“Like a Bird in the Sky…”

Hello Magnolia Families!

We’ve got LOTS to share with you in this blog about what we’ve been learning about and doing here in Magnolia! We hope you enjoy the glimpse into all of the fun. First, here are a few reminders!

Our Field Trip to Lawrence Hall of Science will be on Wednesday March 27th. Here is where you can find all of the information. We will be sharing the news of our big field trip tomorrow with the children! We will have a visual calendar so we can count down the days.
Drivers who are driving other children than their own to the Lawrence Hall of Science will need to submit proof of sufficient insurance to drive others, a copy of drivers license and proof of good driving record to Rosa, our Director of Facilities and Campus Health and Safety. Rosa will be reaching out to you and will be able to answer any questions you have about this process.
Don’t forget to check your child’s extra clothes bin and refill if it’s empty!

The Zones of Regulation

The Zones of Regulation is a set of tools that we use in Magnolia to talk about, convey, or simply show with a paper strip how we are feeling. From the Zones of Regulation website:

The Zones is a systematic, cognitive behavioral approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete colored zones. The Zones framework provides strategies to teach students to become more aware of and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, manage their sensory needs, and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts.

With physical tools such as a Zones of Regulation poster, feelings cards, and feeling strips, we have found that they are very helpful in guiding children to manage their feelings in safe and supported ways. At home, these tools may be very helpful and will also provide some consistency between home and school. Here are descriptions from the website about the four zones.

The Red Zone is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions. A person may be elated or experiencing anger, rage, devastation, or terror when in the Red Zone.

The Yellow Zone is also used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions, however one has more control when they are in the Yellow Zone. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone.

The Green Zone is used to describe a calm state of alertness. A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn when in the Green Zone. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs.

The Blue Zone is used to describe low states of alertness and down feelings such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.

Check out the collaborative mural we created with four posters depicting the four zones, plus “expressive faces” that show different feelings within the zones.

I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel To be Free

Have you ever dreamed that you could fly? Where would you go? Would you fly over the ocean, somewhere far away, or would you fly home? Emily invited Magnolia friends to lay down at circle time, close their eyes, and imagine what it would be like to fly. We listened to Nina Simone’s song “I wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free.” As we listened, we heard Nina sing that she wished she could be “like a bird in the sky.” We invite you to close your eyes, and take a listen to her song and see what you feel!

Some friends said they’d like to fly to a castle, the beach, over the ocean, to India, and most popular: “home.” We thought about how a flying adventure would feel like amazing fun, and sometimes in our dreams we can fly!

Emily read Faith Ringgold’s “Tar Beach” to the non-napper group. The story is about a little girl who dreams that she can fly over her city and that the city belongs to her and her family. She feels free when she flies. We made self portraits of ourselves flying over our choice of Berkeley, Oakland or San Francisco, then shared with each other what we might feel like when we fly.

In the coming weeks, we will continue having conversations about freedom, what freedoms we have or don’t have, and what it would feel like if we weren’t as free as we are.

Please “feel free” 😉 to add something to our collaborative wall mural located by the Magnolia ramp: What does freedom look like? Sound like? Look like?…

Space Investigations Continue…

Our outer space themed dramatic play corner is still going strong. Teachers have introduced some new practical life activities about the sky and stars, and Mitra has been working with the children on creating three-dimensional models of the Sun and planets. So far, they’ve created a sun, mercury, venus and earth (in progress) model. You can find them hanging above our circle area. Check out the amazing astronaut portraits the children made too. We can’t wait to head to Lawrence Hall of Science to visit the planetarium and learn more about space!