Fox Meadow

Welcome to K-T. In a day's work, the children will listen, speak, read, write, problem solve, create, play and discover.  We work hard, but we have fun, too. 

Speaking and Listening

Our classroom is rich with oral language. Opportunities to use oral language are important for reading comprehension, writing, problem solving skills and social development.  Throughout the day, the children will have many opportunities to talk in a variety of contexts: as a whole group, in small groups, during play and one-on-one with both peers and adults.  At the same time, the children will develop their listening skills as they learn from both adults and one another. 

Working

Working in our classroom ranges from quiet to noisy and from neat to messy.  Throughout the day, the children will read and participate in writing activities across the curriculum.  We will learn about making and taking apart words during word study.  We will explore the content areas of science and social studies with hands on exploration, interviews, journals and a rich library of books.  Our daily math work will help us to think about numbers in many ways: as counted objects that we can manipulate, in pictures and in more abstract ways. 

Often the children have a project that is in progress.  Examples of past projects include nonfiction book making, number slide shows on the computer, character studies in reading and creating an informational time line as we watch the development of our chick embryos in science.  Our projects often have the children wanting to work as much as they want to play. 

Playing

Playing is an important part of our day. During our free choice time, block building, recycled art, math games,computers, puzzles, and writing materials are all available for exploration.  Free choice is a time when the children come up with new ideas, work as a team and learn to problem solve in a social context.  Our recess time is a less structured play that gives the children time to further their social skills and build their friendships. 

Free choice and recess are both times for the children to seek adult support with issues that arise during play.  We will use these real life examples as a springboard for our social learning in the classroom.  In a group discussion forum, the children will be invited to share and solve issues of play as a whole group.  This will become an important part of building our classroom community.  In addition to teacher initiated meetings, the children will be able to request group meetings if issues are arising.  During these discussions, we will always take time to appreciate examples of kindness and good citizenship. 

Discovering

Everyday brings a new discovery.  Some of the discoveries will be big and shared by all.  Others will be small, made by a few, but celebrated by many.  Some discoveries will be about learning and others will be simple facts that connect the children to one another.   

This year as you talk about the day with your child, perhaps you will begin by asking, “What did you discover today?”

Wishing everyone an exciting year of growth and discovery!