We’ve had a wonderful start to our year in the Yellow Room! Over the past few months, our class has been getting to know each other and discovering how we learn and play together. Our wish is for all students to feel connected to and understood by their teachers and peers. Through daily routines and activities, children find many opportunities to forge relationships and foster their sense of belonging.
We’d love to take you on a tour of some Yellow Room moments highlighting the ways children are building our class family.
Building community through play:
Play is the hallmark of early childhood development; it allows children to express themselves and make sense of the world around them. During these first months, children have created imaginary worlds with our dolls and kitchen, molded play-doh into sculptures, explored our sensory table, and built structures with magnet tiles and legos. We love watching students use play to communicate, take risks, take turns, explore their interests, and bond with peers.
Building community through music and movement:
We love to dance, run, jump, and stretch! We’ve been busy exploring the gym and track, singing familiar and new songs, and visiting Kyleigh in the movement room. Moving and singing together offer children many ways to express themselves and feel a sense of joy, comfort, and connection. In addition to our Hello and Goodbye songs, some other favorites include Slippery Fish, BINGO, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Five Little Ducks, and The Dinosaur Song.
Building community through routines:
Learning class routines has been a big part of our first month. Our routines include hello meeting, goodbye meeting, cleaning up after playtime and snack, transitioning from one space to another, and visiting the bathroom. The children often refer to our visual schedule throughout the day to understand what’s coming next. They’ve been noticing any changes and new elements in class, reminding us how perceptive our young students are!
Building community through special classes:
We love moving our bodies with Kyleigh and making pottery with Dave! Each specialist brings so much joy to our class with their playfulness and expertise. During movement, we love taking imaginary train and airplane rides, dancing to a drum, and tossing colorful scarves in the air. With “Pottery Dave,” as we fondly call him, students are learning to shape the clay and use coils.
