Happy Tuesday!

Hello Everyone!

Today we are learning about helpers and helping out. I talked to the kids about helping and they decided that they would be helpers by going on the potty by themselves and by cleaning their rooms :)

We read some cute books about helping. The Little Red Hen is a great book about helping, and also what not helping does.

We also read, I Can't Said the Ant by Polly Cameron. This is a book about all the things in the kitchen working together to help a broken teapot. We talked about how you can help someone by encouraging them to feel better, like many of the characters in this book. Also, the spiders and the ants worked together to help the hurt teapot.
This book also had a lot of rhyming, so we practiced the rhyming words and found new words to rhyme with them.

We also read Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? by Eleanor Hudson, which is about Elmo getting help finding Sesame Street and also has some great rhyming to practice!

Helping correlates with our letter H and the h sound. We find words in our books that also begin with h, such as hen, hope, higher, harvest, and so forth.

Snow Day!

Our first winter storm! The bigger kids didn't have school today, so we had some fun with baking and making some Christmas cards and crafts. 


The younger children are learning their opposites today; light and dark. We talked about the stars and how the light star shows up against the dark sky. We also compared colors, like light blue and dark blue. We discuss how opposites are very different from each other. 

I hope everyone has safe travels today! 

Friday- Horses

Today we are learning about one of our animals of the month- horses! I like to teach the children about an animal that corresponds with the letter they are learning (H), and if possible, an animal common to the area. Children learn about nature best by beginning with the surrounding geographical nature and expanding outward later.

We learned that horses are strong, and often gentle. You can ride a horse, race a horse, feed a horse, and do many other things with horses. Some horses live on farms and others are wild (although not very many anymore). Horses can be many colors, usually shades of brown, white, or black. Horses have a mane and tail and some are miniature.

We explored horses on National Geographic Kids and watched a video of some of the last wild horses left in America. We also read some books about horses and colored some pictures, and made our National Geographic information card.

Tuesday

Cookies! Today we reviewed the letter H and what we learned about house builders. We all helped make some sugar cookie dough and cut out cookies. We made stars, and the letter H, and some things that begin with H, like hat, hand, and heart. We also "painted" the cookies with water and put sprinkles on them. So, if your child has flour on their clothes, know that they had a ton of yummy fun while learning! We'll be sending them home for the families to see, so I hope you enjoy them :)

Monday

Today we talked all about house builders. Braden's Grandpa is a house builder. We watched some video footage of a Habitat for Humanity house being built (a lot of H letters!). First they clear the land, then dig a hole, then the cement mixer comes and pours cement, then walls, a roof, and don't forget the windows and doors! Then a house builder paints and makes it pretty. Finally, the family moves in!

We also talked about the star shape today and had our circle time, talking about the calendar and singing songs.

Review

Today is the last day of November, so we are reviewing. Your child will bring home some large letters F and G. On these, you will find several common things beginning with those letters in the shape of a triangle, which has three sides. Included in these pictures, you will find some things we put focus on, such as: fox, goose, farm, and grandparents. We will make one letter yellow and one brown. As you can see, this one project wraps up several points of our monthly cirriculum and is a good discussion item for you are your child at home! 


We are excited for December and Christmas! We will be working on several projects that might not come home right away (wink).

THANK YOU

I give thanks for the children. Both my own and my daycare children. I thank them for keeping my inner child alive with love, curiosity, wonder, and playfulness. I thank them for teaching ME everyday. They teach me patience, determination, friendship, loving God, and manners, among so many other things. Thank you parents, for allowing me to be a part of your life. Thank you, Children for snuggles on cold days, and encouraging me to run through the sprinkler on hot days. Thank you for making me play in the snow when I wouldn't normally go out there; it makes winter so much fun! Thank you for letting me read you books and not minding when I get teary over a really good one. Thank you for everything! I thank god for a wonderful job, amazing clients, and beautiful children to care for!

Gardens

Today we are talking about gardens. Gardeners can have a career as a gardener, but many people are gardeners for fun. We can have vegetable gardens, flower gardens, herb gardens, or all kinds of gardens! We plant seeds in the garden which grow.


Here are some cute Sesame Street links:
Jennie Garth: Garden
Michelle Obama: Garden


We also read these wonderful stories: 


Grandma's garden by Elaine Moore
I go to the Garden: Learning the hard G sound by Kevin Sarkisian
On Grandpa's Farm by Vivian Sathre
Blackberry Stew by Isabell Monk


Additionally we colored some garden pictures and talked about what we would grow in our own gardens. Braden said "carrots!" and Branden said, "flowers". We will also begin an indoor herb garden for the winter season.

Last Week

Last week was Thanksgiving week. I didn't post, but we were busy! We read several stories about giving thanks, turkeys, grandparents and families. We made a turkey with our handprints out of a toilet paper roll with a scroll listing the things we are thankful for. Your child thought of those people and things! I asked what they were thankful for, what they thanked God for, what they loved, who they loved, and so forth. I hope you enjoyed them :) I also hope everyone had a really wonderful, love-filled Thanksgiving.

