Southwest Suburban Montessori Toddlers

Parent Teacher Conference

2012-01-29T20:10:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

We had a full week last week. The children were wound up. We tried to spend a little bit of time outside to get our wiggles out. We are at the half way point of our school year and hopefully everyone will soon be able to sit on the line. Our line time is about five minutes. The children are not expected to sit for the entire time they are able to get up and move during the name song and then each child is able to walk around and count the children. We will be putting out water pouring this week. We have had dry pouring out and know will be switching to water. The kids love to pour water to drink so I am thinking this will be an exciting addition to the classroom. We are also having the children serve themselves snack. In the 2-6 classroom the kids have to serve themselves so I am trying to get them ready for the transition that will take place next year.

I look forward to seeing you all this week. Remember conferences are Thursday and there is no school on this day. This year our classes will be making a photo book for you to bid on at the auction. The book will feature pictures of your children during our school day. If you are attending the auction we are looking for volunteers to bring desserts for our sweet table. Dinner and drinks (beer and wine) are included.

Please email me if you will be bringing a dessert.

Have a great week

Nancy

Cutting, Gluing,Stamping and Painting

2012-01-08T20:51:00.000-08:00

Toddler I class came back and went right to work. The children did not miss a beat. They really enjoyed finding all the new materials on the shelf. A sense of "normalization" has come over our classroom. Now that the children have a sense of order in the class we can focus on skills. We are working on letter recognition, shapes, colors, numbers and care of the person.

Toddler II is a tight group. The children were so happy to be back together that the excitement level was high. They have been very excited about the new work out in the art area. The art area has lots of new materials for te children to glue. There are snowflakes, cotton balls, and just cut paper for the children to use with glue to create you some beautiful artwork.
We are working with te children on an individual basis regarding letters,shapes,numbers and care of the person.

We will all get the same results it may just be done in different ways.

Happy Monday!

Back to School

2012-01-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I hope you have been enjoying your winter break. We are back to class this week. Our classroom has lots of new works on the shelves. I hope we get some snow so we can take the kids out shoveling, snowman building,and sledding. When there is snow on te ground please send your child dressed in boots and snow pants. We will send them home with their snow pants in their backpacks.

We will be working with the children on number,color and letter recognition this month. We will have parent teacher conferences in Feburary. We will be ready to discuss your plans for summer and next year with you. I know this may seem so far off but registration is in March. You can visit the 3-6 classrooms to help you make a choice you are comfortable with. Contact te office to set this up.

I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

Shortened Week

2011-12-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

Hello Parents

This week we have only one day and that day is very short. Normally we have a holiday party on our last day. We will have a special day but we did not call it a party since our time together is short. We will be having a special snack. Waffles with strawberries,whipped cream and some chocolate milk to drink. Santa is scheduled to visit the children on that day. We will be sending home the gifts that the children have made for you in the past few weeks. They are all very excited to bring these home to you.

We will have another pajama day for the children in January when things are at lull and we need something to look forward too. The winter may be long so we will need some excitement to keep us going.

I hope that you and all of your family have a wonderful holiday and relaxing new year.

Nancy

The Holidays are Here

2011-12-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

We have changed most of the materials in the classroom. The children were so interested in the new work on the shelves. The art area has exciting new glueing works. There are gingerbread men to decorate and snow flakes to cover in glitter. There are poinsettia's to sort and santa's to pour. We have woven holiday items all over the classroom. The children are really becoming interested in counting. New have numbers on a tray and then items for them to place next to the correct number. The kids are really working together to finish this work.

We have a countdown to our vacation calendar each day a couple of children will mark down how many days do school we have left. The are very excited by this task. We are going to have a party the last day of school. So they are counting down to a party.

I am looking forward to having some of you help create our holiday gift.

Have a good week.

Nancy

Colder Weather Is Here

2011-11-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

The children really enjoy going outside. In the past week we had so much rain that we had to find some large motor activities inside. We used the hallway to push each other on scooters. This took a lot of coordination by both children. The person sitting needed to cross their legs ( criss cross applesauce), and hold on to the sides. The person pushing needed to get comfortable and then steer the scooter. Once everyone had a turn we headed into our classroom to work an obsticle course. The children finished it off by crawling in the tunnel. Everyone seemed to like that.

