Preschool 9/29

Theme
Animals of the Forest, Day 2

Circle Time

Read the book 'Bear's New Friend'. I love these books! The pictures are so cute and the moral behind the story is always a good one.

We pretended to be raccoons digging through trash to find something good by only feeling and not looking. I had about 6 things in a sack and they took turns reaching in to find one thing. Then they had to describe what it felt like (smooth, pokey, soft) and guess what it was before pulling it out.

Then we made a chart with 4 animals on it. We took turns saying our favorite one and then I wrote our name under it. Friday we'll do this again and see if their favorite changed.

Centers

They enjoyed the trains and animal hospital again today. I had set out letter B worksheets at the table in case some wandered over to do some. They all eventually did but didn't take any interest in writing, just coloring. That was fine because we just talked about things that start with the letter B (some of which were on their paper).

Megan and Tatum took turns 'reading' books to each other.

Snack
During snack time I read them another story 'The Kissing Hand'. This was such a cute book and I'm surprised I'd never seen it before. I had only checked it out from the library because the raccoons on the cover went along with our theme but after having read it, it might have to be a permanent book in our house.

At the end of the story was the sign for 'I Love You' so I showed them how to do it with their fingers.

Isaiah wanted to have a picnic snack on the floor so we had our fishy crackers there. They we 'seasoning' their crackers with the play food. Haha! I held up a potato and asked them what it was -

Isaiah said 'chicken nugget'
Megan said 'cantaloupe'
Tatum said 'bean'
Only Lola said 'potato'!!

Made me wonder if they knew what all the other play food was that they play with?!

Art

We did 2 art projects today. I didn't really care for how our letter A collages turned out the week before so I wanted to do something different for B.

I held up the paper and asked them if they know what letter that was. Right away Tatum yelled out 'B'!!! Yay!

They first colored it with a Brown crayon and then proceeded to glue lots & lots of Buttons on. They loved this!

Our next art project was doing an animal habitat. I loved seeing how each of their papers came together. Each so different and imaginative. Great work guys!

Preschool 9/27

The theme this week is
Animals of the Forest

Letter: B
Numbers: 2 & 3
Color: Red

Circle Time
In circle time today we discussed forests, what kinds of animals live there, what their homes might look like, what our favorite forest animals are, etc.

I read 'Stranger in the Woods' and they pointed out what animals were in the book.

Centers

The kitchen seems to continuously be a favorite for them all. They love pretend cooking and fixing food for each other.

They stacked blocks as high as they could and we counted them as they put them on. We did some butterfly sorting (large, medium, small) and some color matching with bee's and flowers.

They stacked blocks as high as they could and we counted them as they put them on.

Snack

We had graham crackers with strawberry cream cheese frosting on top. Also some apples & apple juice. They gobbled those crackers right up! :)

Outside Play

I've been having issues with outside time because all they want to do it swing...and none of them can swing by themselves...and there's only 3 swings. So I told them this week that I will give them 2 big (underdog!) pushes and then they need to swing by themselves or ask a friend to push them or swing alone on their tummy or find something else to do.

This totally worked! They did ask for more pushes after the 2 but I just said 'No more' and they were fine. Tatum helped push Megan and Lola. Megan pushed Lola and Isaiah swung on his tummy. Then after a few minutes of all that, they all found something else to do - ride bikes, do the slide, kick the soccer ball. It was wonderful and they were able to burn off some much needed energy. :)

The one exception I made was the tire swing because none of them can push it while they are sitting on it. And if someone gets off to push, it's impossible for them to get back on once it's going!

Art

Owl headbands!

Stamping patterns. I stamped the first 4 stamps to get the pattern going and then they had to finish the last 2 boxes by figuring out the pattern. They all did excellent at this!

Then they wanted to stamp some more so we turned their papers over and let them at it.

Preschool 9/24

We didn't have preschool today because Lola ended up coming down with a cold. I would have done it with just Megan but I ended up cleaning the house like a mad woman for Meg's family birthday party on Saturday. Poor Meg's just wanted me to play with her and I kept having to tell her 'in a minute'. Before I knew it the day was nearing an end and I felt so bad I hadn't just said to heck with the cleaning and sat down to play with her.

At that point I vowed to never let that happen again. Birthdays are a crock and should be spent just enjoying who you are celebrating. Cleaning house, running errands, filling goody bags, baking, planning menu's, ignoring your birthday girl so you can do all that, that's not what birthdays are about.

So I'm sorry Megan for letting the party get the best of me. I promise to lay on the floor with you and play Polly Pockets or bingo or memory when you ask because before I know it you will be celebrating your 18th birthday and won't want to do that with me anymore.

