Smart Start 2023-2024: Week 8

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Week marks the beginning of celebration season at Smart Start. The fun began on Monday with costumes and Halloween-themed fun and continued through Tuesday with treats and a Halloween classic, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

During Letter P Week, we read the book Pumpkin Jack and we carved our own classroom pumpkin. This week, we checked out our pumpkin and talked about how it is starting to decompose just like the pumpkin in the story. Our pumpkin is starting to get mushy and there's plenty of mold on the inside. We put our pumpkin in a jar with some soil and water and will spend the next few weeks watching it break down. We'll be looking for something magic to happen toward the end of the school year as the pumpkin seeds sprout in the soil!

Our letter of the week was the letter I. On Monday, we made invisible handprints with baking soda, water, turmeric, and rubbing alcohol. Our students were amazed when their deep red handprints appeared!

We wrapped up our spooky fun with a foaming pumpkin!

Learning invitations this week were focused on what students could do independently. We practiced things like tying shoes, folding socks, turning keys, and opening locks. During Circle Time, students were given the opportunity to share what they can do all by themselves.

Independence. Imagination. Ingenuity!

Students are continuing their exploration of The Brain Dance in the Wiggle Room. This week it was a Hip Hop Version!

On Wednesday, we said farewell to the skeletons and jack-o-lanterns and we welcomed November with a discussion about being thankful. We talked about what it means to be thankful and we started one of our student's favorite fall traditions...SKITTLES GRATITUDE. At the end of each day, each student gets one Skittle. Each color represents something for which we can be grateful.

Before they eat their Skittle they get a chance to say "I am thankful for ________." It's such a sweet way to end each school day in November!