New beginnings...

God, it has been so long since I last posted on this blog! But here I am, and I promise there will be much more regular updates from now on. Things have changed a little bit in preschool.
My partner in crime for the past 7 years decided it was time for her to seek new adventures. I was very sad to see her go.. I was quite upset to be honest as we had been working so well together for so long. She was there at the very beginning when I opened the preschool and we made it work together! She could read me like a book and she was also a very close friend! But I shouldn't have feared! Tanya came along this September and I am blessed to be working once again with a very good friend of mine. What can I say?Tanya was born to work with young children. She is so patient, so caring and completely dedicated to them. She is a real gem!

What else? Well, those who follow the blog regularly since the start, would know that I like to move things around and that I love change and variety. I took this year as a new beginning and as many of our "newcomers" were a bit younger than last year group, I re-shaped the classroom to add a little kitchen/restaurant corner. I didn't want to buy one of these plastic kitchen you find in any toy store. I actually hate them. The idea behind a home corner is to encourage communication, language, cooperation, and imagination. Plastic doesn't leave much for the imagination, if you ask me. Following the Reggio Emilia guidelines, I was looking for open-ended materials (wood bowls/plates, pine cones, corks etc..) and for real kitchen tools. I used old wooden wine crate to create a little space on a simple classroom table covered with a cute table clothe. A few plants here and there. And voila! I will keep adding items in the corner along the way.

Have a look for yourself!

As you come in, on your right hand side, the painting corner, the science are, and the jigsaw unit.

In the back, you can see our practical life exercises shelving unit beside the Sensorial materials. The blue little table in the centre is our sensory bin!

As you come in, this is what you have on your left. The Montessori insets and the numeracy & literacy shelves. Our library is by the double door, with a green mat. I am hoping to get a wooden easel soon and I will place it right before the library. It should be a nice addition to the class to encourage children to write.

And there is our little kitchen behind the library.

I have also added a little corner just for a farm.

Construction corner with our doll house. A lot goes on here..