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.