Friday, January 25, 2013

Chinese or "Lunar" New Year: classroom in pictures

Here is a visually representation of Chinese New Year in my classroom last year.

It is called Lunar New Year, which includes other Asians who celebrate, for example, my Korean friends call it Lunar New Year.  :)

We were blessed enough to have a mom come in who is from China, and she shared a special snack with us (the pink fish) and traditional Chinese clothing, a story, and more! 

My co-teacher's friend allowed us to borrow her dragon puppet  (it is actually a Lion!)

Our friends at amazon have one for sale:  http://www.amazon.com/China-Educational-Products-Chinese-Marionette/dp/B003O5YW7K

Hope you find some inspiration for your CNY or LNY celebrations.

A blog post will soon show you some project possibilities for your special day whether it be at home or in a classroom.  For now, enjoy these images. 












For the children,
Miss Lynette

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Busy Hands

A visual story: Simply for your inspiration, an up-close look at one classroom.

While the children are not pictured to protect their identities in this case, it was also done for this blog post as very purposeful act, in order to show a visual representation for the hands-on learning and fun!!

Don't be afraid to get a little messy to explore  a bit, or to try something new.
 




















{Hands-on, open-ended fun and learning}

For the children,
Miss Lynette



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Let's get grooving

It has been a while friends.

Welcome Teachers, Homeschoolers, Mommies, Daddies, Caretakers, Students. Join us!

It is time to get things grooving along here at Play and Discover.

To catch you up, last year Mrs. D and I had an awesome school year at Kings! We loved our kids, parents, and working together.

Personally, I became very busy as I was working, along with my husband, on the adoption of our daughter from China....so please excuse my absence from the blog.

A long way for this Jersey girl. Pictured here with my husband at The Great Wall.


I can excitedly tell you that I am home with her now while working a part time job at church. And she is home 6 months from China as of this January 2013.

Our daughter home for 6 months.


She will be making many appearances as a great model for all the DIY learning activities I look forward to spotlighting here at Play and Discover. It is my hope to help her blossom and explore learning, along with sharing opportunities to do so with you and your family.

While most of what I will initially post will be preschool related, from toddlers through young fives, many can surely be altered or added to, in order to make them more challenging for older children. 

I believe in hands on learning, and "safe" risk taking that allows children to learn real life lessons.

I believe that Jesus must be part of the process, for my family this is paramount, so I will happily share some bible based lessons or themes here and there. 

More recently (after being pulled kicking and screaming into the digital age in the preschool classroom) I am exploring the merits of using technology in the classroom or the home-classroom. If done in just the right way, with limited, specific, guided use, I now think it can be a wonderful tool. (there, I said it, and even used the word "wonderful"...gasp)

Looking forward to Miss Eileen also sharing her expertise.

And perhaps special highlights from others in the field. 

Come by, come often, comment, and share.

For the children,
Miss Lynette

stay tuned for: a micro look at the classroom through hands-only and centers pics; and Chinese New Year  " CNY "