4 years, 8 months/2 years, 6 months.

Big day today!

First, it was team picture day at soccer (L to R, Levi, Graham, Ethan, Bailey, and the coach).

Then, Halloween!  We attempted to prep the boys for an afternoon of treats with a pizza party before trick-or-treating, but they still ended up having corn syrup and artificial colors for dinner.  Graham wanted to hit up as many houses as possible, as quickly as possible...Connor took his time but completely understood what was going on, and staggered around acting drunk with excitement long before he started eating the candy.

Finally, Connor pooped on the potty for the first time!  Since he'd already had so much candy, his reward was copious praise.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Little green and trees leaves":

Howdy do,

We started our week building structures in the big room. We worked
cooperatively in small groups using our balancing skills while
negotiating ideas. People built: castles, a monster catcher, airplane
towers, a giant triangle, a kitty house, and a bridge.

We read Little Blue And Little Yellow. Afterwards, we painted in
pairs. One friend used blue paint, while the other used yellow paint.
It was a lesson in cooperative sharing. Everyone passed with flying
colors. The children noticed quickly that a new color appeared on
their papers.

We examined our tree photo and talked about the color of its leaves.
What color are the leaves turning now? Some children remembered the
new fall color in their minds eye. We looked again when we were in the
yard playing. It was confirmed, most are still green with yellow
appearing. We remembered that the season was summer when we began
school. We read Have You Seen Trees?

Lauren's friend Lauren came and put on a wonderful gentle show called
Grow. It was about a fruit tree. She taught the children the signs for
the four seasons, for rain and snow, and for seed and apple. Everyone
got a nibble of a real apple after the show. People agreed their
favorite part was the flowering tree.

In the yard people have been having a hard time using sticks properly.
The How To Use A Stick Properly Handbook had to be reread. We decided
only the tiniest sticks could be used to avoid poking our friends
accidentally.

When we peeked into yoga this week, we still saw stillness. In the
classroom during yoga we read A Color Of His Own by Leo Lionni. The
class knew a lot about chameleons. We wondered what animals might eat
them. After several guesses we looked it up. Then we went to the table
to work with model magic and each child chose a color of their own to
add to its whiteness.

Please oh please, bring in your family photo for our family tree.

Let us know when you would like to schedule your family share. They
will be at approximately 9:30. Any idea is a good idea; read a book,
share family pictures, a grandparent, aunt, or pet can visit, or a
special talent or skill to share.

Next week we begin working on our family tree. With those family photos.

Have a spooky weekend,
Therese

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 6 months.

First day of Grammy's annual Halloween visit!  We dropped off Astronaut Graham at school this morning and then headed to the park to get in some swings.  Connor spent a long time at the park collecting acorns, arranging them in a little wagon, dumping them out, and starting over again.  

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 6 months.

Happy 4th birthday, Milan!  The rain held off for a wheeled-vehicle party, complete with pinata.  

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 6 months.

The view may not be great out of the subway windows, but that doesn't stop Connor from looking.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Duck, Duck Goose Rules":

Hi All,

We began our week reading I Like It When, and talking about what we
like. What do we like our friends to do? Our classroom rules begin, "A
good friend..." and include one person who said a good friend scrubs
the floor for you. We all need more friends like that. We reread No
David! Someone said he was not a good friend because he did not listen
but after the book we thought about it and realized he was still just
learning the rules.

We talked about and wrote the rules for Duck, Duck, Goose.  We asked
what would happen if we don't follow the rules and all ran in
different directions.

The next day we wrote the directions to Red Light, Green Light, and
played it in the big room also. People stopped on red and ran on
green. We also hopped like kangaroos, slithered like snakes, crawled
like kittens, and wiggled like worms.

Many friends in the class are learning to pump on their own on the
swings. Great gross motor skills hard at work.

We reread Wash Your Hands and Hands Can. We examined a picture of
someone's hands planting seeds in preparation to plant our bulbs. We
went to the yard, got our shovels and got to work. We dug and dug and
dug in the dirt. Someone said, "This is hard work!" It is. We talked
about farmers who do this everyday and what plants they might be
growing that we like to eat. We talked about the season we are in and
what season it would be when our flowers sprout. We found and examined
other seeds in the yard. We found worms in the dirt and took turns
holding them. We left them in the yard to help our garden grow. We
covered the bulbs with dirt and asked what else they needed? Someone
said rain, since there was none, everyone got a turn watering with our
watering cans.

Yoga was relaxing. People posed in the big room while in the classroom
we read I Was So Mad and Yo! Yes? We talked about feelings we thought
people in the book were experiencing. The children said the characters
felt angry, sad, mad, interested, shy, and in the end, happy. We made
sad and mad faces too. We discussed the difference in our feelings and
the Feely Box. One is inside our bodies and the other outside. We used
our sense of touch and guessed what was in the box. It was round and
hard.

