Getting Ready for Thanksgiving



Ryan making pie



Ava using the mixer



Noah mixing the pie while Ava tells him how


We have had a couple of busy weeks.  We made pumpkin pie, painted our hands to make turkeys and used lots of glue and feathers to make more turkeys.  The kids really like projects. The boys were not too interested in making pie at first.  I did mention that they would be able to use the mixer.  Some were interested.  Then when it was turned on everyone came to see what was making all of the noise.  I told the kids it was a power tool for the kitchen.  Thant seemed to make everyone want a turn. 
 When ever I talk about a project we are doing for the week the kids hurry to the craft area so they can get working.   We always invite all the children to make the project but no one has to make one.  So if you did not receive one of the items listed it was most likely  a work that your child did not want to do. 

On Tuesday before our Thanksgiving break we set up our holiday tree.  The children are invited to decorate the tree.  We take the decorations off after each class so the next group can decorate it for themselves.   Be sure to look out for some fun holiday projects coming home.  

We have been having trouble finding a book that will hold the interest of the kids during circle time at the end of the day.  We have tried Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Clifford books, No David and we are unable to keep most of the kids sitting.  We are going to ask you to bring a book when it is your child's week to bring snack.  That way at least one child will be interested in the story.  That child maybe able to get his or her friends to sit and listen to their book. 

Have a great week! 

Making the Most of the Weather

Wow can you believe how lucky we were to have 70 degrees in November? The Toddlers certainly took full advantage of the weather. We enjoyed many hikes in the woods, gathering acorns, tomatoes, and leaves. The children really enjoyed having leaf fights. I think that they enjoyed covering me with leaves the most. It was really fun for all of us. Being able to burn off some energy allowed everyone to focus on their work.

The children enjoyed making turkey's with feathers and turkey hand prints too. The kids really enjoyed painting their hands. I thinks some of them were amazed that I was encouraging them to paint their hands. Others were not too sure and were very happy to rush to the sink to wash the paint off. Charlie put his thoughts on this very clearly "You are not painting my hand no matter what". Needless to say as of today Charlie will not be taking home a hand print turkey at least yet.....

This week we will be doing our first cooking project. We are attempting to make pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. So we will be measuring, mixing, pouring and cleaning this week. I hope the children enjoy baking as much as Debi and I do.

We are still in need of plastic jars. Any size will do! We are making snow globes so a jar with a twist on top of any size would be wonderful!!

Have a great week!

Lots of Changes

Debi and I took a good look at our classroom and what works were being used and decided to make a few changes. In all three classes the children were hanging out at the train table. The paint was not used unless we suggested it, play dough was sitting on the shelf untouched, scissors were crying out to be used, and shoes were in dire need of polishing. The children were not grasping the concept of taking a snack and eating it at the table So we decided that we need to make some changes to our room to make things "work" for everyone.

The first class has the luxury of going outside as soon as they arrive. This allows the kids to get out some energy. They really seem to enjoy starting the day this way. Be sure to dress the kids warmly so they can enjoy the time we are outside. When we go back into the school we wash our hands and then go to the classroom after line time we have a group snack. Everyone sits down and then we share our snack. If the kids don't want to eat they are allowed to go do a work. The kids have adjusted well to the lack of the train table, they began to use other materials. Everyone is doing something find a work to do or share with another child.

The second class unfortunately can not go out upon arrival because the older kids are outside. So we are get right to work. The children in this class were a bit distraught at not having the trains. They did however enjoy being invited to work with paint, play dough was a bit hit, windows were being washed, plants were being watered. It was working.

The third class wasn't too fazed by the change. The group is small so they simply found new work and began to use the art materials more often.

So if there are any disgruntled toddlers out there we apologize. We are trying to make sure the children are gaining knowledge and trying new things while at school .

Happy Monday!!!

Hiking in the Woods

We took full advantage of the weather this week and went for a hike in the woods. The children were a bit unsure at first. I actually think Ms. Debi and I were more unsure of our ability to keep everyone together. But it worked! The kids enjoyed looking for acorns. Many of the children filled their pockets and brought the acorns home to you. The following day when I told them that we were going for a hike they all quickly gathered near the the gate and were more then ready to go.

