Fall

    Fall is in the air!  We are fully embracing New England's quintessential season here at SMART START. We are so fortunate to be able to  teach the children about Autumn while they are witnessing it through a variety of festive activities. Hands on learning at its finest!   

    SMART START friends have been busy learning about all things fall!  We have been using an assortment of teaching tools such as books, felt board, puzzles, songs and circle time discussion. We introduced our young learners to the changes in both scenery and temperature. Our favorite song during music time is "I Like Autumn."  You can click the following link to sing this song at home with your child  - I Like Autumn.  Our discussions also included seasonal happenings such as, apple and pumpkin picking, hay rides, hiking, leaf peeping, raking and more! The children loved sharing stories individually and as a group about activities they have done with their families.

    At SMART START we have a hay bale, scarecrow, pumpkins, leaves and flowers.  Fall friends are thoroughly enjoying these Autumn essentials both in our outdoor and indoor classroom. There is something refreshing about learning and playing in nature especially during this beautiful time of year. Simply picture perfect!

   Our students, as well as our classroom pets, have been enjoying the cooler temperatures. Each morning during circle time, we adjust our thermometer and decide what attire is needed for outdoor learning and play. Hay rides in our wagon, collecting acorns and leaves for nature boxes and games has been a delight! 

    Apple picking is a traditional outing here in New England. Miss Francesca has read the children many books about apples. She has taught them the different parts of an apple: stem, leaf, skin, flesh, seeds and core, as well as the many types. A variety of apples have been incorporated into our snacks and meals- Golden Delicious and Granny Smith are the preferred here at school. Our Harvest Mix (pumpkin and original cheerios, raisins, cinnamon apple chips and wheat thins) with apple slices has  been a repeated breakfast request!

      Fall's classic foliage has been a fun way for our students to enhance their color recognition. We have studied the leaf life cycle throughout the four seasons in addition to the different types of leaves. SMART START Clean Up Crew has been working hard raking and collecting leaves in our outdoor classroom. One exciting activity for their hard work has been jumping into a big pile of leaves!

        We have been using our SMART START felt board to work on counting, sorting, number identification and patterns through storytelling and dramatic play. In honor of fall we used felt apples,  pumpkins, squirrels in addition to numbers. 

    Autumn Artists decorated pumpkins using paint,  paintbrushes, glue, tissue paper, sparkles, markers, yarn and leaves to create their festive masterpiece. They were so proud of their finished product and excited to bring home their fall décor. 

     Fall friends helped to stuff our own SMART START scarecrow! They stuffed the scarecrow with hay from top to bottom just like they do in the song, "I Like Autumn."  While most of the hay was stuffed in the scarecrow, some flew through the air and friends shared giggles together! This sensory activity was very entertaining and fun was had by all.

      We hope you and your family are enjoying Autumn.  Please make sure to check out our side bar  on our blog homepage for seasonal activities, both at home and locally.  We are looking forward to  many more fun filled fall days here at SMART START with your wonderful children!                                                  Click below to see some more pictures featured in the Fall video!

                                             

                                             🍁   Mary and Francesca   🍁

Aquarium Field Trip

     As part of our extended ocean curriculum and providing our young learners with the utmost hands on experience, we invited the New England Aquarium to SMART START for an on-site field trip!  We are extremely fortunate to live so close to the New England Aquarium in Boston MA, as well as having had the opportunity to bring their experts and ocean life right to our school!  SMART START friends eagerly put on their field trip t-shirts for this highly anticipated field trip!
     Our field trip took place in our outdoor classroom as the weather was perfect for the occasion.  The outreach educator from the NEA came equipped with a variety of ocean life, educational tools and fun activities. Our SMART START Oceanographers were curious and enthusiastic to acquire more knowledge about and physically touch some of the sea creatures! 

           The NEA outreach educator assembled the class into a large circle.  She taught about sea creatures by using large picture cards that displayed information about each. Showcased were a snail, sea star, hermit crab and clam.  SMART START friends were engaged and participated with ease.  They raised their hands, shouted out answers when appropriate and asked intelligent questions.

