Egg Cartons, Dress Up, and Train Tunnels

This week we read Bear Snores On, a snowy story for this chilly weather. “It’s snowy!” said Amari as we began the tale of a sleepy bear hibernating in a cave. The Afternoon Class enjoyed seeing which noisy animals entered the cave before the bear finally awoke.

Outdoors, Zoe led a fun activity where children moved through a “ring of fire“ (a hula hoop!).

Indoors, friends explored a tabletop of egg cartons, which they painted with a new color each day. It was a challenge to find which grooves held more paint for us to spread with paintbrushes.

We also saw some interesting independent and collaborative play emerge in our block area — some friends drove trains into our unit block area, and used arches to make a long tunnel. Eli and James worked together to move the trains without knocking over the arches, and Amari used a long wooden block to make his own train track.

We also switched out our dress-up materials, and friends enjoyed practicing dressing themselves in new stretchy skirts, wings, and mermaid tails, often all layered on top of each other! Henry turned the wings into a “cloak.” Here are some more photos from our week together. We hope you all have a great weekend!

Playing With Ginkgo Leaves

Last week everyone came to school bundled up in coats, hoodies, and hats to embrace the chilly weather. Bright yellow ginkgo leaves covered the ground of the yard, an enticing invitation to scoop up a handful and watch the leaves fall from our hands. It reminded kids of rain falling from the sky or confetti at a birthday party!

We also played with Bilibo Seats, or “shells”, a movement toy meant for wobbling, spinning, and balancing. It was first a challenge to comfortably climb into the seat, but quickly thereafter, it was tons of fun to see the different ways we could play with the chairs. Kids loved wobbling until they gently tumbled over to face the clouds and look up into the sky. It was hilarious to spin in the chairs using our feet to turn us around, or figuring out how to kneel in the chairs and spin using our arms. Some children even flipped the Bilibos over to use as stepping stones. We also enjoyed playing with large cardboard boxes which we drew, climbed into, and climbed on top of!

Inside, everyone sat on the big green rug to eat bananas and rice cakes while reading this week’s story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. The story takes us on a family’s adventure to search for a bear, taking them through squishy mud, deep rivers, and windy fields. Just as they enter a bear cave to find the beast they were searching for, the family realizes how fierce the creature is and turns around to redo their journey, this time heading straight home. At each obstacle, the family recites “We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. We’ve got to go through it.” The story both features fun imagery and playful sound effects, but also serves as reminder of how powerful it is to have friends, family, and community supporting you along what ever journey you’re taking.

During inside choice time, kids tried out some new chairs with arm rests. They’re slighter lower to the ground than the other chairs and provide extra support while kids are working on their core strength. It felt like the chairs became a choice of their own as kids really gravitated towards them for reading books in, carrying them to where their friends are and watching them play, or even finding space for them on the rug during goodbye circle.

Making Lines and Counting Leaves!

We continue to have playful and enriching autumnal days here at Brooklyn Schoolhouse! 

During our meetings this week, we talked about lining up: how we form a line, why we form a line, and when we walk in lines throughout our day! We practiced making lines with a variety of materials, including rubber ducks and magna tiles. 

We observed leaves and pinecones found in the yard while reading  “Leaf Man” by Lois Ehlert, our story of the week. This book initiated several interesting group conversations about autumnal activities and our favorite types of weather. 

We look forward to seeing you all next week for conferences, and hope that you can join us for our Live Animal Visit on Thursday 11/20!

Sincerely,

Your Brooklyn Schoolhouse Teachers

Digging, Dancing, & Discovering Together!

This week in the Afternoon Class was filled with so many joyful discoveries, cozy moments, and new experiences.

Jasmin took the children to our school garden beds for the first time, where they explored the soil with their hands and gently scooped dirt into buckets. The excitement was contagious!

Our story of the week was Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw. We listened with big smiles as the sheep found themselves stuck in gooey mud, received some much-needed help, and eventually sold their muddy jeep “Cheap.” It was the perfect mix of silly and adventurous.

Throughout the week, the children enjoyed bright blue Play-Doh, stamping, rolling, and stretching it into all sorts of shapes. There was lots of dancing too—friends moved together to lively music while Brian played guitar, giving our room such an uplifting energy.

We returned to one of our most grounding routines: reading on the rug, both inside and outside. In the yard, the children watched planes fly overhead. At one point, Henry lounged across a long hollow block, gazing up at the sky and saying, “Let’s see if we can see another one!”

Inside, the children created beautiful paintings—experimenting with colors, brushes, and strokes that filled the room with creativity. They also had a wonderful time inspecting small treasures hidden in containers, delighting in both the surprise of what they found and the satisfying challenge of opening the lids.

