This month in LEDP third grade has been so excited for the summer weather! On hot days they are excited to go outside and playing large group soccer games and most recently flying kites! The kiddos had a blast running around trying to catch the wind just right to get their kites up in the air! Many of the third graders are excited for the FIFA World Cup to begin and have eagerly been practicing soccer drills with each other and showing off their fancy footwork!

During choice time a lot of the third graders have begun playing Dungeons and Dragons! The kiddos bring in their own character sheets from home and game pieces for everyone to use. Friends take turns being the dungeon master, carefully crafting the imaginary adventure also know a "campaign!" Other children have come up with their own comic books and pop art, creating stories about their stuffies or  have created their own brand new characters! Third grade was super excited for our Walk-A-Thon and they definitely lead the way for the younger groups. Thank you everyone who participated, cheered our walkers and runners on the sidelines and for all of your generous donations! We will be collecting donations and sponsor sheets until Friday, June 5! Thank you again in advance for your genorosity!

This month third grade has been playing a lot of new board games! The kiddos are excited to play the game Mastermind, a game where one player creates a four color code and the other player has ten tries to try and crack it! They also love to play Dragonwood and Dragonrealm, a type of game where you have cards and die to try and battle other players for dragon cards, coins and enchantment cards! We also have added some Dominoes to the mix, they love to create structures out of them and then push them over, creating intricate designs and shapes.

During choice time, a lot of the kiddos have been interested in creating bead buddies such as lizards, snakes, worms and bracelets! Many of them have created little creatures to put on Allison’s lanyard, each having a name and place! In the LEDP room we also find a lot of third graders making marble runs out of blocks, spreading them across multiple tables and chairs and having it actually work! Amongst the marble runs, they also create large intricate buildings with multiple floors and even go in different directions! Third grade is having so much fun in LEDP this month thanks to the weather! A reminder for all families as well, please pack extra snacks for your kiddos for their afternoon with us.

Third grade has been having a blast with new games, books and projects! We created marble runs out of blocks and magnetiles- trying to see which material works best with keeping the marble rolling in a straight line, and which material is easier to put together. On the half day we got quite messy, but had a lot of fun painting rocks into anything we could imagine. Some kiddos made food out of the rocks such as chocolate chip ice cream, eggs, avocados and mangoes, while others created different versions of Earth, Harry Potter houses and waterfalls!

Third grade also got a few new games and books the kiddos have been super excited about! We got Puppy-opoly for our dog-loving kids, some new sensory fidgets such as Newton Balls, cards and 3D pin art! We have been enjoying the nicer Spring weather and we have begun ending our afternoons outside! A lot of our athletes have enjoyed playing kickball outside with their friends in third grade, but we have also been playing with the upper grades as well and it has been super fun! Many of the engineer builders we have have been excited to construct different paper airplanes and weights to see how far it will go!

We hope everyone enjoys their April break and returns rejuvenated and energized for more Spring fun!

This month in LEDP third grade has been excited to run right outside! Spring is on its way and the kiddos are getting super excited. The snow has mostly melted which means the field is quite muddy, oh no! For the month of March we are not allowed to use the field but that won’t stop some of our soccer enthusiasts. With some nice weather, the kiddos love to go outside and play circle soccer all afternoon, trying to see who can score the most points, or even do the coolest trick shot. For others, walking around the track and finding interesting things that were trapped under the snow all winter is an adventure within itself! 

During choice time, a lot of the third graders have been interested in playing a game called Staxis. The kiddos play it almost like it is reverse Jenga, stacking all the logs in a pyramid and seeing who will make the whole thing tumble. In the LEDP room we also find a lot of kiddos making marble runs out of blocks, spreading them across multiple tables and chairs and having it actually work! Amongst the marble runs, they also create large intricate buildings with multiple floors and even go in different directions! Third grade is having so much fun in LEDP this month thanks to the spring weather!

A reminder for all families as well, please pack extra snacks for your kids with LEDP written on it so they have an afternoon snack to fuel their afternoon.

This month in LEDP, third grade was very excited for the Superbowl! Everyone was chatting about where they would be watching it, friends that were coming over and all the yummy food they would eat! For quite a few days everyone tried to draw the Patriots logo- making stickers, posters and little notes for friends and family! Although the Patriots lost-that did not stop third grade from having lots to cheer for!

