2025-26 Smart Start Week 18

Letter U week was full of unique, uplifting, and unexpected learning experiences! To better meet our children where they are developmentally, we intentionally separated into three classroom environments, each thoughtfully designed with invitations that encouraged creativity, sensory exploration, and skill-building through play.

Each space was prepared to spark curiosity and allow children to explore Letter U concepts in ways that felt meaningful and joyful to them.

Across the classrooms, children were invited into experiences such as:

• Dress Up – A favorite invitation that encouraged imagination, language development, and social play.

• Melted Snowmen – Using shaving cream and paint, children explored texture and color while creating “melting” snowmen. This sensory-rich activity supported fine motor development and creative expression.

• Camping Under the Stars – A cozy dramatic play invitation in our 3 year-old room where children camped beneath twinkling stars.

• Umbrella Watercolors – Children returned to a process art experience that began with drippy paint. This time, they added watercolor details to umbrella shapes, allowing them to reflect, revisit, and extend their thinking.

• Glue Practice – A simple but purposeful invitation that strengthened fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and confidence as children practiced squeezing and controlling glue.

By offering these invitations in intentionally prepared environments, children were able to engage deeply, follow their interests, and learn at their own pace. Separating into three classrooms allowed us to better align materials, expectations, and support with each group’s developmental needs—creating a calmer, more focused, and more joyful learning experience for everyone.

We are so excited to continue implementing these thoughtfully designed learning environments throughout the remainder of the year. Letter U reminded us that learning doesn’t have to be uniform to be meaningful—sometimes the most unique paths lead to the deepest understanding.

We hope you have enjoyed the snow, and encourage you to keep practicing your snow dance! We miss you and look forward to having you back at Smart Start!

See you soon,

The Smart Start team