If there’s one thing we want our children to leave with from Harmon Oaks it’s this- curiosity, love and compassion for nature & all living things (with a few pesty/poisonous exceptions).
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This #prayingmantis must have also been drawn into our morning outdoor setup today because he looks to be right at home and engaging with our children. This brings us sooooo muchhhh joyyyyy! 💛💚
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Hoping this love keeps growing and is reinforced after our little ones graduate. Parents, know that we’re sending home spider lizard, and insect lovers, so please please please, before you go to step on a #spider or any other #insect, bottle up those reactions and impulses, capture it and let it go outdoors with your little one. The only exception we make at Harmon Oaks are flies and mosquitos that don’t belong indoors. Even then we try to shoo the fly outdoors and guide it- when all else fails we swat it after hours.
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#NatureLovers #NatureKids #loveNature at #HarmonOaks, #reggioinspired #ecstem #stemeducation #earlylearningcentre
#nurseryschool #teachersofinstagram #preschoolteacher #naturephotography
Inspired by our conference last year with @ecstem and here’s the result... a pixie glass slope into another #sensorybin #tub.
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What are some of #developmental goodies here:
#Teamwork (zoom into the right side of the picture!!!💓💓💓💓)
#socialemotionalgrowth #communication
#makingpredictions #problemsolving #observing #drawingconclusions #classification #finemotorskills #grossmotorskills #sharingideas #gainingconfidence #language #learningthroughplay #havingfun #coolingdown and more!
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Would you have guessed all that was happening in this picture⁉️
Train your eye to see the developmental amazingness you can help heighten in #play just by inviting children to explore with various materials in various ways- #intenfulspaces #intenful #curriculum
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#reggioemiliaapproach #stemteacher(s) who intentionally prep #openendedplay that reinforces and supports indoor discussion, literature, #curriculum at #HarmonOaks
We love reusing #CAPS for #art #projects, #invitations, #numberskills challenges, #patterning... you name it! Here it’s used in an #AllAboutMe #literacybin that also makes for an interesting #sensoryexperience.
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This #invitationtoplay can also be used with matching #patterncards and to encourage #sorting. #MathFun
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Add some #tongs and you’ve got a #finemotorskill challenge too! What other opportunities do you see in this super simple literacy bin invite?
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#reggioemiliaapproach #reggioinspired #preschoolliteracy with #ecteachers that love #stem, #invites, #provocations, and #openendedplay. ❤️
This is such a perfect reminder of the importance of making each #artproject as #openended as possible... even a super simple one about how old your little one will be turning during #AllAboutMe discussions/month.
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Just look at what offering a variety of #paper, texture, #scissors, and #drawing tools does. It creates an opportunity for children to think more deeply about how and what to apply, what #choices they’ll make in their work, and it allows them to be more detailed and creative. Then, talk about #confidencebuilding as a class and as an individual!
Just look at these masterpieces shining so brightly for them to admire. 💓💓💓!
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Even the project itself can be open-ended. The class can vote or individual child can decided whether they want to draw/express/celebrate how old they’ll be turning this school year or how old they are right now? Both teach the same concept, reinforce the same developmental benchmarks, and focus on growing the same skill sets, etc.
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#BirthdayCake during #allaboutmecurriculum #MakingSimple#Extraordinary!
#ReggioInspired #ReggioInspiredTeachers at #HarmonOaks.
In learning about our #school & #classroom, we celebrated our #friends and the #friendships we have developed at #HarmonOaks. One of our projects was to draw a #portrait of a #friend. Well.... here it goes... and we were left just mind blown by the amazing detail, the focus, and the effort they all placed into the portraits. Swipe & be amazed!!!! 👈
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This was our first time inviting children to draw a portrait of a friend using their photo as a guide (and their precious friends in person of course). A keeper of a project for sure- @learning2blossom. ❤️
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Side note, just look at those lower cases!!!! 💓😍🥰💓
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#Preschool #AllAboutMe #liveportraits #reggioinspired #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig
What was likely your first introduction to literacy at #infancy, then again as a #toddler, then again as a #preschooler & #kindergartener? Your #NAME!!!!!
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Here we used white crayon to write a hidden message (their name!) that would later reveal itself with some application of water color paint (or #watercolor liquid). And guess what, it’s a message they were able to read! How proud are they of themselves! The magic of a #NAME!
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#Parents, we typically place our little’s name in their nursery room, over their bed, on puzzles, on their belongings... think about it! From their initial to their nickname to their full name, it’s such an important part of them & such an important / essential part of #LITERACY!
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What is #earlyliteracy? It’s the development of the foundations and skills required to learn to #read! It can be as simple as #identifyingtheletters of the #alphabet and #reading and pointing to the words in a book which allows young children to build an understanding about written text. It’s rhyming words, it’s identifying sounds, it can be simple yet also quite complex!
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So go for it, post that #namedecal on the wall, read a book, write their name in a book and call attention to it...yes, you’re building early literacy! 🎉Literacy starts at #infancy and we continue what you’ve started in our #toddlerprogram at #HarmonOaks. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
How is it already almost the end of the first week of December!?Time is flying!
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Here are a few of our favorites from #thanksgiving week that we didn’t get a chance to share. We hope everyone is still in the spirit of feeling #blessed and #thankful because there’s so much goodness in our lives and so much we are still able to take for granted (despite having so much we once took for granted!).
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At #HarmonOaks we miss setting up tables with #holiday #gifts from our children for their families. We miss lunch outside under the patio as a school community with ‘old’ and young sharing conversation and taking care of one another.
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We miss language days & days us teachers would just swap and teach another class or just have fun in the afternoon without worrying about cohorts and exposure.
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We miss amazing group sensory bins outdoors and having our children share our learning stations, areas, work, and invites with parents.
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We miss having family events off campus! We wish we could have had our Fall Gathering last month at the @underwoodfamilyfarms - an annual school community building treat for our children, teachers and parents.
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BUT, we are thankful for our children, our families, the fun we still get to have each day, the fact that we are all still as close as close can be with each other, and the fact that we can still find ways to support and bring joy to each other’s lives through this pandemic. We are #villagestrong at Harmon Oaks and we wouldn’t have it any other way. ❤️❤️
#caringthroughcovid #teachingthroughcovid
#keepingpositivitygoing #maintainingahealthyenviroment
#reggioinspired #earlyeducation #nurseryschool