Toddler one has the advantage of going outside first. This is so nice for the kids. Everyone is able to get out that extra energy and leave it outside so that when we do get inside we they can focus on our work. Toddler 2 arrives just as the older children are going outside so we have to wait until the end of our time together to go outside. We try very hard to make sure we get outside everyday but sometimes time runs out. Hopefully everyone will get the idea that if we clean up fast we can get outside.

Just a side note. We have been changing lots of diapers and would appreciate if the children were not wearing onesies to school. When we ask the kids if they have a poop they all say no. SO many times we have to check to find the dirty diaper. It would be much easier if we didn't have to undo onesies in order to find the culprit.
We have had some new found interest in going on the toilet!! So that is great.

We have lots of things planned for this week. Pumpkin pancakes, making Carmel apples and ghost foot prints just to name a few.

I will try and post pictures of it all next week.

Happy Halloween!!!!1

Celebrating Birthdays

We celebrated our first birthday last week in our classroom. The children were very excited to sing happy birthday. We have all of the children sit at our long snack table and then we sing happy birthday to the child who is celebrating their birthday. The kids really loved watching her blow out her candle. We passed out the cupcakes and the children really enjoyed the snack.

Parents are invited to come in for cake time with the class if its your childs birthday. If you would like to send in pictures one from each year of your childs life we will make a time line of your childs life and hang it up in our room for everyone to see.

Everyone seems to like coming into school. Getting rules down is still a bit tough for some but with encourgement from the other students they are coming along. We are planning some exciting activities for Halloween week. Carmel apples, mask decorating, and ghost making.

We hope to see you all at the Pumpkin Hunt this weekend 10/24.

Have a great week!!

We Made It! Week One

Hello All

Everyone made it through week one. By Thursday most of the tears stopped. We had our moments but everyone at some point or another focused on work. The playground is every ones favorite place at school. Water works are also very popular. The children are enjoying the freedom of using water when ever they want. Cleaning up is a new experience for some but others are very good at cleaning up for themselves and for others. Sharing is also working rather well. You may hear children saying "this is my work".

We began the day with our line time. It was short we sang a song and counted how many children where in our class. We will begin demonstrating how to use the materials in our classroom this week. The children will learn how all of the items are used and where they belong and how to put them away. At the end of the day we will be singing, dancing and reading a book and then enjoying some fresh air.

I hope that the week ended better for you then it may have began. Debi and I are enjoying our time with your children and we know that in time they will be asking when they will be going back to school.

7 days and counting

Hi All

Can you believe the school year is just about over. It seems like just yesterday that you and your children where crying as we walked them into school. But these days there is just a quick bye mom love you and the are off. I am so happy that they seem to enjoy coming into school. We enjoy having them with us. I hope to see you at the icecream social May 26th during class time. If you drop your children off in carpool and park come on down about 15 minutes into class so 8:45 for toddler 1, 11:00 for toddler 2 and 1:30 for toddler 3. You can take home your childs change of clothes bin on that day. If your child is joining us for either of the camps please be sure that the clothes are lightweight for summer. And that they still fit. Many of your children are much taller then they were at the beginning of the year.

We are hoping to have a visit from the fire department on the last day of school.

Have a good week.

Nancy

New Works and Lots of Art

Before Spring break I attended a class and was shown tons of great new items to put out in our art area. The kids have really enjoyed using them. I added water color paints to the art area. This item is so fun for the kids to use. They are confused at first because it is dry paint in a cake. I give them a small bowl and have them fill it to the line that is on the side. I show them how once they wet the brush the color will come off the cake and they can use it on the paper. They really seem to enjoy this type of painting. There is only one piece of paper out for them to use at a time so this work is special and usually will be sent home with them. I also added a black sheet of construction paper and chalk to the shelf. They are loving the white marks on the paper. Too bad this work wont last for too long but they have been trying it out. Stickers, pom poms, and small items are available for them to glue. I put the glue in a small cup and they are applying it with a small makeup brush. The control level for the kids is strong. They are using the the suppllies with purpose. It is such a great step from the spreading of paint everywhere that takes place at the beginning of the year.
We are working on letter recognition. The children are looking at letters and we are naming them and singing songs of words that start with the letters. We are trying to make learning letters fun. The letter sounds are being mentioned but it will be reinforced next year in preschool.

Earth Day is this Thursday and we will be planting and giving back to the earth. You are free to visit any time before our time together is up.

