Harmon Oaks Nursery School

How important are #cozy#corners aka #booknooks? VERY! These areas help children have a quiet area, an area to slow down, to choose to socialize with a book or read alone, a safe place to reflect, to self-regulate if they need to, to feel cozy, to feel inspired to reflect, to feel inspired to read, and to help take a break from the noise- internal and external. This cozy corner is our new #HarmonOaksNoHoWest center. (Yes, we’ve begun touring the facility- [email protected]...) #HarmonOaks #NoHoWest __________________ What about at home? Same application and importance of use for home. And what a great comfy place for #parent and #child to spend quality time together. ________________ The area doesn’t require anything expensive or special really. All you need is a small area rug, pillows, and something to hang above, which can be as simple as a sheer #muslin #blanket hanging over like a canopy & secured with #commandhooks. Add a #bookshelf or #book#basket, a mirror, twinkly lights, and a plant or two, and you’ve just created a perfect cozy corner! Cozy corners can also be perfected with the use of an #oversizedbox. Create an opening much like a door- we like round openings. Poke holes to thread twinkly lights through, add a mat inside, pillows, and a blanket. Viola! Send us a picture of your #home cozy corner or book nook- we’d love to share all the cozy areas on IG for continued inspiration. #environmentasthethirdteacher #reggioinspired #nurseryschool #earlyenrichmentcenter

If there’s one thing we want our children to leave with from Harmon Oaks it’s this- curiosity, love and compassion for nature & all living things (with a few pesty/poisonous exceptions). _____________________ This #prayingmantis must have also been drawn into our morning outdoor setup today because he looks to be right at home and engaging with our children. This brings us sooooo muchhhh joyyyyy! __________________ Hoping this love keeps growing and is reinforced after ou...r little ones graduate. Parents, know that we’re sending home spider lizard, and insect lovers, so please please please, before you go to step on a #spider or any other #insect, bottle up those reactions and impulses, capture it and let it go outdoors with your little one. The only exception we make at Harmon Oaks are flies and mosquitos that don’t belong indoors. Even then we try to shoo the fly outdoors and guide it- when all else fails we swat it after hours. ___________________ #NatureLovers #NatureKids #loveNature at #HarmonOaks, #reggioinspired #ecstem #stemeducation #earlylearningcentre #nurseryschool #teachersofinstagram #preschoolteacher #naturephotography See more

Inspired by our conference last year with @ecstem and here’s the result... a pixie glass slope into another #sensorybin #tub. ______________ What are some of #developmental goodies here: #Teamwork (zoom into the right side of the picture!!!) #socialemotionalgrowth #communication ... #makingpredictions #problemsolving #observing #drawingconclusions #classification #finemotorskills #grossmotorskills #sharingideas #gainingconfidence #language #learningthroughplay #havingfun #coolingdown and more! _______________________ Would you have guessed all that was happening in this picture Train your eye to see the developmental amazingness you can help heighten in #play just by inviting children to explore with various materials in various ways- #intenfulspaces #intenful #curriculum _________________ #reggioemiliaapproach #stemteacher(s) who intentionally prep #openendedplay that reinforces and supports indoor discussion, literature, #curriculum at #HarmonOaks See more

We love reusing #CAPS for #art #projects, #invitations, #numberskills challenges, #patterning... you name it! Here it’s used in an #AllAboutMe #literacybin that also makes for an interesting #sensoryexperience. _______________ This #invitationtoplay can also be used with matching #patterncards and to encourage #sorting. #MathFun __________________ Add some #tongs and you’ve got a #finemotorskill challenge too! What other opportunities do you see in this super simple literacy... bin invite? ____________ #reggioemiliaapproach #reggioinspired #preschoolliteracy with #ecteachers that love #stem, #invites, #provocations, and #openendedplay. See more

This is such a perfect reminder of the importance of making each #artproject as #openended as possible... even a super simple one about how old your little one will be turning during #AllAboutMe discussions/month. ____________________ Just look at what offering a variety of #paper, texture, #scissors, and #drawing tools does. It creates an opportunity for children to think more deeply about how and what to apply, what #choices they’ll make in their work, and it allows them t...o be more detailed and creative. Then, talk about #confidencebuilding as a class and as an individual! Just look at these masterpieces shining so brightly for them to admire. ! _________________ Even the project itself can be open-ended. The class can vote or individual child can decided whether they want to draw/express/celebrate how old they’ll be turning this school year or how old they are right now? Both teach the same concept, reinforce the same developmental benchmarks, and focus on growing the same skill sets, etc. __________________ #BirthdayCake during #allaboutmecurriculum #MakingSimple#Extraordinary! #ReggioInspired #ReggioInspiredTeachers at #HarmonOaks. See more

