Friday Follow Up- October 9, 2009

Hello Diener Friends!
Welcome back to our weekly Friday Follow Up. This is a chance to learn about what the children are doing in yoga, drama, art, music, science, and fitness. Enjoy!

This week in fitness, the kids began soccer! The kids worked on teamwork including, passing and learning how to control the ball. We also worked on passing with soft passes and not hard kicks. At the end of each class, the kids got to play a big game--Kids vs. Fitness Instructors! They had to pass the ball to each kid before they scored and in the end...THE KIDS WON!

In dance, all classes reviewed the dance(s) that we have learned. Ask your kids to show you count(s) 5, 6, 7, and 8 and they will dance for you!

We had so much fun this week in music!

In the Primary class, we continued singing our favorite songs, including "5 Green and Speckled Frogs" and "Old McDonald." We learned some new songs such as, "Open Shut Them" and "Scarecrow." We had a blast playing all of the different instruments!

In the Inters class, we started to learn about musical instruments. This week, we learned about the string family, and got to see and hear what each instrument sounds like. We continued to play our favorite music and movement games like, "Bop Til You Drop" and "Count and Move."

In the Uppers classes, we also started to learn about musical instruments and discussed the string family a little more in depth. We learned about the violin, viola, cello, bass, harp, guitar, and mandolin. We got to hear orchestral clips of each instrument. We continued to play our favrite games and sing our favorite songs.

This week in science, we focused on one of our five senses; hearing/sound. The primary and intermediate classes heard a story called "My Five Senses." We talked about how we can use one of our senses, and we can use more than one at a time. To really grasp the concept of sound, we made personalized noise makers. Students had to unscramble the letters in their names and follow step by step instructions to complete the project. Ms. Patrice made a noise maker that had tissue paper inside, while the students filled theirs with ceramic chips. We made comparisons about loud and soft sounds and we concluded that the students' noise makers made a louder niose than Ms. Patrice's!

The intermediate and upper classes were introduced to the inventor of the week: Alexander Graham Bell. We talked about his infamous invention, the telephone, and how his creation was and still is so important in our society. Linking his creation to our topic of the month, we recreated his contraption the old fashioned way, using cups and string. We used different materials (metal cans, small plastic cups, larger plastic cups, paper cups, oatmeal canisters, etc.). Students had the opportunity to make predictions about which model worked the best. They recorded their obervations and tested their theories.

During the After School Social Club on Monday, we acively participated in a structured peer activity where we constructed festive paper plate scarecrows by following step by step verbal directions. We worked on sharpening specific social skills such as sharing, resolving conflicts, and working together to complete a task (putting a puzzle together). To pay homage to Fire Safety Awareness Week, we had a very special visit from three wonderful volunteer firefighters on Thursday. They came to speak to us about important facts and tips about fire safety. The participants had the opportunity to ask quetions, demonstrate their prior knowledge about the topic, take a picture with a fully uniformed firefighter, and even watch the fire truck pull away with all of its sirens on! It was a very memorable educational experience for all!

In yoga, all of the classes played a game called The Pillow Game. Each child lays their head down on each other's tummy so they can feel each other's tummy rise and sink with each breath. We also became balloons!! We started by crouching down close to the floor and as the yoga instructor pumped the kids with fake air, we got bigger and bigger until we were standing on our tip toes! We released the "air" by running around.

In art class, the Primary class created secondary colors (green, orange purple) by mixing primary colors together! The children has so much fun painting with toothbrushes and are learning about all different kinds of tools they can paint with!

The Uppers class learned about all of the warm colors and created very interesting 3-D designs! In order to create these designs, the children used yellow, red, and orange contruction paper, cutting long rectangular shapes. The children the bent, twisted, and curved these shapes, glued them down on background paper, and out came our 3-D designs! They loved it!