Keep checking for the date of our End of Year Ice Cream Social!!!!

Spring Break Week

Hi All

Sorry for the delay in posting but it is spring break. We had a great week working on our baskets and coloring eggs. The children really had fun gluing all of the paper on the milk cartons. Glue is such a fun thing for them to use. We had a spring tree out for the children to decorate and they seemed to really enjoy that. We put out a giant egg in our scrubbing bin. The kids really liked scrubbing the egg. It is large enough that 2 children where able to scrub it at the same time.

We had many visitors Spyro shared his mother, sister Maria and brother Peter with us and Dimitri shared his mother, sister Mariah and Dina with us too. The previous week Drew brought his brothers and mother with and Martin also shared is mother and brothers with us.

It was really amazing to see how careful and helpful the children were with all of the younger siblings in the room. Everyone wanted to help the younger children with the works in the classroom. It was really sweet to watch them as the grown up children in the room.

We really enjoyed having everyone visit. We will be scheduling a Ice Cream social in May as the weather warms up and as a send off for our students. I am so excited that so many of you have signed up for summer camp and cooking. Debi and I really enjoy working with your children.

Enjoy the rest of your Spring Break.

Ms. Nancy

Is Spring on the Way?

We really made the most of warmer weather we had last week. The sun made a debut and that was so welcome. On Tuesday we visited the East and West Classrooms. The children put their sticky glue on their hands and walked around looking at all of the exciting works on the shelves. For those who are coming back next year we made sure that they knew which room they would be in. I will be sure to try to introduce them all to their teachers for next year. I think they were all very excited about how big the other rooms were.
We had our yoga class in the "park" on Wednesday. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. We ended our class with a game of chase just to get out some of the extra energy we had. We had Charlie's dad in visit us on Wednesday. The children were so excited to have a dad in the room. Everyone seemed to gather around him as he read Charlie a book. It was so nice to see. Feel free to set up a time to come in and visit our classroom before the end of the year.
On Thursday all of the children allowed us to paint their hands for our blankets that will be available for your bidding pleasure at the auction this Friday night. We invited Sally to put her prints on the blankets too. The toddler class seems to be Sally's biggest fans.
In case we forgot to give you the note we need each child to bring in an empty clear gallon milk container, and a cardboard egg carton any size. We are also looking for any puzzle pieces so if you have puzzles with missing pieces we would love to take them.

Have a great week. See you Friday!!!!

Is It Cabin Fever?

I am not sure what is going on with the children. They all seem to have an unusual amount of energy. I know that my own children seem to need to run, run, run. We are trying to channel their energy by going outside and playing catch Ms.Nancy. We even extended Yoga a bit and made sure that our songs included a lot of movement as well.

We have started counting the number of children in our class. When we are finished with first line we have someone count how many children are on the line. Then we discuss who is missing from class. It has been interesting that they always know who isn't in school. It is funny to hear the places they think their friends are. Micheal was sick, home while his mom had a baby (she's not expecting), or on a Disney cruise. He was in fact on vacation. The one to one correspondence of counting is a difficult thing for children to grasp. I think that counting each other is a good visual way to get this concept. Everyone wants to try to count it is great.

We celebrated June's birthday on Tuesday. Everyone seemed to like to compare their birthday banners that they had made. We have had many birthdays recently.

The pre-school children will be out on a field trip so we will be taking a "field trip" into the preschool classrooms. We will have our first line in one room and read our book and dance in the other. This will allow the children to spend a little bit of time in the rooms that they may be in next year.

Ms.Debi and I want to thank everyone who signed up for our cooking class. We are very excited about it!

Till Next Week :)

