(Please note our addition to the Blogroll: "Good Toys for Young Children" from the National Association for the Education of Young Children - NAEYC)

It's the middle of October and I'm just getting to this blog. What a great month! October is my favorite month to be a teacher. We get to learn about so many things having to do with the season changes: apples and pumpkins, leaves, trees, temperature change, harvest, Halloween ...  and all the stories that go with it!  Some of our favorites have been: <em>The Little Old Woman Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything, Leaf Man, Pumpkin Circle, The Little Scarecrow Boy</em>, and of course, our truck books.  Here are some of the highlights:   We are learning about sorting, starting with sorting our books into book boxes; leaves and leaf rubbing; pillow making (for naptime); alphabet, including the shapes of letters, sign language alphabet, alphabet books, writing letters; shapes; pasta art; mosaic art; planting carrot seeds and apple seeds; making applesauce; cooking pumpkin seeds; and of course, that fabulous trip to see "Niki in the Garden" at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  By the way, the exhibit ends October 31. If you haven't seen it, I hope you'll try and get there.  And there's so much more to do!

<a href="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/little-old-lady.jpg" title="Direct link to file"><img src="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/little-old-lady.jpg" alt="little-old-lady.jpg" height="128" width="128" /></a><a href="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/leaf_man.jpg" title="Direct link to file"><img src="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/leaf_man.jpg" alt="leaf_man.jpg" height="128" width="121" /></a><a href="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/pumpkincircle.jpg" title="Direct link to file"><img src="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/pumpkincircle.jpg" alt="pumpkincircle.jpg" height="128" width="107" /></a><a href="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/little-scarecrow-boy.jpg" title="Direct link to file"><img src="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/little-scarecrow-boy.jpg" alt="little-scarecrow-boy.jpg" height="130" width="108" /></a>

These next weeks we'll be exploring pumpkins, gourds, seeds, Halloween, scarecrows, vegetables that grow above ground and underground, leaves, and temperature. Please explore Fall with your child in every way you can. It would be great if you brought in cool seeds and seedpods, leaves or other natural things you find.

<strong>Music:</strong> We had our first music class with Mr. Ben on Friday. Ben works with Marsha Melsheimer from Music Together and brings his guitar-playing and teaching experience (Wiggleworms) to our classroom. Welcome Mr. Ben!

<strong>Family Boxes: </strong>We sent home the makings for your family box. If your child wasn't here on Friday, you can get it on Monday. The bag has 2 sheets of construction paper chosen by your child, a Capri Sun box, and some instructions. Basically, you need to work with your child to cover the box, decorate it and add family pictures. When you bring it back to school, we will cover it with contact paper (you will not get your pictures back until the end of the year when you take your child's box home). We will use these boxes for building, and admiring, all year I hope.

<strong>Halloween: </strong>This year Ms. Butler has requested that we turn our Halloween celebration into a school-wide, day-long reading day. Teachers and those who wish to will dress up as book characters. I know that many of your kids have their hearts set on being Spiderman or Ariel. Remember, comic books are books, too. Whatever they want to be for Halloween is great! We'll have a preschool parade in the morning to show off our costumes. If you'd like to stay for the parade, you are welcome. It will be around 10:00. In the afternoon we'll have a Halloween party. Please send in some treats (or tricks ... ). And of course, you are welcome to come to our party as well. We'll be going from about 3:00 to 4:30.

<strong>Play Trip:  <em>How I Became a Pirate: </em></strong>This Thursday is our trip to Emerald City Theatre.  <em>How I Became a Pirate</em> is a book about children who go searching for markers in a classroom closet and find themselves on a pirate ship. Emerald City is a favorite trip of ours. They perform at the Apollo Theater on the north side. If you want to come and haven't bought a ticket yet, see Jane to see if there are any left.<strong><em> </em></strong>We will be going to see Frosty at the end of November. <a href="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/how-i-became-a-pirate.jpg" title="Direct link to file"></a>

<a href="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/how-i-became-a-pirate.jpg" title="Direct link to file"><img src="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/how-i-became-a-pirate.jpg" alt="how-i-became-a-pirate.jpg" height="128" width="104" /></a>

<em><strong>Thanyou!  </strong></em>Thanks to those of you who brought in snacks for us, especially the apples.  Thanks to those of you who are able to find some time to hang out in the classroom with us, before or after school. Thanks to Ms. D. for helping the kids to sew their pillows. Thanks to Ms. Yoella for helping out in Ms. Bethanie's room. Ms. Yoella is back in our room now each morning.

<strong><em>Housekeeping:</em></strong>

1) Clothing: the weather is changing and sometimes we'll need warm clothing for outside play and sometimes we'll be taking our sweaters off. Please check the weather report and dress your child accordingly. Remember, when it's cold outside, it can be very warm in the classroom. Dress your child in layers they can take off. Please help us minimize clothing loss by labeling your child's clothing. Please check your child's extra clothing box and make sure they have long pants, warm shirts, socks and underwear. You may want to leave a pair of slippers in your child's cubby for when the snow comes.

2) Please check the sheet-washing schedule so you'll know when it's your turn to send in snacks.

<em><strong>Learning About the Classroom:  Activity Centers</strong></em>

Everyday we spend at least an hour or so in the morning and some time in the afternoon in our activity centers. We set these centers up carefully so the children can play and learn while they are playing. Within these centers we place materials for the children to explore, manipulate, create, and pretend with. Some of the centers stay pretty much the same, like <strong>Sand</strong> and <strong>Water</strong>. Our <strong>Dramatic Play Center</strong> is often either a doctor's office or a home, but we will find ways to transform it to other places over the year (store, hair salon, vet, etc.). The <strong>Construction  Center</strong> has large and small blocks, legos and a slew of other small building materials. We're working on getting pvc pipe in there, too. (Do you have ideas for construction materials?) The <strong>Library</strong> has a writing center, listening center, dollhouse, puppets and the loft. Our <strong>Art Center </strong>is made of our art cart, the easel and whatever art activity we have going on at the big table. Our <strong>Math Center</strong> may have math manipulatives (sorting, counting, patterns, etc.) or games or puzzles. Our<strong> Science or Discovery Center</strong> has materials for children to explore and tools to explore them. Last week we looked at a pumpkin there, predicting what was inside, opening it, seeing the pulp and seeds, and pulling out the seeds (the children loved it when we toasted and ate them).

Look for more information about our individual centers on this blog in the coming weeks.