Special Class Blog 9/14-9/18

tcarmichael2

Sep 18

3 min read

Spanish with Caitlin

Our first Spanish class began with introductions. Ms. Caitlin introduced herself, and her helper puppet, Joy, to the class! Then, JK friends were invited to introduce themselves to Joy by saying, ¡Hola! Me llamo (name). The class then practiced saying “Good Morning” (Buenas días), How are you? (¿Cómo estás?), and responding with “Very well Thank You” (Muy bien gracías), and “How are you?” (¿Y usted?)- and they turned it into a song to dance along with! Joy and Ms. Caitlin introduced the calendar in Spanish too! Children participated in a sorting activity in which they practiced parts of the day. Then friends were invited to draw a symbol, or activity for each part of the day: La mañana (morning), La tarde (afternoon), La noche (night). Each JK friend took home an activity book with the concepts they practiced in class today! Great job JKers!

Library Class with Amy

This week Amy read the children Larry Gets Lost in Boston by John Skewes. She discussed with the children all of the locations they noticed from around the city. She also drew the children’s attention to how the characters might be feeling. Then they enjoyed a coloring page with the city skyline and more landmarks from around the city!

Yoga with Tara Rachel

We played the introduction to the Yoga Name Game again for week two to continue to get to know one another! We had a sweet theme of the beach and sharing their favorite ocean/sea creatures!

The way we play the game is easy and fun:

Each of the children had a turn to say their names and say their favorite animal.
Then, Tara Rachel shows the children how to be that animal as a yoga pose.
Tara Rachel rings a bell as a signal to stand in mountain pose- all is quiet
We look, Listen and Stay Together as we repeat steps 1-3.

Mindfulness with Tara Rachel

We began with a visual look at our special opening song for Mindfulness. I shared a sweet little book with illustrations done by my husband for our JK classes! Each page shares a picture to highlight the lyrics in the song. We had a fun discussion about each picture. Your children are so observant! I am always amazed by the wisdom and awareness of young children.

This song brings a positive message for children about the wonder and beauty of the world and their relationship with nature and good feelings.

We concluded our practice with and experience with each child seeing one’s reflection in a pot of water! It was so much fun!

The Breathing Song -

Lyrics by Thich Nat Hanh (Mindfulness Master Teacher)

Breathing in breathing Out

breathing in breathing out

I am blooming like a flower

I am fresh as the dew

I am solid as the mountain

I am firm as the earth

I am free I am free I am free

Breathing-in breathing-out

Breathing in breathing out

I am water reflecting

What is real

What is true

And I feel there is space

Deep inside of me

I am free I am free I am free

Ukulele

The children were so excited for their first ukulele class with Ms Ella. Ms Ella is a student at Berklee, music teacher, and talented musician. She started class by singing a silly name song to get to know the children. Ella taught the children the parts of the ukulele: head, neck, body, back, strings, and tuning knobs. They learned how to hold their ukuleles and how to strum with their thumb. Ms Ella first worked on them finding a rhythm as they tapped on their ukuleles and then they worked on strumming a rhythm. The first song the children are going to learn is the "ABC" song. We ended class by playing shakey eggs and singing the "Goodbye" song!