Building a Snowman

Snow,Snow,Snow. Well I for one am over winter but instead of complaining I am trying to make sure we make the best of it. I want to thank all of the parents who make sure their children come to school ready to hit the snow. The kids really seem to like the few minutes we spend out there everyday. The days when the sun is shining the children almost don't want to go inside.
On Monday the kindergarten children and Ms.Ellen built a giant snowman in the playground. The toddlers were amazed by how big it was. They wanted to touch it and add some more arms to it. We built a tiny snowman of our own but it did not seem to last very long as the next group of children knocked it down. We had a couple of birthdays this week. Mohammad and Luke both turned 3. We had a fun time singing happy birthday to the boys. Please feel free to join our class on your child's birthday.
In yoga class we are pretending to be different animals. The children really love to be butterflies and fly to a new location. We encounter elephants, lions, and snakes. We grow as trees and our leaves fall to the ground and blow away. We also stars. We always end our practice with the Sally pose. We do downward dog, child's pose and put our hands to our hearts and say nameste. We have yoga every Wednesday.
We will be cooking this week pizza and guacamole. The children really love to cook for themselves. The eating seems to be way more important to some then the process but the process lets them know that food does not suddenly appear for them to eat. We are hoping to help them build a better understanding of what it takes to make a meal.
Our spring projects will begin soon. We hope to plant some flowers outside our windows. We will be asking for help planting and donations of bulbs and plants to make our view beautiful.

Have a great week. Oh Yes, remember the auction. Please come Ms. Debi and I will be manning the bar.

Out in the Woods

We began to brush our teeth. The children listened as we talked about not sharing our tooth brushes with others. In fact we talked about the fact that germs are not for sharing more then anything. This is one of my biggest issues with brushing teeth. The kids are all so proud of their tooth brushes that we are making sure that they don't share them with their best friends. Most of the children enjoyed the spitting out the water part. We are encouraging them to brush their teeth after they have had snack.

We are still working on colors and letters. Many of the children are able to recognize the letter that begins their first and last name. We are leaving this work out for the children to do on their own. Debi and I have watched some of the children do this exercise with their friends. It is fun to watch.
The sun made an appearance. We were so excited that we went back out to the woods for another hike. The early morning class threw snowballs at Ms.Mary Lou's windows to get her attention. She was pleasantly surprised. With our second class everyone was fully dressed for a walk into the snow. We went in a new direction deeper into the woods. The kids sat on a few fallen trees and we found some deer hoof prints in the snow. The kids were very excited about this. We headed back into the classroom after 30 minutes of being outside. Everyone was tired and hungry. The children had snack and worked on their self portraits and headed home for the weekend.

Remember to come visit the other classrooms it will be time to register for fall very soon. The auction less then a month away. This week we are making our second project for your bidding pleasure so remember to get a sitter and come out to the action.

Valentines Party and Lots of Snow

We had a great week. The snow was falling like crazy on Tuesday. The kids were nervous in the playground at first. There was so much snow that the sled sunk as I began to pull the kids. Eva was brave and ventured out to the end of the playground. She made the first tracks out to the houses. We we very impressed with her determination to get to the house and open the door. When we made it into the classroom we celebrated Drew's birthday.
Then it was cookie making time. Debi and I decided that the kids needed to really make homemade cookies. We had a small group that gathered around to take turns adding the ingredients. The girls seemed to be the only ones interested until we turned on the mixer. Everyone wanted to try this. The first class was in charge of making the dough and the others need to roll out the dough cut out the cookies and bake them. Needless to say it was a fun and messy afternoon. The girls in our third class were covered in flour when they went home. They were machines rolling and cutting out cookies.
Wednesday despite all of the snow the roads were clear so we were at school! We had a good time in the snow we made some snow angles, pulled the sled and some kids cleared off the slides it was really fun! Once we were back inside we had a cookie frosting station set up. The kids enjoyed spreading the frosting but the sprinkles held the real magic. Almost everyone decorated cookies.
On Thursday we had another birthday. Noora celebrated her birthday with us. We headed back out into the snow. The sun was shining so we were able to stay out a bit longer and Jake's brother Gabriel joined us and pulled everyone on the sled.
We set up our "mailboxes" and had the children pass out their treats. It was fun.

I think we all enjoyed the week of fun but I know everyone is ready to brush their teeth. So this week we will work on teeth brushing, hair combing and nose blowing. I am looking forward to this. I know that the children are excited to use the new mirror that we mounted near the sink.


Yes if you were wondering Ms.Debi was not in school on Wednesday and Thursday her son was sick. Ms. Diane was able to work with us those two days. Thanks Diane! Your children gave her a warm welcome.

Have a great week!

