Updates/Reminders

  • Please remember to check the diaper bins in the bathroom and bring in more if you see it empty. Thank you!
  • Thursday, 9/26 6p-7:30p is Back to School Night; Grown-ups only
  • Friday, 9/27 is early dismissal from 11:50a-12p
  • Thank you all for bringing back Caterpillar clothes your children have borrowed. You can put them in the white bin on top of the changing table. The wet bags that wet/soiled clothes were sent home in can be laundered with the plastic tag on as you would other clothes.
  • In addition to posting the Toileting/Nap clipboard by the door at the end of the day, we will send a photo of the clipboard via ProCare daily just in case you weren’t the one to pick-up/forgot to take a look. We do not check messages on ProCare. Please email us at CaterpillarTeachers@theberkeleyschool.org.

🌱🐛

We have been getting into the swing of things and many Caterpillar friends have already internalized the rhythm and routines of the classroom. It can be helpful to go through the day with your Caterpillar friend. This is especially helpful for friends who have a more difficult time with separation. Not only can you go through the schedule of the day, but you can talk about how their emotions change throughout the day. This will help Caterpillar friends understand how the feelings of sadness and missing their grown-ups is temporary and that you will always be reunited. This can sound something like:

“In the morning when I dropped you off you felt sad and didn’t want me to leave. We gave one last hug and you sat with Sam and waved goodbye to me. You felt sad for a little while and then got to play during Choice Time. I heard that you were happy playing during Choice Time. You had circle and you sang songs. I wonder what songs you sang. Then you got to go outside and play. I wonder how you felt playing outside. I feel happy and laugh a lot when I get to be outside. Then you heard the bell and washed hands and went inside to eat lunch. I heard you felt sad during lunch time and rest time. And then felt happy again when you got to be on the porch to play after rest time. Then you sang your goodbye song and I picked you up. I felt so happy to see you and you had a big smile on your face. You felt sad when I left in the morning and now you’re feeling happy. It’s ok to be sad and the sadness doesn’t stay forever.”

As Caterpillar friends have more language, they can fill in how they felt during different parts of the day and how they are feeling in the moment you tell the story of their day.

You can also offer concrete things that you will do during the day before you leave. This can sound something like, “While you’re at school I’m going to go to the office, eat my sandwich for lunch, work on my computer, and then drive to school to pick you up.”

Here is a snapshot of a typical Caterpillar Day:

Morning Drop Off

Caterpillar friends arrive at school, put away their belongings, and say “hello!” to their teachers and “see you later” to their grown-ups outside. At 9am we hear our Caterpillar bell telling us it’s time to transition into the classroom.

Choice Time

During Choice Time, we get to choose from any activity inside or out on the porch. We offer snack at the beginning of Choice time. Some days we have special teacher-led projects such as cooking and art. Some highlights from the past couple weeks:

  • Rainbow Windows light table
  • The Wind Tunnel
  • Play dough with shells & rocks
  • Light Board with ramps
  • Loose Parts inspired by Andy Goldsworthy

Snack

We practice serving ourselves snack and passing the snack bowls to our neighbors.

Special Projects

Creating backgrounds with Paint Sticks

 

Making Chia Pudding

Art with Julianne

Julianne is our resident art educator who comes in bi-weekly to do art with us. She brought in aluminum foil, paint, and paintbrushes. It was smooth and slippery. Click here for little bit about the activity plus some more photos compiled by Julianne.

Morning Circle

After cleaning up Choice Time we transition to the “Bug Rug” and find a pink dot to sit on. We sing our morning songs, take deep breaths, and say our affirmations. Then we do 1-2 additional songs or read a book together. Then we put on our outside shoes and line up on the blue line to go outside.

Outside Time

We start out on the grassy area and get to choose from the activities set up there, such as swinging on the Rose swing, trains/cars set up on the stage, climbing the big dome or climbing wall, watering plants, and using building manipulatives in the bins. When the. mixed aged classrooms join us we get to choose anywhere on the yard to be: the sandbox, the berm, the monkey bars, bikes (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), or in the garden. When we hear the Caterpillar Bell we know it’s time to go wash our hands and head into the classroom for lunch.

Lunch

After hand washing we find our lunch at the tables and all eat together. This is a time to chat and connect with each other. Towards the end of lunch we listen to a story or two as we start to transition to rest time.

Rest Time

When we hear the rest time song we know it’s time to lie down on our mats. Caterpillar friends have the opportunity to rest from 12p-2:30p.

Afternoon Choice/Outside Time

As Caterpillar friends start to wake up, we go out onto the porch and take out our lunches and water bottles if our bodies feel hungry. We pack up our cubbies, putting all our things into our useful bags and we play on the porch until 1:45p. Then we go on to the yard for more outside time as the children who nap longer wake up.

Goodbye Circle

After we clean-up we head to the “bug rug” for Goodbye Circle. We sing a song/movement activity (Fridays we have a dance party) and sing our goodbye song.  We check our feet to see if we have our outside shoes on and if not we put them on.

Pick-up/ExDay

We line up on the blue line to go outside to the porch. We sit on the benches and wait for our names to be called for pick-up or to go to hang up our useful bags on the fence for ExDay.