Math
In the Blue Room, instead of using a store made calendar during calendar time, children take turns creating calendar pieces and constructing their own calendar. When it is a particular child“s day to make the calendar piece, they will typically draw a picture of something they did in the morning with their friends and enter the date in the upper left hand corner. The piece is then shared with the class and taped to the calendar grid as the children recite the date.
On the 100th day of school the children had a big celebration. Each child brought in a collection of 100 things and many activities involving 100 were enjoyed throughout the day. In the photo on the left, the children take 100 steps to see how far it will take them within the school. Other activities involved counting out 100 pieces of snack and building a block structure with 100 blocks.
Word problems are worked on as a group and individually. A typical word problem might be; Anne draws 7 pictures. She gives 3 pictures to her mom. How many pictures does she have left? The children work with manipulatives, dry erase boards or pencil and paper. Emphasis is placed on the process used to solve the problem.
Science
Many of the projects chosen lend themselves well to science exploration, for example, airplanes and mammals. A large selection of science related books are always on hand. A sensory table gives children a hands on chance to explore material such as sand, rocks and dirt. There is a garden just outside of the door that is tended to and developed by the kindergarteners. The kindergarteners help take care of the classroom pets and learn what foods are ok for a Guinea Pig to eat and what foods to offer Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. The Blue Room has a collection of different ramps and balls for the children to experiment with.