     Our young performers were delighted by the sea star costume.  All took turns wearing it while the educator continued to use this form of dramatic play to shed additional light on sea stars.  SMART START friends looked adorable! While some may view dress up as a fun and silly activity, we educators see so much more: building confidence, development of social skills and imaginations at work!  
Click below to see SMART START friends enjoying the sea creatures!

     While the children enjoyed learning about different ocean life and playing dress up, the tide pool tanks were by far the best part of the field trip! The outreach educator set up four tide pool tanks with the following: sea stars, snails, hermit crabs and clams. Our young learners gathered around the tanks looking in awe. We loved witnessing our student's expressions as they handled the sea creatures. It was an amazing experience for them to physically encounter the subject matter we studied. 
Click below to see highlights from our field trip!

     We thank you for supporting our on-site field trips here at SMART START. These programs allow us to provide your children with exceptional educational experiences that make real life connections.  We hope your child has shared some of the excitement with you and maybe even taught you something new about ocean life or a sea creature!
💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Ocean Fun

     Last month we incorporated all things ocean into our curriculum here at SMART START.  Our young learners fully embraced this exciting topic and are now little Oceanographers!  Our focus here at SMART START is to provide your children with the knowledge, skills and tools they will need to become successful learners, creative thinkers and confident in whatever they put their minds to.

                                                    Language arts is a strong focus here at SMART START!  Our bookshelf was filled with ocean literature for this unit of study.  The children thoroughly enjoy circle time, reading books as a group and embracing the opportunity to be active participants and ask questions. SMART START friends are particularly fond of story time in our outdoor classroom. While outside, we introduced our ocean bag of plastic sea creatures. Each child had a turn to reach in the bag and pull out a sea creature to show their peers and learn more about.

Learning and playing in nature has endless benefits such as:

• Further develop memory, concentration and comprehension
• Enhances critical thinking and practical problem solving 
• Improves physical and mental health- reduces stress and anxiety
• Increases motivation, desire to learn and other social and emotional skills

           Our young learners worked independently and together building many ocean puzzles. Puzzles offer much more than simply finding where each piece goes! They are a fun way to improve problem solving, memory, concentration, hand and eye coordination and fine motor skills. Although puzzles require patience and cooperation, self esteem increases upon completion.  

     SMART START puppeteers used their imaginations, puppets, dress up props and music to invent ocean inspired stories and songs with one another. The children love both performing and spectating. Witnessing our students engaging in dramatic play and the confidence it gives them as they perform is entertaining and rewarding for all. 

   Games at SMART START are a perfect way to facilitate group effort, cooperation, sharing and turn taking.  The children play together beautifully and are always willing to help a friend. We introduced three different sensory ocean games all focusing on counting, sorting and color recognition skills. Sensory games are a fun, hands on way to learn! 

     Arts and crafts is a favorite time for our students to put their creative minds to work! We recently started using art caddies filled with different art media for each of the children. This has allowed them to be more independent with product choice, inventive with their project and responsible for their products. They love having their own special art caddy as well as this new addition to our arts and crafts routine. SMART START artists created two ocean masterpieces. Ocean scenes and a cardboard sea creature. Our designers used colored tissue paper, drizzled colored glue, crayons, markers, bonkers, glitter, paint and paint brushes and ocean stamps. All were proud of their vibrant creations and excited to bring them home to show their families!

Click below to see our SMART START Artists!

Click below to see our Ocean Fun video!

SMART START friends thoroughly enjoyed our ocean unit! As always, thank you for your continued support and the opportunity to teach and care for your children.  

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Summer Fun

     Summer is one of our favorites seasons to embrace here at SMART START! The children absolutely love playing outside in our outdoor classroom! Our young learners love to play on the play structure, cool off in the sprinkler, kick and throw balls, play hide and seek, pop bubbles, dig in the sandbox, go on nature hunts, tend to the garden and chickens and engage in endless pretend play! Summer is full of sunshine and smiles here at SMART START and we absolutely love it! 

     Here are some highlights from our Summer Fun program here at SMART START!       #1 - LEMONADE! Our SMART START friends put on their chef hats and aprons and were busy in the kitchen.  The children worked in pairs to use our handheld juicers to produce freshly squeezed lemonade for their outdoor picnic lunch!  

