This spring went by in the blink of an eye! We studied weather in March, with a focus on the science of clouds and rainbows. We studied the solar system in April and learned all about the planet we live on as well as what stars are made up of and how gravity works. Our artist of the month was Georgia O'Keefe. The children studies her work titled, "Ladder to the Moon" (1958) and recreated her work using vibrant watercolors. After painting the beautiful sky, the children practiced their scissor skills to carefully cut the shadowy landscape and the ladder out of black card stock. The final masterpieces were breathtaking!
We all had a relaxing spring break and jumped right back into learning at the end of April. It was the perfect time to begin talking about seeds and planting as our new veggie gardens were installed in our playground, ready for seeds! The children studied the parts of a seed and how a seed transforms into a seedling and finally into a plant. The children planted grass seeds in the classroom that took on a life of their own that any lawn-growing dad (or mom!) would be envious of! Jackson Pollock was our artist of the month and the children had a blast splatter painting the mural size paper that proudly hung on our bulletin board. Since our Jackson Pollock recreation was created outside, it was so much fun to spot wood chips stuck in the paint, along with a foot print or two from a running child and, my favorite, one of our boys took a spill and landed, bottom first, on the wet paint! He thought is was hilarious to have a print of his bottom on our mural for all to see!
This brought us right to the start of play practice in preparation for our end of the year performance! With lots of excitement from the children and the story, "The Hungry Thing" by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler as our inspiration, the teachers wrote a script based on "The Hungry Thing" and the children quickly took to the silly script and play preparations began at the beginning of May. After weeks of scenery design, costume creating and practice, practice, practice, the children were ready to perform their interpretation of the story to their families. The children participated in not one but two brilliant performances. Everyone worked so hard to make the show a success! I am always so delighted to see the children shine on "stage" and that is what it is all about, a celebration of each an every child! We also had a blast at our cast party with lots of yummy treats that the families of our school donated (thank you!!).
And just like that our very first school year in Andover came to an end. It has been a wonderful year full of learning, friendships, explorations and discoveries! We feel so lucky to have spent the last year with an amazing group of kiddos. We are also thankful for the amazing team of teachers who are nothing less than incredible. I call them all super heroes because that is in fact what they should really be called! These teachers created a school year full of curiosity, wonder and excitement for learning. I know for a fact that that is no small feat. It takes a special person to be able to create wonder out of the simplest things in life. I feel truly blessed to have these teachers in my life. Have a wonderful summer!
