Our long-awaited spring finally did arrive, as it always does. And with it came the many childhood pleasures of the season: The wonder of tulips emerging from the ground and blooming; the arrival of spring birds with their cheerful songs; the springing up of dandelions, buttercups and other little blossoms to collect for a bouquet or "bake" into a pie; the shedding of coats when the brilliant, abundant sunshine warms us through and through!
And how our little guys and gals have grown throughout the long winter, emerging, seemingly suddenly, and blooming before our eyes!
The children of Hazel Drive have been busy doing all the things to help them grow: Learning skills and concepts, working all those muscles, big and small, learning good manners and how to get along with others, and playing, playing, playing! Some examples:
Learning skills:
All the children from the smallest Cottontail to the Biggest Hopper work on learning and mastering skills. Self-help skills such as putting on socks and shoes or folding nap blankets; manipulative skills such as putting together a Tinker Toy swing set or building a tall block tower; cognitive skills such as doing a puzzle, whether an 8-piece wooden form board or a 100-piece jigsaw. Opportunites abound for children to practice their skill-building!
Learning Concepts:
Patterns are created and indentified on the calendar numbers each month. The little kids became champs at figuring out what comes next. April's numbers were on rabbit shapes in a purple/purple/pink-purple/purple/pink pattern. But wait! The purple ones are facing to the right, and the pink ones to the left! Can we hop and change the way we are facing? Right/right/left! Right/right/left! May filled up quickly with tulips in red/yellow/pink-red/yellow/pink. June started with and little egg on a leaf, followed by a cute caterpillar on the 2nd, a cocoon on the 3rd and a butterfly on the 4th. Can you guess what comes next? Yes! An egg on a leaf because the butterfly lays her eggs and the cycle begins again!
Big Kids played math games with number cards, little colored counting bears and other props. They learned the concepts and terminology of addition and subtraction! It's amazing what they were able to accomplish! They learned "top, middle and bottom" even as they learned to write their letters. They learned to recognize, identify and write the letters of the alphabet.
The children learned the cycles of nature through observations of the seasons and nature. 
Lessons about the water cycle came to life as Miss Gloria worked away with paper and scissors. They learned about another cycle by watching our own five little caterpillars eat, grow, form cocoons and . . . wait . . . no, not yet . . . maybe tomorrow . . . Yes! . . . turn into beautiful butterflies! They were released so the cycle may continue.
Working Those Big Muscles:
Somehow children don't require instruction in this area when they've got a big expanse of grass, a bunch of bouncy balls, a climbing wall, a big slide (and a small one!), a couple of swings and a sunny day! Sometimes the stick horses come out of the corral and we have a gallop around the yard. We have to remember to stop so they can eat a little grass and drink some water! We've been having a fantastic time building bodies and having fun! Plenty of energy and imagination in the mix, too!
Galloping Song (from the "Romper Room" TV show adapted for Hazel Drive)
Oh, come with us and gallop,
And gallop, and gallop,
Oh, come with us and gallop at Hazel Drive today!
Our animal friends will take us,
Will take us, will take us,
Our animal friends will take us,
To places far away!
Working Those Small Muscles:
Opportunities for fine motor work are abundant as the buds on the trees! In fact, we practiced our fine motor skills by making buds on trees! One by one (or two by two), we put a pair of scissors in the hand of each Little Bunny and Cottontail. With teacher and child working closely together, they opened and closed the scissors, snip, snip, snip, to create little bits of green paper. These were carefully picked up and placed on the wet glue. Lots of good work for little fingers and hands! Fingerpainting is enjoyed by all! It's a wonderful, fun, squishy way to work the little muscles that will soon be used for holding a pencil and writing! Writing, drawing and scribbling with markers and crayons is a frequent activity as well.
Big Hoppers and Kindergartners do lots of writing and drawing! They use multiple fine motor skills to create their beautiful artwork. Green paper is made into thin strips by cutting on the lines. The strips are rubbed with a glue stick and layed in a row. Little bits of tissue in lots of colors are pinched and sqeezed into little balls. These are glued onto the green strips. Voila! Spring flowers to delight your eyes!
The older children are taught by Miss Gloria how to draw a self-portrait. They start in September and make a new self-portrait every month, applying what they've learned. Each portrait is completed by the artist signing his or her name at the bottom. At the end of the year, you can clearly see the progress that has been made, through the natural maturing of the child and through gentle instruction. These pictures are a demonstration of individuality and creativity. They're as beautiful and unique as the artists who create them!
Learning Good Manners and Getting Along:
"Little birds in the nest agree..."
That little phrase has been used thousands of times through the generations of Miss Laura's family, and the"little birds" at Hazel Drive enjoy hearing it and learning it's meaning. We should do our best to get along with one another since we all share our little space here! How do we do that? By speaking to each other, using kind words, and treating others the way we'd like to be treated. We sing a little song, simple, and for that reason quite memorable:
Be good, be nice, be kind to your friends,
Be good, be nice, be kind to your friends,
Be good, be nice be kind to your frineds,
Be good, be nice be kind to your friends.
The tune will be familiar to some; If you ask your child, you may get a fair rendition of it!
In the little kid classes we do a lot of supplying of appropriate tone and language. We teach them that LOTS of words are "magic," because words get you what you desire most of the time, but fighting - not so much! They are quite satisfied with the results because words DO work, and it's wonderful to hear them handle it themselves: "Could I please have that?" "You can have it when I'm finished." - and they follow through! 
Beautiful!
The older children learn through empathy and explanation. How would you feel? Can you think of a better way? Wth a few reminders they can do a really good job on their social skills. The teachers provide opportunities for teamwork and cheering each other on. A little competition is good, too. Who can clean up from beginning to end? Who can be the quietest, the girls or the boys? (They love that!!)
Playing, Playing, Playing:
It has been said that the work of children is play. It has also been said that children learn through play. Can there be any doubt? Basic children's toys provide all the tools they need for their work: Balls, blocks, dolls, puzzles, building toys, art materials, dress-up clothes, books, stuffed animals, trucks and cars, sand and sand toys, dominoes, checkers and a checker board, a deck of cards... Do you notice that none of these things require batteries? Children are little learning machines and do very well when they are the "hard drives" for their learning!
Enjoy the long days!
Love,
Miss Laura, Miss Gloria, Mrs. Stacy, Mrs. Shirley, Miss Cathy, Miss Donna, Miss Linda and Miss Janet
