Alianna came home one day from her Babysitter’s Club after school enrichment (shout out Andrea Stallings!) positively GLOWING.
“Mom- get ready,” she warned me, “I have a LOT to tell you about and I’ve taken a lot of notes in my notebook. WE WENT TO FOUNDATIONS TODAY!”
She did indeed have a lot to tell me, but she didn’t have to. In the past few months, I’ve had the joy of spending some time with our one and two year old classrooms to get a sense of what our youngest Saints are up to. I had a blast spending time with some amazing educators (Catoria Mozee, Shea Miller, Abby Cockerill, Terry Cotton, Marsha Miller, Stacy Richardson, Ashley Singleton, Brenda Brown, Inga Sjostrom), and a whole bunch of littles! Enjoy the glimpses below:
- A home-like feel as kids entered for the day; transitions appeared seamless and the children were happy to be at school. Lots of great “welcome to school” activities to choose from: love-themed books at the book center, puzzle, animals/blocks, outdoor legos, etc.
2. Who knew that taking attendance can also function as counting practice and recognition of your friends’ names?
3. So much positive rapport with the kiddos; smiles and positive redirection and age appropriate interventions all around.
4. Solid guided reading with multiple texts around the theme of snow that students were clearly captivated by.
5. The power of music, whether it was wheels on the bus after snack or songs about animals and how they walk. One two-year-old class LOVED the L and F song, eagerly employing the motions and words.
6. Making the most of eating time together: This two year old classroom has a bunch of singer/performers; several suggested songs to sing during breakfast!
7. The power of movement, such as during the “FREEZE” song/dance party.
8. Little ones are given an appropriate amount of choice between activities at certain parts of the day (e.g. go listen to that story or you can climb up on the indoor play structure, etc.).
9. Foundations faculty are pros at transitioning from the excitement of free play to circle time with the old trick of “touch your nose if you can hear me.”
10. This way-cool sensory activity about snow that really engaged the kids: finding stuffed animals in styrofoam snow or playing with animals in whipped cream.
11. Instructional Assistants that are very actively engaged with the children either as they did the activity or in the guided reading.
12. A “what animal do you hear” game that was such a blast and perfectly pitched for the class.
13. Differentiation based on how kids’ experienced the activity (e.g. one little boy felt disturbed by the “mess” of the whipped cream so he had the option to play with his toys on a clean table.)
14. Foundations for reading are already being laid in our two year old classes! Kids were very ready to practice motions with blends (eye-lid, eye-brow, etc.). Bonus: having the kids close their eyes (what happens when you shut your eyelids?) and feel their eyelashes really brought life to the phonemic awareness.
15. My first ever sight of seeing use of the outside porch at Foundations!
16. Science exploration with cups filled with water to different levels to discover a range of pitches!
While Alianna visited the building as part of her “Babysitters Club,” I can affirm that there is so much more going on in Foundations than babysitting. The intentionality of activities, loving atmosphere, and clear structure inspired me in my own teaching practice. And this joy isn’t just for Alianna and me to hog, by the way! At our last FAAC meeting, Tabitha made it clear that Foundations is eager to partner with other grade levels as desired. Just email her at gibsonta@gosaints.org to start the conversation.