Becoming Frogs

How do you bring a group of very young children together?

You can give them a problem to solve, like "How do we get the toys out of there?"

You can draw their attention to something that they can't resist digging into...

...with tools...

...or, with their hands.

...perhaps, even with their mouths.

You can show them all something very exciting...

...and then talk about the experience together.

You can ask them to bring in something to share with the whole entire group...

...something from their yards...

...or something to eat...

Whatever we do, it seems that sharing experiences and then reflecting back on them, over, and over, and over again, takes this group of toddlers, with different ages, interests, and levels of ability, and turns them into "Frogs".

We're Still Here!!!

What?! It's October already? That was fast!!!
The transition from late summer into early fall is a strange one for us Frog teachers. Our classroom spends a most of the Summer in a state of limbo, with new Frogs orienting to our classroom, old Frogs gearing up for something new, and everyone taking breaks for vacations, long weekends, and other summer outings. By mid-September, the last of the "Senior Frogs" have moved on to their next big gig- sometimes the Possum room, sometimes other schools entirely- and The new class of Frogs finally starts to fall into place.
A couple of years ago, we started a tradition; As we were putting together each child's end of the year portfolio, we were inspired by how much growth- cognative, emotional, and physical- took place over the school year. We started to measure each child with a length of ribbon during their first week in the Frog room, then again on their last day so we could compare the two. Then, we would use both of the ribbons to make a "magic" wand for each child to keep as a memento of their time in the Frog room.

Just like last year, we were floored by how much the class of 2010 has grown! The differences between the "first day" ribbons and the "last day" ribbons ranged from 4 to 6 inches-Wow!

This week, we are preparing to measure the Frog class of 2011. We are looking forward to growing together this year!