Geese

Today we are learning about geese, mainly the Canada Goose. We have an abundance of geese around Michigan, so we will be looking and listening for these animals. They fly south in the fall, and if we listen and look we can see their V formations in the sky right now. They fly back north in the spring. A goose starts with the letter G. They have a family; the male and female mate for life and protect each other. A Canada goose has  a black neck and head and a brown body. As you can see, we are not only learning science about a common animal in the area, but I specifically chose this animal to incorporate other subjects we are learning about or have learned recently. We went outside and made a goose nest, substituting leaves for feathers. The children decided to add a few rocks for goose eggs. They have been holding up their hands to make a bill and say "honk, honk! honk-hee-honk!" like a goose :)


Here are some useful links for you at home and what we watched about geese today: 
National Geographic Kids w/ pics, video, and sound
Nat. Geographic video
Geese-from "Winged Migration"


Books we read: 
Honk, Honk, Goose! Canada Geese Start a Family by April Pulley Sayre
Honk! Honk! A Story of Migration by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
Here are some pictures!

  making a "brown" bag

our goose nest we made (with leaves instead of feathers)

enjoying a tractor ride

Branden's grace today:
"Grace, grace, grace, grace.... Thank you for grace, and chicken nuggets, and Kelli, and corn, and Brad, and chicken nuggets, and..... grace-Amen."

God

God is good. This is a Christian daycare, but since the children are so young, I focus on very simple and basic ideas that portray God in a very positive light. God made us, made every living thing, loves us very much, forgives us, and wants us to love Him. We also thank Him a lot, including when we say grace at lunch time. 


Books: 
The Berenstain Bears and the Big Question (about God)
                      and
The Berenstain Bears Down on the Farm  by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
 

Publish Post

Yesterday we took our brown bags and collected brown things outside. We then went on the brown deck and glued some of our collected to the bag for a craft.


Here are links for a good youtube on both yellow and brown:


Yellow
Brown


Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

Brown

Today we are investigating the color brown! Lots and lots of things are brown. We were all wearing at least some brown and that was very fun to see! We saw that many things in our houses are made of wood and wood is brown. Many animals are brown, like squirrels, birds, chipmunks, monkeys, horses, cats, dogs, geese, ducks, and bears. 

Today we read: 


Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. 
Caillou: A Day at the Farm 
The Berenstain Bear's Family Reunion by Stan & Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain
A Day in the Life of a Farmer by Heather Adamson
Thank You Bear by Greg Foley

A couple of these books are about topics from the last couple weeks, but were on hold at the library. We like to review though and we looked at each page to find brown things and letters F and G. 


One of MY favorite brown things.... CHOCOLATE! So we made home-made brownies! Each child helped and loved it, but I'm sure they will love eating them even more! 


Outdoors we are continuing our brown investigation by pointing out all the brown things we see: houses, squirrels, cars, vans, leaves, trees, decks, fences, dogs, dirt, and many more. We are also collecting brown things and making a brown nature collage. 

Love and Logic

The book that every professional working with children, and many parents as well, recommends to me is this one: Parenting With Love and Logic

I have read it and continue to refresh on it. There is also a companion website available. I highly suggest all parents read this because when you ask for advice, people will lead you to this book. Counselors, doctors, Family Studies master's degree holders, teachers, and many parents have all suggested this book! 

How do I use it? If my child refuses to put their coat on, I have some choices in my reaction. I can argue, demand, not let them play outside, or let them play outside without a coat. Chances are that if it truly is cold enough for a coat (or hat, gloves, etc.) , he'll decide on his own that he wants one after getting cold. I calmly say something like, "Ok. Its your choice not to wear a coat, but it is cold, so I think you should." then if they decide to wear one after getting cold, "burrrr. It really is cold isn't it?". If I'm leaving someplace, I'll usually bring the coat along with me and he will often change his mind later, or sometimes a coat really isn't needed that badly.

I will often say, "You have 2 (or 3, or whatever) choices." for example... (if a child is complaining about a meal)"you can eat lunch or you can go to your room and whine while the rest of us enjoy our meal." After realizing one time that truly not eating lunch means you get really hungry, that same statement will have much impact.  It also means that if they choose to complain, it means time away from the family. However, you must use tough love. It doesn't mean put the child in a timeout and then give him/her lunch, or a large and early snack. It means let them skip lunch and suffer a little so they learn to make their own good choices. 

I've also used it many times when one of my sons leaves something out instead of taking care of it. They know we have a daycare here and the kids will notice anything new and want to play with it. For example, my son got a toy for Christmas and left it out, after I repeatedly told him to put it away. It broke. He demanded that I buy him a replacement since my daycare broke it. I responded with, "I really am sorry it broke. I know it was special and I liked it too. But it's your responsibility to take care of things. If you want a new one, you'll have to spend your own money." 

Wear Brown on Tuesday

Tuesday we are investigating the color brown in more depth, so if you have brown your child can wear, that would be great! If you don't have something with a lot of brown, just a little brown will do :) 
Thanks!

