Thursday

Today we learned about Paramedics. The children did not understand what Paramedics did as well as they understood the other community workers. They did understand that they were some sort of doctor that made people feel better. Today I made a little mistake by putting way to much blue and red paint on the girl's tray to paint with. Before I knew it everybody was colored it Purple paint! It was on the walls, the tables, and head to toe on Cecelia and Josslin. They had to be put straight in the tub to be cleaned. They had a huge learning experience that Blue and Red make Purple :) We had a great day in the Playroom!

Wednesday

Today was a gloomy day outside, it let us have a quiet and relaxed day. The girls decided to build a fort so I helped them. Kendyl loved it because I put her right in the middle. We put two tunnels on each side for them to crawl through, they had a blast!

Today we learned about Police officers and what there important jobs do. The girls briefly talked about all the other community Workers we learned about this week. They continued to play Doctor and fixed each other up.

Today we colored with markers and used stickers to decorate. We also played with play dough this afternoon. Cecelia and Josslin have been doing a great job working with their geometry patters. Josslin pulled a triangle out of the box and said "Triangle!".

Tuesday

Today we talked about the importance of Firefighters. We discussed what to do if there was a fire. We read a wonderful book that explained to us what we should do. We also talked about how Firefighters may look a little scary when they are in their whole suit, but they are actually very nice and there to help us. Cecelia, Eliana, and Josslin learned how to dial '911' in case of an emergency. They each got a turn to pretend call '911'. everyone enjoyed wearing Firefighter hats and got to take a Firefighter hat home today. Earlier this morning Cecelia and Josslin pretended they were Firefighters putting a fire out with their giant hose ( a long caterpillar stuffed animal) This was a great learning experience for the children. We also walked through a fire drill and pointed out our Fire Detector, this is something everyone should do at home also. during story time we read the book 'The Zoo Train', but the children call it the 'Allie Allie Oh Book'. The children love it and even Kendyl and Ashlyn have been trying to say "Allie Allie Oh..." We created art collages this afternoon, they turned out beautiful!

Monday

We were so lucky to get a visit from Grandma today with Little Red Riding Hood. The children loved sitting and listening to the story.. The doll she used is very fascinating, it is Little Red Riding Hood on one end and the Bad Wolf/Grandma on the other end. the children really enjoyed it!

Today we started our theme on Community Workers. The children learned about Doctors. They all enjoyed playing with the Doctor equipment. They learned the difference between a Pediatrician and a Veterinarian. It was very cute to see the girls pronounce the names. Josslin called the Pediatrician a 'Baby-tissue'. the girls enjoyed coloring with colored pencils today. We had a blast doing our Kids exercising C.D. and Alyssa did a great job following the direction by stomping her feet, jumping up and down, acting like animals. Ashlyn and Kendyl looked at us like we were crazy, but enjoyed it also.

Over the weekend Cecelia and Josslin had the opportunity to go visit a Firehouse. They were able to sit in a real firetruck. They walked through and ambulance. They touched the Firemen suit, hat, and boots, but were to scared to try it on. they were even allowed to walk through the Fire station and see where the firemen eat, sleep, and relax. I encourage your family to visit your local Fire station. there are many open house days for families to come and visit. You can also call your Fire station and ask if you can come visit or when their next open house date is. It is a great experience for all the kids.

Update

Dear Parents and Families,
I would like to apologize for the delay of postings on the blog spot. These past two weeks have not been typical weeks. We have had new visitors, absence of the regular children, and illness that went around to everybody. I would like to thank all the parent's for your cooperation during this week with the girl's and myself being sick. Keeping sick kids away from healthy kids is the best way for us to stop the spread of germs.
We had a wonderful field trip last week to Parky's Farm. It was wonderful to see how many children actually got the chance to go. The rain even worked in our favor because we had practically the whole place to ourselves. The children had the play barn to play in, the played music instruments, went down slides, played in the ball pits, and practically climbed every which way there was possible. Outside of the play barn we visited the animals. We saw goat, sheep, and the largest pig/hog I have ever seen! He was clean and pink and he weighed 400 pounds! Inside the animal barn the children saw a pony, baby calf's, chickens, and even got in a pen with baby goat and feed them! The children gathered around and helped make Apple Cider, they were amazed! Afterwards a nice lady at the park let the children pet a bunny rabbit. :) Alyssa and Natalie loved chasing the chickens :) We had a great time at the park, we enjoyed a nice lunch at McDonald's afterwards. I encourage all the families to go back to Parky's Farm on a day with no rain, it is a great experience for the whole family!
This month the children have really enjoyed learning all about Farm Animals. I have really enjoyed watching the children's knowledge grow about farm animals and seeing all the Farm homework come back from the weekend.
There has been a lot of preparing for the changes in October and we are all excited! The children are read and so am I! I will do my best to explain my methods of teaching as I am teaching your child. For example today we have started working on letter recognition. The children will never be forced to memorize a flash card or to write out a worksheet on letters. You may ask "Well how will they learn?". Children are being forced to memorize letters at a early age, but have no understanding or concept of the letter outside of the flash card or worksheet. Your question may be answered with, we use hands on experiences and involvement in all activities to teach the children. Today the children talked about the letter 'A', we drew the letter on the white board, we created the letter out of pipe cleaners, and we shaped the letter out of play dough. We talked about what words and whose names begin with 'A'. What is so wonderful about this method of teaching is that children of all ages can be involved in the lesson. Cecelia may be able to do a worksheet, but no other child is able to sit down and fill out a worksheet, and I don't think many children find enjoyment in memorizing flashcards. This method allows even Kendyl to be involved in creating the letter in at least two different ways. Alyssa and even Kendyl helped make the sounds the letter makes. Kendyl smiled the whole time she knew what she was dong when everybody was saying "Ahhh, is for 'A'" and she was able to participate. I hope everyone can see the wonderful methods that this Reggio-Emilia approach uses and the benefits it has for your child. Feel free to research it or ask more questions.
As you may know the month of October we will be talking about Community Workers. WE encourage all the parents to bring something in for the dramatic play area. Kendy;'s Mom has brought in Deposit slips and bank account record books. Cecelia and Josslin's uncle brought in items from the Fire House for EMT week. Please ask around to friends and family if they have items from their place of employment for the children to learn about.
Make sure you know about the important dates of October:
October 23, Friday Parent's Night Out!
October 24, Saturday Family Trip to Burger's Farm 3:30pm
October 30, Friday Harvest Party 5:00pm-6:30pm