Photos - 11/20/09

Click HERE for a larger view

Article: 5 Ways to Raise a "Good Enough" Child

I found this inspiring!

LINK

Photos - 11/13/09

Click HERE for a larger version

The BOO Crew

Click HERE for a larger version

Leaves

How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow.

-Elsie Brady

Ask your child about our newest "toy"...

We added a touchless faucet adapter to the bathroom sink last week. It has been a big hit! The kids love that they can now do the whole hand-washing process themselves - along with the touchless soap dispenser and the color-coded drying cloths hung at their level, the automatic faucet makes it so easy and fun for them!

We've had a little extra playing in the sink while the faucet is still new, but I think this will actually save water in the long run. ;)

This should also be more hygienic since nothing gets touched except their individual drying cloths. Less likely to contaminate surfaces - just in time for cold and flu season!

"For Small Hands" Promotion

Now through Dec 31st, any orders over $25 placed through For Small Hands from Montessori Services referencing our School Customer Number: 247534 will earn Kinder Beginnings 10% toward free supplies!

Montessori Services offers some wonderful quality toys and learning supplies - may be useful with the holiday season approaching! :)

Family and friends can place orders to help us earn free learning supplies, just be sure to use our School Customer Number: 247534.

Just to prove I don't always get good shots...

Here's an "outtake" that didn't make it into the slideshow:



Getting group photos can be quite a challenge. :)

2009 Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

A wonderful time...

Thanks again, Walker Farm! :)

*Click HERE to view a larger version of the slideshow*

The new "Tank Gang"

Last weekend we added "Om", a Domino Damsel:



and "Achi", a Royal Gramma:




They join our clownfish "Nemo" (of course) and the rest of the critters...




Om especially loves Jacques - he spent the better part of his first two days in the tank getting cleaned, which has been fun to watch!

The kids are all enjoying our new colorful friends!

Education

"Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hay fields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of...education"
~Luther Burbank

She makes him laugh...

Photos - 10/5/09

Research on value of outdoor play for classroom learning

From the National Wildlife Federation:
ARTICLE

Article: Day care centers urged to be vigilant against flu

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE

Photos - 9/4/09

Photos - 8/28/09

Article: Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think

Read it HERE

Field Trip: Children's Museum

Photos - 8/22/09

A Happy Morning

Glittering grass,
Beautiful day for the park.
Wiggles and giggles and smiles all around.
A cool, gentle breeze -
Surrounded by those little faces I love...
A happy morning.

Photos - 8/14/09

Last week:

This week:

Preschool Play Camp: "Splash Party!"

Camp was so much fun today!

• We read these books:

INTO THE A, B, SEA by Deborah Lee Rose
THE POUT-POUT FISH by Deborah Diesen
WAY DOWN DEEP IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Jan Peck
I'M THE BIGGEST THING IN THE OCEAN by Kevin Sherry

• We heard songs and rhymes about water during circle time with Ms. Steph. We talked about the different ways we see water: in rain, puddles, snow, ice, ponds, rivers, and the ocean! We talked about all the things we use water for: drinking, washing, keeping cool - and about how plants and animals need water too.
  

• We made our own snack mix from goldfish crackers, gummy sharks, oyster crackers and marshmallow "floaties". We stashed extra snack mix away in our waterproof beach safes.

• The sensory table had colored blocks of ice in it for us to explore. We experimented with melting them using salt, water and our hands - and watched the colors mix together as the blocks melted!

• We ate some juicy watermelon - yum, yum!

• We played a tossing game with the splash balls Ms. Steph made for us!

• We made colorful art with glue, salt and watercolor paints.

• We tried to guess which things would float or sink in water - some things surprised us!

• We got each other really wet during our water play with the bubble tub, spray bottles and splash balls!

~Preschool Play Camps are OVER for the summer~

A huge THANK YOU to all of the families that made this new addition to our program a success!

Photos: Our Recent Friends from Nature

Donation Items

We have a few upcoming projects planned that we need to collect items for. If you come across any of these, please save them for us:

• metal juice can lids - these will be used to make an alphabet fishing game and in some other literacy activities.

• letter-sized envelopes - the children will soon be designing their own mailboxes out of soy milk cartons we've saved. Please check your junk mail or bills for return envelopes you won't be using and pass them on to us instead of throwing them out... I expect this project to be an ongoing favorite with the kids (as well as a fun incentive for practicing name recognition, reading and writing)!
  

• mismatched or spare kitchen utensils (measuring spoons, cups, funnels, strainers, slotted spoons, scoops...) - between the water table and the new sensory tub, we are always in need of tools to manipulate and explore a variety of textures (sand, water, ice, clay, rice, birdseed, etc.) If you are considering discarding any of these items, please donate them instead.

Thanks so much! :)

It Takes a Village...

An interesting read from the blog 'PhD in Parenting'.