     #2 - PLAY STRUCTURE! When it is time to go outside here at SMART START, the first thing the children do is run to our new play structure. Whether they are swinging on the swings, gliding on the glider, sliding down the slide, playing in the house, or zooming the trucks around, fun is being had by all!  The smiles and laughter are endless and we love watching our young learners truly enjoy the new play structure.

     #3 - GARDENING! It is a favorite activity here at SMART START.  The children love tending to the plants, especially the bean plants.  When it's their turn to fill up the watering can and water the plants, instant excitement sets in!  They have helped grow and collect many beans that we use as snacks for both the children and our classroom pets.  

# 4 - CLASSROOM PETS!  We are fortunate here at SMART START to have two different classroom pets.  Pilot, our bunny, has been with us for a long time and the children always look forward to spending quality time with him.  They absolutely love holding Pilot and feeding him freshly grown beans from our garden!  More recently we welcomed two chickens, Charlotte and Caroline. Our pet caretakers enjoy playing with and visiting the chickens in their coop. Pilot, Charlotte and Caroline have truly enhanced the children's daily hands on learning experiences. We are firm believers that classroom pets make a difference in the lives of children!

#5 - FUN WITH FRIENDS!  One of the major advantages of sending your child to SMART START is that they will socialize and make friends!  The children spend countless hours together and learn so much from each other during structured time and free play.  We facilitate a great deal of their interactions through our curriculum and hands on learning experiences, but we also are able to witness friendships blossom on their own as they engage in conversation and play.  SMART START friends have thoroughly enjoyed a fun filled summer here together!  We are so lucky to have such a lovely group of students here at SMART START.

      We hope your summer has been filled with endless fun! Our summer program here at SMART START was wonderful. We thank you parents for allowing your children to be a part of it. They make every day here at SMART START special!

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

SMART START Chicks and Chickens

      We welcomed some new additions to our growing SMART START family this summer!  SMART START would like to introduce Chick and Chicky, our baby chicks.  Chick and Chicky visited us here at school and remained with us through the end of August.  They then moved on to the chicken farm.  The children absolutely loved Chick and Chicky and acted as wonderful care givers. They enjoyed holding, playing, feeding and simply observing them.  Chick and Chicky brought lots of smiles, conversations and giggles to our students and we are so happy to have provided them with this hands on learning experience right in the comfort of our own space.

     SMART START has also welcomed two friendly chickens, Charlotte and Caroline.  Charlotte and Caroline live here at school in a chicken coop.  The chickens are acclimating well to their new environment and thoroughly enjoy running free in our spacious backyard/outdoor classroom. Charlotte and Caroline are well behaved and allow the children to pet, feed, hold them and collect their eggs each day. We have been teaching SMART START friends about caring for the chicks and chickens and how they play a vital role in their care. We have taught our students about the egg laying process through stories and pictures and how to properly remove the eggs. This job is highly sought after! Our SMART START chefs have enjoyed making scrambled eggs, pancakes and more with our fresh eggs. Thank you Charlotte and Caroline, for providing us with  healthy snacks and meals.

          Our young learners partake in fulfilling their responsibilities to care for Chick, Chicky, Charlotte and Caroline on a daily basis and look forward to receiving their job assignments. Whether it be feeding, providing fresh water, cleaning the chicken coop, or collecting eggs SMART START friends feel a great sense of accomplishment knowing that they are helping.  Caring for an animal is so much more than we think! It teaches young children many helpful and important tools that translate into different life situations. Here at SMART START we are constantly striving to provide your children with an all-inclusive curriculum and hope that you can see the benefits.    

 Here are some things children learn while having fun caring for animals:

• Responsibility
• Trust
• Compassion
• Respect
• Self-esteem
• Loyalty
• Physical activity
• Patience
• Social skills

   

     SMART START friends have been learning about the life cycle of a chicken through hands on fun with the chicks and chickens as well as books, music, puzzles and games.  Having the chicks and chickens on site has truly enhanced our farm curriculum. As always, the children are eager to learn new things, listen intently and ask important questions.  Their curious minds love being stimulated and we absolutely love witnessing their joy of learning!  It is such a privilege to teach young learners who are so impressionable and enthusiastic about all we do here at SMART START.

