Family

What is a family? How are families the same and different? Who’s in your family? Where does your family live? What do families do? Who’s in our school family/community? These are some of the questions we’ve been exploring this fall at ALG through books, stories, photos, experiments, and play.

At the beginning of the year as we got to know our “school family” we explored the book “Owl Babies” about three young owls whose mother goes out hunting one night and they wonder and worry about where she’s gone.  As we were meeting new people and learning new routines, some of our youngest members strongly identified with Bill, the baby owl, whose mantra is “I want my mommy!” They were able to repeat the phrase again and again through puppet shows, with soft puppets, magnet puppets, and various other tellings of the story.  The three little owls band together just as we grew closer as we got to know one another.  Soon beginning of the year tears and fears faded and children settled into the new routine confident that their caregivers would be back to pick them up at the end of the day just as the three little owls are elated and comforted when their owl mother returns home and Bill happily coos “I love my Mommy.” 

In the library and at story time we read and learned about some of the many ways people come together as a family. For example we read “And Tango Makes Three” based on a true story about a pair of male penguins in NY City’s Central Park Zoo who build a nest together and attempt to sit on a rock as an egg, the zoo keeper notices and replaces the rock with an egg that needs to be incubated and the pair of penguins soon become parents. We read a book called “The Best Family in the World” about a little girl waiting to be adopted who imagines what her new family will be like and gets to meet them in the end. 

We also read several books about families expecting new babies, most told from the perspective of the older sibling such as “I’m Your Peanut Butter Big Brother” about a boy who wonders what his new little sibling will be like, and “Julius, The Baby of the World” about a little girl, Lilly, who thinks her new baby brother is disgusting and doesn’t know why everyone coos over him so much. “But when Cousin Garland dares to criticize Julius, Lilly bullies her into loudly admiring Julius as the baby of the world. Lilly knows her baby brother is nothing but dreadful -- until she claims him for her own.”

We delved into the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears acting it out in dramatic play with Pickett, learning the story in song with Natasha, and using flannel board figures to tell the story.  In aftercare we were able to explore more deeply one of the three bears’ family traditions of eating porridge by peeling apples, measuring oats and milk, squeezing honey, shaking cinnamon and tasting the fruits of our labor.  At circle time everyone at ALG learned about one of Oliver’s family traditions of eating apples with honey for Jewish New Year and later got to help prepare this tasty treat with his mom.

We also learned about Eid with Mimi and Naji’s family by looking at pictures, hearing a short story and eating a special date-filled treat!

As we explored a few family traditions everyone had the opportunity to share a story about their family which was compiled into our “ALG Family Book” complete with an illustrated cover page created by some of our oldest ALG members Luka and Kami.  These stories are shared at circle time and the book is in our ALG library where it is very popular and often chosen to be read aloud.

Each child’s family photo was not only used as inspiration and to illustrate our family book but also to create our “ALG Family Tree.”  Students worked with Cara strengthening their fine motor skills as they ripped pieces of green tissue and then glued them onto sheets.  Their photos were then attached to the other side and cut out.  Students continued strengthening the muscles in their hands as they used a hammer and nail to make a hole in the top of the “leaf” and practiced their eye-hand coordination as they threaded a paper clip through the hole before choosing a place of honor for their own family on the tree.

Some families find themselves amidst turmoil and strife and turn to each other to help them through.  As each of the three little pigs finds themselves facing the consequences of their decisions, they turn to their sibling to help them weather the storm. While delving into the story of The Three Little Pigs we considered different building materials and how different homes are constructed.  We examined some of the properties of straw, sticks, and bricks…which one is lightest? Heaviest? Which one blows the farthest the easiest? Which one can stand up to a hairdryer?

In aftercare we tried our hand at a little masonry using graham crackers as bricks, and cream cheese as mortar and erected our own humble homes which we then got to eat.  We also took several neighborhood walks and got to see the homes of some of our classmates that live close by.

And not to unfairly demonize the poor wolf and to help us consider that there may be other sides to a situation we delved into other versions of the story such as the “True Story of the Big Bad Wolf” where the wolf was merely trying to borrow some sugar to make a cake for his poor grandmother and unfortunately had a bad cold at the time accidently blowing down the houses of his neighbors with his powerful sneeze. 

We also looked at the story of “The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig” where the little wolves continue to build stronger more reinforced fortresses to keep out the Big Bad Pig who finds stronger more powerful ways to blow it down until finally the wolves try a different tack and build a house out of flowers. The Pig is overcome with its beauty and sees that perhaps there is another way.  The Little wolves and the Pig become friends and spend their days drinking tea and playing badminton. These books fed our imaginations in the block area where we continued our exploration of homes, constructing large fortresses, extensive apartment buildings, as well as houses of flowers.

The Red Group used their imagination and worked together in the art area to construct a large troll puppet out of cardboard, bowls, yarn, and popcicle sticks which they used to perform the story of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” for the younger groups.  As each of the goat brothers faced the menacing troll they looked to their older stronger sibling to handle the situation which the biggest Billy Goat easily tackles. The Red and Blue groups weathered an actual storm as they trecked to Discovery Theater to experience a culminating production about The Three Bears, Three Little Pigs and the Billy Goats Gruff.  Back at school all of the groups participated in a tour of the church to learn more about the building and community we live in at school.

As we learn about being a part of a family and a community we’ve been reading the books “This Little Light of Mine” “Rainbow Fish,” “Rainbow Fish to the Rescue,” and “The Little Red Hen,” learning how we can “shine our light” to help our families at home and at school.  The red and blue groups worked to draw pictures of ways they can shine their light at school and narrated their ideas to Melissa who wrote them down.  These works are currently on display on the line in the art area.  Children practiced “shining their light” by caring for our classroom pets and plants, and learned how we can work together as a “family” to care for one another.  

After the loss of our beloved classroom pet, Inky, children shared remembrances with Melissa who compiled them into a collection, some made cards for Coco, others gave her some extra love. Circles have been an ongoing undercurrent during our study of family and while we were all reminded of the circle of life, we also explored circles through art, books, and discovering them in our classroom, neighborhood, and homes.  We will continue our exploration of circles and family as we move into talking about food, in particular bread and soup.  In the coming weeks we hope that some of you will share some circular foods, particularly breads or soups that your family enjoys be it tortillas, crepes, bagels, chapati, or matza balls.

We’ve been loving getting to know this year’s ALG families and look forward to continuing to learn and grow together.