Category Archives: Age 3

Language Development and Communication through Fairy Tales

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Language Development and Communication (LDC). 

The Sunflowers spent the month of January reading fairy tales, focusing on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  The students compared and contrasted the many different versions of each story and could identify the idiosyncrasies that made each one unique.  Our classroom reading center overflowed with books and offered the students motivation to read and recreate their favorite tales individually or as a group (Goal LDC-8).

Using their familiarity with each tale, the Sunflowers expanded their vocabulary and continued to develop phonological awareness (LDC-11).  With magnetic words and pictures, the students were able to identify beginning letter sounds and recognize that some words shared a first letter.  Even though we read numerous versions of the same fairy tale, the Sunflowers showed preference for specific versions and could express what made a certain book their favorite over the others.  

Once the students were comfortable with the stories and their basic structure, we used the information to bring them to life using collaborative story writing (LDC-10).  In small groups, the Sunflowers chose a familiar story as inspiration, added and changed the characters (a unicorn was a welcome addition to the Three Little Pigs), and dictated a script to later be performed for the rest of the class. This expansion of their story comprehension offered a wonderful opportunity for the students to add their creative touch to beloved tales!

Creative Expression and Social Connections

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Cognitive Development (CD).

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‘Tis the season to celebrate all of the ways we can express ourselves during the holidays!  The Sunflowers are able to demonstrate self-expression and creativity in a variety of forms and contexts within the school (Goal CD-5).  Routinely changing out the materials in the room allows the students to explore endless possibilities in their play and visual arts. Role play has taken us out of the southeast and up to the North Pole, where the students pretend they are Santa Claus delivering presents or flying off on an adventure with the reindeer.  

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We provide many opportunities for the students to show their appreciation for different kinds of artistic expression (Goal CD-4).  From dancing to holiday music to creating unique crafts, the students can participate in and inquire about a variety of art forms. The Sunflowers enjoyed making decorative gifts for their loved ones at home.  They made cards that were multi-faceted and included gluing, folding, glittering, signing names, and dictating a sweet message for the recipient.

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We brought warmth to the cool winter air during our exploration in baking.  The students rolled out and decorated sugar cookies with a variety of cookie cutter shapes and sprinkles that allowed everyone to use their creativity.  The Sunflowers also baked fresh loaves of bread from scratched and shared their hard work with their school community. Activities such as this help the students recognize that they are members of different groups (Goal CD-7) and encourages helpful community habits.  The Sunflowers continue to add their creativity and cheer to the ECDC hallways!

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Creativity, Imagination, and Inventiveness

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[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.17.2″ custom_padding=”0|0px|27.7188px|0px|false|false” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.17.2″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.2″] The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Approaches to Play and Learning (APL). [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0|0px|27.7188px|0px|false|false” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0|0px|13.8594px|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image src=”https://blogs.charleston.edu/harveyse/files/2018/11/IMG_2870-1tvthm4.jpg” _builder_version=”3.17.2″ /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0|0px|27.7188px|0px|false|false” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0|0px|13.8594px|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.2″] The Sunflower class has been patiently waiting for some fall weather to hit Charleston and the cooler breeze finally came through!  The Halloween season has been a great time for the students to demonstrate their creativity, imagination, and inventiveness (Goal APL-4).  The students have decorated our classroom with finger-painted pumpkins and tissue-paper ghosts- a great way to practice fine motor skills. Our dollhouse was not looking quite spooky enough, so the students garnished it with black paper and Halloween-colored masking tape.  We even created tiny monsters out of molding clay to live in the newly renovated dollhouse! [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0|0px|27.7188px|0px|false|false” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”0|0px|13.8594px|0px|false|false”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image src=”https://blogs.charleston.edu/harveyse/files/2018/11/IMG_2845-2flvgnx.jpg” _builder_version=”3.17.2″ /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image src=”https://blogs.charleston.edu/harveyse/files/2018/11/IMG_2848-10flxb7.jpg” _builder_version=”3.17.2″ /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”0|0px|13.8594px|0px|false|false”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.2″]

In the classroom and on the playground, the children continue to engage in increasingly complex play (Goal APL-3).  Outside, the students run around together as ghostbusters, acting out entire sequences with defined characters and plots.  We are able to practice our problem solving skills (Goal APL-6) when the story isn’t quite working out as planned. Some students offer to be ghosts or other monsters to keep the game active and complex.  The kitchen has turned into a place for witches to make brew and the art center is filled with tricks and treats to make spooky creations. 

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Developing a sense of self and a sense of self with others

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Emotional and Social Development (ESD).

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The Sunflowers are now settled into the classroom routine and we are seeing each child demonstrate a positive sense of self-identity and self-awareness (Goal ESD-1) through individual, small, and large-group activities.  Children of this age place great importance in their name, especially the first letter. As a way to emphasize this display of self-identity, we incorporate many activities involving the spelling of their names, such as making letter cookies!

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The students are able to identify the many things that make them unique, such as eye color, skin color, and food preferences.  In addition to self-identification, the children are able to express positive feelings about themselves and confidence in what they do (Goal ESD-2).  One morning at circle time, we passed around a mirror and the students were able to share their favorite thing about themselves! Our day is filled with little moments of problem-solving and confidence boosting.  We encourage our Sunflowers to try things on their own before a teacher comes to help- everyone is always happily surprised to see what they are capable of!

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As their self-awareness grows, their sense of self with others develops, too.  The Sunflowers are nurturing friendships, learning to interact positively with other children, and showing the social and behavioral skills needed to successfully participate in groups (Goals ESD 4 & 5).  Some ways that we incorporate this in our classroom is through cooperative games and activities, which encourage sharing and collaborating.

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Time on the playground presents lots of opportunities to work with others; the children push each other on the swings, maneuver bikes to accommodate their friends, and together, create imaginary worlds far beyond the playground equipment.  

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