Hello Magnolia Families,

We have been very busy in the classroom learning about SPACE! We want to share with you how this curriculum emerged and the ways in which we “follow the children” in their interests.

This week, we’ve also introduced the concept of “wants and needs” with the class, as well as continuing our letter investigations, and making more space in the classroom for our growing friends! We will share more about that in our next blog and for now: a Spotlight on SPACE!

What Do We Know about Space and What Do We Want to Learn?

Every year, teachers get to know the children’s interests through connecting with families, observing their interests in the classroom, as well as directly asking them. So far this year, there’s been lots of interest among the children about outer space and our solar system. We introduced this theme and the children were very excited and enthusiastic about gathering information. We created posters to find out more about what we “know” about space and what we’d like to “learn.”

Activities to Engage Magnolia Friends in Learning About Space

Teachers have integrated space themed activities, books, posters and materials throughout the entire classroom.

Bookshelves: Teachers regularly refresh the bookshelves with books that relate to our current curriculum. There are space themed encyclopedias, books that center diverse astronauts and aerospace engineers, and books about our own planet earth.
Dramatic Play: Our dramatic play corner is full of materials for the children to engage in imaginary play! At any given time, there could be children pretending to be mission control, pilots, navigators and more. Twinkle lights and obsolete stereo mixing equipment provide knobs, buttons and levers to create an immersive experience.
Art Area: From star shaped playdough molds to teacher-led art projects children are invited daily to create space themed art. Darius has been working with the non-napping group on beautiful solar system collages. Julianne visited us to experiment with liquid watercolors and droppers which led to conversations about gravity! Please visit this link that Julianne created for us to see process photos of the project! Mitra is currently preparing materials to create a 3-dimensional solar system in the coming weeks.
Shelves: We’ve got solar system puzzles, matching games and practical life activities that expand the children’s interests of all things “space.” For example, one activity we are calling “tiny stars in a tiny jar” invites children to pour tiiiiiiny stars into a bowl of black glass gems. Then, the children have to search through the gems to find the tiny stars and transfer them to a tiiiiiiiny jar. This is one example of how they engage in fine-motor activities around Magnolia. In the Sensory bin, there are tiny astronauts, rockets and satellites that “float and fly” through black rice, representing the outer space sky.
Music and Movement: Thank you Micah for introducing us all to the “Planet Song!” We’ve been learning this song together and creating artwork for a visual representation of the lyrics. Emily brings out her guitar to strum along while we sing and it’s a great way to remember the order of planets and their unique qualities. Here’s a youtube link to the song!

♥ Emily.Mitra.Darius