Busy times in the Ladybugs!

We had a visitor from Zimbabwe this week.

Math practice on the iPads.

Success!

Singing with Ms. Suzanne, this was the reindeer Hokey Pokey.

Science lab

Performing at gathering.

Take a bow!

Sharing a story with Ms. Wollum.

Showing the big kids how to do our new art project.

The Ladybugs had their second science lab time this week.  This week our experiment was on surface tension.  We use 3 different surfactants as the variables and watched as pepper danced across the surface of a container of milk.  The children performed the experiment themselves and then recorded their observations.  The kids are loving science time!

It was our week to present at gathering this week.  The kids sang a yodeling song with Ms. Suzanne, you could even hear them sing and see them do the motions!  These children are just blossoming!

The Serpents joined us on Friday to help the Ladybugs write stories.  The Ladybugs dictated their stories to the older children.   I love watching the interactions between the two age groups.  It is pure magic!  It never fails that the older kids are amazed by what the younger kids are capable of doing.

Little Red Hen

The Little Red Hen was the inspiration for this week in the Ladybugs.   If you haven't read this classic children's book in a while, you might be surprised at how much we were able to draw from the story.  We started by reading the story.  This presented us with quite the moral dilemma.  Do you share if people won't help with the work?   Do you share in hopes that maybe they will help next time?  The class was divided over what the right answer was.  Then we played with bread dough.  This was the opportunity for some great sensory work.  The senses of touch, sight and smell were all involved.  Then the kids decided to start a restaurant with the dough.  More fun!   The next day, we re-read the story and started writing our own versions of the story.  Then, of course, we ate some freshly baked bread!

The following day we started experiments with yeast.  The children were so excited at being "scientists"!  We formed a hypothesis, made some observations, recorded the observations in our science journals and finally drew some conclusions.   This type of lesson involves the whole child and creates an excitement about learning.  We can hardly wait for our next experiment.