Transition

In the fall, I always expect an adjustment period. Typically that adjustment is for the kids though. After a very fun, very busy, very full summer with lots of school aged kids, I didn't know what to do with myself as I sat there yesterday with Miss Brooke and just 6 children! It was as if I had never done daycare without the "big kids". The pre-schoolers just sat and played. There was no bickering, no wild running, testing the limits of all the toys and finding that their strength and size is greater than the limits of our toddler toys.

If these boys don't look like trouble, I don't know what does! ;-)

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE those school kids, it is just so different suddenly with them in school.

So, yesterday, the first full day of school we all transitioned back to what will now be our typical days. Get the big kids off to school, eat a semi-quiet breakfast with all of the younger kids, and find each and every teachable moment throughout the day to make a game or activity out of.

Our wonderful Miss Brooke had some leis and had found the idea to make grass skirts out of garbage bags, so we learned about Hawaii...hula dancing and volcanoes and beaches, oh my!

Some kids liked the dancing most, while others were obsessed with watching videos of volcanoes erupting and the lava oozing everywhere. Fun stuff!

The Fabulous Miss Brooke

It was not planned, but it turned out so perfect to have Brooke begin working in the summer months (aka: the crazy months). Now her job this fall seems easy in comparison!

Truly though, it has been such a blessing to me and the kids to welcome Miss Brooke, her husband, Brad, and her boys, Brayden and Brice into the Little Friends Family. I can not wait to see how dynamic this year will be!

The kids instantly fell in love with Miss Brooke when she subbed with me last year on and off, and they have been waiting for her to be with us every day since! Brooke and her family live just down the street from us on Belclare Rd, and her boys are in the same classes as Chloe and Carter at Prairieland.

Brooke has a degree in Elementary Education (How cool is that?!?!?!) from Millikin University, so it is our hope to share in the teaching and planning this year. Brooke also has a love of learning, a love for kids, and a love for God that is so big! I am thrilled to see the new ideas and fresh perspective she will bring!

Summer Fun!

Claire is just hanging out, looking sweet with her "floop loops".

Miss Brooke brought over her tadpoles for us to play with and look at. Joanna was awfully brave catching them and watching them hop back in the water. Parker and Claire were happy to let Joanna do all of the catching and holding.

 We have had so many fun days at the pool, but it's also fun to play simple fun water games at home. Squirting spray bottles, "washing" the van and Splish, Splish, Splash (like Duck, Duck, Goose) are some favorites.

 Our trip to Wild West Town started off our summer with a bang!

Volcanoes and SPRING!

The hit of V week was the volcano that Lindsay erupted in the playroom.

Could they be any more excited?!?!

 And then, of course, we had to touch it and ask a million questions. So curious!
Real volcanoes are hot. Is this hot? Lava is supposed to be red. Why is this white? Can I touch it? Will it burn me? Claire, you touch it first! :-)

The long awaited spring finally seems to have arrived. We had centers outside today, and it was wonderful! Some of you may have heard about "Teddy Bear Math". These kids are just so smart, that I want to be introducing them to concepts that they will see later on in life, such as the symbols used in basic math. The kids put some teddy bear counters on the first line and second line and then put them all together on the third line to find the total or the answer to their math problem.

Being outside also means that we can bring out the balance beam. Not only did the kids have fun testing how fast they could run without falling, but some of them were teaching us tricks that they have learned in gymnastics on the beam.

Thanks to the "dirt place" we have added dandelion picking as a center. Claire was very curious about the smell...can you tell?

Lions and Lambs

For the month of March we began creating a graph...big math word for pre-schoolers! We are graphing "lion days" and "lamb days", although some of these days it's been hard to tell. The criteria seems to change depending on who the weether person is that day. We look very carefully at the leaves on our trees though to see what the wind is doing. We also talk about the concepts of more and less as we compare the two columns. When a day changed from sunny and warm to stormy, we decided to create a half-lion-half-lamb. You'll see that in the middle of our graph. The girls are so proud!

Evidently I was taking WAY too long to refill Preston's plate, so he just helped himself to the whole tray. How can you be upset with that adorable face though?

Parker received a postcard last week from his cousin, Baby Carter. He was so proud of that lemur postcard that he played with it all day. The lemur hung out in the dollhouse, lived in teh Lego zoo that Parker built and had snack with us!

Growth Spurt!

Proof that time really is moving forward and that spring is sure to arrive: These kids are growing and learning at an amazing rate right now!

Preston and Genevieve are stringing together words to speak in complete sentences, Mason is using the potty, all of the 3 year old can write their names, and the four year olds are starting to learn kindergarten sight words! This is a great season when the kids often begin to blossom, and it is the great reward for surviving the long, cold winter!

F

For Christmas, Joanna's family gifted us with an amazing game called "Five Balloons". It is so fun to see the kids play it on their own now! It makes a great center.

 Now that most of the 3 to 4 years olds have mastered writing their names, we are moving on to words. Are they smart or what?!?!

 The birthday princess didn't want just one picture, she insisted on a whole photo shoot! :)

 I told her she really didn't need the fork, but she thought it was more fun that way.

 We all got a kick out of Preston's messy face. Pizza and cupcakes...great combination.

 Building brothers!

 Flicking beans to strengthen those finger muscles. This game produces so much laughter as a friend stands at the opposite end of the table and tries to catch the flung bean in a tin.

 We've been talking about our emotions and expanding our vocabulary from the basic "happy", "sad" and "mad". Some of the kids on the feeling cards are exhausted, embarrassed, shy, surprised, and excited.

 He insisted that he was "not tired at all!" Five minutes later, I found him asleep in the reading corner while the rest of the kids were listening to music and dancing all around him.

 Busy little painters.

 Wren has learned to swing all by herself, so that is where you will always find her when we are outside! Quite an accomplishment!

 Writing the entire alphabet!