Past projects 254
Be Little, Play BIG!
Funded Sep 23, 2015I would like to thank you again for helping us get materials for Be Little, Play BIG! It was a project created to improve our playground. I often worry about the amount of screen devices our young children are exposed to. It's something that takes away from developing their creativity and their use of their own imagination. When I created this project, the goal was for our students to have access to toys that allow them to use their imagination. With these toys, they are. The blocks are being used on a daily basis (weather permitted) during recess. It impacts all of the students in our school. Children are using the blocks to build castles, robots, and anything that comes to mind on that day. Your donation helped make this happen. We're giving our students the opportunity to use their minds and I sincerely thank you for that.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
Uncommon Senses
Funded Oct 4, 2015Our classroom sensory table is always a very popular center. We have two tables that are filled with colorful rice. Now, with Uncommon Senses materials, our sensory table will expand. Kinetic sand and playfoam are sensory mediums that fascinate both children and adults. Your support for this project has ensured that these materials will continue to amaze our pre-k students as well as kindergarten students who we share our resources with.
Play is such an essential part of child development but it's overlooked in education. Your support will help us continue to keep play a key component in our child centered curriculum. Our kids are exploring their sense and creating with the materials you've helped us get. Although it's early in the year, I am sure they will begin to ask questions about their environment and the materials they use. That sort of exploration and discovery will lead to amazing questions and open up learning opportunities.
Thank you so much for supporting public education and believing in what we do for our children.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
This classroom project was brought to life by ConEdison and 53 other donors.Extreme Home Makeover: Dragon's Den Edition!
Funded Sep 22, 2015What a difference a year makes. Children mature and grow up so fast and apparently so do bearded dragons. Bossk, our class pet was growing at a much concerning rate. This project was desperately created to help him move into a home to accommodate his growing size. He's the guardian of pre-k and is loved by many children and most parents. His move to a bigger home has made him the center of attention at the entrance of our room. When visitors come in, they cannot help but see Bossk. He may appear dangerous, but looks can be deceiving. This year, I've been blessed by kids who adore animals. They love watching what the friendly dragon is up to throughout the day.
On the other side of the room is our betta fish, Rainbow Fish, named by our students after they were inspired by the book. Rainbow Fish has come a long way. She has relocated several times but has now found a permanent home thanks to you. Kids love looking to see where she is and is fascinated by the orb aquarium. Thank you so much for supporting this project and helping, not only our children, but the animals they adore as well!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
Through the Lens of a Child: Episode III
Funded Jul 23, 2015Thank you so much for supporting Through the Lens of a Child: Episode III. The materials are being used on a daily basis for both students and the teacher. For our students, they're capturing their work that they're proud of to show our followers on our instagram account. For the teacher, I am able to capture amazing moments in pre-K to share with their parents.
On the first week of school, a child was crying after nap since he was still not used to the new environment and schedule. His soon to be best friend wiped his tears away and told him not to cry because "your mommy will come soon to pick you up."
Moments like these are easily captured thanks to this project. It gives our parents a window to view our classroom. They are able to see what their children are doing and comment on the work they do.
Thank you again for supporting this project. Please follow us on instagram @Kindersicht to see much more of the impact of this amazing project.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
Button Me Up! Promoting Financial Literacy and School Spirit
Funded Apr 6, 2015Thank you, PwC Charitable Foundation for helping us fully fund Button Me Up! Promoting Financial Literacy and School Spirit. The idea of selling teacher team buttons was born when we needed a way to bring in more opportunities of play for our students. We hoped to raise money to bring in the Community Playthings shed block set for all of our kids to play with during recess.
When the buttons went on sale, button fever hit our school. Kids begged their parents to buy their favorite teacher's buttons. This project has given some of our students the opportunity to see how the buttons are made and the financial aspect of it. Our kids saw what went into creating a two dollar button and how many buttons were made to help us reach our goal of $3,000. It's an amazing learning experience for our students and they got a chance to see what goes on behind the curtains of fundraising via button making. Thank you so much for allowing us to expose our children of this experience.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
Board of Books
Funded May 5, 2015With a childhood dominated by screen time, it's important to develop a strong foundation for appreciation of literature. Our kids are young, but it doesn't mean they shouldn't be exposed to books. Too many parents are relying on technology to keep children busy, but what about books.
These beautiful board books are allowing our students to see that there are other ways to engage them that are not electronic devices. These books are creating early successes in reading. They are building the confidence of our English language learners who are motivated to learn the language and read.
The child in mind this project was created for, J.D., loves these books. He's beginning to develop early reading skills and is able to identify words by himself. No longer does he have to wait for an adult to read a story to him. He's able to grab these books and venture off on his own in our library. He no longer has to passively observe others play and admire other children read on their own. He's a reader now and he's deservingly proud of it.
The amazing students that can already read at the age of four and five are not left out. The one word per page books are grabbing their attention by its beautifully illustrated pictures. Pictures are worth a thousand words and with only one word on the page; a lot is left for interpretation.
With a pre-k philosophy that is child interest and play based, a lot of our kids are drawn to toys that allow them to think creatively. But not all students wish to play at all times. These books are allowing our students to visit our classroom library more and more so they can unwind in a quiet spot to journey into a new world. This world doesn't require long travel or expensive tickets. All that's required is a book and an enthusiastic reader.
