Orchard View Play School, LLC

Going outside this morning was full of new discoveries!

Today we found what we *think* is a Mourning Cloak chrysalis in one of our crates when we came outside to play! It was a super exciting discovery and we put the crate in a safe spot where we can keep an eye on the chrysalis without worrying that it will be disturbed.

We were also fortunate enough to witness a Pacific Tree Frog hop across the grass this morning! It took a lot of self control not to run around and scare it and instead sit quietly and watch!

We're enjoying water play on this VERY warm morning! It's supposed to be almost 100 this afternoon. Sq**rt bottles are also available but the water table is the bigger draw! Lots of fun play and conversations are happening around this spot and I love watching as it unfolds! 💗

Today's snack was a treat - Chocolate Chip Muffins (served with fresh fruit). We don't often do snacks with chocolate in them but I thought it would be a nice way to end the week! And since the children love cooking projects, we made them together and ate them while still warm! Yummy! 👩🏼‍🍳😋

Cooking with preschoolers is a fantastic way to build practical skills like measuring, pouring, mixing, etc while practicing motor coordination, math, and science.

Cooking also naturally leads to turn taking, following directions, teamwork, and practicing delayed gratification - the ability to resist getting an immediate reward for doing something and instead having to wait. A necessary life skill that is getting harder to build in today's instant gratification society.

They were so proud of their muffins and super excited to get to eat them! I love being able to share these experiences with the children in my care - it truly is a blessing!

I got to witness the most wonderful teamwork this morning. The children worked for almost an hour creating this magical Mouse House!

I sat down on the floor and laid out a base of 6 blocks. Then they came over and one child said, "It looks like a house!" And another child said, "It's so small it can be a mouse house!" And then I quietly backed away and they took over.

Expressing their creativity, problem-solving together, negotiating - all part of the give and take of collaboration. So much learning was part of this valuable play!

I just love my little school and being able to watch moments like this come alive! 💗

I've talked before on this page about how we don't use worksheets/coloring pages, flashcards, or letter/number/color/shape of the week to teach the children.

Studies have shown that this only leads to rote memorization and not deep, meaningful learning or understanding. I've talked about our Mystery Words (scroll back if you missed that post) and how this is an important part of how we incorporate letters, sounds, and word building concepts into our program.

Other opportunities present themselves all the time. Take for example, our pipe builders. These are new to the program (we've only had them a couple of months) and the children have loved creating with them! Recently they've discovered (all on their own with no input from me) that they can make letters with them!

One child in particular has shown a strong interest in making as many letters as he can. Then he will name the letter he made and words that start with that letter (sometimes he even tells us the sound that letter makes). He is always so proud when he does this!

And usually other children will gather around and think of other words or suggest other letters he should try (or they try to make the letters themselves). It's such a great experience for the children when they can teach and learn from each other! Their confidence grows and the relationships they have grow deeper from this shared experience.

I love that I have the honor of being here and able to watch these children and the experiences they have together everyday!

The children really enjoyed making Chocolate Chip Banana Bread this morning to take home as a gift to their families! They've been asking for another cooking project since we made our pretzels in February. Smashing the bananas, helping to measure ingredients, and mixing the batter! Fun memories to make together!

The excitement they had as they went home and showed off their mini loaf of bread was delightful to watch and now they have a yummy treat to share together! (I totally forgot to take a picture of the final product! My bad! LOL)

I like the children to work harder than the toys. This means you won't find anything that has flashing lights, moving parts, or makes noises in our environment. Yes, we have traditional toys (hot wheels, magnet tiles, plastic animals, dolls, ect) but I also like to mix in a good variety of other materials (among them are tiles, fabric scraps, CDs, plastic cups, and more).

I also give the children plenty of time to explore those materials and how they can use them together. I don't switch materials out weekly or even monthly for this reason. The longer children have to experience a material the deeper their play and learning are able go.

The gift of time - time to explore, experiment, wonder, try and fail (and try again) - is precious. It can't be given if we're trying to rush children on to the next experience, theme, or activity.

I also give the children the gift of trust. I trust they will use the materials I offer appropriately - which means they're not using them to hurt anyone or anything. All the items in the environment are there for the children's ideas - not mine. And I trust them to know what they need to get from them.

Here a child was using a dryer vent hose alongside traditional toys. He wanted to make a ball launcher. Then his play evolved into getting his ball to land on the back of the rocket he had made. This took a lot of trial and error. A lot of testing theories and tweaking the layout.

The pictures give you a small glimpse into the evolution of his play. The concentration and perseverance was amazing to watch. Hearing him talk through his process and ideas was awesome. He was completely absorbed in this play for almost 2 hours!

This might not look like much to most people. Most people might just see a child rolling a ball down a tube - no big deal. But I have the honor of understanding just how much learning was happening and how proud this child was when everything finally fell into place and the ball rolled exactly where he wanted it to go!

This is what honoring child-led play looks like here at Orchard View. It's not rushing them from one activity to another. It's slowing down and giving them the gifts of time and trust to figure out their own ideas.

On this grey, drizzling day I decided we needed some extra magic added to our space so I set up our water table with a light up theme.

I added items that reflect light (mirrors and metallic items for play), transparent items to manipulate (small stones), as well as items that light up (balloon lights, mini glow sticks, and light up coasters).

The children were instantly drawn to this invitation! They spent time scooping, pouring, sorting, pretending, talking, laughing, and just plain having fun!

No instructions from me. No micro-managing. Just their ideas, imaginations, and joy.

𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻!

We are looking for 3 more children to join our Play School!

Read through our page and website to learn more about our program! If our philosophy resonates with you - don't hesitate to reach out!

Visit our website today at www.orchardviewplayschool.com to fill out our Pre-Enrollment form to get your tour scheduled!

🗓️ Monday-Friday 8-12:30
✨ Ages 2.5 and up
🚽 Must be potty trained
💲 Private pay only at this tim
📍 Located in McMinnville

One of the children was creating a pond for our crocodile toys when he inadvertently discovered the heating vent would blow the play silks and make them "float"! It was, understandably, an exciting discovery!

But since play silks are so light they don't "float" for long as the air pushes them away. At first he tried to hold the play silks over the vent but that didn't work very well.

So he decided he needed some weights to hold them down. He ran and got some magnet tiles and sandwiched the play silk in-between two squares to use as weights - and to his delight this worked perfectly!

The air easily caused the play silks to billow up and he was able to use them as a cave for his crocodiles. Then the heat went off and the play silk deflated - and so did the excitement.

I explained how the heat turns on and off and that if he left it there when the heat came back on it would inflate again. So he patiently waited for the heat to come back on (not easy to do when you're 4) and the cycle of playing and waiting continued.

I'll admit part of me was tempted to shut this play down because "vents are not toys" but since he wasn't hurting anyone or anything I didn't. Instead I watched to see what he would do and what plans he had - and I'm glad I did.

This is what child-led learning looks like in our program. This is not something I could have put on a lesson plan as it was spontaneous and in the moment. This is not the kind of learning children can get from flashcards or worksheets. But I have found it to be the best kind of learning because it is relevant to the child. This is the kind of play and learning we protect, nurture, and value here at Orchard View Play School.