Adventures In WES Preschool!

We've been having the best time on our adventures to the brook and Southworth Park over the past month.  It's amazing to watch the imagination of these kids play out in the woods and at the water.  On our first trip or two it was clear that there was a wide variety of comfort level among the children when it came to playing outside getting wet and dirty.  The more we go, the more all of the kids are learning and getting comfortable using their natural surrounding to entertain themselves.  They're learning things as simple as when you go into the water above your boots (despite your teachers warnings) your feet get wet.  When you dig in the sand, your hands get dirty.  These concepts are obvious to adults, and we often forget that at one point we didn't know these things until we experienced them ourselves. While throwing rocks in the water they've observed that bigger rocks create bigger splashes and heavier rocks are harder than smaller rocks to throw far....

We've learned and observed a ton about butterflies this fall.  This may be the most successful fall I've ever had for hatching butterflies.  We've found chrysalises hanging from a bucket, from our play house, and most ironically, from the plastic caterpillar in the playground.  Sadly, we learned a little about survival as the chrysalis in the caterpillar did not make it... too many very excited children "observing" a little too close.  I learned that if a chrysalis falls from where it hangs, you can tape it from the stringy part onto something new, and it can still live and turn into a butterfly. The chrysalis that was hanging from the plastic house was falling off, so we saved it by bringing it inside and taping it to a bucket.  A week later a butterfly hatched.  It's been so fun for both students and teachers to watch the process and release the butterflies into the wild.

Our trip to brook was a huge hit.  The kids loved throwing rocks into the water, playing with sticks, digging in the sand, stacking rocks, playing in the water and even getting wet.  With the help of lots of adults we can keep the kids safe and still let them explore the natural habitat around them.  We had lots of smiles all around! Hiking to the brook. Throwing rocks. Making concoctions. Fun in the water. Woo Hoo!! A perfect sunny day for the brook. Fishing for rocks.    Working with friends. Rocks! Rocks! And more rocks! Preschool class of 2019-2020