We did make it outside one day. Many of the kids were cold. Hats and mittens are suggested. Some children run and climb outside, while others sit on the swings. This plays a part in how cold the kids are. We encourage them to run by chasing myself or Ms. Diane. We will be going outside unless it is raining or less then 20 degrees outside. So please dress your child appropriately.

With thanksgiving coming along we are working on turkeys. We are also beginning to show the children how to punch a picture out as oppose to cutting. In the 3-6 room they will use the punching technique instead of cutting. We will also start having the children serve themselves snack soon. Everyone is coming together so well that I am sure we will continue to see more independent children emerge.

Have a great week!

Yeah! Halloween is over!

2011-11-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

Hello

We survvived our first holiday! The kids were so wound up but they were able to focus after we released some of our energy. We introduced the children to the "scooters" this week. The children in Toddler I were able to take their rides in the hallway before the older children arrived. Each child took a turn sitting on the scooter with their legs crossed while another child pushed them down the hallway. The kids were laughing so hard everyone enjoyed both pushing and taking a ride. We then gathered in our classroom and walked on two balance beams and crawled through the tunnel. The children really seemed to enjoy the activities.

We added some new works to the shelves a number puzzle has been very popular. We added some new sorting works and matching puzzles. We also added a puzzle that has a magnet fishing line for the children to remove the pieces. This week we will be adding some mashed potatoes to the water table. It is a great sensorial experience for the children. We will be placing some objects in the potatoes for the children to find. So be prepared your child may be using their change of close box. Soon we will be changing our dry pouring works to water. Some children really enjoy pouring drinks for their friends.

The children are really coming together as group. The children really enjoy dancing together as a group. Everyone seems to have a favorite song, We Are the Dinosaurs is a big request, although everyone seems to like to Rock-a-Bye Their Bears as well.

Enjoy your week I certainly hope your children do.

A Full Month Complete

2011-10-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I really can't believe how much your children have grown over the past month and a half. The tears are few and far between. Running in to see their friends is very common. Almost everyone is able to wash their hands with out much help. We recently had a student observing our class and she was very impressed by the way the children cleared their plates when they were done with snack.

We are working on counting the children every morning. The children walk around and count each child. We then talk about how many children we have and if we are missing anyone who is missing.

We have washed the pumpkin and then used our hammering skills to put golf tees into our pumpkin. The children really enjoyed celebrating the holiday with us. The talked about their costumes and going trick or treating.

Talk of the pilgrims will be next. We re trying to introduce some of the facts that the children will be learning about next year.

We will continue to work on the letters of the alphabet, numbers and colors as this year goes on.

Summer Camp

2011-06-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hi All

The first week of summer camp went well. The first day was a little rocky everyone meeting all the new kids from the other classes. The second day was wonderful the sun shining and water works galore outside. Even the storm didn't stop us from having fun. We blew bubbles indoor which was quite a treat for most kids. We have a art project a week. Last week most kids made their camp t-shirts. Next week we are making frames for fathers day or a frame for a special person in your childs life. Please send a picture of your child with their special person and we will send it home on Thursday. In the following weeks we will be making drums so I am hearing that coffee cans are hard to come by so any can that can be made into a drum would be appreciated. We will also be making butterfly wings (sheets), masks and binoculars.

It is nice to see the kids meeting the children they may be in class with next year. The class size is bigger then they are used to. So your child may be a bit over whelmed at the the end of the day. This too will prepare them for the class size of next year. I am always so proud of how the children adapt to a new situation.

Have a great weekend see you Tuesday.

If you aren't able to make it to school feel free to email me nangiblin@yahoo.com as the ladies in the office are in and out this summer and the phone doesn't always get answered.

Thanks

Nancy

The Party is Almost Over

2011-05-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I met each of your children this year. They each have made me so proud of how much they have accomplished this year. All of the children can put on their own shoes. Many of them may not show you that they are capable of this but they are. Potty training is underway for most. If you are still working on potty training summer is a great time to work on it. Spending time outside in underwear allows you child to feel th wetness without making a mes in the house. I can remember training my daughter June. I just finished my toddler Montessori training and learned that the sensitive period for potty training was 18 months. June was 26 months. I figured I was in trouble and that I was going to have a tough time. June was not very interested in th toilet. I bought some training underpants, some had plastic on the outside. (Target). We spent many days outside and were making progress. Then I decided to go on a road trip. Out came the diapers. Then I remembered that this would only send me back to square one. So I put the potty seat in the car and hit the road. I pulled over a couple of times and then June was on a roll and out of diapers.