In learning about our #school & #classroom, we celebrated our #friends and the #friendships we have developed at #HarmonOaks. One of our projects was to draw a #portrait of a #friend. Well.... here it goes... and we were left just mind blown by the amazing detail, the focus, and the effort they all placed into the portraits. Swipe & be amazed!!!! _________________ This was our first time inviting children to draw a portrait of a friend using their photo as a guide (and the...ir precious friends in person of course). A keeper of a project for sure- @learning2blossom. ___ ________ Side note, just look at those lower cases!!!! ___________________ #Preschool #AllAboutMe #liveportraits #reggioinspired #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig

What was likely your first introduction to literacy at #infancy, then again as a #toddler, then again as a #preschooler & #kindergartener? Your #NAME!!!!! ___________________ Here we used white crayon to write a hidden message (their name!) that would later reveal itself with some application of water color paint (or #watercolor liquid). And guess what, it’s a message they were able to read! How proud are they of themselves! The magic of a #NAME! ________________________ #P...arents, we typically place our little’s name in their nursery room, over their bed, on puzzles, on their belongings... think about it! From their initial to their nickname to their full name, it’s such an important part of them & such an important / essential part of #LITERACY! _________________ What is #earlyliteracy? It’s the development of the foundations and skills required to learn to #read! It can be as simple as #identifyingtheletters of the #alphabet and #reading and pointing to the words in a book which allows young children to build an understanding about written text. It’s rhyming words, it’s identifying sounds, it can be simple yet also quite complex! _____________________ So go for it, post that #namedecal on the wall, read a book, write their name in a book and call attention to it...yes, you’re building early literacy! Literacy starts at #infancy and we continue what you’ve started in our #toddlerprogram at #HarmonOaks. See more

How are you all beating the heat with your littles? We’re using #splashpads, our hanging must #coolers, and individual #waterplaybins with ice. There’s also the popular car, herbs, pots/pans, baby, really anything #soapy-wash that is always a big favorite. _________________ Stay hydrated, lathered in sunscreen and cool! #LAHeatWave #toddlerplayideas #outdoorplay #HarmonOaks... __________ See more

#TugOfWar hits a whole new level of fun and learning when paired with the book #EqualSmequal! _________________ Equal Smequal is about a big bear and a group of smaller animals who want to play TugOfWar but can’t figure out how to divide themselves into more equal groups that would make the game enjoyable and fair. They eventually use a #seesaw as #simpletechnology to weigh on another into #balanced weight #teams, and viola! #simpletech ______________________ #TugOfWar was ...never more intentional than this and the kids LOVED the experience. _____________________ #GrossMotorSkills meets #Math... so simple yet it offers such a wonderful application of finding balance, understanding mass & weight, and having so much fun in the process! ________________ #ReggioInspired #stemteachers at #HarmonOaks create and follow #curriculum that involves #self-directed and #guidedplay that is full of intention and that really gives #children #handsonfun with new concepts and #stemcurriculum. And yes, teachers join in on the fun! #teachersofinstagram See more

We are already missing our amazing graduates so so so much!!! We wish you the best first week of kinder. We want you all to know just how brilliant, kind, and amazing you are. Be patient with yourselves, always ask questions, explore, discover, speak up, be kind, never give up and always try your best! _______________________ #HarmonOaks will always be your nursery school and you’ll always be apart of our school family! ____________________... #prekgrads #kinderready & headed into their #firstweekofkindergarten. Our #bigkids! You’ll all rock your first year of big kid school... . See more

What do #covid19 changes look like in your #classroom? At #HarmonOaks, change includes more #labels, #baskets, & lots of #namemarkers. ____________________________ In our #Seedlets/Sprout programs, names are paired with #photos of our littles as they learn to identify their name and begin to understand/associate letters in identifying & expressing their name. Until then, lots of cute pie pictures everywhere! ___________________ Don’t photos just make it all more inviting an...d comforting!? Sometimes we assume pandemic changes have brought only negatives changes, but here, we’ve made the best of individual setup and feel it’s quite inviting and warming for our children. ______________________ _______ ___________ _______ ___________ #reggioinspired #classroomsetup ##stem #manipulatives #nurseryschool #2020classroom #teachersofinstagram #preschoolteacher #toddlerteacher #earlyyearsideas #teachersofinstagram #newnormal See more

