Hokey Pokey!

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We welcomed another new parent as our parent teacher today:  Antonella’s dad, John!  Typically, Antonella’s mom spends the day with us, but we were so excited to share our classroom with her dad today.  They had an in-depth conversation over some play dough about whether or not cookies have eyes and if they do, can you eat them?  It was riveting, for sure, and John was right in the thick of it!  They also enjoyed roping him into their favorite playground game, Chase The Grown-Up!  Peter and I love to have a third adult to share this game with–they can really wear us out!

Back in the classroom, we continued our exploration of the letter H by reading Homes Around the World, by Amanda Doering, which is an ABC book about different types of houses.  After we read about different types of homes, we talked about the different types of homes we each live in: single-family houses, mutli-family houses, and large apartment or condo buildings.  At first, the children were overwhelmed about drawing their houses, so we talked about houses as a collection of shapes.  Most of us drew rectangles to start and filled them in with squares for windows.  Some children added triangles for roofs, while others drew roof decks or fences or chimneys.  As they drew, Peter and I talked about the individual components of their drawings, helping to label them for later reference.  They also noticed that although we have just a few types of homes here in East Boston, around the world there are many more types of homes that we’ve never even seen.  It was a great step towards thinking about the world outside of our own.

We also took a quick break from our scholarly thinking to do a little dancing, which we all love so much!  We introduced the kids to the Hokey Pokey and they loved it!  The Hokey Pokey actually has a surprising amount of educational value for preschoolers.  First, it requires listening and following directions, which we all need a little extra practice with.  It’s also a great opportunity to model the difference between left and right, which can take a lot of getting used to for 3 and 4 year olds.  In addition, it gives the children a chance to practice generating ideas around a central category.  When the song was over this morning, we had put our hands and feet in the middle, shaken them all about, and then done the Hokey Pokey, but the Tugboats wanted more!  So they took turns coming up with different body parts that we could put in, out, and shake about.  We also talked about how some body parts are more shakable than others.  Arms, for example, are much more easily flailed than eyes or ears.  Even when we’re working our bodies, we’re still working our brains!