Graph the Leaves!

This week in our TASK program, we have a fun seasonal activity lined up for the kids!  We are going on a leaf hunt!  After our nature walk, we are going to graph the leaves as we ask questions about the leaves to the students.  When we are done graphing our leaves, we will make a leaf collage!  It is sure to be a lot of FALL fun and we can't wait to show you our final product!

If you would like to learn more about why we love fall fun, click here!

Self Portraits

What a fun idea!  We asked our TASK students to make an illustration on how they see themselves.  We saw some very impressive and interesting portraits!     

Children’s drawings are their earliest attempts at writing and an important phase in their overall development. It is a phase when they represent what they have experienced with their senses when drawing in dry or wet sand, with water on a dry wall or on paper. It is not easy to use stubby and clumsy little fingers (2-4years) to say what they mean, and that is why a scribble can be a fire engine, a bat or scramble eggs. Converting thoughts onto paper is a skill that takes years to develop and goes hand in hand with ‘reading’ their own pictures by looking at their works of art and reconstructing their own thoughts and feelings before saying it out aloud.

If you would like to learn more about why we value creativity, click here!

Imagination Station!

This week our theme is Imagination Station, and it has been a TON of fun! Lots of really great things have been happening in T.A.S.K. So far, we've imagined that we were at a restaurant in Italy - we had four-star chefs, a full dining room with the highest quality spaghetti and meatballs, and a wait staff that was perfection. We've also imagined that our block center was a farm, with lots of animals, barns, and horse stalls. 

Today Miss Danie brought in a big tub of Magic Nuudles! These are super cool. With just a little bit of water, we can mold them into whatever sculpture we want! It was so much fun to turn this....

into this with just a little water and a whole lot of imagination!!!

It was pretty interesting to figure out exactly how much water we needed to make the Magic Nuudles stick to each other, and how much water was TOO much water. Then we set them on the table to dry.

If you want to know why we think imagination is so important, click here!

Lego and sand sensory play!

This week, we are doing all things Lego!! Our T.A.S.K. kids have been SO excited for this theme. It gives us a chance to build some of the coolest creations! 

A couple weeks ago, we got a bin of kinetic sand. It's special sand that can be molded and all the kids really love it. Today, we wondered how hard it would be to build something out of Legos AND kinetic sand. It was pretty cool!

Sensory play is important for a few reasons. 

1. Research shows that sensory play builds nerve connections in the brain’s pathways, which lead to the child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks.
2. Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction.
3. This type of play aids in developing and enhancing memory
4. Sensory play is great for calming an anxious or frustrated child
5. This helps children learn sensory attributes (hot, cold, sticky, dry).

If you would like to learn more about why we think sensory play is so important, click here!

Getting Our Gross Motor on at Liberty Park!

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY! 

 It is too bad our Group B missed out on going to Liberty Park today, but group A sure did have a blast yesterday!  Although it was a very hot day, they still got a chance to get their wiggles out!  The TASK students love a playground and the more challenging the better!  This park had a zip line and all!

Gross motor skills are important to enable children to perform every day functions, such as walking, running, skipping, as well as playground skills (e.g. climbing) and sporting skills (e.g. catching, throwing and hitting a ball with a bat). These are crucial for everyday self care skills like dressing (where you need to be able to stand on one leg to put your leg into a pant leg without falling over).

Gross motor abilities also have an influence on other everyday functions. For example, a child's ability to maintain table top posture (upper body support) will affect their ability to participate in fine motor skills (e.g. writing, drawing and cutting) and sitting upright to attend to class instruction, which then impacts on their academic learning. Gross motor skills impact on your endurance to cope with a full day of school (siting upright at a desk, moving between classrooms, carrying your heavy school bag).

If you would like to find out more about why we value play, click here!

A Bunch of WILD ANIMALS!

What an awesome day at the Zoo!  Our TASK kids enjoyed learning about animals and their environments, as well as a quick trip to the zoo playground!  Although the weather was not great, we sure had a blast!  

