We are always looking for good examples to help our students understand a constructivist view of cognitive development. This one is classic demonstration of how prior experiences are processed, assimilated, and adapted to create a new construct – in this case understanding what a game is and how rules apply to playing one.

One of the Sunflower’s (3 year olds) current finger play/game favorites during the transition from group meeting to lunch is “One Little Leaf.”

One Little Leaf

One little leaf, two little leaves,

Three little leaves today.

Four little leaves, five little leaves,

Blow them all away.  Whew!

Five children at a time are chosen; each child is given a leaf with a numeral 1-5 on it and holds up his/her number when it is said.  At the end, the children blow their leaves, then go wash their hands for lunch.  This continues until all children have had a turn.

Katharine announced at large group time that she had brought something to share and had made up a new  game for us to play, “but only four people can play.”  When asked to describe the game, she said, “You get one of the leaves then you gotta do what I say.  You shake it and then blow.”  We let Katharine go and get her leaves, which was a branch containing four leaves (so she clearly understands the one-to-one correspondence connection that determines how many can play).  She called four children at a time to stand up, then handed each child a leaf.  Then she said, “now shake it and blow!”  The children happily followed her directions, then Katharine told them, “Now go wash your hands!”

Block-building is a highly valued activity at ECDC, as sustained engagement supports the development of fundamental math/science concepts and spatial awareness/intelligence. Recently, several of our kindergarten children spent the better part of a week working on a very complex structure they named “The Ancient Scroll of China” – it was actually several structures linked together conceptually and linguistically in different ways. One of the components was actually a several story building constructed entirely atop rollers! Look for a more detailed documentation of this work on our website soon.

Congratulations to our Butterfly teacher, Deanna Satzger who recently won a mini-grant. Lakeshore Learning Materials sponsored 11 mini-grant awards announced at the recent SCAEYC Annual Conference in Columbia, SC. Applicants described how the SC Early Learning Standards could be supported and assessed with materials for a particular learning center or interest area. We were proud to learn that from the 60 applications, Deanna won the mini-grant for the Library center. Deanna received a large crate full of new books and storytelling props that our children are already happily using!

Welcome back to all of our returning and new families, our lead teachers and student teaching assistant staff! This first week has gone very smoothly and we are looking forward to a productive and interesting year. We are working on updates to our website that will include an emphasis on providing information and resources for families, CofC students, and the general public. Keep checking in regularly for updates!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying their summer and looking forward to the start of another school year. Campus is relatively quiet, and we have been busy working on accreditation, building upgrades and repairs, and all the usual preparations for welcoming new and returning families and staff in August. The office is open daily, so if you have any questions, paperwork to return, or just want to stop in and say “hi” we are here! Home visits will be taking place soon.

This year during Maymester session, the Butterfly and Seashells classes decided to do a three week exploration of folk arts. It began with study of cave art as historical evidence of humans’ desires to represent their everyday lives through art. The children examined, researched, discussed, experimented with, and produced a lot of art! The study culminated in a Folk Arts Festival opening attended by many families and campus/community friends. As docents, the children shared decoupage, stenciling, tin ware, paintings inspired by Grandma Moses, silhouettes, a wooden village, and painted furniture and toys they created. Probably the most challenging of their efforts was a collaborative reverse painting on glass that will now become part of our permanent collection!

As the introduction of a long-term study on folk arts, our teachers used the smart board to take the children on a virtual tour of the caves in Lascaux, France. As ‘anthropologists,’ they theorized that Ice Age humans created art to (a) make the cave look nicer, (b) share their ideas and tell stories, (c) make gifts for their family and friends, or even to (d) sell for money!  After spending several days examining the compelling murals and images in the caves, they created many interesting images themselves. They were so surprised when they returned to school and a cave had appeared in the building with all their drawings!!!! It was originally supposed to be available for just a few days but has been so popular that it remains open for tours probably until the end of summer session!

Gardening is becoming an increasingly important part of our curriculum. We find the process of imagining, planning, working together, monitoring, and a lot of waiting very important to a child’s understanding of long-term vs. immediate reward. Last year they chose to plant vegetables and a pole-bean house grown around a bamboo frame. This spring they planted tomatoes, basil, and a circular ’sunflower house.’ Sunflowers are great because they grow so quickly from seed to seedling to plant and their growth is measurable on a daily basis. After all their work and careful tending, they can now enjoy lunch or just a casual visit in the house.

We use our blog to post current news, information about activities,  and mini-documentations of project work.