Beautiful, Mindful Things Happening With The Sprouts!

This fall, the Sprouts have been experiencing many new exciting things that have enriched all of our lives. Our new Teacher Ms. Charlene has begun introducing yoga to all of us. Most days, we do "wake up yoga" right after nap. Some of the poses we are learning are: Down Dog, Cobra, Child's Pose, Table, Twisted Cow and Cat. Ms. Charlene explains that yoga helps bring awareness to our bodies and helps bring happiness into our hearts. We are practicing deep breathing during these poses and also through out our day to help reduce stress and bring calm to our classroom. 

The Sprouts have been participating in many intentional Reggio Emilia-inspired activities. Reggio inspired activities are open ended projects using natural materials. These projects drive children's curiosity to understand and know more about themselves and their world. Teachers observe and guide children, gathering information along the way. We then use this information about each child's interests to build onto our play. This gives each child the opportunity to take their interests further and learn at their own pace.  Our Theme for November was Fall Harvest. We used items from nature like leaves, pine cones, bark, branches, pumpkins, rocks and apples to create with. We also explored fall colors with paint, crayons, markers and paper. We discussed how the seasons and weather change when summer leaves us and fall moves in. The Sprouts also enjoyed making and eating some fall snacks like vegan pumpkin custard and cranberry butter. 

During the last month, the Sprouts have been conducting an experiment!  While Ms. Nichole was in the midst of researching ways to help our youngest sprouts friends stay safely in their chairs during mealtime,  She ran across some interesting information!  This information led her to feel that maybe it is best for children's development that we actually ditch the chairs and sit on the floor! After sharing this information with the other Green Apple Teachers and Families, Ms. Nichole and Ms. Charlene asked the children to try something new with them. We set up a Japanese floor table that was borrowed from Ms. Nichole's Husband, put the chairs in the basement and tried sitting or kneeling on the floor for meals. It didn't take more than a few minutes to see a positive change in the Sprouts behavior. The children appeared more comfortable and calm sitting or kneeling on the floor. They said "This is fun!", "I like the floor." and "I want a floor table at my house."  Ms. Charlene sits with the children and demonstrates deep breathing and being mindful during mealtimes.  The children seemed to really enjoy a few found independence. Being able to get up and clean up their area when they were finished without having to ask for help to get out of their chair seemed exciting and important to them. Ms. Charlene and Ms. Nichole felt more relaxed and calm, not having to worry about a child climbing and falling out of their chair or someone getting their fingers pinched. We also started serving snack "family style" Letting the children use scoops, spoons and tongs to serve themselves with the guidance of their teachers. These changes over the last month, have created a much more mindful, calm and fun mealtime experience for everyone!
Here are the links to information we gathered for this experiment, we hope you find it useful in your own world! 
Floor living
Sitting on the floor to eat
Sitting on the floor
Why sit on the floor to eat?
Floor sitting