Exploration in Clay

We have been exploring the properties of clay through building pinch pots, coil pots, and slab work. There are many ways to add textures to our work with a variety of tools and stamps. There is no limit to our creativity!

A great deal of patience is involved in completing a piece of pottery. After shaping the wet clay we let it dry for a day or two until it is considered "leather hard". At this point we can carve it and polish it. Then we must let it dry until the gray colored wet clay becomes "bone dry" and turns white. This can take a week or two depending on the humidity and temperature. The pots are very fragile at this point until they are fired in a kiln for the first time.

The Solla family of Cold Springs Studio (Cold Springs Road in Jacksonville) will be firing our work for us. Once it is fired we will glaze our pots and then they will be fired again.

Make Seed Balls, Not War!!

The friends at Namaste made seed balls using native wildflower seeds.

Here's how we did it--

We mixed together: 1 part seeds, 3 parts compost, 5 parts clay, and a little water. The consistency should be like play dough. Then, roll seed balls about the size of marbles and let dry.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 THROW!!!

Visit these links for more info on Seedballs:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103129515

http://greenmuseum.org/content/work_index/img_id-11__prev_size-0__artist_id-3__work_id-4.html

Concentration and Focus

When young children are engaged in meaningful work that challenges them they deomonstrate incredible concentration and focus.

Warm Days, Cold Nights Helps The Sap Flow

Toddler Bodies In Motion

Movement is an essential part of learning in any early childhood classroom. Engaging multiple senses helps young brains develop to the fullest potential. Did you know as children learn about how their bodies move through space their new found sense of spatial orientation lays a foundation for math and reading skills?

A Sure sign of Spring....Sugaring Time

We tapped our Maple trees this week. We eager await as the warm days and cools invite the sweet sap to flow from the trees. Did you know it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup?

Here's a glimpse at what some of the children in the primary classroom have been up to this week.

Admiring one's hard work after counting to 9,999... Fundraising accounting. So far the children have raised $165.33 to help other children in Haiti.

Grinding the wheat...

Authors at work, the story of time...

Water color painting...

Day dreaming about warmer weather and mapping the North America with an emphasis on the Caribbean Islands.

The "Copy Me Game": one player creates a pattern from colored blocks and the other player must copy it exactly. This is a great visual perceptual game that strengthens pre-reading skills.

Learning blend sounds by matching letter pairs with objects and pictures.

Sewing work requires precision and concentration.

New practical life activities are lots of fun...

Pancakes for Snack....Yum!