Letter G

Today we learn about the letter G! Goody-goody gumdrops, we love G!

Books we're reading:

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

I Go to the Garden: Learning the Hard G Sound by Kevin Sarkisian

Grumpy Gloria by Anna Dewdney

Gifts for Gus: The Sound of G by Peg Ballard

We often repeat these books and read other stories throughout the week, but I like to put a few titles up here to  give an idea of what we're reading and how it correlates to the cirriculum. The kids like to repeat stories, often a few times in a row. Children learn a lot this way. The same holds true for the videos. The children often want to watch it a few times in a row, so it's great if you can watch it at home too!

I'm going to be incorporating sports/hobbies into the cirriculum. For November it's football and gardening. Like careers, it just educates children to the big, wide world and all of the opportunities available, as well as insight to other people. Look for the December calendar as well!

Links to 'G' videos: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpcwAjh9JmY 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-28urppv4l8 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS8GQIlNS_E&feature=related 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTcArkhyivA&feature=related 
Grover and the Growing G 
 

More pics from this month

 

Making Triangles

Nature Stations

Pictures from our visit to the library

 

Thursday

Today we talked about families. We colored a picture of a farm family and discussed how families are different. Some families have only a mom or only a dad. Some families have lots of brothers and sisters, just a couple, only one, or no brothers and sisters. Grandmas and Grandpas, aunts and uncles, and cousins are all parts of our family. Some family lives in our house and some live in other places. We usually see our families at holidays, like Thanksgiving. We also discussed how we are all a part of God's family.


We read these books today:
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves and Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson
A Farmer Boy Birthday
The Three Pigs

Wednesday

Today we visited the Portage Library. The children had a blast! We talked about the job of being a farmer and how important farmers are because they take care of the animals and crops to bring us food. We talked about how farmers can also grow cotton for our clothes. We read "A Farmer's Birthday" along with some other great books during story time.

We also got to eat outside today. How amazing is that for November? We are enjoying the beautiful weather for sure!

Happy Tuesday!

Today is triangle day! The triangle is the perfect shape to learn about this month, because we get to count to three while we're learning about it! A triangle has 3 points and 3 sides. We watched some Sesame St. clips on triangles and got the inspiration to make a triangle crown. We used our colors of the month, brown and yellow. The children are very proud of their crowns! The coolest thing that happened is that when we sat down at the table to do our craft, the sun was making a perfect triangle shape on the table. The children and I all thought that was very neat! We counted the sides and points. We are also going outside to make triangles out of sticks, logs, and whatever else suits our fancies. We will make a large triangle out of our path logs. By the way, what  a beautiful day!!! 

On the calendar, you can see our focus lesson of the day, but as you notice, I reinforce the lessons throughout each day. We incorporate our number and colors and nature experience with the triangle. We will have triangle pizza slices today. We point out that foxes have triangle ears. This is an ongoing process and we do not only concentrate on one thing per day, but we do put more emphasis on learning one specific lesson, while reinforcing previously learned material. 


What can you do at home, in the car, at the store, or where ever you may be? Point out triangles, letters, shapes, colors, etc. Look at the calendar and what the children are bringing home. "See that sign? It's a triangle! It's also red!" 

We also began decorating some of the pine cones we found on our nature walks with glitter to make a pretty Christmas wreath and decorations. We did this outside to enjoy the fresh air for longer today.

Braden's prayer today: "Thank you God for food, and animals, and trees, and houses, and windows! Amen. "

Triangle by James Blunt on Sesame Street 
My Triange Home- Sesame St.  
Marching Band Forms a Triangle - Sesam St. 
Our inspiration for the triangle crown- Sesame ST. clip 

Today is such a nice, sunny, warm day. We took logs and made a path and took turns following the leader. We will change the path's course occasionally, the children helping with this. 

We talked about forgiveness. We practiced this in circle time, then again throughout the day at appropriate times. When someone takes a toy, breaks a toy, or hurts us in any way, we always practice saying "I'm sorry." Now we're practicing having the other person say, "I forgive you." We told the story of Joseph and how his brothers were jealous of him so they threw him in a pit. Many years later, even though the brothers had been very mean to Joseph, he forgave them and gave them food. The only way Joseph could forgive like this is because God put love in his heart. We also said that we should forgive, because God forgives us all the time. 

Thursday and Friday

We learned about the number 3. We counted to three many times in both English and Spanish. We watched some sesame street clips to help recognize the number 3 and count to 3. We also colored some pictures, for example 3 fish (starts with f) and we colored them yellow (one of our colors). While outdoors, we collected items in threes. 3 rocks, 3 twigs, 3 walnuts, 3 pine cones, etc. and took turns counting them. In addition to this we read the three little pigs. We are having a lot of fun with the number 3. Branden is our only 3 year old, so this has been special for him. We ask, "Is anybody here 3 years old?" And he gets very excited to be 3, and shows us his 3 fingers.

