In math we have started a unit on geometry.  We have been exploring 2 dimensional shapes in a variety of ways, noting the characteristics of each shape, as well as similarities and differences between shapes.  Children particularly enjoyed using geo-boards to create shapes and making shape pictures by adding details to a given shape (a rectangle can be a truck).

This week we also recently read Grandfather Tang's Story, a Chinese folk tale about two fairy foxes told in tangrams.  The foxes shift their shapes to become different animals throughout the story.  After we read the story each child made their own tangram animal.  Soon we will shift our focus to three dimensional shapes.

On Wednesday we were thrilled to have our Angie and Mary Colleen from ECO, visit us in the classroom to spend the morning learning about animal gaits and tracks.  We began the morning making our own tracks with plaster of paris and rubber molds.  We then spent a good chunk of time learning about different animal gaits and trying each one out, a feat that required lots of concentration and agility!  Ask your child to demonstrate.  After snack we went outside and followed trails of tracks, marking them with colored water so they were easier to see.  Finally we ended the morning thinking about the stories that tracks can tell and creating our own track stories.