What Did You Do At School?

Gingerbread Houses: 2A

It would be a shame for you to miss out on seeing pictures from one of the great photo opportunities of the school year.

December brings many fun activities around the school, but one of the highlights for 2A is always the making of gingerbread (well, graham cracker) houses.

 

The teachers start by setting all the goodies out on the table.

 
Ms. Kathy fills her pastry bag with icing...

 
pulls a premade house from her blue bin...

 
and begins to strategically place the icing in all the necessary places.

 
Each child waits patiently for their name to be added to the base...

 
because we wouldn't want to mix up the childrens' handiwork.

This little project can take up nearly an entire day,

 
even with just eight children in the class,

 
because they work so carefully...

 
really taking their time...
and making sure that each and every candy is placed...

 
exactly where they want it to be.

 
And then when the house is completely decorated...

 
it snows (powdered sugar)!

If, during the decorating process, a little frosting gets on the fingers...

 
there is an easy way to deal with that...

 
and it comes very naturally to most of them!

But, after all the decorating is done, the teachers do provide another opportunity for tasting...

 
by squeezing a wiggly-worm of icing onto each little pointer finger,

which most of the children whole-heartedly (and whole-handedly!) enjoy.

 
And at the end of the day there is a lovely row of houses, ready to show-off at home.

 

S'mores: 2A Style

At the beginning of November the 2A class had a special snack.

They patiently waited for their teachers to give them the goods.

 
First came a graham cracker topped with a dollop of vanilla icing...

 
and instructions to spread the icing with the plastic knife...

 
which took quite a bit of concentration and effort...

 
Next came mini marshmallows to top the icing...

 
and a good dose of chocolate sprinkles...

 
Then came the fun part... eating!

First, to figure out how to get started...

 
 
and then dig in...

 
eat up...

 
and, of course,

 

ask for s'more. :)

 

Jack-o-lantern Masks: 2A

Step-by-step:

Color your stick with a marker.

 
Wait for your teacher to be ready for step number two.

 
Glue on a stem. Tap, tap, tap it so it sticks.

 
Add a nose.

 
Add a mouth.

 
More tap, tap, tapping.

 
Add the finishing touch -- a bow tie, if you're a boy.

 
Or a hairbow, if you're a girl.

 
And then check yourself out in the mirror.

 
 
'Cuz you're one good-lookin' punkin head!

Role Playing in 2A

Children like to imitate activities that they are familiar with. That is one reason the classrooms have a homeliving area -- because most of what the children know up until now comes from their time at home.

 
 

 

Week Two Happenings in 2A

The color of the week was...

 
red.

And the children learned that art projects are something so fun...

 
that even if only one child gets to "work" at a time, they all want to gather around and see what's happening.

First Friday of School: 2A

Friday was a calm and peaceful day in 2A.

They prayed before they ate their snack.

Then they did an easy art project.

"Do you want blue or red?"

 
  
 
Sometimes a little marker gets on a finger...

 
and the teachers have learned to always have wipes at the ready.

 
Since they were having a patriotic day, everybody got to use both red and blue markers on their white sheets of paper.

Notice how the marker switches from one hand to the other.

Most children at this age are not crossing their body's midline yet, so when coloring on the right side of the paper they may use their right hand and while coloring on the left side they'll use their left hand. Or, they may move the paper to suit the hand they're using. This is totally normal at the age of 2 and nothing to fret about. Handedness and midline crossing should be sorted out by the age of four. Right now, we'll just provide your children with lots of experiences as their skills are developing.