Weeks Thirty Six & Thirty Seven: Goodbyes

It's been an amazing year in the Early Learning classroom. The girls have grown into artists, designers, actors, engineers, writers, mathematicians, athletes, readers, scientists, musicians, environmentalists, activists, and most importantly, kind and considerate young girls. I have enjoyed every minute that I have spent with these girls, and look forward to another great year ahead with some of them next year. Have a great summer!

Z creates a detailed story using a variety of math materials. After sorting the numbers into individual piles and counting out items to go with them, she lines up the bears "ready to watch the show".

M creates her own math game today. You have to roll two dice, add them up, and the lay out that amount of cubes beside the numeral. The cubes get lined up below each other, so eventually you have an array to skip count to get the total!

G practices writing her words this week. She decides to separate her board into many sections and strategically fits the words inside. What great fine motor practice, as well as spelling practice.

K covers G up with a blanket and puts her down for her nap. The girls love to pretend that they are sleeping during their time at Drama.

Together the girls colour a welcome card for incoming Early Learners. They all suggested messages for us to write to help the new girls feel excited about coming to Linden and welcome here.

G and Z pose behind their incredible city. They were proud to share all of their hard work, and couldn't help but bring everyone's attention to the assortment of materials they used.

G and M couldn't help but pose behind their creation on the Light Table as well, a colourful mix of containers, gems, and even a few animals.

Our new class photo, taken with S and K included this time!

This morning we're playing another round of Connect Four, an addition game. The girls are quite speedy with their addition when it comes to getting their chips on the board.

Today we invited all of the families in to look at the girls' portfolios, which are filled with art, writing, documentation pages, and other work samples. S is so excited to share her work with her mom.

K walks her mom through all of the learning she has done at Linden since she started with us at the end of March. 

G and M are spending time in Drama, and their expressions remind me of what life might be like in ten years. 

After a beautiful walk through the ravine in the rain, G blows a wild stream of bubbles.

M follows suit, and tries to blow as many as possible with one breath of air. The other girls love popping them!

Ellen joined us for our final ravine walk. Despite getting poured rain on, the girls are all smiles when we reached the park.

The yearbooks have been delivered and handed out to each of the girls. As they flip through the pages, they name off all of the familiar faces of students and teachers that they see. It really is incredible how many people they have come to know in such a short time.

K, S, and G sign their names in each others' yearbooks. It will be amazing to look back on these signatures in many years, when they are teenagers together, and be reminded of how long their friendships have lasted.

For the last day of school, we were lucky to spend a half day at Skyzone playing in the foam pit and on trampolines. G uses all of her strength, balance, and focus to shimmy up the ladder challenge. She was the first Linden girl to succeed at this today!

A big star jump from M!

G jumps off backward into the foam pit, and she is ecstatic. 

M and P (grade 5) try to pass a bubble between their wands at Riverdale park.

The day ends with G giving G a full-arm's worth of face-paint at the park. This is the beauty of childhood!