TerraNichol Academy of the Arts
Weekly Blog October 28th-November 1st , 2019
Learning Lab Exploration
This week in learning labs we enjoyed the introduction to our Where the Wild Things are materials. We explored Wild Things Brew, Wild Things sensory bottles, create Wild Things with Playdough and acted out the story Where the Wild Things Are and made crowns in preparation for the Wild Rumpus!
The Wild Rumpus truly brought out the imaginations of our students. Students created a whole tale of how the Wild Things must have visited our playscape on Wednesday evening leaving clues and evidence of mischief-making. Young wild things made wild thing eyeball soup, explored with wild things sensory materials, rumpus in the field with games, and of course, the hit of the day The Wild Rumpus Parade where wild things roared their terrible roars, showed their terrible claws, gnashed their terrible teeth, and rolled their terrible eyes!
Our Little Gardeners are Developing a Green Thumb as our lettuce mix and Basil are thriving!
In Music Appreciation, we are concluding our experiences with Folk and Blue Grass. We made a bluegrass band and sketched what instrument we would like to play in the Blue Grass Band. If we would be a vocalist, a musician or a songwriter! Some friends will complete their sketches next week. To celebrate World Music students took us on a musical safari where we saw large rainbow butterflies and rainbow monkeys feeding their babies, cheetahs playing with penguins, tall giraffes eating leaves, a pride of lions and a herd of zebra running. It was amazing to listen to the students' imagination sore as we sang and played to the Ela Jenkins song Safari!
We have enjoyed some of our new yoga games. We move to songs like Yoga March and The Yogi Shake Down, Drum, Drum yoga and yoga pokey!
We are looking forward to getting deep into pumpkin science next week, beginning our gratitude projects, and discovering Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dali in art appreciation. We will start painting, measuring and using a pumpkin as a geoboard! We will begin pumpkin still life sketches. If you would like to donate your pumpkin after the holiday we would be glad to have it for our pumpkin science experiments!
Mark Your Calendars
Important Dates to Know!
November
8th (F) School Closed for Teacher Professional Day
25th‑29th (M-F) School Closed for Thanksgiving Break
December
20th ‑Jan. 6th (M-M) School Closed for Winter Break
November
1st Cook for your Pet Day
8th-Tongue Twister Day
13th World Kindness Day
20th Universal Children’s Day
December
3rd Giving Tuesday
12th Gingerbread House Day
New Upcoming Interns
Parent Resource Article: Crossing the Midline!
Midline Activities to try at Home!
Crossing the Midline Activities – Right to Left
Here are some of the activities to try at home. You may think they are pretty easy and basic, but you’d be surprised at how many children cannot do these movement-type exercises. You may need to clear some room in your home, but you don’t need too much room to get started. You can also do these activities all year long, even during the winter months. All exercises should be repeated 10 times using alternating legs and arms for 20 minutes each day.
Elbow to Knee
For this exercise, you want your child to stand with their legs together and then have their right elbow touch their left knee. Switch from the left elbow to the right knee. Make sure your child crosses our imaginary midline of the body. We want to ensure the movement is precise and slow so children don’t complete the exercises too fast or too sloppy.
Wrong Way or What to Watch for If your child has a tendency to put their right elbow to their right knee this is a red flag. It means they are struggling to cross one side of their body over the other, which could be why their right and left sides of the brain aren’t working together. If they can’t cross the midline, you will need to physically help them put their left elbow to their right knee or vice versa. Children with poor muscle tone, coordination and balance may also struggle with this activity so you may need to help them at first until they have built their strength.
Shoulder to Shoulder
This activity uses the arms as opposed to the legs. You can have your child stand shoulder width apart and then have them cross their right arm to their left shoulder and back again. Remember to help your child touch their right hand to their left shoulder and vice versa. The movement should be completed slowly and accurately.
Wrong Way or What to Watch for If your child’s right arm doesn’t make it over to the left shoulder (maybe they only got half way), they are not crossing the midline and will not get the full benefit of the exercise. You may also see your child swinging too far back or way over the midline. This also prevents them from getting the full benefit of the exercise.
Leg Kicks
This activity can be altered based on the child’s age. If the child is younger and smaller, you may want to begin them with toe touches first before doing leg extensions. If you have tiles in your floor or a square surface, help your child stand shoulder-width apart in that small area. Have them put their hands on their hips and then extend their left leg over the right side of their body, crossing the midline. Then have them try the other leg over the other side of the body. Help your child with slow and accurate steps to ensure full benefits of the exercise.
Wrong Way or What to Watch for Your child may struggle with balance so you may have to help hold their waist to prevent them from falling over. If your child can’t stay within their square, you will have to remind them to stay in the selected area. Watch your child to ensure their shoulders are square during the movement and that they are not crossing their full body over to the other side. Only their legs should cross the midline.
There are more excercises in the article link above! Incorporate into your daily routines!
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TerraNichol Academy of the Arts Innovative Reggio Emilia School
TerraNichol Academy of The Arts School is the kind of school parents expect, educators celebrate and children adore. Our approach to learning celebrates the great potential of young children, with the goal of nurturing self-motivated, life-long learners. The learning labs are guided by our Master Teachers as well as the Founder of TerraNichol Academy of The Arts Preschool with low teacher-to-child ratio to allow for one-on-one engagement and thoughtful observation. Join our small community school for a backstage tour and be inspired by our thoughtful team of Early Childhood Educators here at TerraNichol Academy.
Come and Explore our Reggio Emilia program at TerraNichol Academy acclaimed for the stunning environments, their educators who create, provoke and dazzle the students' senses, invite curiosity and discovery, and most importantly, foster strong, respectful meaningful relationships.
Come learn about the values for children in the program:
Being a home away from home..
connecting children to their families..
helping children to be powerful and active..
being a steward of the natural world..
seeing oneself as a capable learner..
recognizing and being curious about..
We provide a school environment that is beautiful and taken care of with an attitude of care so that parents, children, and teachers want to come to school every day.
It is with an intelligent heart and courage that we continue our goals and vision to continue to proceed with the work of a child.
We would love for you to attend one of the backstage tours on the following dates:
November 11th @4:30pm
December 9th @4:30pm
January 13th @4:30pm
February 10th @4:30pm
March 9th @4:30pm
April 13th @4:30pm
May 11th @4:30pm
June 8th @4:30pm
Submit a school application by visiting our website if you will be attending the Tour. http://www.terranichol.com/resources
Email: terranicholacademy@gmail.com
Website: www.terranichol.com
Location: 701 Old Englewood Road, Englewood, FL, United States
Phone: 941-474-3000
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Twitter: @terranichol