STEM

Yesterday, we were honored to have a visit from Miss St. Clair Shores, Shelby McPherson. Shelby is a graduate from Lawrence Technological University where she studied Architecture and Construction Management. She shared with the students her passion and involvement with STEM. She linked their current experiences- drawing pictures, constructing with legos, to STEM.

She led the students through two activities. The first was building with toothpicks, marshmallows and gum drops. The students constructed various configurations, and shapes. Shelby talked about how making a strong base would allow their structures to grow taller.

Second, the students did an experiment with Chromatography. They saw how one color is made up of many colors. They colored with a single color on a coffee filter and observed the colors separate in water.

We really enjoyed our visit from Miss St. Clair Shores! We wish her the best as she continues to grow in STEM!

Pumpkins

The sights, sounds, and temperatures of Fall are finally here! From Infants to Pre-K, we have been exploring pumpkins! Classes have been discovering the different characteristics of pumpkins including their shape, color, texture, and also finding out what is inside.

Our Toddler Two class used words such as "cold", "seeds" and "yucky" to describe the inside of a pumpkin. Preschoolers colored their pumpkin with markers before cutting open, and Toddler One played "Mr. Pumpkin Head".

Next week, we will begin our school wide pumpkin decorating contest! Check back at the end of next week to see pictures from the contest.

Sensory Exploration

One thing we love at the GPPSS Child Development and Preschool Program is Sensory Exploration!! Our Preschool classroom even coined the phrase "Messy Mondays" last school year inviting parents to participate in creating sensory materials and joining in to play!

Sensory exploration sets the stage for open ended, hands on learning. The children create their own experience- deciding how to manipulate the materials, testing out their own theories and exploring concepts of math, science, problem solving, and cooperation. While observing sensory explorations, teachers often hear very descriptive vocabulary words and creative ideas!

Whether it is sifting sand, filling cups of water, sorting colored rice, or drawing in shaving cream, the children's senses are engaged and brain connections are growing stronger and stronger!

We love our Messy Mondays.... and our Messy "Every-Days"!

Garden Update

Our garden project has taught us so much this summer! Together, the children have learned what it takes to care for plants, where food comes from, and how to work as a team! They shared the responsibilities of weeding, watering and reaping the harvest. Seeing their excitement as tomatoes turned from green to red was such a great moment!

The children enjoyed tasting various vegetables at snack time, and even made Kale Chips one afternoon. An abundance of zucchini allowed us to explore all of its' properties- through observation, cutting open, and even using zucchini as an art manipulative. Zucchini paintings were a hit in our Toddler Two and Preschool Prep classrooms.

We are looking forward to exploring what will come next for our garden project. We've definitely been enriched by the beautiful space, and the authentic experiences in nature. Thank you to the staff members who work on our Garden Committee, and also to the many families who donated items for the project. It was truly a team effort!

Nutty Science

Things got a little nutty around here last week when we were visited by Professor K- the Nutty Scientist!! Professor K visited our Preschool and Pre-K classrooms to show us just how awesome science can be!

Air molecules were the topic of our exploration. The children saw demonstrations of how air molecules can cause objects to float, fly and move! They predicted what they thought might happen, how they thought it might happen, and even got to participate in a few of the experiments. We even learned about a cool scientist named Bernoulli, who inspired one of Professor K's inventions. 

We hope to continue our excitement for science and try some experiments of our own!