Lakewood Avenue Children's School

Preschool Ages 1-5

Lakewood at Home

Lakewood for PreK: July 20

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Good morning! It’s Monday again and we are back with three more invitations for preschoolers today.

Science Invitation: Water displacement experiments

For this invitation you will need a clear or translucent container, preferably one with straight sides, water, and rocks or other objects that sink in water. Make a line on the side of the container using a permanent marker or a piece of tape and fill the container to that line. Invite your child to make predictions about what will happen when they add rocks to the container. They can draw their predictions as well. Then invite them to conduct the experiment, adding the rocks slowly so they can see what happens. Is it a surprise? It is how they thought it would be? What do they think would happen if they take the rocks out?

Cognitive/Art Invitation: Photo Riddles

For over twenty years, Lakewood has been inspired by the preschools and infant-toddler centers of Reggio Emilia. This global pandemic has given us an opportunity to share some of their work with you, including this invitation to solve and create some photo riddles. 

Art Invitation: Markers and paper

In the preschool room at Lakewood, art supplies are available all day and children often choose to work with markers and paper. The smooth lines and bright colors are appealing. We offer both thicker markers and thinner ones for more detailed work. Sometimes we also offer fine-line artists pens. What can you offer your child for drawing or writing today?

Lakewood for Middlers: July 20

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Good morning! It’s Monday again and we have three more invitations for Middlers.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Laundry day water play

This invitation offers opportunities to explore water and sensory schema and build fine motor skills. You will need a couple of containers for water (one for soapy water and one for rinsing) and something to use as a clothesline or drying rack. You can also add clothespins or clothes pegs to the laundry line. You can set out doll clothes or small clothing items, or a stack of wash cloths, or invite your child to find some things to wash. Invite them to put the items into the soapy water and swish them around, then rinse, wring them out, and hang them up to dry. This invitation is an opportunity for children to explore this process that happens in machines with their own two hands.

Language/Literacy Invitation: Laundry Day by Jessixa Bagley

Durham County Library has several children’s books about doing laundry, you can view a read aloud of Laundry Day by Jessixa Bagley using this link. Or try Monday is Wash Day by MaryAnn Sundby or Mrs. McNosh Hangs up her Wash by Sarah Weeks. Any of these stories will connect with your child’s experience of watching or helping with the laundry.

Art Invitation: Crayons and paper

At Lakewood, the middlers have access to art supplies for a significant portion of the day and there is often a group working with crayons or other mark-making tools and paper. Sometimes their ideas are too big for regular paper, so the teachers get out larger paper and cover a table or a section of the floor. If your child’s work needs more space, you can use the back of a large piece of wrapping paper, a large cardboard box, packing paper, or several sheets of paper taped together.

Lakewood for Middlers: July 17

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Good morning and happy Friday! We are so happy you spent some of your time with us this week. We only have a few more days of Lakewood at Home before we reopen the school building on August 5th. Here are three invitations for middlers today.

Art Invitation: NCMA City in the Grass

If you did not have a chance to see City in the Grass at NCMA, you can see it virtually through their website. It is in the outdoor sculpture park, so it is possible to go and see it in person, but the park tends to be very popular and it might be difficult to socially distance at certain times of day. We really enjoy this piece of art because it is so accessible for young children. It has texture, color, and is at their level. We hope the link above gives you and your child a sense of the piece. You can find additional activity ideas here. 

Building/Outdoor Invitation: Outdoor blocks

In thinking about City in the Grass and the other invitations we have suggested over the past few months, we wanted to suggest taking some blocks to a shady spot outside today. You can add animals, people, or other loose parts to this exploration as well. Block building uses motor skills and is a way for children to explore physics, architecture and engineering.

Sensory/Fine Motor Invitation: Scissors and grass (sensory and fine motor)

This could be an indoor invitation if you have access to some sod or cat grass, or you can offer it outside. Offer your child a pair of scissors and invite them to explore cutting the grass. This is an exercise in fine motor skills and exploring transformation schema.

Lakewood for Preschoolers: July 17

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Good morning and happy Friday! We are so happy you have joined us this week. There are only a few days of Lakewood at Home left before we open the school building and playgrounds again on August 5th. Here are three invitations for preschoolers today.

Art Invitation: NCMA City in the Grass

If you did not have a chance to see City in the Grass at NCMA, you can see it virtually through their website. It is in the outdoor sculpture park, so it is possible to go and see it in person, but the park tends to be very popular and it might be difficult to socially distance at certain times of day. We really enjoy this piece of art because it is so accessible for young children. It has texture, color, and is at their level. We hope the link above gives you and your child a sense of the piece. You can find additional activity ideas here. 

Your child and family might also be interested in viewing or participating in the virtual sculpture race.

Building Invitation: Making 3-D maps

We have been inspired many times by the block maps children at Carolina Friends School Durham Early School often create as part of their work. Today we wonder how your child might use materials in your home to create a 3-D map. Will they create a map of your neighborhood, the city, or an imaginary place? This is an opportunity for children to explore map making, building and spatial relations. 

Language/Literacy Invitation: Blackout by John Rocco

You can listen to the author read the book aloud here, or check it out through Durham County Library. We really appreciate the city skylines in this book and how they relate to Leonardo Drew’s work in the invitations above.