Deeken's Prayer (with a little help): "Thank you God for food, and family, and friends. Amen." 
Branden's prayer: "Thank you God for food, annnnnnnd food, annnnnnd FOOD!"

Wednesday

Today, we investigated the fox a little more. We learned that foxes are furry, which means they are a mammal. They can jump really high to catch their food. We watched some good videos and saw many pictures of foxes. We learned that some are white and live by the snow, so they hide with their fur. They eat mice, rabbits, worms, bugs, garbage, fish, fruits and vegetables, or whatever they need to eat to survive. We learned that a fox can live in the forest, the dessert, the prairie, the mountains, or in the arctic. We think foxes are really cool! Then we colored 3 fluffy, furry foxes and put them in a forest. (the number 3 and the letter f in addition to our animal). We named them Frannie, Freddie, and Frankie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c


http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/fennec-foxes/

Publish Post

Tuesday

Tuesday we made Freddy the furry fox. He can wag his fluffy tail! We also played outside and visited the nature stations. Since it was voting day, we took votes on some items. We voted on pine cones or walnuts, walnut or rock, this pine cone or this one, and this walnut or this one, and so forth. I told the children to to pick up the items and get to know them better before they took the vote.

Also at the nature stations, I ask the children open ended questions (as I try to do often in every area). An open ended question does not have a yes or no answer. It instills wonder and curiosity in children and often leads to a special appreciation. Learning about our own backyards leads to curiosity. I model this for the children, so that as they grow older, they will initiate their own investigations. It is important for children to learn about the environment just beyond our own front or back doors in order to save the planet, vs. concentrating on rain forest pictures from a far off place.

Today we introduced the letter F and the /f/ sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU4MZZfZBZ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6LePzhGLNI&feature=related

A song we like to sing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otckPK7cnuY&feature=related

We watched this several times; the kids really like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCxIIJr7-Co&feature=related

We are also coloring the F  and the fish yellow, the F and football on another page brown  to begin getting to know our colors of the month.

November

November! Where does the time go? Here's the cirriculum planned for this month (we may add a few things as we go along too).


Letters: F, G
Number: 3
Colors: yellow, brown
Opposites: empty, full
Career: Farmer, Gardener
Animals: fox, goose
Food:  turkey (brown) and Fruit group
Holiday: Thanksgiving
Christian message: Forgive, family, God, Give Thanks
Outdoor: Nature stations and nature exploring
Shape: triangle

Friday

Happy Almost Halloween! Today we played for a long time outside. We played in the leaves and at the nature stations in addition to the regular outdoor toys. All the running and fresh air is so good for the children. The nature stations are a great way for the children to explore different things while keeping in our safe area. We do like to go on some walks when we have time and are able.

We got a special treat today; McDonalds! Braden, Branden, and Deeken went with me to the mall and we got McDonalds in a special Halloween bucket (which I later filled with goodies- some for parents and siblings too!) and sat by the carousel and had some great conversations about the animals. It was a great day and I hope it's a great weekend!

Today we did a review. We have a black, large "D" with words beginning with the d sound in the shape of an oval. Then we have a smaller, orange letter E with words beginning with the short e sound in the shape of an oval. 


On another note- it was 43 degrees and wet when we went outside today. I was wearing my winter coat and was not too warm. Also, my hands were cold without gloves. I know some children were very cold. Please keep in mind the weather conditions of 10am, not just the high of 1pm. This is a good time of year for layers and those nice cotton gloves. You can get 2 pair at Target for $1 or $2. Then you can even keep one here so you don't have to remember every day or keep track of them.
We weren't outside for too long because it started raining. When we don't get as much outside time, we usually listen to preschool music and dance. I have some great ones that have many variations of the ABC songs and some nice preschool praise music.

Wednesday

Today was still windy, but also nice and sunny. We set up nature stations. We took a box and filled it with leaves. Then one with walnuts, one with pine cones, one with rocks, one with various plants and then collected various logs, sticks and twigs and bark. We compared and contrasted, smelled, touched, turned over, and investigated. I went through each station with the kids and modeled how to explore our findings and gave encouragement. Then I let free time happen. I wondered if they would run straight towards the toys or stay with the nature stations. They stayed at the nature stations! This is a part of my outdoor classroom that I am creating for an early childhood education class "Children and Nature". Doing some modeling and giving ideas for investigating nature and inspiring curiosity is great, but its even more important to then let the children have unstructured play time amongst nature. We learn about our colors (orange leaves and pumpkins for example) and opposites (large branches and small twigs), shapes (oval rocks), but mostly a general appreciation for the "earth" by starting with our own backyards. We discover "wooly bear" caterpillars, which just happen to be orange and black and after observing it for awhile, we put them in the tall grass (so they don't get trampled by the giants a.ka. us). We also had a slug visitor while at our nature stations. What  a great way to spend a windy Wednesday!

Tuesday

Tuesday was a different day! We had high winds and tornado warnings, so we did not go outside. We went into our top secret fort in the basement and wore secret mission helmets. We read books. The kids had fun!