Click HERE

A quote from the kids - 7/30/09

Jacques molted today. The kids noticed right away and were understandably curious. We talked about how Jacques grew too big for his skin. We also talked about how our skin stretches when we grow but his does not, and how our skin is soft but Jacques has a harder "shell" on the outside.

(click on the photo for a closer view)

After a long while observing and talking about what we could see, the kids decided:

"Now we have an old shrimp and a new shrimp!"

Photos - 7/30/09

Nature Shelf Update

For those of you who haven't seen our nature collection lately (also referred to as the "treasure box" by the kids):

(click on the photo for an enlarged view)

Squeeeze-painting!

Preschool Play Camp: "Letters All Around"

Camp was so much fun today!

• We read these books:

CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert
DR. SEUSS'S ABC
THE ALPHABET TREE by Leo Lionni
ALPHABET MYSTERY by Audrey Wood
ALPHABET RESCUE by Audrey Wood

• We heard songs and rhymes about letters during circle time with Ms. Steph. We talked about the alphabet and the letters in our names.
  

• We made our own coconut trees for a snack from pretzels, apple slices, red grapes and alphabet cereal.

• We laced beads to make name tag necklaces.

• We used cookie cutters to cut letters from our play dough.

• We took turns drawing action cards and following the directions for fun movements!

• We used art materials and alphabet stamps to create collages.

• We put the letters of our names up in coconut trees, just like in the book!

NEXT PRESCHOOL PLAY CAMP: July 27 "The Artist in Me"
View the flyer for Play Camp dates and themes

He finally has a name!

Though we had many creative suggestions from the kids, we decided to fall back to one of our favorite family movies. Our shrimp's name is... Jacques!

"Voilà. He is clean."

The character Jacques in the Pixar animated film Finding Nemo is a Pacific cleaner shrimp.

Preschool Play Camp: "Bug Safari"

Camp was so much fun today!

• We read these books:

BIG BUG SURPRISE by Julia Gran
ONE HUNDRED SHOES by Charles Ghigna
WE'RE GOING ON A NATURE HUNT by Steve Metzger
OVER IN THE GARDEN by Jennifer Ward
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle

• We searched the backyard playground for any creepy crawlies we could find! We caught them with our bug catchers, looked at them a while and then let them go.

• We heard songs and rhymes about insects during circle time with Ms. Steph. We talked about bugs, spiders, worms, bees, caterpillars and butterflies.

• We made our own "bugs" for a snack from crackers, cream cheese, peanut butter, pretzels and raisins.

• We hunted for bugs in the sensory table.

• We pretended to be bugs crawling on the ground and flying around.

• We played a bug toss game into the spiderweb (parachute).

• We looked at closeup photographs of insects from the National Geographic Society.

• We used fly swatters to make splatter art!

NEXT PRESCHOOL PLAY CAMP: July 20 "Letters All Around"

Photos - 7/13/09

Project Grow Update

Congratulations to Jacob C. from Logan, winner of our June drawing. Jacob C. will receive a copy of the book Ladybug Girl by David Soman and Jacky Davis!

The giveaway for July is The Block Mess Monster by Betsy Howie and C. B. Decker. Entries will be accepted until midnight on Friday, July 31st.

Project Grow!

Early Summertime Fun

Then followed that beautiful season… Summer…
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There have been lots of giggles around here lately - not only have we been able to get the water table back out, berries are coming on! Yum! :)

All of us collect fortunes when we are children — a fortune of colors, of light and darkness, of movements, of tensions. Some of us have the fantastic chance to go back to their fortune when we grow up. Most of us don't have the chance — that is the tragedy.
-Ingmar Bergman

Daddies are important!

Dad's early connection with child 'writes script' for later school involvement

When is a Dad…a Mom?

Feminism, fathers and valuing parenthood

Preschool Play Camp: "Let's Go Camping!"

Camp was so much fun today!

• We read these books:

WE'RE GOING ON A NATURE HUNT by Steve Metzger
FIREFLIES, FIREFLIES, LIGHT MY WAY by Jonathan London
VERY HAIRY BEAR by Matt Phelan
LET'S PLAY IN THE FOREST WHILE THE WOLF IS NOT AROUND by Claudia Rueda
TEN FLASHING FIREFLIES by Philemon Sturges

• We went on a nature hike, and glued the treasures we found to make wreaths.

• We heard songs and rhymes about camping during circle time with Ms. Steph. We talked about camping and imagined what we would bring with us.

• We made our own trail mix for a snack.

• We went on a bear hunt. After we found teddy, we gave him a ride with the parachute!

• We played "Campfire Pokey!"

• We made rubbings of shapes.

• We went fishing for magnetic fish.

• We looked and listened for woodland creatures: birds, bugs, butterflies, chipmunks and squirrels in the trees.

NEXT PRESCHOOL PLAY CAMP: July 13 "Bug Safari"

View the flyer for Play Camp dates and themes