Hiking in the Woods

Well the weather cooperated and we were able to go for a few hikes in the woods. I must say that the first time out the children were a bit nervous. Leaving the playground is a little bit of a hill downwards and with the snow they had to be extra careful. Once we made it down the hill everyone relaxed and the fun began. We listened for birds and saw some squirrel tracks in the snow. We waved at the kindergarten class as they were busy working. We made it over to the office where Ms. Sharon provided us with the camera I will post the picture this week. It was fun.
The next day Charlie asked to go on another hike so off we went. We were more organized and brought bird seed for the bird feeder outside the office. We watched the squirrels and birds eat the food as we walked on. All of the classes enjoyed this activity.
We began decorating our Valentine mailboxes and made some glitter hearts for Valentines day. We are going to be baking cookies this week so it should be fun for all except for the cleaning people!
We are also going to start brushing our teeth and combing hair this week. My daughter Ella wants to come in to show the kids how to comb their hair. It will be nice to have another child help the children with their work. This works so nicely in the 3-6 classrooms that I am looking forward to having it in toddler too.

We will begin working on our auction project soon. We will have at least two items from each class available for purchase at our auction. I know that it is a nice way to remember your child's first time at school by having the project that they created together. So I hope you can attend the auction. (except for toddler1 parents) I want that project for myself!!!!

Have a great week.
P.S. I took the girls to the Museum of Science and Industry and they all loved it even June who is 2 so there is lots to do there and it isn't too expensive to get in.

We Need To Go Outside

The natives were restless this week. The temperatures were just a bit too low to allow us to go outside this week. We we added a few new songs to our circle time to get rid of some of our energy. Yoga class allowed us to fly with our butterfly wings to the beach where we became many kinds of animals with our yoga poses.

Debi and I are hoping to go for a winter walk near the woods by the playground this week. I hope that the weather agrees with our idea. This may allow us to see some of the animals we have been feeding this winter. We will be looking for our friend the ground hog on Tuesday. I hope that he brings us some good news.

Valentines day is just two weeks away. Please send your box for decorating this week. We will have a Valentines day party 2/11. Please send valentines that are not addressed school on Thursday. We encourage you to have your child help you sign the cards. Let them see how much work you are doing to make these cards for them.

Care of the self is beginning this week. Please encourage your child to try to brush their teeth, blow their nose and comb their hair. The time you invest now will pay off .

I want to thank all of you for coming in for conferences. I appreciate you taking time out of your day, getting babysitters and convincing husbands to join you. The children do notice that you value what they do because you took time out of your day to talk to me.

Have a great week!

Working Hard

We had a great week. The children enjoyed making bird feeders and placing them out in the playground. It was a slippery walk but the fresh air seemed to do all of us some good.

The children are working hard with colors and shapes and at the end of the week we have started to introduce letters. This work is done on the line and the work is left out for those who are interested. This work is for the older children in our class. They all are exposed to it but please let your child tell you when they are interested in doing a work. We introduce it and when they are ready they will go to the work. Remember they are young children and painting, cutting, washing are very important works. The process is so important. Letting your child become an independent person is something that is hard on the parent but will provide your child with the confidence that they need to succeed in school in the years to come.

We celebrated Jake's birthday this week in Toddler I. Happy 3rd birthday Jake! The children get so excited about birthdays. They enjoy looking at each others pictures from their childhood. Everyone has a story to share about their birthday. Please feel free to join us on your child's special day

Please remember to send your child's toothbrush and comb to school next week. Providing your child the independence to do things for them self will give them such a great sense of accomplishment. It is hard to let your child become independent but they still need you in other ways.

Our Valentines party will be the Thursday before Valentines so please bring a box wrapped in brown paper so we can make mailboxes for our party.

I am looking forward to talking to you all at parent teacher conferences.

Have a great weekend!

Back to School

Well the toddlers are back to school and seem to have grown up quite a bit in the two weeks we had off.
It is amazing that many of the children are potty trained. It is interesting that the kids who are still in diapers find it interesting that kids have learned to do this.

We are working on colors and shapes as a group and then those who are interested are spending more time with these works. I have found the children working in pairs one naming the color and the other naming the shape. It is funny to watch the debate among the children on who is right and who is wrong. Sometimes they call over another child to end the debate.

The kids are doing a great job at getting ready to go home. We have been passing out boots and shoes during story time. Many of the children are able to put them on for them self. There are of course a few times they have the shoes on the wrong feet. Coats are being put on with the up and over method and some can even zip them for themselves.

We are planning our Valentines celebration. The children are excited to make cards, cookies and mailboxes.