It’s been a cozy, rainy last-day-before-break around here today, which I think we all needed.  Everyone is so excited for the holidays!  When we return in January, we’ll have 4 new families joining us, about which we are also very excited!  One of our new friends came in today for a practice run before she fully enrolls next month.  It’s no surprise that the Tugboats were extremely warm and welcoming.  One Tugboat in particular was thrilled to share the letter wall, upon which we have textured letters for sensory exploration.  They ran up and down the hallway, giggling and reciting the alphabet together.  I’d say she’s ready to be a Tugboat too!

On our trip to the playground, we discovered that although the rain had stopped, the playground was still far too wet for us to enjoy, even with the aid of a towel.  Instead, we opted to go on an expedition in search of worms!  We talked about how worms live in the soil underground.  When it rains and the soil fills up with water, the worms often seek refuge up above ground.  We set off around the park, sure that we’d find plenty of worms on the sidewalk.  I had to dodge may of them on my way to school this morning, so surely they would still be out, right?  Wrong!  We walked all over the park and the garden and couldn’t find a single worm!  But we still got some fresh air and enjoyed the unseasonable warmth, even under cloudy skies.

We are all looking forward to spending time at home with friends and family over the next week, but I’m certainly going to miss the Tugboats!  Peter and I wish all of you and safe and happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you in the new year!

Our parent helper today was Goetz, Isa’s father, and he planned such an exciting activity for us:  boats and rockets!  Goetz is an engineer and was thrilled to bring some of his professional enthusiasm into the classroom.  He developed two means of demonstrating the power of compressed air to propel an object.  First, he used a small wooden boat with a balloon attached and sailed it in the water table.  He blew up the balloon and when he let go, it slowly bubbled it’s way around the sensory bin.  The kids were blown away!

After the boat demonstration, we took a trip to the park to see this rocket we had been hearing so much about.  Let me say this now:  it lived up to the hype.  Again, Goetz used air and water to propel the rocket, which was made of a two-liter bottle tricked out with some sweet wings and fins.  He filled it about half way with water, then corked the top, inserted the needle of a bicycle tire pump, inverted the rocket onto a rocket stand and began pumping.  When it flew, it really flew!  The pressure of the air eventually blew the cork out of the top and as the air and water rushed out of the bottle, it flew straight up into the air!  We were all impressed and awe-struck.  After the initial demonstration, the children took turns helping to pump and fire the rocket.  It was incredible and exciting every time!

Although the concepts of compression and air pressure seem out of reach for our young Tugboats, most of them have already had exposure to them in some form or another.  Blowing up a balloon and seeing it race around the room when you let go is one example that most children are familiar with.  By exposing them to more examples and beginning the conversation about the science behind what’s happening, as well as the language used, we are laying the foundation so that when they are ready to fully understand these concepts, they will have a greater chance of success.

It’s been a sort of sleepy Wednesday here at Harbor City School.  We had 4 fewer friends than we typically do mid-week, so it feels like a Monday or a Friday!  Our parent teacher, Heather, came in with a project that was very hands-on, so we had plenty of adult attention to pass around.  We made pomanders!

A pomander is a hanging ball of some sort of perfume.  Until the 17th century, pomanders were worn as a form of deodorant or a religious article.  Since then, they simply serve as decorative air fresheners and are most commonly made by inserting whole cloves into oranges.  To make this process easier for the Tugboats, Heather brought clementines with thinner skins.  Most of the children were able to press the cloves into their clementines without issue, but some of them requested some assistance getting started.  Grasping and pressing the cloves helped strengthen their fine motor skills, while the children practiced their creative self expression in choosing how and where to place the cloves.  Many children elected to make faces, noticing that the orange clementines looked like tiny Jack-o-lanterns!  Others made stripes, as modeled by Heather, or clustered their cloves together.  Peter demonstrated how he could make letters, but the children enjoyed watching that technique more than they did imitating it.  Everyone was excited about the fresh, spicy scent wafting around the classroom as they planned where they would put their pomanders in their own homes!

We’ve added another new toy the classroom, courtesy of Grady:  a firehouse!  Upon noticing what a big hit the pink and green dollhouse has been, Grady’s family decided to loan us a slightly more masculine version in the form of a firehouse.  What a big hit!  Children of both genders flocked to the new firehouse and spent all of free play this morning exploring its many components.  Everyone loved the ambulance and fire engine docked in the bay at the base of it house.  They also loved sending the little fire fighters down the pole!  The grown-ups loved some of the more humorous elements, like the treadmill in the weight room.  There was also a big-screen TV and a grill.  It even included a little Dalmatian!  The Tugboats were very grateful for the new item to add to our collection of imagination-starters.  I always enjoy sitting back and listening to the stories they develop in the dramatic play centers.  One child will initiate a story without any explanation and the others will immediately accept and build upon it, creating a story that was truly created by the group mind.  They are amazing!

We also returned to one of our old favorite projects today: the connect-the-dot letters!  It’s been about 5 weeks since we practiced writing letters as a group; we’ve been focusing on sensory projects to help some of our younger Tugboats develop their fine motor skills.  It was amazing to see the growth in their writing abilities!  We compared their letter As to the letter Ks we wrote today and the difference was like night and day.  They children are so much more confident in their abilities to follow the instructions and recognize letter shapes.  This confidence is clearly evident in the marks they make on the paper.  Their lines have transformed from wobbly, unsure wiggles to swift, secure strokes.  We’ve got some writers on our hands!

After the excitement of our new classroom supplies, as well as our holiday party on Friday, I think we all needed a nice mellow Monday to kick off this week.  Luckily, that is just what we got!  We were excited to welcome Sophia’s mom, Lena, into the classroom as our parent teacher today.  Sophia’s family speaks Russian at home, so we asked Lena to teach us a few phrases that we could use to help Sophia feel more comfortable here at school.  What a treat!  We learned to say “good morning,” “hello,” and “good bye.”  It was wonderful to see the Tugboats practicing words in a new language, but it was even more wonderful to see the excitement and delight on Sophia’s face as she heard her friends speaking her primary language.  Our experience today further underscores the value and importance of the co-op component of Harbor City School.  When children see themselves reflected in their education, it validates their experiences and reinforces their self esteem.  It also broadens the experiences of their classmates!

After some very chilly time outside on the playground, we came in to make an art project.  Peter talked with the children about the many people who have helped us here at HCS and how important it is to say, “Thank you!” when we are the recipients of that help.  To offer our gratitude for one of our neighbors and friendly organizations, Zumix, we worked together to make a holiday wreath!  Each child used a pencil to trace his or her hand onto green paper, then practiced their fine motor skills by cutting out their hands.  As you can imagine, both of these tasks were a bit difficult for our 3- and 4-year-olds, but we never shy away from a challenge!  All of the children enjoyed practicing tracing and cutting, but we also did a teacher-traced hand for each child so that we could fill out our wreath.  We can’t wait to let Zumix know how much we appreciate their support!