Friday we read How Do Apples Grow? and Shel Silverstein's The Giving
Tree. We all had turns using our muscles to turn the handle on the
amazing apple peeler. It peels, it cores, it slices, and all for only
$19.99! We then put the apples to boil on the fire in the kitchen.
While they cooked we sang Way Down Yonder By The Apple Tree. After the
apples were done we added teeny tiny bits of sugar and cinnamon. We
had our applesauce for snack time. After reading the books we talked
about what things the tree gave the boy. We examined our classroom to
see if we have anything made from trees and discovered many items. The
children continued to point out wooden things all the way down the
stairs and out to the yard. They noticed that our swings and sandbox
also are made from trees, and even the wood chips.

Next week we will work in building groups to sharpen our hand eye
coordination, practice balance, and turn taking.

Yes everyone can wear Halloween costumes to school Friday providing
they are able to use the bathroom on their own. Easy on, easy off. And
check your weapons at the door please.

Have a happy weekend,
Therese

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 6 months.

Connor and I spent the morning making play-doh and trying out the Halloween stamps from Nana's care package.  Connor can be very tidy (and also is a great lover of the foaming hand soap we keep in the bathroom) and kept getting alarmed about the ink on his hands, washing them off, and reinking. 

Once Graham came home from school, we hung up the spiderwebs that Nana sent.  Thank you Nana!  Both boys loved stretching the webs and finding good hiding spots for the spiders.   

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 6 months.

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 6 months.

Happy 2-and-a-half birthday, Connor!  If you ask Connor how old he is, he says "two and a half!"  This is also his response to a variety of other questions, such as, "when is your birthday?"  Connor is incredibly cute right now, with lots to ask (his favorite question is, "What you doing, Mama?") and report (his most consistent report is about school: he says, "I played with the purple car and Felix from the playground, ate goldfish and raisins.")  He is very attached to his yellow and blue blankets, which he still sucks on.  He absolutely adores Graham and enthusiastically participates in whatever game Graham has dreamt up, such as taking an imaginary plane to Grammy or Nana's house (a game which involves packing all of their favorite blankies, toys, and books in boxes and bags and dragging them to Graham's room, which is the plane).  He is very, very silly and loves to do dances in his skeleton jammies, get tickled, make faces, tell jokes and surprise people.  

On the downside, he often wakes up crabby and needs a good long snuggle to snap out of it.  He is also impossibly frustrating to feed--one day, he'll eat a mountain of cauliflower; the next day, he won't even touch pasta.    

But we'll keep him.

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 5 months.

The boys enjoyed another Spellbound production this morning.  They are very engaged and participatory theatergoers.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled, "The better to smell you with my dear":

Hi everyone,

Our week began with reading more firehouse books. We talked about our upcoming trip to the fire station and what to expect. Someone pointed at our fire alarm on the ceiling and said it might catch on fire. Another person reminded us that it doesn't catch on fire, but it lets us know if there is a fire. We talked about our partners, holding hands, wearing tags in case we get lost, and that family members who come with us on the trip would leave afterwards.

We reread My Book About Me, by Dr. Seuss, and took turns smelling containers to identify what was in them. Some comments: it smells like grass, pepper, hot dogs, caffeine, cookies, like something you make tea with, coffee, oatmeal, like a grain that has ginger added to it, and magic potion. They were pretty good sniffers.

After using our hands to feel in the Feely Box on Tuesday, and our noses to smell on Wednesday, we decided to use our sense of taste on Thursday. While people were posing in yoga we took turns in the classroom tasting lemons, radishes, arugula, honey, and ginger. There were many "yummy" comments and one person who yelled for water after tasting ginger.

On Friday we took a trip to the fire station. Our first field trip was a success! All the children listened closely to the firefighter when he talked about not hiding or as one child said, "don't be sneaky," if firefighters come to your house. Everyone got a turn sitting in the fire truck and someone even asked if the lights worked. We were all happy only the lights were on and not the siren as well. One of the firefighters put on all of his gear, mask included, to show the class that although it may seem like a scary outfit, it's meant to protect the firefighters during an emergency.

After the fire station we played in the yard. Some people used small cups to collect rocks and leaves while others pretended to sew leaves together using a plant stem. One child sat down after playing and enthusiastically said, "We had a really great time at the fire house!"

Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, and babysitter for coming on our trip. 

Have a nice weekend,

Therese and Kiera

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 5 months.

Graham has been begging for a movie all week, so we all settled in for a Pixar flick this afternoon.

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 5 months.

Off to the zoo with the cutest 2-year-old alive!  He was side-sliding down this railing, playing a get-away game with me.  

4 years, 8 months/2 years, 5 months.

Smarty-pants Connor sorted the fridge letters by color and identified the "o"s this morning.

40 years.