Third graders were also so very excited for yet another blizzard! They told stories of the tunnels they built, snow people they created and the best places to go sledding!

Speaking of snow, third grade has been so excited everyday to go outside and play in the snow! A good chunk of our friends love to go out and play “snow soccer,” where the entire playing field is covered in snow, making the ball unpredictable in where it lands. They are happy to play this as long as we can allow. On the other hand, lots of kiddos love to dig in the snow, happy to build tunnels and spaces in large snow mounds, unsurprisingly happy to build and build and build. 

This month in LEDP, we have been stuck inside quite a lot due to the snow! Although that has not stopped third grade’s creativity in the LEDP room!

The third graders generally love to continue to build large creations with blocks, using almost all of them to create vast landscapes of small villages, cities and military bases. They have been interested in creating tall and intricate buildings, giving them “earthquake tests” to see if the building could withstand any magnitude! Usually this involves shaking the table a little bit and progressively making it faster; most of the time a bulk of the building will stay upright and just the outer layer will shake off. We have quite a few architects in third grade!

When we are not in the LEDP room, we are either in an upstairs classroom or we go to the gym. In the classroom the kiddos love to draw animals, realistic or cute, coloring pages or freehand. They have been very interested in “how to draw” books such as how to draw dogs, people and other animals. They have also been intrigued by gem sticker art, where you can create your own sticker out of gems! We have a lot of different cute foods they can create from, a popular one was a coconut with a flower, or funnily enough- pickles!

We look forward to what February has to offer! 

January has been a great start to the new year! Third grade was so excited to come back to us and tell us all about their winter vacation! A lot of the kiddos went to different places to see family, while others stayed here to explore Brookline with a fun “staycation”. Upon coming back, the 3rd graders fell easily into the normal routine of homework and reading and into snack and choice time. It seems as if over the break the kiddos got even more creative with their incredible building skills! Everyday multiple kids create various intricate structures with blocks, building large boats, aircraft carriers, bases, and full cities! It is such a sight to see each and everyday! 

On the days we stay inside longer due to cold weather, the 3rd graders love playing in the LEDP room. When we break from meeting, the kiddos will happily make their way towards the blocks to build, or the others will go to the loft and set up realistic and extravagant restaurants and stores! The restaurateurs will create menus and desks set up as a real restaurant and ask what table you'd prefer and will bring your “food” of choice to you. There are friends who will run as “hostess” stand and other kiddos will be the “chefs” and will “cook” (draw) your food, while other kids are the security guards to deter “robbers”.  Jerard and Allison love to play restaurant with them, or help them build their cities! We are excited to see where the 3rd grade imagination leads us next!

If you have a moment, LEDP staff would very much appreciate families to check out our Amazon Wish List (with a link provided on the LEDP homepage). There you will find a lot of LEDP essentials; we thank you in advance for your consideration and generosity. 

This December has been great so far for third grade! Allison heard they did amazing while she was away in Japan! A lot of the kiddos stepped up to take on certain jobs in the class- such as organizing the books on the cart, taking off old games and putting on new ones, sweeping the classroom and generally staying behind to help others clean up. The third grade class was so sweet to Allison when she returned, the kids made a huge poster with kind words on it to welcome her back! It was so sweet! The kids also made questions to ask Allison about her trip and were so excited to hear about all the sushi and adventure Japan had to offer!

Meanwhile in third grade, the 3rd graders have been having a lot of fun playing various board games. We've had a loyal group of friends interested in playing Monopoly multiple times a day, learning from each other how money works and the value of buying property in the game. As always the kiddos have loved to build various sculptures, creations and buildings out of blocks, magnetiles and cardboard. We had a sculpting day where we took model magic and created our favorite foods, then colored them with markers for some colorful fun! Another day we gave the kids cardboard and stickers and let them create whatever their imagination led to. It was so cool to see what the kiddos came up with.... boats, cars, mazes, games, puppets and books! The third grade class is so creative and knowledgeable, it’s quite impressive to see!

