"The White Isn't Working!"

We began our day journaling, and a number of friends became fascinated by the lazy susan in the middle of the table. Over the past several days, there have been a number of friends experimenting with spinning various objects around a different speeds. So, this morning, we turned it into a game. Using one of the plastic guinea pigs, we spun it until the toy flew off. This generated a great deal of laughing.

Then, Danielle put pieces of color paper around the edges, and friends tried to guess what color the toy would land on. Next, she added numbers and friends predicted with those. The Catbirds are starting to wonder about cause and effect. In this case, they noticed that the toy didn't fly off if it was in the middle, but it did at the edge. They also began to experiment with the effects of spinning faster and slower. This is the way that Catbirds engage in scientific inquiry.

Friends who were working on their journals also started to wonder about something: When they tried to color with the white crayon, they had a problem. As one friend put it, "The white isn't working!" Another friend calmly explained that, "The white is broken. It doesn't light up like the other ones." Friends tried hard to figure out why, but they were stymied. They did some experimenting and found that some colors (like purple), "light up" more than others (like yellow). To be continued.

We also did:

At Morning Meeting, we had our second Moment of Silence. As you can see from these photos, it takes intense concentration, but the Catbirds are already getting better at it.

After singing some songs, Carol and Danielle demonstrated some activities that would be available for our first "Choice Time." Danielle showed the Catbirds how to use the watercolors, so that they could help decorate our "Questions" board. Carol demonstrated Moon Sand, a very cool substance that is like sand, but mold-able. Friends then got to choose between those activities or building in the block area with magnatiles. After they had worked on one for a bit, most friends tried the other activities.