We had two very special guests as our parent teachers in the classroom today:  Natalia’s grandparents, Mimi and Pipi!  Natalia has told us many stories about her grandparents, so they were practically super stars by the time they arrived in the classroom this morning.  Additionally, their generosity granted us our brand new vacuum, aptly named Mark after Pipi, so Peter and I were thrilled to have a chance to express our gratitude in person.  It turns out that generosity is not all Mimi and Pipi have plenty of; they are also super energetic, patient, and fun!  The Tugboats had a blast solving floor puzzles with Mimi, building block structures with Pipi, practicing their ABCs, washing their hands, and reading countless books.  The classroom participation component of the co-op program is so valuable; we’ve seen time and again how beneficial it is to children’s self-esteem to see their parents bring elements of their homes into the classroom.  Having family volunteers other than parents is a great way to shake up the normal and introduce new elements of a child’s life that we may not have seen before.  It was certainly a treat to get to share in Natalia’s love of two of her favorite grown-ups!

We continued our exploration of the letter Q today with a quest for quarters!  Armed with our plastic cones and a large collection of quarters, we headed to the open grassy space in the park to begin our adventure.  Peter blocked off an area and distributed the quarters within the set boundaries while Mimi, Pipi and I distracted the Tugboats.  Once he was finished, we turned them loose to find 5 quarters each.  What a mad dash it was!  As expected, some of the children quickly found their quarters, passed them to Peter, and then returned to the group to help other friends find more quarters.  Searching the grass for the coins proved to be quite a task for the group at large.  We started with 60 quarters and ended up with 58!  One of the children theorized that perhaps the worms came up, snagged a couple of quarters, then took them down into the soil for their own purposes!  Regardless of what happened to the extra two quarters, it was great practice for all of the children to focus on small, relatively hidden objects, and then use their pincer grasp to pick up the tiny coins.  They also had opportunities to work together, mentor one another, and learn from one another.