The days get closer and closer to the end of October, which can only mean one thing, Halloween! This month third grade has been getting super excited for the special day, excitedly sharing what they will wear to school that day and what routes they will take with family and friends to Trick or Treat. One of the themed projects we have done is decorating a pumpkin man with gems, taking turns gluing the gems on and working together to finish the project! Third grade finished him and we hung him up on the cart for the kids to play with, affectionately, naming him “Larry Jr.” 

In the days leading up to Halloween, third grade has been bouncing with excitement! In the classroom the kiddos have been having so much fun with magnetiles, Jenga blocks, rubiks cubes and blocks. They love to build different creations and buildings out of all of the materials, creating different landscapes and creative areas for their imaginary play. We printed out many different coloring pages, the kiddos loved to color a Halloween themed Pikachu and of course, K-Pop Demon Hunters. The third graders have really enjoyed the coloring pages and we have some friends recently into the roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons! They love to color different pictures and creating their own characters with the D&D character building sheets! We look forward to all the spooky stories our friends will have on, can you believe it, November 1!

The month of October has been beautiful so far weather wise and in LEDP! Third grade has been getting super excited for Halloween, planning routes they will take for trick or treating and what their costumes will be! In the meantime after school we have been playing lots of board games, Jenga and building games! Jerard has taught many kiddos how to play Sorry, they are so excited to play it every day. For those not immersed in board games, friends will often build castles out of magnetiles, towers out of colorful blocks and huge jenga towers taller than some of the third graders! 

Third graders love to go to the library, choose out many books and sit and read until they are done with the book. They have been very good about homework time, automatically settling into LEDP and taking out any homework they have. Third grade has done a wonderful job learning our routines and jumping right into afternoon activities!  Third graders are so excited for the rest of October, the beautiful fall weather, tick or treating, pumpkin patches and apple picking!

September has been a fabulous month to get to know third grade! Jerard and Allison have noticed that third grade loves to build anything out of everything. On certain days Allison has brought in various materials for them to try and build cars, boats, towers and ships! We did try to have a contest of who could build a car that travels farthest down the ramp. Everyone was very excited to participate and many immediately had ideas for cars. We used CD’s, straws, bottles, tape, clothes pins and cups!  On other days we tried to build different boats out of tin foil and fill them with checkers until it sank. The record was 102 checkers! 

Overall third grade LEDP has gotten off to a great start! Many kids check in with Jerard and Allison when they go to different places outside, to LSA’s or if they need to get something from the classroom. This group is very creative in many ways. When we use the LEDP room, many kiddos love to play restaurant, creating multiple menus and “food items” out of room materials. Other groups in the room will create multi-step structures made for marble runs, creating long trails built out of blocks to see how far the marble will go. Third grade has been a delight to have in LEDP and just a few reminders to please pack extra snacks for your child labeled LEDP. They come to us very hungry from the day and quite a lot of kids don’t have any snack to eat!

We had a wonderful September and we look forward to welcoming Fall and spooky season!

Welcome back 3rd Grade Families!

It has been an exciting to start the new year with third grade! We all have been getting to know each other while playing card games, Bananagrams, Spot It and Guess Who!  

We have spent the last few weeks getting to know one another and introducing our new teacher, Jerard! It has been a blast learning of their summer adventures and bouncing off some fun ideas, crafts anf activities they'd like to do this year. We have been trying to take advantage of the lingering days of summer and the kiddos have really enjoyed playing football and catch with Jerard and I. 

The year has gotten off to a great start, third grade has been very helpful and respectful towards the new spaces. Most of them will volunteer to help sweep or stack chairs and have been wonderful helpers during transitions. Since it still feels like summer outside we have been playing lots of games outside on the field and on the playground! The boys and girls have been very responsible about playing safely with one another and always checking in with a teacher first before they move to new places on the playground.

Overall third grade is having an amazing start to the year! Just a few reminders: please remember to pack a snack for your child for LEDP! Writing LEDP on it might help the kiddos remember to save it for their afternoons with us! If you have some time please take a moment to checkout LEDP's Amazon wishlist that have some LEDP favorites and daily essentials. Thank you in advance for your consideration; you can find the link on the homepage of our website.