The children moving on to 3-6 classrooms or most other schools are expected to be potty trained. So if your child is spending the summer in camp with Ms Debi and I we would love to help you with this process.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. We have enjoyed getting to know them. I hope to be able to watch them grow up over the next few years here. If your child is moving on I hope that you will bring them back to visit us.

I hope to see you Wednesday at the ice-cream social.

Ice-cream Social

2011-05-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Our ice-cream social is just around the corner. Which means the school year is just about over. I hope that you will able to join us to end this year.

We will be heading outside if the warm weather ever returns. We are scrubbing the playground equipment, watering plants and gardening. So extra clothing that is weather appropriate would be greatly appreciated.

I am looking forward to greeting my campers soon have a great week!

Time For The Big Work to Begin

2011-03-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

I hope that those of you that were able to tend the auction had fun and picked up some good items. I hope that you were able to take a look at the photo books that I made for each class. They were fun to make although it was difficult to choose which pictures to use. We have several camera hogs and an equal amount of camera shy children. I tried very hard to catch everyone smiling.

We are down to the last two months of school. We are continuing to work on toilet training with the children. We are also asking the children to complete a "big"work before building with blocks,playing babies, or painting. A big work is something like using he spindles for counting and corresponding the spindles to the number, letter recognition, putting objects in size order and pouring works. This is what the older children do and we are trying to prepare them for next year. We are also trying to have the children line up before we go downstairs or in from the playground. While these are small things, they are requiring self control of the children.

We will be doing more activities outside as the weather breaks. The playground equipment will be scrubbed down. We will be clearing a path so our hikes will have a very clear path. We may even do some outdoor gardening. We will be adding a lady bug garden to our classroom in the near future.

Up and Over

2011-03-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

Just when we are all hoping that we will be packing the coats up we are teaching the kids the up and over technique to put their coats on. We have been trying this out on the line one child at a time. The kids cheer each other on. It is fun to see how proud they are as they put on their own coat. We will continue doing this until everyone is able to put their own coat on.

We are continuing to work on potty training. Debi and I are taking small groups to the bathroom during our day. Many of the children are at least trying out the toilet and at least that is progress. We will also begin talking about brushing our teeth. One of our students fathers is a dentist and will be sending toothbrushes for everyone. Last year the kids really liked brushing their teeth in the small sink in front of the mirror. I expect the kids this year will enjoy this too.

Don't forget that our auction is March 18th. We hope to you there!

Packing Snow!

2011-02-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

We really enjoyed the warm up on the weather. We ran I. The snow and threw snow balls at Ms. Debi. The kids really had fun going down the slide and landing in the soft snow. Spending time in the fresh air and a bit of sunshine made focusing on work easier. We intoduced the color green to the groups. The kids are enjoying working with verde.

We will begin to encourage the children to make their own play dough this week. We will have a bowl set out for the kids ro use to combine all of the ingredients in themselves to make the dough. There are always kids who make play dough every day and others who never touch it. it I'll be interesting to see if anyone surprises us.

Our auction is less a month away! We hope to see you to bid on our class project and a day of baking for your child and four friends with Ms. Debi and me!!!

Don't forget registration fornnext year is soon. To ensure your childs spot get here early on registration day! Thisnisnalso when you sign up for summer camp we hope to have a great group of children this summer!

Valentines Party

2011-02-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Wow were the kids wound up this week. The cold weather needs to end or we are going to loose our noodles. The kids went directly to the back door to go outside e everyday. I hope that the weather warms up and we can get back to our routine. The energy level in our classroom was higher then normal.

We started taking the children to the bathroom to check things out. A few of the children sat on the toilet and a few even used it. Please try to remember to dress your child so using the toilet is easy. I am sure that we both would love for your child to be potty trained before the end of the school year.

The kids really seemed to enjoy the party. We started the day with some dancing and singing and then everyone made a pizza. While the pizzas were baking the kids explored some of the new work that we put out. When the pizza was ready we passed out the shakes and turned on Clifford's Valentine for the kids to watch for a bit. We invited the older siblings to join us for a snack. The kids really seemed to enjoy having the older kids in our classroom. We finished our day with a book. The kids really loved carrying their shoe boxes filled with goodies. A good time was had by all.