Herb garden overgrowth and season flowering!? No problem overgrown mint, oregano, and basil translates into #sensoryplay galore. _________________ Talk about awakening all your senses! #touch, #smell, #sight, #taste and you know what, there’s satisfaction in hearing the #mortarandpestle at work! ________________... #SuperSimple #InvitationtoPlay that has too many developmental wonderful’ness to list... trust us! _________________ Ms.Mariya’s @learningtodiscover little ones enjoy #gardenlife as well, especially when it’s #gardencleanup day over the weekend- more to #play with, more to mix, more to enjoy! _____________________ Don’t have a #garden, start one! Don’t have any outdoor room, start one indoors in your littles room! A few hanging pots or shelve pots and a few more herb garden pots in the kitchen and you’ve got yourself so much opportunity for learning, fun, play and overall garden & growth happiness! _______________________ #loveNature at #HarmonOaks, #reggioinspired #ecstem #stemeducation #earlylearningcentre #nurseryschool See more

Never underestimate a child’s ability to explore, discover and form new understanding of what we may consider more complex topics. #noagebias #nogenderbias __________________ When children are given the tools to play and engage with the material, #toexperiment, to #fail and #tryagain, so many cognitive connections are made! ______________________... Harmon Oaks’s Pet peeve: Oh....you work with young children so you teach the ABCs and 123s?.... Harmon Oaks is #notadaycare & we are not a #daycarer or #babysitter _______________________ #EarlyEnrichment is not about #ABC’s or #123’s.... it’s about so much more! It’s about becoming resilient, growing a love for being curious, experimenting, developing confidence, learning to form independent predictions and thoughts, learning to connect concepts, growing language, problem solving, socializing, working as a team, leading, following, listening, developing patience... it’s an experience! We teach, inspire, and empower children to observe, interact, question, and be curious about the world and all that surrounds them. We help them grow into articulate, confident, focused, persistent, and resilient learners and friends who encourage, help, speak up and care for one another (and plants & animals with no voice). That’s our #job and we LOVE it!!! @learning2blossom @teacher_oflittlehearts @teachinglittleseedlets #lovemyjob #lovemakingadifference ____________ ________________ #stemearlychildhoodeducation #reggioinspired #earlyyears #teachersofinstagram #nurseryschools See more

When #Covid #Procedures make you rethink #sensoryplay, you divide your #tufftray to include smaller #sensorybins , #label & let the kids #explore & #play with boundaries and rules. #NewNormal at #HarmonOaks. ___________________ ##StorytimeStem this week include a story about #Katherine and #Mae... both amazing women who help empower all our young children! And of course, we’ll also read about #NeilArmstrong & #BuzzAldrin. _________________ We’ve also been launching rockets! ...Take a look at our stories from yesterday & today. Please share your videos from our daily invitations to #learn & #stem with us! __________________ Follow along our #steamy #curriculum all #summer as our #stemlovers find out just how amazing #science is and discover science all around us through #exploration, #play and #experiments! ________________ #ECStem #EarlyYears #earlychildhoodeducation #EarlyEnrichmentCenter See more

Here’s another way we love #building #outdoors, and this one involves #sensoryplay too! _________________ Ingredients: #FoamShapes #ShavingCream & a #VinylFence (we highly recommend @gngvinylfencing ). That’s it... you can also use these materials on pixie glass... we have customer pixel glass easels Mr.Harry created for us that work beautifully too. And if you can’t get them to work outdoors, give it a try in the #bathtub or #shower instead! ... ______________ It’s so much fun, involves so much #math + #plannjng + #problemsolving & puts #spatialintelligence to work. It’s especially great for #kids who have little interest in #blocks and building #manipulatives. This is sure to create new interest! _______________ #SummerFun after #reopening at #HarmonOaks. See more

It’s our second week of our #StorytimeStem #SummerProgram & though we haven’t had the time to post anything other than stories, we’ve been having a blast! ________________________ This #summer we have chosen stories from #diverse #authors and stories about #cultures #aroundtheworld. Some authors we can’t wait to introduce to our families include #jacquelineayer, & #drarlynesimon! _________________ Here, we’re discovering slopes outdoors and playing around with traction (aka ...friction). ___________ ________ Do you think shaving cream would increase the velocity of the car or decrease? And what kind of movement and force is this!? Why in the world does the car move if we don’t push it! Well... the movement is due to the #incline or #slope, #friction, and #GRAVITY! __________________ #inquirylearning through #sensoryplay & #outdoor fun. It’s never to early to #stem! #steamkidschallenge ________________ #ECStem at #HarmonOaks See more