More and more lights and holiday decorations are popping up around Brooklyn as the holiday season approaches, and the same is true at Brooklyn Schoolhouse! In the block area, kids have been playing with colorful see-through cups, shiny CDs, and peg people. In the sensory table, corn has been paired with drawstring bags and little electric candle lights. It’s fascinating to fill up the bags with corn and lights to see how bright it shines through. It’s also been great fine motor work to pull the bags open with our fingers and figure out how to turn the candle lights on.
During our snack and story time, we read the book “Who Takes Care of You?” by Hannah Eliot, which sparked some really interesting conversations. When teachers asked the kids who takes care of them, they had so many different answers:
“My Judi!” said Lily
“My grown-ups and babysitter.” said Eli. Athena chimed in and said, “Those people take care of me too!”
“My mama.” said Naomi
“Up high!” said Willy, talking about how his dad lifts him up high on his shoulders.
“My daddy helps me.” said Henry
“Trisha” said Briar
“Bath!” said James, talking about how his grownups take care of him.
“My Gigi!” said Amari when the book was talking about grandmas.
It was really fun to dance to some new songs during our mat time. We listened to “The Elevator Song” by Laurie Berkner and used scarves to pretend to be the different animals she sings about. Kids were shouting “Elmo the Musical!” when they heard Elmo’s song, “Happy Dance.”
At our Goodbye Circle, we sang “Five Little Ducks” by Raffi and looked at an illustrated version of the song by Jose Arugo and Ariane Dewey. In the song, each day the ducks go outside but when Mama duck calls them back, one less duck returns. Soon, none of her ducks are with her anymore. But, she calls out to her babies one last time and they all reunite, celebrating with kisses!
It’s hard to believe we have one week left of school before our Winter Break. We’ll cherish the time together before it’s time to say “See you next year!”
