Cracking Noises The Children Thought: "The ice breaks when you step on it We Heard: Nothing, quiet The Children Thought: "Many animals are sleeping, they hibernate" Maybe some animals are looking somewhere else for food!"

The children had a chance to fully appreciate how “quiet” can enhance their experiences. While playing on the playground on a cold winter’s day, several children noticed a “peck, peck, pecking” sound. They encouraged each other to stop, and LISTEN, QUIETLY! All of the children gathered together and stood wordlessly, listening and looking up into the tree where they heard the sound. “It must be a woodpecker!” “It’s a hairy woodpecker, I just know it”, the children proclaimed! With great pleasure they noticed three perfectly round holes in one of the trees. “That’s where the woodpecker lives!” Our feathered friend did not disappoint us, and out he came from the bottom hole, peck, peck, pecking away. Later, we spoke about how listening and being aware of nature can afford us these very special interactions with our natural world.

In the classroom we experienced quiet through meditation and breathing exercises. Sitting together on the carpet with crisscrossed legs, our hands on our knees and our fingers touching, we closed our eyes, and took a deep breath in from our nose. We filled our lungs with air, and slowly, pushed the air out. We tried very hard to sit up straight, and while we breathed, we concentrated on becoming our best self. We noticed how calm and peaceful we felt. This special time we spent with our own thoughts helped us to prepare to daven and begin our day feeling calm and peaceful.

The kindergarten loves all kinds of books and we have been focusing on the different genres of literature. We discussed fiction and non-fiction books. After reading the story, Bear Snores On, the children agreed that this was a work of fiction. Then, I asked, “What do you think a non fiction book about a bear might look like?” They responded, “There would be a real bear on the cover” “Different kinds of bears, like pandas and polar bears could be on the book.” So, we looked through our library to find and sort, fiction vs. non-fiction books!

We have begun to use story mapping as a way of helping us to understand how stories are written. We mapped the story, Let’s Swim, noting the characters, setting, beginning, middle and end. Next, we decided to “rewrite” the story using a winter sport as our theme. The children decided the setting would be an ice skating pond, and named the story, Let’s Have An Ice Skate! Next, they created the characters for the story, and wrote the beginning, middle and end. Finally, each child illustrated the story! As we continue to gain an understanding of the structure of books, the children will soon be writing their own unique stories.

Math games are always a fun way to learn! The children have enjoyed using dice to help us create addition sentences. As a class, we rolled the dice and recorded our sentences on the white board, using the numbers we rolled on the dice. We figured out our sum, by counting up the dots on the dice! Working individually, children had an opportunity to play on their own, and then graph their “sums” on a number bar graph!

As we work with 2-digit numbers, the children enjoy playing, “what comes next” and “find the missing numbers”. Our daily calendar routines reinforce number recognition, number sequence, number patterns, and place value. We always take the time to notice how we use numbers in our daily lives! This gives numbers real meaning to the children!