Together Time

Tuesday afternoon was super special at Brooklyn Schoolhouse; we combined the afternoon class with the Together Time class! Together Time is a parent/caregiver and child class that Zoe and Ju-milia teach. Tuesday was an awesome, serendipitous celebration of play and multiage learning. Friends of all ages were together playing, dancing, singing, and learning alongside each other. It was beautiful to see our youngest community members connecting with some of our oldest. We were able to snap a few pictures amidst the fun plus photos from the rest of the week!

Planting in the Garden

This week many friends from the Afternoon Session helped plant in our garden. Sharon showed us how to place seedlings into a hole, carefully surround them with soil, and give them a gentle pat around the roots to tuck them in. We planted some red lettuce, nasturtium, and marigold, and also picked mint leaves to snack on as a treat! Here are some photos from our garden and the rest of the school days.

Picture Day!

Monday was picture day at Brooklyn Schoolhouse! The day was full of excitement as we spent all day outside, but took turns going inside to get our photos taken. Friends had so much fun on picture day that they even made their own cameras and tripods using foam blocks. Here are some pictures of all the fun this week.

Happy Eclipse Day!

On Monday we got the unique opportunity to check out the eclipse with the afternoon class. We went out one at a time with eclipse glasses strapped to our heads, we couldn’t see anything! Children shared their observations while looking at the eclipse, “The moon is out!” and “It’s a crescent”. During Meeting we stretched our arms up to touch the moon and sun then, Zoe explained how the eclipse works using a visual. We also explored kinetic sand, making music with instruments, and doing some vertical art. Thanks all for a great short week, enjoy these photos of students wearing eclipse glasses.

We Came Back!

After a long week of home days, we’re back at Brooklyn Schoolhouse getting reacquainted with our friends and routines. This week, we experienced some dramatic rain with equally intense fun! Aside from splashing in puddles and collecting rain in buckets, we also read What Does Little Crocodile Say? by Eva Montanari as our weekly story. Take a look below at some pictures showing the fun we’ve had returning to school.

Spring Flowers!

We celebrated the beginning of spring and Navroz (also called Iranian or Persian New Year) by touching, smelling, painting with, and arranging  flowers. Luca’s mom, Freyan, helped us learn all about flowers and how to make a unique arrangement for each child to take home. Children noticed that long stems flopped down, and decided where and how they could be cut. Some children chose scented Tuberose, while some loved the big blossoms of the daffodils — some of which we harvested from our own Brooklyn Schoolhouse Garden! Here are some photos of the flowers and our week together. Wishing you all a safe and happy Spring Break — school will resume Tuesday, April 2.

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

We had such a fun rainy week with the Afternoon Group! When it rains at Brooklyn Schoolhouse, the whole yard turns into an epic sensory experience. While on most days teachers set up activities and provocations in the yard, it’s almost unnecessary on rainy days. The children are captivated by feeling the rain on their hands and face, seeing where it drips down from our roof into steady streams, and finding the biggest puddles to splash into. The children quickly find every available scoop, bucket, and tray to collect water. Sometimes children like to wait until the bucket is completely full; other times we are too excited to wait and want to dump it all out quickly! Wearing fully waterproof gear on these days allows your children to dive into the elements and enjoy the awesome rich benefits of the outdoor sensory experience of rain. Rain boots, rain suits, and any waterproof gear is highly encouraged!

We’re Back!

After a week of home days, it’s good to be back at Brooklyn Schoolhouse with our friends. This week we celebrated Nona’s birthday with train cookies, stickers, and music from her dad’s melodica. Outside was warm enough for us to play with water in the kitchen and investigate ice-on-a-string. We also got to explore our new class pet: stick bugs!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

At Brooklyn Schoolhouse, we’ve been celebrating Valentine’s Day long before the actual holiday! For over a week now, we’ve been working on Valentine’s inspired art. Using the same piece of paper for every step, friends layered collage over drawings over paintings. Similar to how last week we observed Nona’s flowers changing, we witnessed our art transform every day! For Story Time, we enjoyed the silly analogies from “I Love You, Good Night” by Susan Schade and Jon Buller. come the holiday, we took turns in cubbies passing out the valentines friends brought to school!

Nona's Flowers

At the beginning of the week, Nona brought us some big pink blossoms. Soon, everyone wanted to have a look.

Some friends wondered if the little specs inside were ”tiny germs,” and we decided to get some magnifying glasses to get a closer peek.

Since the flower was sitting at our “Message Center” (a place where paper and writing utensils are always available), children wanted to draw there, and helped Zoe pick pastels that matched the flower — some greens, pinks, and brown.