I once read this quote and it explains it all: "Cherish the here and now before it is there and gone"

Preschool 9/22

Theme: Apples, Day 2

Circle Time

Read books '10 Apples Up on Top' & 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?'.

Showed them 3 different apples - Red Delicious, Granny Smith & Honey Crisp. Then discussed how they were different or the same. Also what they thought they would taste like.

I showed them this color matching game and all 4 of them worked together to match the apples:

Centers

We continued with the same activities as earlier in the week.

Snack / Science

Taste tested the apples that we talked about in Circle Time earlier today. They liked guessing what each would taste like, trying the different kinds and giving their opinions afterwards.

Art Time

With my help we painted each of their arms to look like tree's and then they dipped the eraser end of a pencil in red paint to dot apples on their tree. They all stayed pretty interested in this activity.

Tatum's work of art:

We didn't have outside time today as we were pretty busy inside most of the morning. We drew apple tree's in our journals, played Candyland and Hullaballo.

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After school ended we celebrated Lola and Megan's birthdays with a fun lunch & cupcakes. My friend Candace came over with her little ones Maya & Sean. The kids played outside for awhile before eating lunch.

Then we had cupcakes & Megan opened some presents from her friends. It was a fun day indeed!

Preschool 9/20

Our theme this week was APPLES.

Letters: A & B

Numbers: 1 & 2

Color: Red

Circle Time

After doing our usual calendar, weather, songs and Pledge of Allegiance, we read the books 'Apples' & ' Llama Llama Red Pajama'. We talked all about apples - colors, taste, texture & what kinds of food we can make with them.

Centers

The kids worked great together this week in centers! Megan and Tatum scooping and sorting pom-poms.

Lola and Isaiah loved the animal hospital & using keys to open each door. They were great at taking turns.
Pounding the foam alphabet puzzle pieces in.
More animal hospital.

We also explored the geoboard with rubber bands. No pictures of it but they liked putting the different colored bands on.

Snack

We made cinnamon apples! I had diced some up earlier and they scooped them out of the bowl into a baggie, sprinkled cinnamon in and shook it up.

They all gobbled them right up!

Art Time

Torn apples! Ripping paper and gluing. Nice face Megs.

Showing off their work. :)

Games

We tried playing Hide & Seek with the apple and took turns while each child got a turn to hide the apple. I don't think any of them understood the point because they would each hide it in the same place as the person before them. Then when we would go into the room to find it, the hider would announce and show us where it was. I was laughing so hard because it was so silly!

We also had some fun with the musical instruments. Isaiah really got into the guitar. :)

Preschool 9/17

We finished our week of our 'Friends' theme today. Just Megan and Lola today but we had fun painting, practicing our letter A's and singing songs.

It was raining outside so we didn't get to go out to play. Instead Lola requested we dance to princess music.

Baby Bumblebee Song

Here are the lyrics to one of our favorite songs we sing at Circle Time. The kids always scream 'Again, Again!' when it's done. I think I sung it 4 times in a row one day. :)


I'm bringing home my baby bumblebee,
Won't my mommy be so proud of me,
(Cup hands together as if holding bee)

I'm bringing home my baby bumblebee,
Ouch! It stung me!
(Shake hands as if just stung)

I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee,
Won't my mommy be so proud of me,
('Squish' bee between palms of hands)

I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee,
Eew! It's all over me!
(Open up hands to look at 'mess')

I'm wiping off my baby bumblebee,
Won't my mommy be so proud of me,
(Wipe hands off on shirt)

I'm wiping off my baby bumblebee,
Now my mommy won't be mad at me!
(Hold hands up to show they are clean)

Preschool 9/15

Today we continued our Friends theme. In Circle Time we discussed what friends are, what they mean to us and how we treat them. We talked about who our friends were and who some famous friends are (Woody & Buzz, Dora & Boots, etc.). I read some books about friendship - Unlovable & Bear Feels Sick.

We also talked about the:

Letter of the Week - A
Number of the Week - 1

Color of the Month - Red

For Art we did 2 projects today. We began our alphabet art projects. For each letter we are learning, they will do some type of art involving the letter. For A we painted red Apples using a red pom-pom. We will be adding each letter of the week and putting together an ABC book.

Our next art project was a Friendship sun. We talked about what makes a good friend and how you know someone is your friend and then added our friendship words to the rays of the sun.

Free Play:

Little Miss Lola doin' her thing while chatting on the phone. She is never NOT in a princess dress. :)

I taped a large A on the floor and the kids walked it as we talked about what starts with the letter A. And that each of them have the letter A in their name.