Snow day

2011-02-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

Wow it was kind of like a spring break. It seems like it has been a long time since we were at school. If you were "snack" person last week and did not bring the English muffins, pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese please bring it this weeks as it is for our party on Thursday this week we we ill be making pizza.

If you can please use a brown paper bag to cover a shoe box so your child can make a valentine mail box for our party.

We are working on our auction item. We are making a book featuring your children that will be up for bidding on March 18th. Ms Debi and I will be taking lots of pictures to ensure everyone has a cameo in our book.

I hope that you were able to enjoy the snow with your children. We will be breaking out the sled this week if it is warm enough out side. I hope that the playground is passable at this point.

We are looking forward to our party this week. Pajama's are encouraged but not required on Thursday.

Nancy

Getting ready to party

2011-01-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

If the weather man is correct for a change we will be having some fun in the snow. We will break out the sleds and igloo makers. The children really enjoy the time we spend out doors. If we provide a task for them to do then are happy doing it. I enjoy watching them make snow angels and have fun chasing each other in the snow.

This week we will be reviewing our shapes and colors. We are also going to begin to marble paint some hearts and we will continue to glitter,glitter,glitter. If your child has brought in their shoe box we will begin to decorate them.
On the 10th of this month we will have our holiday party. We are making pizza and pink milk shakes. We are going to have a dance party and sing some songs.

I hope the weather allows us to have a full of school.

Ms Nancy

The year is half over

2011-01-24T19:06:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that the school year is half over. I can't believe far we have come but how far we still need to go. We are going to begin going in small groups to the restroom. We used to go as a group and the children could not wait for everyone to finish. The hallways were becoming to loud from our group. We will now try 5 girls at a time and then three boys washing their hands and using the toilet.

After Valentines we will focus on care of the self. We will be asking you to send in a toothbrush, toothpaste and a comb for your child to learn to on their own. We will have each child practice brushing after snack. We have a mirror at the sink soothe children will be able to look at themselves while they practice brushing their teeth and combing their hair.

We will also continue to work on numbers, letters, colors and shapes. Toddler class will prepare the children for the 3-6 classroom. We are trying to make sure the children are independent and strong people who can help out at home and function well in society.

Registration is in March. Ms Debi and I will be having summer camp the month of June call the office for details.

Growing up

2011-01-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

Hello

We are working on our shapes, colors, and counting one to one correspondence. The kids are really beginning to understand how to count a group of objects. It is really fun to watch the excitement on their faces as the count the group of children correctly.

The children are pointing their water for themselves. Soon they will be getting snack for them self. The children are mixing fun items in our water table. This week we are making instant mashed potatoes The children are enjoying mixing it all up and are having even more fun playing in it.

Parent teacher conferences are just around the corner. The kids are making a special work for you to take home with you. Everyone is practicing cutting, glueing and painting. These skills are great for small motor skills. These skills will come in handy next year when they work on writing.

Next month we will be cooking for valentines day. We are also having a pajama party to celebrate this day. It will be on the Thursday before valentines day. Please remember to send a shoe box covered in brown paper for us to make into mailboxes.

Have a great week!

We are back! Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting for some time. I was busy trying to make sure we had lots of holiday crafts or the kids and gifts for the parents.

When we come back to school this week Ms.Debi will be off work until Thursday. Her kids do not go back to school until Thursday so Ms Diane will be working with me on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully the chi
ldren will adjust to this slight change.

We will be working hard on color,number and letter recognition. We are enjoying working on letters with the children. We work in small groups or individually on this work. I have brought out the sandpaper letters, the magnetic letters and even my iPad for the kids to work with. The kids seem to really enjoy the different ways to work with letters. We have been talking about colors in English as well as Spanish. Most everyone knows their colors we sing a song about their colorful clothes everyday.

Before we know it it will be time for parent teacher conferences and sign up for next year. Feel free to call the office to set up a visit to the other classrooms so you and your child
can see first hand the other rooms in our school.

It is also time to start thinking about summer. Thank Goodness!!! Ms. Debi and I will be working together for summer camp. It is 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day. We hike, bake, play outside, picnic and do many art and crafts that we take outside. Of course we may happen to have a water balloon fight or two also.