The zoo is a great learning too for many reasons  and In addition to a zoo being a fun and safe place to learn, there are at least five reasons zoos are effective educational tools for formal learning:

1. The animals are real!
2. Animals have a universal draw.
3. Zoos are the ultimate in interdisciplinarianism.
4. The learning is active, outside the confines of four walls.
5. Different learning styles can easily be accommodated.

If you want to learn more about why we value great hands on learning tools, Click Here!

TASK Water Play Day!

Friday is WATER DAY for our TASK Kids!  They love taking a break from field trips and just having time to hang out and play at school.  Some choose to play in the water, while others choose to sunbathe or play on the playground equipment!  We sure are glad the storms passed and the weather allowed us to get some sunshine!  Studies show that getting outside improves our vision, promotes social skills, increases attention span, reduces stress and provides us with vitamin D.  Sounds good to us, we'll take it!

If you would like to know why we value our time outdoors, please CLICK HERE!

A Sweet Treat for our TASK Kids!

Our TASK kids have been on the go and busy bees this summer with all of our fun field trips!  We wanted to slow down, give them a break and grab a sweet treat!  

We took them to Sweet CeCe's and they all got to choose their own ice cream flavor and toppings.  Cake batter ice cream and sprinkles was the top choice for our girls and our boys opted for the chocolate ice cream with every topping they could fit in their cup!  

We think it is important for our school age kids to slow down because at this age, they are constantly bombarded with new information, voices and sounds.  It is very hard to find room for creativity and for getting new ideas.  Influences are good for creativity but an overload of input just makes them feel like their minds are overstuffed and like they are just trying to keep up with it all. 

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going to fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”
Eddie Cantor

If you would like to know why we think it's a great idea to slow down and have a treat every once and awhile, please Click Here!

T.A.S.K. Geocaching!

As many of you have heard, our T.A.S.K. program has been having a blast this summer, but one thing has been a true highlight on their field trips, GEOCACHING!   

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.  They have been hiding little prizes in the vicinity of their field trip location!  This has been a fun experiment for our summer students.  Make sure to ask your T.A.S.K. child how they liked Geocaching!

Super Summer Climbers!

Smiles all around!

Taking a break in the shade!

Tire swing smiles!

Tire climb romp!

Could we of hidden a prize here?!?!?!

If you would like to know how we used Geocaching as a learning tool please CLICK HERE!

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!!!!

T.A.S.K has been working hard on learning the importance of recycling. We have been collecting milk jugs to reuse to make an igloo that will be in our classroom to play in. What a great way to use our imagination and creativity all while saving the planet. 

Right now it looks like a fort but we are collecting milk jugs everyday to add to our collection until we make an igloo. 

 Can you believe that it takes over 400 milk jugs for this project?!

We have even started to collect half gallon milk cartons for our entry way of our igloo.The children are really getting creative.  

Every little bit helps so recycling does not have to be this big, you just need a big heart. The kids have really enjoyed participating and collecting the cartons for our project. It is not only a blast to make this fun  project but it also saves our planet by reusing the cartons for a different propose. This means less pollution and more reusing!!!If you would like to learn more about our T.A.S.K. program Click Here

Safety First

We are getting ready for our Summer field trips and what better way to get ready then a Good ol' Fire Drill?

 We will get them off the bus fast.

 Let's make sure everyone got out of the bus. We will do name to faces to make sure your children are accounted for. 

 As always Ms. Jane is keeping things in order. 

Even in an emergency test the children are smiling and having fun. 

Keeping kids safe is our #1 priority. For more information on why safety is important to us Click here. 

Spring Planting in TASK

Can we make mud pies when we are done ?

Taking turns!

These are going to be really pretty!

Poke a hole for the seeds.

Don't forget that one!

Add a little more dirt

TASK is ready for Spring! Our TASK friends started seedlings today to plant around the exterior of our building. We are so excited to watch them grow!

Who knew seeds were so tiny?

This was so much fun and just the beginning of our TASK planting project! Fo more information on our TASK program and activities please click here.