Before all the drama, we were learning about the color black. We colored a sheet with black items and made a black sheep using our hand tracings for the legs. We also said the rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep".

Obviously, the colors orange and black go well for Halloween, so we will be seeing many orange and black things and even eating some! Yum!

Today we learned about the number 2. You'll see that we colored a large 2 orange. We colored and practiced writing the number 2 in black and we also colored 2 elephants (big and small, and one of the animals of the month). We also have 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 lips (but only one mouth), 2 arms, 2 hands, 2 shoulders, 2 elbows, 2 knees, 2 legs, 2 feet! The body is a great way to teach the number 2!


We also introduced black by coloring with black and finding things around the house that are black. Shoes, bags, bird feet, binders, etc. and talking about things that are black. Some cats are. Annie's not, but has black stripes. Some hair, bats, come cars, and so forth.


We say a prayer before lunch. Braden's prayer today:


Thank you God for trees and leaves, cars, apple trees, peas, chicken and rice, Branden, Deeken and me. Thank you for pumpkins. And thank you for Jesus and God. Amen.

It's Cold!

Today, when we went outside at 10:30 am, it was 43 degrees and felt like 39. Was your child wearing appropriate attire for this weather? The leaves are very wet, and kids love to play in leaves. The cold and the wet are great nature experiences- but children cannot enjoy it when shivering and with sore, cold skin.
No one was that bad off today, but the weather will be getting colder and wetter, so PLEASE keep this in mind. I only stress this because in the 13 years I've done daycare, there is a child every day that is not prepared.

Today we learned the letter E! We colored some elephant pictures (one of them is orange!) and found letter e in the elephants. Also, two of the pictures have big elephants and little elephants (our opposites of the month). We saw real photos of elephants and talked about elephants.
Elephants are a BIG animal (the African elephant is the biggest living land mammal). Elephants have BIG ears but little tails. Elephants have a trunk. Baby elephants are little elephants, but big babies; a newborn elephant weighs 225 pounds! That's like 28 newborn human babies! Elephants use their trunks to pick up food and water, smell, hug and lift things. An African elephant's trunk is longer than our daddies!!! It's seven feet long- oh my! See the link to see what we saw today- It's from National Geographic and very cool!
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/african-elephant/

Tuesday October 19, 2010

Today we learned about David and Goliath (D for David). David had God in his heart and God gave him courage to fight Goliath. I spoke with the kids that God does not like fighting, but since not everyone has God in their heart, fighting does happen sometimes, and God will help and give courage if someone asks God and it is for His good.
We also spoke about the opposites of little (David) and big (Goliath). The kids colored a picture with a bible verse on it about the story and also watched a short cartoon about it.

An Excellent Article on Toilet Training

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T106600.asp#T106602

WEATHER

We play outside every day unless the weather is bad. We usually go out for the first time around 10 or 10:30 am, so when looking at the weather, keep in mind what it will be like at that time of day. It is usually a little colder and wetter. Also, with a lot more rain during this season and the leaves being moist underneath, kids will be getting wet. As it gets colder, hats, and cotton gloves will be appropriate. With snow, cotton gloves are NOT appropriate. Waterproof mittens and gloves are necessary to prevent injury to the skin. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to have a child sit on the steps and shiver because of no snow pants, no gloves, etc. They have to watch others play, while sitting there bored, so PLEASE be sure to pack accordingly. If you want to leave extras here, that is wonderful. Make sure to label everything, at all times if you want it back. Snow pants all look the same to me! Label it whether it stays here or not. Basically, if it comes to daycare, label it. 


There are many studies on the importance of children playing in nature. It prevents and treats ADD, ADHD, depression, obesity, and so forth. It is important for the children to bond with nature in their own way. I have to keep the kids safe, so running with sticks and stuff like that is not an option. However, digging the dirt or mud, jumping in leaves (wet or dry), getting grass stains, playing in the wet, cold snow, playing in grass and on toys that have dew or leftover rain... these and more are all parts of playing outside. I suggest the children always wear clothing that can get ruined and you won't care. 
This goes for spaghetti, painting, and other crafts as well. The kids learn more by delving right in. I put on bibs and art shirts, but it only works so much, and I often have several kids I'm watching at once, so I can't always be there to stop a mess. Learning to eat with utensils, drinking from a cup, painting by oneself, and many other things means messy, messy, and even messier! Thanks for understanding :)

Monday October 18, 2010

Fire Saftey

Stay away from matches and lighters! DANGER!DANGER!
If there's a fire, DON'T HIDE, GO OUTSIDE!
Go out the door, or out the window- be safe!
 Don't save toys or pets- meet at the safe place!
Firemen are not scary, they help us.
Have smoke detectors by every bedroom and on every floor!
If your smoke detector chirps like a bird, tell an adult to get new batteries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JqWpGGARjc&feature=related

OCTOBER

I forgot to post our monthly October cirriculum. Here it is!