While the boys were safely and happily in Nana and Luda's care, Will and I belatedly celebrated his 40th birthday with a long weekend in Dublin.  We biked all over the city on Dublin bikes: dining (Brother Hubbard, the Green Hen, Gallagher's Boxty House, others); drinking (Guinness, Guinness, Guinness at the Guinness Storehouse, O'Neil's, Davy Byrne's, Bernard Shaw, Foley's, others); learning (1916 Rising walking tour, Kilmainham Gaol, the Irish Museum of Modern Art); and spending time with our friends Jason and Kate.  

We didn't think to take many pictures, but we did remember the boys for a quick second when we walked past Graham's name on a shoestore.  

Thank you Nana for taking time off and driving up to Brooklyn to make this trip possible for us.  We can't thank you enough!  We had a wonderful getaway!  

4 years, 7 months/2 years, 5 months.

This is a picture of a map and says "Graham" and "map."

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Our Bodies, Our Eye Pie":

Hi you all,

This week we traced everyone's body. We went in the big room to use
watercolors to add flair. We also used lots of glue to add glitter,
and colorful sand. Squeezing the glue is a great exercise for
pre-writing hands. We worked on our body tracing for four days. They
are sparkly, colorful, and will eventually hang in the kitchen area in
the big room.

We are working on: using kind words, speaking up for ourselves, not
using our hands to hurt others' bodies, pulling pants up and down to
use the bathroom, washing hands with soap and water, putting sweaters
and jackets on, zipping and buttoning, and waiting turns. And much,
much more. Progress is steady and sure, like the tortoise - although
when we're in the yard, it's more like the hare.

Everyone helped assemble and staple their All About Me books this
week. We have been reading them during circle. They are excited to
share them with the class but especially to bring them home to share
with families. All best sellers!

Yoga with Denise was quiet and focused. When we peeked in the big room
we saw quiet still bodies. Everyone returned with a purple feather and
a smile on their face.

Friday we read I Like Me and My Eyes. We examined the eyes in the
books and talked about the parts of our eyes: pupil, iris, eye lashes,
and eyebrows. Everyone took turns looking in the mirror to see the
color of their eyes. We used crayons to color some paper eyes, and
assembled them into an eye pie. It can be eye spied in the classroom.
It is not edible.

They're still sleeping up a storm in quiet time. Except for today. We
have noticed correlations between sweets in the lunchbox and silly
activity during quiet time. Quiet time is immediately after lunch, so
try to pack sleepy foods. Think turkey and warm milk. No juice or
sweet treats please.

Next week, we will use another one of our five senses to learn more
about our world. And we will take a walk to the fire station on
Friday.

Have a sensory weekend, if that makes sense,
Therese

4 years, 7 months/2 years, 5 months.

Graham taught Connor how to play Operation this morning.  Connor doesn't understand the buzzer but can pick up the pieces with the tweezers.  We've come a long way since last year, when everyone's primary concern was Connor eating the pieces.

4 years, 7 months/2 years, 5 months.

This weird kid ate black olives and roasted cauliflower for dinner tonight.

4 years, 7 months/2 years, 5 months.

Connor completely understands how, and loves, to pass the soccer ball back and forth.  Graham is completely not interested in playing mundane games like pass and instead creates complicated throw to no one/chase/tackle sorts of games which no one else can figure out how to play.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled, "Take a Walk on the Wild Side":

Hi mamas and papas,

We began our week reading The Soles Of Our Feet and Animal Tracks. We
examined the bottoms of our feet and tried to use our toes to pick up
a marker and a rubber-band: not easy. We traced everyone's feet and
then went to town coloring them with crayons. We colored the tracings,
not the feet. We also created a mural using our feet and paint. We
painted the town red, yellow, and blue. Yes, we painted with our feet.
Quite a feat.

We did a barefoot walk across different textures. We felt with our
feet, using our sense of touch. People said the textures felt hard,
itchy, fluffy, soft, sticky, rough, bumpy, pointy, and scratchy. All
true.

Our projects this week included the children taking their shoes and
socks off and then putting them back on. That's a lot of tiny toes!
This can be difficult for some but most succeeded with little help.
Your homework assignment: let them do their own shoes and socks. Great
practice in fine motor skills, patience, and persistence. And, at the
end of it they know how to do their own shoes and socks. Good for
them, good for you.

After reading Before I Was Born we went to the table and drew pictures
for our All About Me books. We also read I Like It When... and wrote
people's thoughts about what they liked. We added those to the books
too. Friday we made the book covers. We used watercolors.

We also read a few books about firemen and fire stations, and talked
about fire drills. Then we exited the building quickly and quietly for
our first fire drill. Everyone did an excellent job using their
listening ears and walking feet. Actually, on our first try everyone
squealed with delight so we had to sit down and re-explain that we
were practicing in case there was a real fire and that we need to be a
bit more serious.

We are working on using our words to speak up for ourselves and our
listening ears to hear our friends.

Quiet time is just that, quiet. We have 6-8 regular sleepers and
others who are thinking deep thoughts and reading books while resting.

Next week we begin our body tracings and yoga.

The year has gotten off to a splendid start,
Therese