Then they took turns laying down with another friend to make the A shape. Isaiah was cool with it until I told him I was going to take a picture which is why he hid his face. He was fine though when I showed it to him on the camera. :)

Lola and Tatum's turn. Lola just couldn't put down the wand. Ha!

Outside they helped clean out the sensory table that will soon be brought in. Our weather is suddenly changing from Summer to Fall here and we won't be able to use it outside much until Spring. I have lots of stuff planned for this table though!

Tatum riding bikes. I think this is her favorite thing to do outside!

We tried doing some letter worksheets but those didn't go over so well. I think I will hold off on those until we have our day more routine. I do have other activities we can do that will help with the letters. I just think a sit down worksheet with a pencil in hand is too intense this early on however I would like them all to get there eventually.

Our day today went much more smoothly though (or at least for me!). I think I wasn't so stressed about not having enough to do or having too much and not getting to it. Megan on the other hand is having a hard time and I'm not sure why. She throws fits if she doesn't get her way at that moment. But afterwards when I talk to her, she fully cooperates and understands and shares. I think she might be testing me to see what I'll let her get away with. Hopefully she'll come around soon. Why does it always seem it's the teacher/coaches kids that are the worst ones?!

1st day of Preschool!

I have to admit - last night I was SO nervous & anxious about today. I was scared of failing and started second guessing myself as usual.

What if the kids didn't like me?
What if I couldn't control them?
What if I let the parents down?
What if the kids refused to do my art projects/circle time/listen to books?
What if Megan didn't like sharing her Momma?

I was seriously up last night until 2am thinking it all over wondering if I made a mistake in taking this role on.

Well I'm glad to say that after a short 4 hours of sleep last night, I woke with a clear head & no worries. I feel in my heart that this is right. I know that what I'm doing is what I should be doing. 2 steps forward and no looking back. :)

The room all came together this past weekend and I was so excited for the little one's to arrive!

We had some pic's taken and then headed in for Circle Time.
Isaiah, Lola, Tatum & Megan :)

They were so good about 'owning' their own carpet square. :) I sang some songs to them, did calendar & weather, then read a book. From there I had planned to go over to the table for a structured activity but they were getting kind of restless from having to sit for awhile already. So instead I explained the different centers and rules about cleaning up 1 thing before pulling something else out - then they went and had 'free play'.

Megan and Lola eventually wandered over to the table where I had a writing activity for them to do. Meanwhile, Tatum loved the dress-up area and Isaiah spent a lot of time cooking for me in the kitchen. He even was kind enough to bring me a coffee!

I rounded them up and we sat at the table for snack. Isaiah passed out the napkins as everyone found a seat. I placed 1 bowl of fish crackers (thanks Christine!) in the middle and they took turns putting some on their napkin & then passing the bowl to their neighbor. They each were responsible for pouring their own water too and this fast became the fun thing to do. At least they drank a lot!

We cleaned up, had a potty break and then got our coats and shoes on to head outside. We swung, rode bikes & scooters, went on a slug hunt (yuk!), picked blackberries and jumped on the trampoline (that was everyone's favorite!).

After coming inside we went back to the preschool room and sat in Circle time again. I had cards showing different emotions on them. I showed them each one and we talked about them. For example, for the Sad card Isaiah said he was sad when his sister broke his toy. (heehee!)

We then flipped them all over on the floor and took turns picking one. Whichever one we picked we had to show our own emotion to match the card. This was funny and they all did really well with understanding it.

Oh and Megan came back inside with a little inch worm on her shoulder so we put it on top of the book shelf and the kids watched it intently for the rest of the day.

We then headed to the table and did an art project making our own stick puppet. Here it was neat to see the difference in their ages. Megan and Isaiah being 4 yrs old, knew how to draw a face on the puppet and add the hair. Tatum and Lola being 3 yrs old, didn't quite know how to draw a face yet. They are all at the correct stages and doing what they should be and I like having the multi ages together. The older ones can help the younger ones learn better and the younger ones can help the older ones learn how to become role models. Both Isaiah and Meg have older siblings so they are always following rather than leading. This is one of the Montessori concepts that I love.

Lola & Tatums puppets are on the left, Meg & Isaiah's on the right.

After art, we went back to some free play. We all played with the train set, then cars on the rug (Isaiah and I had quite the collision course!). The girls wanted to play with the baby dolls so we brought those out and they all pretended they were mommies taking their babies to the Fair (even Isaiah). We pulled out the fishing set and went fishing, taking the great opportunity to sort the fish by color, shapes, and then counting how many there were. I was surprised they could all count to at least 10.

We ended the day by setting our inch worm free and saying good-bye to each other until Wednesday!