Thank you for supporting this project and public education.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
Healthy Smoothies in Pre-K
Funded Apr 20, 2015We often take for granted of the things we have or things we have access to with ease. Food waste is something that should not happen. When breakfast comes to our pre-k door, our kids have a wide range of options to choose from each day. Throughout the week, our kids can get free milk, cheese, eggs, cereal, juice, bagel, waffles, pancakes, yogurt, and French toast. Not everything is consumed. The items that are left over are often thrown out.
The Healthy Smoothies for Pre-K project was created to help reduce waste. Many of the items left over from breakfast can be used to blend up healthy smoothies our kids can drink for snack. When the project was funded, our kids were curious to see what the Nutribullet was going to be used for. I informed them that we were going to make smoothies. The recipe book that came with the blender got our kids even more excited. All the different fruits and vegetables that can be blended up into a delicious treat were visually appealing and our children were anxious to begin.
Letters were sent home to parents about the plan and the response back was great. Many parents brought in various fruits and vegetables such as pineapple, apples, oranges, pears, kale, spinach, bananas, soy milk and mangoes. These items, along with left over breakfast such as the milk, juice, and yogurt would be used as ingredients for different kinds of smoothies.
Together as a class, we went over which items would go into our first smoothie. A child called the smoothie, Soosha's Smoothie. Soosha's smoothie contained 3 bananas, 2 oranges, 1 apple, 1 pear, 1 mango, 2 carrots, ice, milk and soy milk.
We blended the ingredients into a nice cold fruity smoothie. While some kids still require time to get used to drinking things that aren't artificially sweetened, we also noticed those students who are sent to school with healthy snacks such as fruits and vegetables, enjoyed the smoothie.
We still have a lot of ingredients left and more coming in from supportive parents. It takes a village to raise a child. Thank you so much for supporting this project and helping us expose our children to new ways of eating healthy food.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
The Chromebook Nook
Funded Mar 27, 2015Thank you so much for supporting The Chromebook Nook. When the Chromebooks come out, all the kids want a turn at using them. We began to introduce its use by allowed students to listen to stories on them. After becoming more used to how to use these incredible laptops, our students were then introduced to various kinds of financial literacy games. Our higher functioning students did an amazing job playing these games and understanding money. Our other children take a different path to becoming more financially literate. They started with simple math games that led to introducing money and recognizing the different bills.
When you think about pre-k student learning about financial literacy, it may seem like an impossible task. Pre-k is about foundations. We are introducing concepts to our students that they would otherwise never be formally introduced to at this age. When the time comes to move onto the upper grades, they'll be equipped for success. Thank you for supporting our class project!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
This classroom project was brought to life by PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc. and 14 other donors.Financial Literacy Through Play for Pre-K!
Funded Apr 6, 2015Thank you so much for fully funding our Financial Literacy Through Play for Pre-K! If you think about it, teaching pre-k students about financial literacy may seem like an impossible task. But if you really think about it, they're exposed to some sort of financial activity on a daily basis.
Every kid has probably visited a grocery store, restaurant, or shop with their parents in their life. They have a basic concept of money and what it can do.
"Mommy buy this new shoe for me."
"Daddy buy one fish at this supermarket."
Kids of all ages are equipped to understand financial literacy. If they're given the right opportunity and setting, anything is possible. Through this project, we're setting them up for success.
With the additional blocks to our playground, our pre-k students are making stores. They're connecting it to an earlier unit of study on ice cream and "selling" ice cream.
"You want ice cream? That'll be one dollar please!" one student said to a teacher.
A pre-k students' naturally learning environment is in a play based setting. Your support is allowing that to happen. We will soon be introducing play food into the setting so they can stock up their store with tangible items.
Thank you again for making an impact in our kids' lives and supporting public education!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy
Pre-K Pizzeria
Funded Mar 20, 2015The Pre-K Pizzeria materials came at just the right time. Our children's interest in pizza was still very relevant and was still be incorporated into their play on a daily basis. Play-doh, kinetic sand, dramatic play, and sensory table play was filled with instances where kids were pretending to make or eat pizza.
Their interest was there, but finding the right topic to segue into pizza making was the issue. We had just embarked on a long unit study about community workers; people in our community that help make things go smoothly. The perfect place to learn about pizza making was during our discussion about chefs. Our students learned about the many different things chefs use, cook, and do for a living. But their pizza obsession was making them believe the only thing chefs cook was pizza.
It was time. We watched videos and read books about pizza and how to make the delicious doughy treat. A day was spent discussing chefs, another was spent learning how to make pizza, and the third was the real fun part.
The ovens, books, slicers, and pans from DonorsChoose was essential for our project, but to get every child involved in the pizza making process, our community played a big role. Throughout the funding process, I had reached out on Twitter for help, one of our local pizzerias replied and offered to donate personal pizza pans. These pans made it possible for every student to take part of the making process. Every child took part in kneading the dough onto the pan, applying tomato sauce, and sprinkling mozzarella cheese on their pie.
Our kids were eager to taste their own creation. Many came back for seconds.
"This is the best pizza I've ever tasted." one child exclaimed.
These types of experience are priceless. Our pizza makers are going to remember these moments when they look back at their early childhood experience. They're going to remember that they made pizza in pre-k and it tasted delicious.
As they reminiscence about this moment later on in their life, just know that you played a big role in their lives, even if they haven't interacted with you. Thank you so much for your support in this project and supporting public education.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Andy