Colors: orange and black (pumpkins, leaves, bats, spiders, Halloween!)
Food: Pumpkins and Carrots
Shape: Oval
Letters: D, E
Career: Doctor
Fire Safety
Opposites:large/small, big/little
Number:2
Animals: Dinosaurs, Elephants
Christian Message: David and Goliath (Courage)

Friday October 15, 2010

Today was a wonderful day! The weather has been beautiful and today I took Branden and Braden to the Nature Center. We walked some trails this morning while the sun filtered through the brilliant autumn trees. There were many leaves on the ground which still had drops of dew. We also explored inside the interpretive center at the fish, the furs, and got to see an albino corn snake. Braden was all over it, but Branden wouldn't get withing 5 feet of it! There was so much to see though, it's too bad we couldn't stay longer.

After the Nature Center, we ate lunch at McDonald's; a rare treat, indeed! I let the boys play in the funland for awhile, then we washed our hands REALLY good :)

This afternoon, we colored pumpkins and fall trees, and played outside some more. I just love Autumn!

Wednesday October 13, 2010

Today we are investigating the color orange. We have been observing the color orange outdoors, indoors, and especially on our walks. We see orange pumpkins everywhere, trees with orange leaves and orange leaves on the ground. We also see orange recycling bins and some orange cars.


Here are a couple of links for the color orange: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=2Mh&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=orange+pics&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=1rK1TPzFHobhnQfHu7HsDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB8QsAQwAA&biw=1152&bih=604

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYbSUm3fftA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHAtrnbu8ts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHi0Vd40Y1M

Tuesday October 12, 2010

Today we are learning about a career and that career is Doctor (starts with the letter D). We watched some cute clips about doctors and talked about how you must know a lot and go to lots of school to be a doctor. We talked about the things a doctor does such as: listen to your heart and lungs, look in your throat,ears, eyes, and nose, check your belly and give shots to keep us from getting sick. We talked about how both grown up girls and grown up boys can be doctors. Doctors help us when we're sick, but also when we are well to teach us how not to get sick as much.
Here are the clips we watched:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYQzmtZ8Rsw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQSe3N4mVc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAEzM9tzV9c

We also have some coloring pages with doctors on them and some doctor's tools. We will pretend to be doctors and patients. 

Monday October 11, 2010

Remember that if I don't post, it's not because we didn't do anything, it's because I didn't have time to post!


My printer was down for a couple of days (by the way if your printer is on but mysteriously stops printing, try unplugging it and plugging it back in- advice from my brother and it works every time, but I usually forget until I get really frustrated, LOL!)

Today was such a gorgeous day!  Branden was the only one here this afternoon, so we went a long, long walk. We talked about the colors and how when the leaves fall, it means it's fall. We looked for orange leaves, orange pumpkins, and other orange things. We talked about how the water is a creek and he practiced saying it several times. He examined various leaves, dandelions, and flowers. By examine, I mean smelled, touched, looked at, and tore piece by piece (every sense but taste, and that's only because I wouldn't let him!).

He had a lot of outside time too both this morning and this afternoon. It was a great day to be outside! We mostly concentrated on the color orange and the fall season as far as learning was concerned. We just notice the orange colors, ("look at that tree. It's orange. Look at the pumpkin. What color is it? What else do you see that's orange? Look at the recycling bin, sign, leaf, shirt, coat, car, etc..... ). I constantly say "You know it's fall when the leaves fall!"  and things like that. We also talk about the squirrels finding nuts because they are getting ready to hibernate for the cold, cold winter coming soon and how their bushy tails are like a blanket for them.

Wednesday October 6, 2010

 Today I introduced the letter "D". We played our ball game where we roll the ball back and forth saying words which start with D. We also talked a tiny bit about orange when we had orange carrots (which are circles), but will be formally introducing orange tomorrow.

Here are some D links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBINAdbgDBc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKzne7HqK00&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-3USLvkYiw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOJXE1DWLAc&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbLZj7km5ZU

Additionally, I will  talk about potty training, since I don't get to see every parent at the end of the day. The children who are potty training go to the bathroom every 45 min. to every hour and a half. I ask continuously throughout the day, "Does anyone have to use the potty?" So far, I haven't been met with  a yes, but I ask to encourage initiative rather than just going. I like to take them often so that when we have a dry pullup, it can be a very positively reinforced event. This means that I get very excited and proud. I say, "WOW! I am so proud of you!" "I can't wait to tell your (Mom/Dad/Sister, etc.)!" I give a big-guy punch or a high five and hugs and kisses. We walk to the sticker station immediately after getting dressed and washing hands.
All of this needs to be done immediately for it to be effective. I also say, "Here is a sticker for keeping dry this time and I can't wait to give you a sticker again for staying dry!"

Keep in mind that I have many different kids throughout the day. I have to get kids breakfast, lunch and two snacks, and I have two different afternoon snack times for kids in school and out of school. I have to get kids on the bus twice during the day and get them off. I have parents dropping off, picking up, and calling at different times of the day. I do preschool activities, reading, and other activities and we go outside daily. It is not at all the same kind of attention that your child receives at home. I cannot possibly stick to a minute schedule and if someone else is using the potty, another child might have to wait. Being potty trained means going potty on his/her own and being able to hold it for a short time when necessary. One indication of potty training is not releasing urine less than every two hours. If this is not the case, your child is probably not biologically ready. Taking him/her potty and going, twice in two hours does not mean that they are biologically ready because if I left him/her in the diaper for that long it would be wet, in some cases.

