Circle Time

Oh, look! Pictures of me! I don't often have the opportunity to be on the other side of the camera (which is the way I like it), but I understand you all might feel differently about it. Not that you crave pictures of my beauteous self, but so that you can see what we get up to when I'm part of it.

Here we have Calendar Time. The three-year-olds loooooove calendar time. We talk about the day's weather, we recite the days of the week, we count the number of cloudy days and snowy days we've had so far, we even (oh, so casually) throw out terms like "row" and "column". Charts and counting: Not just about increasing their vocabulary and making them a little more aware of their surroundings, it's also terrific pre-math learning. And they LOVE it.

At this age, children do not need to be convinced that learning is fun. (How, why and when do they start resisting learning? Oh, I have lots and lots of opinions on that one. So does John Holt, if you're curious.)

Anyway... the calendar. Eliana counts the sunny days we had last week. (One. Booo, winter.) You can see that they're all engrossed in the activity, even Owen and Milan. And the dog. I suspect Owen and Milan are getting more out of it.


We also sing (and often dance). Here we are chanting "Three Little Monkey". Not the ones who jump on the bed, but the ones who swing in the trees. Stephen, bless him, managed to capture the children's Very Most Favourite part of the whole poem!

Aaaaaaannnnd.... SNAP!!!!

And what happens to the first little monkey? (And the second, and third and fourth, and all, in fact, but that lucky last one?)

Oh, dear!
The poor monkey!
He got eaten by the crocodile!
Though the only one who seems in the slightest distressed
by his untimely end is me.
Macabre little ditty, but they love it.