Some new Spring rhymes

Rum Sum Sum
A rum sum sum
A rm sum sum
Goolie goolie goolie goolie goolie
Rum sum sum

Arafi Arafi
Goolie goolie goolie goolie goolie
Rum sum sum

Dickery Dean
What's the matter with Dickery Dean?
He jumped right into the washing machine!

Nothing's the matter with Dickery Dean
He dove in dirty
And he jumped out clean!

Garden Snail
Slowly slowly very slowly
goes the garden snail
Slowly slowly very slowly
Up the garden rail

Quickly quickly very quickly
runs the little mouse
Quickly quickly very quickly
to his little house

Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her tuffet
Eating her curds and wey
Along came a spider
And sat down beside her
and scared Miss Muffett away

Little Miss Tucket
Little Miss Tucket
Sat on a bucket
Eating some peaches and cream
There came a grasshopper
And tried hard to stop her
But she said "Go away or I'll scream!"

The Old Fashioned Bed

The Old Fashioned Bed is our latest oral story and the children really love it. It is amazing to watch the children so engaged as I tell a story orally. After the second time of telling it, they were already joining in and knew a lot of the sequence. We are going to start to dramatize it as requested by some of the students! Ask them to tell it to you - I am sure they will do a good job - and even if they dont get through it, that's ok! The oral tradition is such a wonderful way to encourage the imagination.

Our precious Earth

Ash class has been celebrating Earth Day every Day! We have been studying our worms, watching them make their tunnels and wriggle around. The children enjoyed investigating them, holding them and drawing them. The children have also been feeding the worms and observing what happens to the organic matter that we put into the soil. They are figuring out what happens to the matter, just by watching it! They beam with excitement when we open our wormery! Mr. Canrinus even did an experiment with them comparing 2 different soils, one with organic matter and one with non-organic matter (garbage basically) - to see which side the worms went to more - ask your children their observations!

We have also been doing an activity where the children pick an object and try to put it into the right bin - recycling, garbage, or compost. We have talked about the 3 R's - Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. Many of the children said we could re-use many of the objects, which they thought was even better than recycling. They are learning to be good stewards of the Earth.

We have been reading a variety of books about recycling, and the environment. The children are very curious about our Earth and keep thirsting for more information!

Upcoming events for Spring

We are in the process of trying to plan a trip or two in April. In May we will be going on our 3rd and final High Park trip. We will also be going to see a play at the Wee Festival that Lisa informed us about and I am sure the children will really enjoy it. I will let you know further details closer to the date.  Spring is in the air!

Oral Story

I am orally telling a new story called The Magic Drum. It is fun and interactive and the children are beginning to join in and even starting to tell it on their own. Ask your child if they can tell you some or all of the story and join in with them as they tell it!

Pattern Patterns Everywhere

Ash class has been observing, describing, creating and extending repeated patterns, inside and out, using colours, shapes, people and various objects. The children are beginning to create complex patterns on their own initiative, with so many different things. Patterns can be created in a variety of ways: using objects, ie, forks and spoons, shapes ie, circle and squares, colours, ie, red and blue, or sizes, ie, large and small. Explore some patterns with your child. Create a simple repeating pattern using two kinds of household objects. Ask them to read their pattern to you and explain what comes next. As Spring is finally coming, and plants and insects will be making an appearance, we will observe and learn about more patterns in nature. See if you can spot some with your child and tell us about them! Have fun exploring patterns!

Some more rhymes

The North Wind Does Blow

The North Wind does blow
And we shall have snow
And what will the robin do then, poor thing?
He'll hide in the barn
And keep himself warm
And tuck his head under his wing
Poor thing!

The Sun

The sun comes over the mountains
The sun comes over the sea
The sun comes over the rice fields
And the sun comes over me.

The sun sets over the palace.
The sun sets over the street
The sun sets over the houses
And the sun sets over me.

Flea
On my foot there is a flea
Now he's climbing up on me
Past my belly
Past my nose
On my head where my hair grows
On my head there is a flea
Now he's climbing down on me
Past my belly
Past me knee
On my foot
Take that, you flea!

The Little Old Man

A little old man went up in space
And he got ice cream all over this face
So - wash him with a washcloth
Roll him in a rug
And tuck him in a blanket
Until he's snug snug snug!