When not dry, or when changing a poopy diaper, I keep it very low key. I do not express shame or anger. I do not give any attention. I say, "Oh. It's wet. Maybe next time we can get a sticker for being dry." or something like that. It is VERY important to not hug or comfort your child for feeling bad about it because that REINFORCES the behavior you do NOT want. It is equally important to not show anger or frustration because that also reinforces behavior. Attention is attention and children at this age LOVE attention. If your child begins to cry or say "ouch" when changing them, keep in mind that it might be a way to receive attention that they want and know they can get by manipulating, since this provided much attention before. Obviously if a child has a rash, they probably really do hurt, but children this age are very smart and can be very manipulative when wanting attention. (I am not saying manipulation is a negative character trait; I'm saying it's very normal 3 year old behavior and that as long as it is not reinforced,  he/she will not have a reason to continue being manipulative)

To sum up: Only give attention when the child displays good potty training behavior like staying dry, asking to use the toilet, going to use the toilet on his/her own, etc. Keep in mind to move up appropriately. For example, the children currently use the toilet every time I ask them to, so they are not rewarded for this anymore. They are rewarded for staying dry or asking to go, or going number 2. Since they will use the toilet regardless, it is pointless to reward them, and will only keep them at that level, since they are being rewarded. 

Wednesday September 29, 2010

Happy Birthday, Grandma Cindy!


Today we are reviewing apples and the letter A, while also doing circle time with our hot and cold.


 Ernie and the apple tree:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_B6OlK7_34


A great one for apple cider:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLiQ3wDnADI


By the way, I just love watching these "old" episodes of Sesame St! 

Tuesday September 28, 2010

Opposites! I figured a good month (or one of) to talk about hot and cold is September.

The kids are making a book with hot on one page and cold on the other. In addition we are discussing things that are hot and cold and feeling them (within a safe range of course). We also talk about hot weather and cold weather. We watched these short Sesame Street clips: http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/hot-and-cold.html


We did circle time, but added the Pease Porridge rhyme to it. The children are taking a copy home with pictures to help them tell the rhyme themselves.

We are having a great Tuesday! 

Monday September 27, 2010

Today we did circle time with the same songs as the previous weeks. This helps the children become familiar with the tunes and lyrics, building their confidence and making it more fun for them.

We caught up for the weekend on the calendar and counted all of the days. We focused again on the letter "C" and colored a cross and talked about the word Christian. I keep things pretty simple and said that a cross is a symbol of God and Jesus' love for us. I told them a Christian is a name for people who love God.

It felt so much colder today. If it was March, it would have felt warm, but it felt cold after the heat of this summer! We did have some good outside time though.

We're looking forward to the rest of the week :)

Friday September 24, 2010

Friday, Friday!
Today we are focusing on the color green. We will be doing a project of cutting and pasting all kinds of green things onto paper. We also find things all over the house and yard which are green.
Additionally, we are learning about being a teacher. I am teaching the kids about different careers they can have when they grow up. I figured September was a great month for teachers!

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!




Green Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OefqQbwb72c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS7ogha_meY

A small sampling of a teacher's job: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAc8jy0pEzw&feature=related

Thursday September 23, 2010

Happy Thursday!

Today we are making a cookie craft. The cookie makes a circle, but with a bite out of it, makes a "C". Cookies starts with C and that's good enough for me, by Cookie Monster (see link below) was the inspiration for this craft. We are finding things around the house today that begin with C and our colors of red and green. We will play the same ball game that we played yesterday.

Circle time will be the usual for this week. We also discuss how c-c-c-calendar starts with c. I am focusing on the hard c sound because it's just less confusing to these preschoolers. The most important thing is that they are engaged and learning to socialize and follow directions, not that they memorize anything. However, they tend to memorize some of it anyway, so that's just a bonus!

If there's anything I've learned throughout the many years of childcare is that if a child is being naughty by being all over the place and kind of "wild" acting, a good solution is to engage the child. This can be coloring, a game together, a "new" toy (hide some toys so that you can trade now and again bringing fresh toys to the scene), letting them cut scrap paper or coupons (only when they can do it safely), going outdoors for free play or on a walk or bike ride, etc.  Kids usually act this way out of boredom and boredom is usually an indication of a need for attention or direction. Be aware that television and other screen time should be used sparingly, since this actually has an adverse affect and may be one of the main culprits in the rise of ADD and ADHD.

P.S. If you don't have any interesting coloring books, check out the Internet. Ask your child what they would like to color and I can almost guarantee you'll find it. If the answer is "dinosaurs" just Google "dinosaur coloring pages" and you can print them out right there. Make sure to follow directions because somethings you have to click something before it will print out properly. I also sometimes copy and paste it to a Word document if it doesn't want to print out correctly.