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Show and Tell

     We love Show and Tell here at SMART START! The children get very excited for this activity at school. Not only are the children who are sharing look forward to their turn, the rest of the students enjoy listening to, asking questions and seeing what their friend(s) have to say and show them. Show and Tell is so much more than a child presenting a favorite toy from home. Here are some of the benefits:

• Builds self esteem
• Language usage
• Questions and answers
• Communication
• Social skills
• Public speaking
• Listening skills.

     Although our young presenters find Show and Tell to be just another fun activity, as always we are incorporating learning and development into all that we do at here SMART START.

     Benny was thrilled to bring in one of his favorite car toys from home for Show and Tell to share with his SMART START friends. Benny proudly set up the track while his peers patiently waited for him to set the car on the track. The children watched the car zoom around the track again and again. They each took turns and asked questions. Benny did a great job sharing and answering questions. Thanks for sharing, Benny!

Benny and his friends cheering on his car! Zoom, Zoom!

     Kaylee was very happy to show her SMART START friends one of her special toys from home!She brought in her Minnie Mouse remote control car for Show and Tell. The children gathered in a circle and watched wide-eyed as Kaylee drove Minnie around SMART START Lane! Forwards, backwards, and around and around! Friends enjoyed watching the show and asking Kaylee questions about her Minnie Mouse car. Kaylee did a nice job answering questions and letting friends have a turn driving Minnie around in her car. Thank you for sharing, Kaylee!

Kaylee driving her Minnie car around for all her friends to see! Vroom, Vroom!

     Cody blew his friends away with his leaf blower for Show and Tell. SMART START friends were quite impressed with Cody's leaf blower. Cody showed his friends how it worked and told them how he likes to use it at home and help clean up the leaf mess!  What a good little helper you are, Cody!  He did a spectacular job sharing his leaf blower with his friends and answering questions.  Thanks for sharing, Cody!

Cody demonstrating how to use the leaf blower!  Whoosh, Whoosh!

     Avery was very proud to present to all her friends at SMART START her doctor kit! The children enjoyed listening to and watching Avery demonstrate her "doctor" skills.  Doctor Avery did a fantastic job sharing with all her friends and answering questions they asked.  Thank you for sharing, Avery!

Avery showing her friends the stethoscope..."bum bum, bum bum!" 

          Emma and Isla were both delighted to share their special items with their SMART START friends!  They brought in a music player with microphone and enjoyed showing their peers how it worked and even sang a little song for everyone. The sisters also brought a souvenir book from their family vacation. Emma was a very kind big sister and helped Isla with her show and tell when needed. The girls also brought in a vacation itinerary from their family vacation to Vermont. They were thrilled to share stories. It was clear that they had an eventful and memorable trip!  Our young audience had fun playing with the music player and loved hearing all about Emma and Isla's family vacation and asked some great questions. What a fun thing to share for show and tell! Thank you for sharing, Emma and Isla!

 Emma and Isla proudly sharing their picture and telling friends about their vacation to VT!

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Homemade Ice Cream

     When we have hot summer days here at SMART START, we cool off by having some of our homemade vanilla ice cream!  SMART START chefs love to cook and made enough ice cream to last all summer. During our ice cream unit, the children learned about the ice cream making process through books, puzzles, toys and making soft serve vanilla ice cream! They put on their aprons and chef hats and were ready to use SMART START's soft serve ice cream maker. The children worked well together adding milk, cream and sugar to the machine. They absolutely loved watching the ice cream machine mix all of the ingredients together. Being part of the process is such a thrilling experience for our young learners and we are so grateful to be able to provide your children with these hands on learning experiences and yummy homemade treats!

     Once the ice cream was done, SMART START friends received their own bowl of vanilla ice cream and they each made an ice cream sundae. The children added yummy toppings to their ice cream: M & M's, rainbow sprinkles and cookie crumbles that they helped break into little pieces. They topped off their creations with chocolate sauce and whipped cream to make the perfect ice cream sundae!  

      

        💙 Mary and Francesca 💙