A highlight this week was the enthusiasm around our tunnel-shaped climbing blocks. Children crawled through one after another, cheering friends on as they made their way from one end to the other. During Goodbye Circle, we introduced a new instrument: the agogo. The children were instantly curious, running their fingers along the agogo’s grooved bell and listening closely to its bright tones.

We hope you enjoy the photos from our week—so many moments of curiosity, teamwork, and joy were captured.

We hope everyone has a warm, fun-filled weekend. We look forward to seeing you all again on Monday!

Autumn Adventures and Cozy Connections

This week in Afternoon Class was full of exploration, teamwork, and cozy moments together!

Outside, our young chefs gathered in the play kitchen, mixing, pouring, and pretending to cook delicious meals. “I’m making pasta!” exclaimed Amari, as friends joined in the imaginative fun. Around the yard, children engaged in heavy work—moving hollow blocks to help one another climb, and combining two crates (after carefully emptying out all the bouncy balls!) to create a train.

Our play yard also offered fall’s beautiful touch—piles of crunchy leaves! With mini sweeps in hand, we worked together to gather and explore them. On our large painted pumpkins, we added new insects and animals, using golf tees as playful decorations. This inspired a fun guessing game with teachers:

“Is this a butterfly?” asked Jasmin.

“No!” replied Wyler with a smile—sparking lots of laughter and curiosity.

Inside, we cozied up to read Bunny, My Honey by Anita Jeram, the sweet story of a bunny who gets lost and is found again by his loving mama. Inspired by the story’s caring theme, our dramatic play area transformed into a doctor’s office, complete with stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs! Friends took turns giving baby dolls checkups and caring for one another.

We also explored self-expression and observation—making faces in the mirror, checking out our family photo walls, and discovering surprises hidden inside small cloth bags. With containers, wooden eggs, and colorful discs, we practiced opening, closing, stacking, and building—developing fine motor skills and focus through play.

As always, reading and drawing offered beautiful ways to connect with one another and reflect on our environment. To end our days together, we introduced a new instrument to our goodbye song—the tambourine! With gentle taps, jingles, and soft shakes, we explored its many sounds and rhythms.

We wish everyone a warm and lovely weekend, and we can’t wait to see our Afternoon Class friends again on Monday!

Pumpkins, Corn, and Climbing Blocks

Last week was one full of new experiences for the Afternoon Class.

Outside, we explore pumpkins by cleaning, drying, and painting them. The group had a new tool — a spray bottle — which posed a challenge that many were eager to solve!

Indoors, we also opened up our sensory bin, which was filled with corn, straw, and some cups and rakes. The Afternoon class explored the material by scooping, dumping, and pouring the materials together.

On that rainy Thursday, we also brought out our indoor climbing blocks. The class jumped, twirled and rolled on our green mats. They squeezed through a block tunnel, and there were many laughs and smiles as friends tumbled out.

Here are a few more photos from last week. We look forward to seeing you later today!

A Short but Joyful Week!

Even with a short week, our days were filled with music, singing, and dancing!

We recently introduced our song cards — each card shows the name of the song, an image that represents it, and even lyrics on the back to help us learn the words as we sing along. Some of our favorite songs this week — ones you might have already heard at home — have been “Icky Sticky Bubblegum,” “Wheels on the Bus,” “Dance Bears,” “Here Is My Pumpkin,” “The Doughnut Song,” and the timeless “Old MacDonald.”

Our “Wheels on the Bus” explorations inspired lots of excitement — especially about the horn, the driver, and the mommies and daddies on the bus! Out in the yard, some children even created their very own bus using crates, driving through imaginary streets with big smiles and laughter.

During snack time, we enjoyed a crunchy bite of rice cakes and sweet bananas while reading A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni. This story sparked beautiful conversations about colors and change, as we learned how a chameleon’s colors shift and how things around us can transform, too.

In the yard, friends discovered new ways to use our climbing blocks — turning them into “pop-up” spaces! With a circle opening on top, children joyfully climbed in and out, laughing and shouting “Pop!” as they emerged.

We were also thrilled to welcome our morning teacher, Colette, to the afternoon! Her love of music and guitar filled our classroom with warmth and curiosity. Children gathered around to listen to her play and even tried out a “one-finger touch” to explore the sound of the strings.

This week, we also introduced playdough to our classroom! Friends were quick to describe it as “squishy!” as they discovered its sticky, soft, and moldable textures — perfect for pressing, rolling, and creating together.

In observance of Diwali, the school will be closed on Monday, October 20th. We look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday, October 21st.

✨ Have a wonderful and colorful long weekend! ✨

Exploring Inside the Classroom

The week started off wonderful with the first All School Sing of the year! It’s so exciting to share our classroom with friends and family, and it’s made even better by the beautiful songs our music teacher, Tony Soll, teaches us.

