New Ladybugs!

 It's been a busy few days of getting acquainted in the Ladybug class.  We're learning the routine and getting to know new friends.  We've painted our feet, had our first performing arts class and met our math mentors.  We went to gathering and learned the "Seabury Song" and "Banana Slug" (both classics).  It promises to be a great group of kids and we're very excited to be getting started!

Final post of the year!

September 2015

June 2016

                                                      See how much we've grown!

Volcanoes!

We are finishing up our year with an investigation of Hawaii.  Today we exploded volcanoes  just like we might find in Hawaii.  Nothing better than a little baking soda and vinegar!

Sun and the Moon

This week's challenge . . . .

use one 3/4inch cube as the base . . . .

and build a structure using cubes, cups and tongue depressors.

It's been a busy week full of engineering, performing, planets and rockets.  If you are a pre-k child or even an adult, that's a pretty good week!

Metamorphosis

This is where we started . . .

and this is where our part ended.  We released 5 viable Painted Lady butterflies on the playground,
it's up to them now!

We're hard at work on our books,

this must be a pretty funny story,

these are going to be amazing!

Things are hopping in the Ladybug room!   Our butterflies have been released, we have investigated many of the planets in our solar system, started our hardcover books and worked on more addition strategies.  One of our biggest "ah" moments came with the introduction of basic Sudoku puzzles.  Wow!  The kids loved them and we were challenged to keep new and harder ones coming their way.  I love it when we find new ways of engaging our youngest learners!

Dumas Bay

This week the Gumshoes, Bumblebees and Ladybugs went to Dumas Bay at a minus tide to see all the sand dollar beds.  It's amazing how many sand dollars are there.  The afternoon was beautiful and we had a great time on our adventure.

Picasso, Monet, and Rothko

Working on our Picasso-like masterpieces

Picasso was so interesting that we managed to do two projects!

Our challenge for our STEAM project this week:

design a house for the 3 little pigs that the wolf can't blow over... 

we had a variety of materials to build with. .  .

before the wolf (hairdryer) attempted to blow the houses down. 

Math mentors were back this week,

this time playing "War" with a twist,

draw 2 cards and add them together

to determine who has the larger sum.

 We are loving our study of famous artists.  Our room looks like a gallery, be sure to come check it out- it looks beautiful!  It's been a super week with lots of memorable moments but I think my favorite was this morning after math mentors when I asked the kids what was the best thing about the Gumshoes coming to our class.  One of our younger students said the thing she likes best is that when the Gumshoes don't know something then we can teach them and when we don't know something they can teach us.  Besides that, they are very strong!