Babies play the melodica

November 18, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

In our babies class, we love to sing and play the melodica. Children get excited on music and show great interest in this specific musical instrument and the sound it produces.

Today, after singing our song, they played the melodica themselves. And the result? Spectacular! Just like young musicians, the blew the instrument and pushed the buttons. Some even managed to produce a nice sound!

As a result of this playing, attention and memory of children was stimulated and practiced their control and coordination skills.

But most of all, this experience provided children with the ability to express themselves and have fun! Music is always an excellent tool for babies to discover the world.

(by Maria Gryllaki, teacher in babies’ class, in Athens)

A day full of shadows (part 3)

November 16, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

(presentation by Irene Lithoxopoulou, teacher in post-toddlers class, in Athens)

A day full of shadows (part 2)

November 10, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

(presentation by Irene Lithoxopoulou, teacher in post-toddlers class, in Athens)

A day full of shadows (part 1)

November 8, 2015November 8, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

(presentation by Irene Lithoxopoulou, teacher in post-toddlers class, in Athens)

The lady and the mechanic

November 7, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

Babies can do great things with just a taxi cab and a paint brush!

They instantly assign roles to themselves, no need to speak. The girl is the driver and the boy is the mechanic.

When job is done, he closes the door like a gentleman and waves goodbye!!

This is how no-talking babies communicate each other…

(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies’ class, in Athens)

An I-don’t-want-it-to-end game!

November 4, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

Something special happened in pre-K class!

Everyone brought his or her favorite doll or teddy and turned it into an astronaut!

The space suit was made from aluminum foil.

When all astronauts were ready, went to the roof top of the school and flewwwwwww!! (wearing parachutes for protection)

An I-don’t-want-it-to-end game!

(by Spyridoula Patouna, teacher in pre-K class, in Athens)

Bus time is questions’ time!

November 3, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

Dimitris asked a question in school bus: “what happens when we mix red and blue color?” So, the experiment began!

We mixed red and blue color with water, separately, in two different cups.

Then, we made a “paper bridge” for each cup, which transported red and blue into a third cup!

Next day we observed the results of the experiment. Now we had blue, red and a third color!

Then we used all three colors to paint!

(by Eleni Triantafyllopoulou, teacher and bus escort in Athens school)

Exploring space in pre-K

October 28, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

During their “exploring space” project, children in pre-K class did a number of things…

Constructed their own telescopes to watch the stars…

Created their own planets, based on what they read about in books…

Also constructed the moon: used everyday materials to make the shape of a circle and then painted it white by using glue, shaving foam and glitter!

Their next mission: teddy bear visits the moon!

(by Spyridoula Patouna, teacher in pre-K class)

A swimming pool for toddlers in school

October 28, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

(by Jenny Diamantopoulou, teacher in toddlers’ class, in Athens)

Process-based learning

October 23, 2015October 24, 2015 / dorothysnot / 2 Comments

Free play in class is an important part of the day, for any play-based preschool.

Through play, children imagine, create, disagree, negotiate, learn to solve problems, explore materials – but also develop their relationship with other children.

The decision of our kindergarten kids to construct a privacy box for their medical corner, gave them the opportunity to master all the above, plus to connect play with maths.

Children got divided into groups and began to work. First, paid a visit to the local carpenter to pick their wood.

Then, returned to school and started to work….

grouped pieces of wood according to height, shape and size
measured the length of the room and distances between the woods
chose the proper pieces for their construction
picked the rest of the staff needed, such as screws, nails and glue
calculated the quantities
chose the right tools.

While doing the above, class entered into assumptions, cooperation, testing, made mistakes and worked together to produce a certain result. But mostly, enjoyed the process!