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!