The flower also gave us an opportunity for children to notice changes. After a couple days, we noticed the flower wilting. “It’s broken?” said Luca O-R. “I think it’s dying,” supposed Celia. The teachers printed a photo of the beginning of the week so we could compare the flowers now to how they looked before. 

Here are some photos from the flower exploration, as well as some additional moments of our week!

Big Red Barn

This week we read Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown — many of the Afternoon friends mentioned they have it at home, too, and we loved seeing the busy barn day slowly turn to night by the last page. “What’s that?“ Cleo asked as we got to the end, and we realized it was the silhouette of the scarecrow. Reading the same book throughout the week lets children ask questions and voice noticings as their comprehension and grows with each reading. Here are some photos from our week together!

Introducing the Art Cart

The Brooklyn Schoolhouse classroom looks different; furniture moved, the rug is now near Brian’s office, and tons of new materials and toys are out! One of the newest areas introduced to our Nature School friends is the Art Cart. The Art Cart is home to our classroom’s art materials, and this week we’re practicing with glue sticks! Check out what we’ve been making the fun we’ve been having.

Warming Up to Winter

This week we got the delight and the challenge of snowy cold days. We spent some extra time inside to keep warm and avoid the icy yard. That extra time meant making playdough together, exploring the “snowy” sensory table, and reading Mommy Loves by Ann Gutman all together. Thank you all for prepping your children with enough snow gear. We’ll see you next week!

Welcome back!

It’s been wonderful to see the Afternoon session return to the classroom this week. We have been enjoying dressing the babies into their new winter clothes, making “soup” in the play kitchen, building with magnatiles, and celebrating Cleo’s birthday! Here are some photos from our week together.

Let’s Make Light!

At the Lantern Walk, we saw all the different ways we could beautifully decorate our paper creations. But do you know how we made our class lanterns?

Popping the balloon!

In the week leading up to the big celebration of lights, both the morning and afternoon class worked together to create giant paper mache lanterns. Friends drenched strips of paper in glue and stuck them to a balloon to establish the shape of the lantern. Then, the afternoon class decorated the lantern using pinching fingers instead of grabbing hands to pick up delicate flowers and tissue paper. Once it was all dry, we popped the balloon! What started as a messy project turned into something beautiful!

Have a wonderful Winter Break full of love, light, and good health.

Chanukah Sameach!

Thank you to all the families who joined us for our Chanukah Celebration yesterday! We lit a menorah, spun some dreidels, and ate some delicious latkes and Palestinian murtabak. It was so fun for children to share their grown ups with the class, and we hope to continue celebrating more holidays and family traditions. Please get in touch with us if you would to share pieces of your home and family with Brooklyn Schoolhouse. Chanukah Sameach, enjoy the last night of candles and festivities tonight.

Mittens, Gloves, and Hats, Oh My!

As Winter approaches, it’s only getting colder, and this week it actually SNOWED! It’s so exciting to see delicate little snowflakes gently flurry from the sky. But cold weather often means dressing in more clothing and more layers. We’re working with friends to understand the importance of mittens, gloves, and hats and how they keep our bodies safe and warm from Winter weather.

Inside Choice

Brrrrrr! It’s getting cold at Brooklyn Schoolhouse!

The last few months, we made the most of the warm weather and sunny days by spending as much time outside as we could! Now that the sun is going down sooner and the temperature is dropping, our classroom routine has changed as well. This week, we’ve started our days inside with choice time. Friends went our to each table playing with play dough, blocks, puzzles, babies, stamps, and so much more! Take a look at some of the fun we’ve had inside.

They’ll Have to Chirp the Alphabet Too!

🎶There’s a bird in the school. Oh no! What are we going to do?🎶

Our sing-a-long song came true Monday afternoon; a bird flew into our school! Friends were doing yoga inside with Simone when suddenly a sparrow swooped over our heads! We watched as it flew around confusing our decorative branches for real trees. After sending friends outside, Sharon guided the sparrow into the bathroom where she gently scooped it up with a cloth and returned it outside. We at Brooklyn Schoolhouse value nature based education; how much more serendipitous can it get for a bird to join our class?

Song Cards

This week we introduced a very important classroom tool — song cards! When a teacher pulls out a song card, it shows us all that it’s time to sing together! This week’s card was “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” which we recreated on the rug by using a stick and some green nasturtium leaves from our garden to stand in for the frogs. The Afternoon group loved seeing the green frogs slowly disappear, until there were none left. Here are some photos of the week, wishing you a wonderful weekend!