In the mean time please continue to dress your children appropriately for the weather. We go outside if it is 19 degrees or more. If there is snow we will go sledding or build a snowman or build a fort. Boots and mittens are important.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T20:22:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-07T19:33:00.001-08:00

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

2010-10-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

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!!

No More Tears!!!!

2010-10-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Week Two and things are sailing along. We are getting into our routine and the kids are beginning to know what to expect. The routine for the the children is very important at this time. We have been working on following the rules. Sitting down and listening is hard for the children get used to. There are those who are very quick to follow the rules and are very good at informing Debi and I on who isn't listening. It is so funny! It is a fine line between "reporting" and "telling". This is a difficult distinction to explain to toddlers. We are working on it.

Snack is becoming a very important part of the day. The children are very proud to let everyone know what they brought for snack for the day. The children are working on clearing their plates when they are done eating. We are working on drinking from cups and making sure that we are not sharing our drinks with others.

In general everyone is catching on.

Water works by far are the most popular items in the classroom. Everyone likes to wash the dishes, their hands or the baby. The children are responsible to clean up after using the water. We have times when a mop will not do the job so the children are using a large amount of towels to dry up the floor. If you have been the lucky recipient of our laundry you have experienced this.

This week we would like to try a hike in the woods if the weather permits. Hopefully we will be able to rake some leaves and gather pine cones before the weather is just too cold to enjoy an extended amount of time out side.

Have a great week!

Nancy

We Made It! Week One

2010-09-26T19:45:00.001-07:00

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.

Icecream Social IMPORTANT

2010-05-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hi

Directions for the icecream social. Drop off the kiddies and then park and then come into school. It will allow the kids to keep their routine. The social is next week the second to last day of school 5/26. I hope this clears things up!

See you in the morning!!!

7 days and counting

2010-05-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

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

Earth Day Fun

2010-04-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

We had great time getting our garden ready for earth day. We spent Wednesday getting the garden ready for the planting. Everyone joined in raking up the leaves and picking up the garbage. The kids really enjoyed the fact that they were able to look into our classroom from the garden. We were able to pull some weeds and sorry to say a few plants were lost in the process.

On Thursday the weather cooperated and we were able to go forward with the planting. We had seeds ready for everyone to plant and a few holes were dug and waiting. We had many spills so we are thankful that the seeds were for wild flowers if they all bloom we will have many flowers for everyone. We had some great help from Charlie's mom and brother and sister and Samantha's mom, sister and dog joined in. Autumn's family donated some hosta's from her garden. These helped spruce up our area quickly. We want to thank everyone for their donations and help. If you are beginning to work in your yard and would like to thin out your plants donations are always welcome.

We have less then a month left of school. We will be planning an ice cream social for the families to join us during class time. So be on the look out for a note from the office with the day.

Have a great week!

Nancy

New Works and Lots of Art

2010-04-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

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

Spring is Springing .....

2010-03-23T19:09:00.001-07:00

It is just amazing how grown up the children have become in the past 2 months. We have so many things that we do daily that the children do with out being told. Sometimes I forget a step and they are quick to remind me of what I have over looked. I seem to always forget to leave our screams outside. I think that this has become one of their favorite activities of the day. The East classroom must think that we have lost our minds. Three times a day they listen to the toddlers scream in the playground. It is so funny how much they enjoy this.

We planted our grass seeds in our "bunnys". The children really seemed to like to dig in the dirt with permission. They all wanted to plant grass even those who normally do not want to get dirty. I can't believe that spring break is just around the corner. We have lots to accomplish before we take a rest. We are decorating our Spring Baskets this week. Next week we will color our eggs and then on Thursday we will be having an egg hunt.

We are looking forward to having some older siblings visit our classroom this week. Last week Constantine brought his sister with him. We really enjoyed having an older girl in our room. Martin's brother Aiden who was in my first toddler class was in today. The boys really seemed to enjoy having an older boy visit. We are expecting to see Holden's sister this week too. If your child's brother or sister is on spring break and wants to vist please let me know.

Finally, a great thanks to everyone who attended, donated or bought raffle tickets to the auction. A good time was had by all.

Is Spring on the Way?

2010-03-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-03-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-22T19:22:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-14T18:23:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

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.