3-Day: Bowen Hospital...Now Open!
The Bowen Hospital is officially open! The room was buzzing with nurses and doctors, tending to patients, applying bandages, taking temperatures, administering oxygen and casting broken bones. Your children are LOVING our hospital and all the medical equipment exploration! Although we were off to a slow start this week (we only had 10 little friends on Monday and a shortened day because of the snow), we introduced the children to the word "community" and talked about all the important people that make up a community. Over the next couple of weeks, we will explore medical professions as well as police officers and firefighters. On Monday we celebrated Riya's birthday as we welcomed her into the world of "3". It was as if we planned to have Riya's mom, a dentist and her dad, a cardiologist be the parent helpers that day! At table number one we traced tiny hands and arms onto black paper. We explained to the children that you have bones in your body and that a special machine called an X-ray can see inside your skin to take a special picture. The children created bones inside their arm silhouettes with glue and Q-Tips, which resemble an X-ray. Speaking of bones, our discovery table was filled with model bones and bandages for wrapping. We sang about our bones and read about Maisy's Trip to the Hospital.
Melissa, from Puddlestompers came for a visit to show us all kinds of animal homes. We got to see and "one finger touch" a beehive, a hummingbird nest and a robin's nest! The children were fascinated and did a fantastic job sitting and listening. Mayson and I were so impressed!
On Wednesday, we played with real fluffy snow from outside at our discovery table and some imitation snow at our sensory table. Children explored the similarities and differences between the two. They used tiny spray bottles to color the snow a variety of colors and stamped shapes into our pretend snow. We had a few snow eating debates and Mayson and I explained to the children that, although it might be okay at home, it’s probably not best to eat snow at school. Our room was a lot more energetic with many more friends back on Wednesday! We continued to work on our arm X-rays and used our motor skills and perceptual skills to line up extra large dominoes at table number 3. The highlight of our day on Wednesday was playing in the snow on our Bowen playground. Before all the fun though, we had lots of work to do! We took off our shoes, we pulled on our snow pants, we slipped on our snow boots, we zipped up our snow pants, we dipped and flipped our jackets (sometimes upside down), we zipped our jackets (once someone helps us start it), we put on our hats (now we are getting hot) and we tried really hard to put on our mittens and gloves (but most of us need help) and, finally, we waddled our way over to line up. Some of us are faster than others and we all need a little help, but, it's well worth the effort to get outside. Climbing up the Bowen hill can be quite a challenge with all our gear, but, we made it! The children made a huge snowman at the playground as well as snow butterflies on the ground; we shoveled snow and made snowballs. We love our outside time at school. On Friday, Ms. Karen was out and Ms. Mayson and Nina had a terrific day. The children made their own medical kits with all the supplies they need to make house calls. They tended to our babies in the pediatric emergency room, cleaning wounds, washing babies, applying bandages and bandaids, wrapping ace bandages, drawing blood and giving shots. Next week, we will be changing the hospital to a police and fire station. We are planning very special visits from the Newton Police Department and the Newton Fire Department. Your children are beginning to understand all the important components that make up a community. Have a great weekend! Karen and Mayson
