Welcome....

Hello from my preschool class, I want to just welcome you to our new blog.  This is a work in progress, so any comments or suggestions are welcome.  I will be promoting this blog on the internet for educators, but please feel free to invite anyone who would like to see what we are doing in our classroom to take a look--the more the merrier!

Allow me to introduce myself (Ms.Amie) and my assistant (Ms. Maria).  We love our class and enjoy all the antics and experiences that we get to participate in with them.  We teach at a lab school at a university, and we have a lot of international children in our class.  At this time we have NINE languages in our classroom! 

This is us.  Aren't we cute?

My plan for this blog is to talk about what we do in our classroom on a daily basis for parents, grandparents and other educators.  Also why we do the things we do.  I think (hope) you will be amazed by what you see. 

You might notice some "unusual" things about our classroom...let me explain a few things and as always, if you have a question about something, just ask.  I'm happy to answer any questions.

1. You might notice that we don't use the traditional bright primary colors in our classroom.  We are making a transition to more natural materials and furnishings in our classroom.  This is a process, so as things need to be replaced, we are adding those elements.
2. We BELIEVE (I use caps because believe isn't quite enough) in play.  We also BELIEVE that learning happens while playing.  Our activities are open-ended play based activities. 
3. We are learning right along with the children.  Ours is not a classroom where the teachers teach and the children listen.  We all teach and we all listen and we all learn together. 
4. Children are given choices about what to participate in and when. 

We hope you enjoy your visits with us and come back often!