C is for Cookie, by Cookie monster (it correlates w/ our craft today!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovQyphS8kA

 Word World Clip for cake- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWx8AlvEAB4

Some other C links- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sajer1cV-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzlDxNt1Wck&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEuy-HsvF2o&feature=related

The Alphabubblies alphabet song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6NybKhBLrY&feature=channel

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Happy 3rd Birthday, Branden! We had fun celebrating with balloons and cupcakes (thank you Angela!). I can't believe how much these kids are growing.... sigh. It's all so much fun though, when I see them learning and growing.

Today we did a review of some things we have been learning. The kids read books for awhile today and then outside we played a ball game. We sit in a circle and I take turns rolling the ball to each child. I say something that starts with "A" and roll the ball. They either repeat it back (younger kids) or think of something new (older kids) and roll it. We did this for A, B, and C. We then found things all over that are red, then green, then circles. The kids think this is a great game and can be a good car game.

We also had our daily circle time with the same songs and the calendar. We say the month, the days of the week, and count the days. Branden picked out a birthday picture to put on the calendar for today and we sang Happy Birthday.

The weather was beautiful, we had a birthday, we had fun and learned a lot; what a great day!

Tuesday September 21, 2010

Hello! Today we are learning all about circles. I have a sheet of various sized circles for the children to trace (some with a little help) and become familiar with a circle shape. I also have a sheet of many things which contain circles such as: balls, wheels, donuts, clocks, snowmen, etc. Look around the house, the neighborhood, or the store for circles. We also continue our circle time today with all of the same songs as yesterday, emphasizing drawing the circle during the hand motions of our "Love Grows" song. I will post some links we watched and a demo of the song so you have a better idea of what the tune and hand motions are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmE2OBNunfM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjwnxy3RsVA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMsyF1_EoE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrqooKyxqoA&feature=related

In this next link from Sesame Street about circles, take note of the woman actress. She is  Loretta Long from Paw Paw, Michigan! She is also a children's author.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FClGhto1vIg&feature=related

Monday September 20, 2010

Hello! Today we introduced the letter "C". We began by watching some Sesame St. clips. The kids and I particularly loved the one by Cookie Monster with a song, so we sang our song during circle time. At circle time, we went over the calendar (which begins with c!). We discussed the month, the day, and the numbers. I let each child put up a number on the calendar, since we had the weekend to make up for. We counted all the numbers to 20 (today). We then sang the "Days of the Week" song, the "Cookie is for C" song, "Love Grows" (circle) song, and the "Baby Bumblebee" song (from last week). We then colored some pictures of the letter C, discussed things beginning with C in the room (crayons, coloring, chair, curtains, etc.). This is a good game to play at home, in the car, at the park, or anywhere. 

So there's a tidbit from our day...

Please take a look at the following links! 

http://castroller.com/podcasts/SesameStreetPodcast/1654907-Sesame%20Street%20Celebrate%20the%20letter%20C!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOPib0DDCY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLwlcrcQ9EE&feature=related

Hi!

Hello Everyone! I finally figured out that having a blog for the childcare would be a wonderful idea for the parents, potential clients, and myself. I'm really excited about sharing all of our wonderful experiences here.

If you don't know me, I am the childcare provider for Aunt Kelli's Christian Family Childcare. Long name. It's really "Aunt Kelli's" and the rest is a tag to describe the type of childcare I have. I chose the name Aunt Kelli because I like the families I work with to feel like I am kind of an extension to their family. I'm never as important as the parents, but I am close to the kids, like an aunt.

The "Christian Family" describes a couple different things. First, we are a Christian Family. Since I have other children here for most of my own children's waking hours, I wanted to be able to continue our lifestyle during childcare hours. This means that we pray before meals and incorporate some Bible based themes into our day. The other reason is because I want to share God's love with the children and their families. I believe God has put myself and these families together to have a relationship. Am I going to try and spoon feed you religion? No way! I don't even like the word "religion". I like to think of loving, kind, empathetic relationships in my life. You don't have to attend church or have any certain beliefs to come here. I will never pressure you or your children in any way. If you want to see what kind of church I attend, the web site is http://www.mykcc.org/.

Aside from the Christian part, the "Family" in my tag line basically describes the setting for the childcare. We are a family. You are a family. This childcare is in our family home. It's cozy, warm with love, and has a family feel. I am passionate about families, which is why I'm studying Family Life Education at Spring Arbor University.

Speaking of families, I have a big one! My husband, Brad, and I have 7 children between us. We have three children at home who are 3, 10, and 12. I also have 4 step children who are between 15 and 23. We love having a big family. It's also a diverse one, since we are a blended family. Our house really isn't that full because most of the children don't live here, or are in school.

Aside from childcare and school, I love spending time with my family and friends. I also love photography, crafts, nature hikes, bicycling, geocaching, reading and writing. In the next year I'm hoping to learn some rock climbing, with the help of my son. My husband pretty much has the same hobbies too.