Colourful Maths!

“Children develop and use mathematical concepts when they collect, organize and compare different objects and materials.”

(Te Whariki p.98)

This morning the girls worked busily with their friends to collect and organize some of the different materials that make up our treasure box.

To begin with we spent some time exploring the materials with our hands and discovering what was present in the treasure box. There sure are lots of interesting things!

Next we discussed the similarities and differences between the items and worked to categorize the materials by colour.

We each had a pile of items that we were responsible for. We had to make sure that we put them in the correct group.

Following on from this we counted how many items represented each colour and explored concepts such as 'more' and 'less'.

 Lastly, the girls worked to record their information on paper. We used our alphabet and number cards to assist us as we wrote the names of the colours and the corresponding numbers. We were all very proud of the beautiful way in which we formed our numbers.

Finding Traces of Rain.

We went for a walk around the school to see if we could see traces of the rain that had fallen recently. The girls took turns at taking the photos of what they found. We had very interesting conversations as they wondered why they could see wet patches in some places and right next to them it was dry. They were interested in how the places that were in the dark (shaded areas) were much wetter. 

‘Why could that be?‘ I asked. They talked about it being colder in some places
and then Kate pointed over to the dry wood further along and said;
‘Look the sun is shining on it.
That’s why it’s dry, the sun has dried it all up’. 

This observation lent a new direction to our future discoveries and conversations on our walk, as the girls kept spotting places where the sun was shining and where there was shade.

Also during our walk the girls wondered where the rain goes to and they started to talk about drains. They became very interested in all the different drains. They found - 33 drains of different 

sizes and styles.

Working with Mr Edwards and ICT.

 

Mr Edwards is always a highlight when he visits our classroom for ICT. 

Last Friday the girls happily played in the rain so Mr Edwards could take photos for the 'movie' they were making. The girls were motivated to learn the song "Mud in the Garden" during the week, so it could be recorded and added to the photos.

Well done Mr Edwards and girls!

Sunshine, fresh air and friendship!

We had a superb visit to Mt St John this morning. As soon as we arrived on the mountain, the girls scurried down to the 'lake' which is more like a puddle at the moment! 

 Once again they found enjoyment playing with branches, climbing the trees and taking some quiet time. Keira was in a thoughtful mood and enjoyed having time to sit and think awhile.

Painting the Autumn Trees.

"Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world."
- Maria Montessori

We believe that when children engage in drawing intricate representations of the world around them, such as they have done with the Autumn leaves and trees, they are gaining a deeper appreciation of their world and seeing it again as if for the first time. In addition to this, they are engaging in higher order thinking skills that stretch them to reach results beyond their expectations. 

 

Today the girls painted their beautiful Autumn trees. We revisited the ideas we had discussed

earlier about what colour tones they would need for the leaves, and how they needed to think about balancing out the different colours of the leaves around the tree. 

The girls experimented with using the brushes to get different effects.

You can see from the concentration on their faces the level of engagement this work created.

 

 

 

Looking closely at the detail in the autumn trees.

The girls stood on the verandah of the Foundation Class and looked around them.
I asked them if they could see any Autumn trees.

Immediately they noticed one off in the distance, so we set off to find it.

Once located, we engaged in a discussion about the colours of the leaves, the texture of the bark and the way in which the trunk was large and the branches got smaller and smaller
as they reached the leaves. 

The bark was a point of interest and the girls represented this in different ways on their sketches. They spotted a circle on the trunk where a branch had been cut off but they preferred to think of this as a fairy house. Keira, Eloise, Luca and Joyce's sketches captured the
fairy house on their tree trunks.

In our drawings you can see some of the detail the girls picked up on. Joyce included a sign that was at the bottom of her drawing as well as some leaves that she noticed sailing to the 

ground as we were talking.

 Joyce

 Kate

 Keira

 Luca

Eloise

 Zoe

The next step is painting them!

The Colours of Autumn.

Yesterday we painted our leaves, adding beautiful colours of Autumn. The girls worked with care and intent, and often commented on how nice they thought the leaves looked. 

Here are some photos of the girls busily working:

Don't these paintings look lovely?

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

- Albert Camus