What's in a name?

Even before Morning Meeting, we were a very busy bunch. There was snack to be made...

...books to be read...

...and animals to tend to.

Then, for our "Stump the Turtles" math question, Tamara tried to trick everyone by adding in multiplication! Just when it looked like we'd finally fooled them, the Turtles figured out the answer.

We tried a new kind of yoga today, by turning our bodies into different letters.

At Morning Meeting, the Elephant returned to read us the final(?!) version of our story. It does not yet have a titles, and the elephant's suggestion of calling it "The Elephant's Story," did NOT meet with the group's approval.

Carol showed the class the backgrounds that have been created so far, as well as each of the story parts that would need an illustration.

At Choice Time, some kids began to create new story illustrations.

Outside, there was snack, magnatiles, bookmaking and baby washing...

along with swinging, climbing, water painting and bikes.

Inside, Sarah Lynne's mom helped the kids with a secret project, while a very complicated family worked through issues around marriage and child and kitten raising.

Out and About

Some of the Turtles went over to the Abington Meeting Garden this morning to meet a friend of Carol's and see what she was planting.

We found a couple of ladybugs and also discovered that the paths were fun places to run around.

We had our last Music with Allison today! It was a special all-requests performance, and she played so many of our favorites, like the Dinosaur Dance, the Froggy Song, and the Cowboy Song.

Then we were on our way to the Lower School. It was time to return our books to Gwen in the Library, and visit our friends on the Pre-K playground too!

We got to play in the Kindergarten and the Big Kid's playground. Many of the Turtles found out that they can do things that they couldn't do at the beginning of the year. They have gotten so big and strong!

We also ran into a few family members while we were out and about.

Solving Problems, Washing Babies and Making Books

Today we got out the new playdough - there's nothing like fresh purple playdough to start the day off right.

At Morning Meeting, we practiced our nearly perfected Moment of Silence. The Turtles have learned a lot about holding their bodies and their minds very still.

We also worked on solving the many problems in our story. With one more edit (to see if we want to add or change anything), the writing part is very near completion.

For Inside Outside time, we had our snack outside. We also brought out our library books to look at one more time before we take them back tomorrow. 

Inside, we began creating the illustrations for our story, using washes of watercolor and permanent marker. We also had magnetic mosaics, puzzles and dramatic play indoors.

We brought magnatiles outside, and the Caterpillars brought out babies to wash. As it turned out, the Caterpillars decided that the magnatiles were more fun and the Turtles preferred the babies. The Turtles really enjoy the rhythm of Inside Outside day now - it allows them to get involved with a broad spectrum of activities, and to self monitor their need for a slower or faster pace.