A Day at ROOTS Preschool 2011-2012 School Year

9:00 – Arrival:  Our friends arrive and decide to either join an impromptu kid-created game, dance to music, bounce with stuffed animals, jump into the foam pit, or climbing/swinging on a rope. 

9:15 –Welcome Circle:  We ring a bell and take a slow breath together.  We may share how we are feeling by choosing a face from the Feelez poster, sing a good morning song individualized to each student, or share stories to get to know each other better.  These activities establish our roots of mindfulness and focus by calming down our senses, developing community, and settling into our space.

9:30 – Movement:  The kids choose a side of the gym to begin their movement exploration.  We switch half way through.  On one side, a teacher may have set up a game requiring kids to avoid hot lava as they balance across beams and bounce off of spring boards, while on the other side a circuit of gymnastics props are set out for practicing handstands, cartwheels and forward rolls along with a station for practicing yoga poses.  Teachers guide and encourage the students individually as they practice movement skills.

10:10 – Break:  The kids choose to play in the gym or to wash hands and go upstairs to help with snack.

10:20 – Snack:  We all sit down together once the food is ready.  We take a slow breath together with the sound of a bell and share how we are thankful.  We'll often say “thank you cow” when we're having yogurt or cheese, connecting our food to its origins.  The kids may pour themselves water from a water pitcher and they pass the bowls of food to their friends.  This is a time for rest, nourishment and community.  Stories and jokes are shared, questions are asked about food and how the body works, and we practice counting and asking for things in Spanish. 

10:40 – Group Activity: We join together as a group or as two smaller groups.  We may read a book or do an activity on our current studies, role play social situations (sharing, friendship), learn a song, meet a new Animated Literacy character, play a counting game, listen to something a friend wants to share or celebrate a birthday.  This fosters community and interpersonal understanding, in-depth study and exposure to other subjects and approaches that a child may not approach naturally. 

10:55 –Choice Time:  Kids explore the centers in the room based around the Multiple Intelligences Theory by Howard Gardner.  Basic activities and materials are always available (crayons, paper, puzzles, books) and other options circulate in based on what the children are interested in studying or to offer a new challenge.  Individualized projects are introduced and encouraged based on interest and developmental level and teachers will work individually or with small groups of children.  Teachers record observations of what the child chooses and what aspects they enjoy the most.  They offer new ideas, encourage, assist and step back as necessary depending on what is best for each child at the time.  During this time children can feel empowerment and ownership over their activities.  Seeds are planted and the teachers continue to guide and are present, but the children make the choices.  

The choices available include: 

ØArt/Spatial:  painting, drawing, coloring, cutting, gluing, play dough, building blocks, puzzles

ØLogical/Mathematical: counting, addition, sorting, board games

ØLinguistic: letter characters that correspond to movements (Animated Literacy), writing, looking through and reading books, listening to stories

ØMusical: singing, guitar, piano, rain stick,   percussion, rhythm

ØBodily/Kinesthetic: yoga, Animated Literacy, classroom jobs (cleaning, sharpening pencils, setting the table)

ØInterpersonal and Intrapersonal: “imagination station” for creative play (dress-up, puppets, stuffed animals), facilitated conflict discussions using Feelez poster

ØScience Table (Naturalistic): leaves, bugs, magnets, science experiments, seed starting, animal research