This week we took the students interest about "babies" and little further than the usual dramatic play area. Jess and her newborn daughter came to visit our classroom and we got to interview her about "babies." The preschoolers had all sorts of questions and comments regarding babies and they where very engaged throughout the interview. Another day we got to practice diaper changing with our classroom dolls.And finally, Ms. Christa was able to give us a tour of her toddler classroom. The preschoolers took clipboards to make observations about the differences in the toddler classroom and why smaller children need different things at school. 

Some of the Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines targeted this week include: 

• Health Knowledge and Habits; The understanding of healthy and safe habits and practicing healthy habits. 
• Social Relationships: The healthy relationships and interactions with adults and peers. 
• Serf, Family and Community: The understanding of one's relationship to the family and community, roles in the family and community, and respect for diversity. 

We found so many reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving! Some of the things our preschoolers felt thankful for include:
"Mom and Dad"
"My new school and my new house"
"My neighbor"
"Christmas"
"My Sister"
"My bedroom" 

And we got to bake or very own mini pumpkin pies. I feel thankful for that and our wonderful community in the Clarktic Circle :)

Some of the Colorado Early Learning And Development Guidelines targeted during the Thanksgiving Holiday include: 

• Self, Family and Community: The understanding of one's relationship to the family and community, roles in the family and community, and respect for diversity. 
• Cooperation: An interest and engagement in group experiences. 

With winter around the corner, we have been busy prepping our soil and our greenhouse for the next growing season. Today, we talked about the importance of worms, compost, nutrient rich soil and got our hands in the dirt. We mixed fresh compost soil with older soil and added some organic matter chopped up finely. Surprisingly, we found carrots that were still ready to harvest as well as kale and chard. 

Some of the Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines targeted include: 

• Conceptual Knowledge of the Natural and Physical World: The acquisition of concepts and facts related to the natural and physical world and the understanding of naturally-occurring relationships. 
• People and the Environment: The understanding of the relationship between people and the environment in which they live. 
• Initiative and Curiosity: An interest in varied topics and activities, creativity, and independence in learning. 

Today we explored some different dinosaur prints and made a collaborative painting. This activity relates to the beginning of our Dinosaur study. We have been talking about their environments and the type of foods they eat differencing them as  carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. 

Some of the Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines targeted include: 

• Cooperation: An interest and engagement in group experiences. 
• Art: The use of a range of media and materials to create drawings, pictures or other objects. 

We went on a Letter Hunt involving all the letters or the week we have practiced so far. Including P, H, F, and T. Every time we thought of a word that began with any of those letters we tallied and added up our points. We also made binoculars to help us focus our attention and find objects in the classroom that begin with any of those letters. This activity really encourages letter sound recognition and vocabulary expansion.