Outside in the yard, we played a game of Ring Around the Rosie. We all held hands and sang the tune while practicing walking in a circle and falling down safely. Soon enough, children were able to facilitate the game all by themselves. We also played with foam rollers, squeezing soap out of them with our hands and scrubbing paint off of the wall.

As the weather is starting to actually resemble Autumn, it felt appropriate to start exploring the inside classroom. After friends ate snack outside on the red rug and read The Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, they slowly trickled inside with teachers. The first step to coming inside is to wash hands in the bathroom, then we can make a choice at one of the areas in the classroom. At the art table, children could make marks on the table itself or paper on the chalkboard using colorful pastels. The green rug was the perfect place to set up train and their tracks. Kids even tried to make a life sized train with baskets inside, just like they do with the crates outside! Children also practiced taking turns and sharing at the peg puzzle table, passing each other pieces and naming the animals and vehicles they see.

We ended our days listening to music on the rug and joining along with our singing voices and shakers. We even had luxury of Brian playing music for us on the guitar. Feel free to comment any songs you and your family enjoy listening to so we can play them at school!

Dancing to our Song Cards

We noticed, and were told by some families, that children have been singing songs from Brooklyn Schoolhouse. We love to listen, sing, and dance to music at school, and when we do, we use something called Song Cards. Song cards are a tool that help us know what song we’re singing by showing us the title, a picture of what the song is about, and the lyrics. This week, teachers showed us the song cards and taught children the words and dances before the children decided to lead them on their own. They built a stage for them to perform songs like “Icky Sticky Bubble Gum”, “Here is My Pumpkin”, and “Dance Bears”.

Friends have been exploring climbing in different areas of the yard. Some kids noticed gaps in between the green climbing blocks and took the risk as a challenge. While holding hands with a teacher, kids courageously stretched their legs over the gap to step onto the next climbing block, practicing both their balance and spatial awareness. It was also fun to step on top of the wooden hollow blocks and dramatically jump off; even a half-foot drop can feel like a gigantic leap!

We enjoyed the beautiful weather by splashing in the water kitchen, making colorful paintings, and running around with our friends. Our story this week was Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney. We loved eating bananas and getting to the part of the book where Llama Llama gets picked up by their mom from school.

We also had the joy of celebrating our classmate, Briar’s, second birthday! Her mom and aunt came in to eat cupcakes and sing songs. Happy birthday Briar!

Photos from our Short Week

It was a short but sweet week for the Afternoon Group. The Full Day friends joined us, and it was wonderful to explore the yard and classroom together. We hope you enjoy the photos and have a great weekend!

All Aboard the Afternoon Class!

This week, we explored so many ways to play and create together. With bright colors, we painted on large paper and experimented with collecting rocks in a bucket in our bamboo-filled rock garden.

Two large crates formed a “train,” with children taking turns as drivers and passengers, their laughter filling the space. Using hollow blocks, they also built makeshift stands and steps, proudly climbing and balancing on their creations. We rolled barrels of water, pulled strong on big fabrics, and enjoyed a sweet game of hide-and-seek around the climbing blocks, laughing with delight when friends were found.

Our playful sea turtles joined in on the fun too—swimming in the outside kitchen sinks of cool water as children gave them splashy adventures. We gathered on the rug to dance and sing along to familiar favorites like "Old McDonald" and "Sleeping Animals,” a beloved BKSH song.

At snack time, we shared bananas while reading What Does Little Crocodile Say? by Eva Montanari. The children were so engaged, joining in with sounds and gestures from the story, making our time extra lively.

We also welcomed a new friend, Clive, who will be joining us in our Afternoon class.

We are excited for the weeks ahead as we continue building our routines, discovering new games, and deepening our friendships. Please note: there will be no Afternoon Class on Tuesday and Wednesday next week in observance of Rosh Hashanah. Have a great weekend!

Our First Week Together

We had our first week together as the Afternoon Class. Children explored each area of the yard with their grown-ups, new teachers, and classmates.

In the water kitchen, we splashed, stirred, and scooped the colored water.

Children discovered the rock garden and transferred many rocks from the ground to the bamboo planter.

We threw, rolled, and caught bouncy balls together. We introduced a song that we often sing with the 2s outside: “I roll the ball to Lily, she rolls it back to me/ I roll the ball to Wylie, he rolls it back to me.“ This is a great song for practicing turn-taking and bringing awareness to where the ball is going in the yard as we play together.

Blue, red, and yellow finger paint and paintbrushes were available, and the children added them to a large piece of paper.

Each day we practiced some simple routines that will be foundational to our year together. For example, we unpacked water bottles at drop off. We ended each day with a snack, story, and a goodbye circle with our drum.

We had so much fun getting to know you and your children this week, and we are excited to continue next week. As a reminder, next regular hours will begin for the Afternoon class (2:30-4:30).