At LCNS, we believe that children are competent and capable. As such, we provide many opportunities for them to contribute to caring for our classroom materials in a meaningful way. Children in both classes are asked to help tidy up their dishes after snack and put their water bottles away. We also encourage and support them to put their belongings away in the cubbies when we come inside and to help tidy up toys. If something spills, we help them to clean it up.

Recently, the children have been eager to help with all kinds of chores, including sweeping and mopping the floors, drying spilled water from water play activities, cleaning the paint brushes, wiping the tables, and washing the paint off the easel. 

Working together to care for our environment is an important way to build community. When children have the opportunity to be part of a safe and caring classroom community, it helps them develop positive relationships and grows their empathy.

Over the past month, the changeable weather has given us some interesting opportunities on the playground. The children have enjoyed chopping ice, digging big holes, sliding down the snow mountains, playing hockey with mini sticks, catching the drips of water, cooking with the melted snow, and jumping in puddles.

This past week, we had a fun experience of retelling the “Going on a Bear Hunt” story on the playground. Using a call-and-response style of storytelling, children and educators travelled together around the space, repeating the familiar phrases, as we told the story. As we went through the “deep snow,” around trees, over logs, and through the tunnel, children connected words to actions, strengthening comprehension and helping the story come alive in a meaningful, physical way. Storytelling like this supports early literacy by building vocabulary, narrative skills, and confidence with language. The children also used their imaginations to transform the playground into a story setting. When a child surprised us by jumping out of a “cave” (a black bin turned bear’s den!), the excitement and shared laughter reinforced how joyful and engaging literacy experiences can be.

Over the past several weeks, there has been a great deal of interest in puzzles. Some of the children like to do peg puzzles, and others prefer to do floor puzzles. Many of the children have been working together to complete puzzles, while a few prefer to do it by themselves. It’s very interesting to watch the different strategies that children use. Puzzles offer many opportunities to develop cognitive, social-emotional, and physical skills. When completing a puzzle, children are developing problem-solving abilities, persistence, and self-confidence.

Often, puzzles are self-correcting, meaning that children can recognize when the piece is in the
incorrect spot and work by themselves to adjust their approach and keep trying. This builds resilience.

As educators, we facilitate learning by expanding on ideas and adding to the environment based
on our observations about the children’s interests in learning. After observing the interest in puzzles, we wondered if they would be interested in connecting other things too. We put out some
Duplo and some stacking puzzles and they have been very interested in these new opportunities
too.

​This past month we’ve spent a lot of time talking with the children about feelings. The children have had the opportunity to explore their own feelings and those of their classmates. We’ve also thought about how the characters in stories are feeling. Amy, our ECE student, offered an activity where the children created faces with loose parts to show how they were feeling. They talked about what makes them feel happy or sad or angry. It’s so important to talk about feelings with young children. Children need to have the words to express their emotions. We can teach them to name feelings by labelling how we feel, how they feel, and how others (even characters in books or movies) feel. We
can also help them by accepting all feelings – even the messy, uncomfortable ones – without trying to change them.

In the toddler group, the children are getting to know each other and starting to build a community. They are learning each others’ names, exchanging high fives, and learning to ask if it’s
okay to give a hug. They also continue to be very interested in music. They use the instruments
frequently and love to dance to music.