This quarter I worked Brentwood Preschool with teacher, Irene Compton. I went weekly in the afternoons and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. For my classroom project I decided to have the children, who consisted of 3-4 year olds, make collage art with natural materials which we collected from the great outdoors.
In preparation for the big project I had the children gather leaves from the playground. They were super enthusiastic about collecting materials and I became inspired by their affort. I gathered my own leaves outside of class so that there was a nice variety for the children to choose from. I gathered the giant leaves from Evergreen campus and spent time adhering them to construction paper so that each kid would have a giant leaf background to make their collage on. I also collected dirt from my garden, cleaned it free of debri, and added glitter. I thought the kids could use glitter dirt instead of just glitter to get in touch with the earth as part of their curriculum.
The day of the project: I came to the class prepared and Teacher Irene was enthusiastic and supportive of my participation. This made the day go by very easy for me. I exhibited my sample art project to the children during show and tell and they all showed excitement to create their own. In the art/snack room, the children got very messy. They picked out their leaves and fur cones and all used the glitter dirt on their pieces. Only one child chose not to participate, however, after the others had finished Teacher Irene coaxed him into the room and he enjoyed making his collage.
I wanted to bring an awareness of the season of fall to the children today. Teacher Irene does a great job of keeping the children conscious, and so my curriculum was an addition to hers. I read out of a book called, Fall is Not Easy. The kids were attentive and seemed to have a good time with my goofy humor. I also sung a few songs with them, one being about the leaves on the trees falling down.
My experience was successful in this classroom. I learned a great deal of information about this age group as I walked in there with the mindset that I am a sponge soaking up all there is to learn.
Curriculum Work
