November 8th

Today we learned about animals and the homes they live in. They started off by playing with play-doh and having all sorts of fun with the animal cutters. They also had all sorts of fun with the other animal toys around the house...the barn, safari play set, a matching puzzle. After snack time they decided it was time for a parade. During circle time we read 'Good Night, Gorilla' by Peggy Rathmann, 'Sheep in a Jeep' by Nancy Shaw and 'Diary of a Wombat' by Jakie French.

We took a quick yoga breach to stretch our wiggles out:

Showing Daddy her Yoga

And then we talked about different kinds of animals: mammals, birds, reptiles. We looked at an Usborne book all about 'Animal Homes'. Afterwards we played a matching game where we found all the homes for our critters. We talked a little bit about each animal as we found their home figuring out things such as 'If squirrels eat acorns they must live in trees'.

Which home belongs to the frog?

After circle time they each made a lion mask using multimedia art. They all enjoyed practicing their gluing skills to decorate their masks!

Maybe a heart should go on his nose?

Roar!

While lunch was being made we play a rousing game of Animal Scramble:

Which animal eats bananas?

During lunch they all practiced their manners saying Please and Thank You. They also practiced how to ask politely for the food using 'Please may I have....?'. After lunch they took out the music instruments and danced to Raffi's Animal Songs CD. For added fun there was bubbles!

After dancing all the kids started to get too excited so they got to go outside to play. They were disappointed to discover that the sand table was put away for the winter but decided to garden instead. There was dirt everywhere and messy kids are the happiest!

All about Numbers

We had a Montessori day at school all about numbers. When the kids showed up they were very excited to see that there were all sorts of stations to explore. They strung beads in patterns, matched numbers, learned about shapes, learned about heavier and lighter and played with the number balance.

3 is the same as 3. What will happen if I add one more?

What comes next?

The big shell is heavier than the little shell!

After exploring for a while they all cleaned up the toys, washed their hands and sat down for snack time. They used wonderful manners and politely asked to be excused when they they were finished. All of them cleared their plates without being asked.

Next was circle time. Today we read "One" and "Zero" by Kathery

n Otoshi. They all agreed that Red wasn't very nice to Blue and it was important to be nice to your friends. Counting along with the colors was a lot of fun. After the stories Mr. Eric led all the children in song.

Then we played a couple of games. First was Follow the Teacher and all of the children were very good at it.

Spin in a circle three times.

Then it was time for the number line game. They were too excited to f

ollow all the rules but they had lots of fun jumping up the number line while counting out loud.

Monday October 25th

With Fall in full swing, and Halloween creeping up on us, we took some time to explore the reasons for this season. The crunchy colorful leaves that fell from overhead outside provided a little learning and a lot of fun!

For our craft, each kiddo got to decorate an orange paper plate. Armed with a glue-stick and a variety of leaves, stems, mouths, noses and eyes, each of our little Picassos was free to create whatever they were inspired to, outside on the cool Autumn day.

Lunch was a huge success! Could have been because of the name of the sandwiches I brought along to eat? I called them "Ants in the Mud"! The kids all loved to "eeww" and giggle about that! It was really golden raisins between 2 multi-grain rounds, held together with Nutella and peanut butter. Some of the kids were so ready for lunch, they helped themselves when nobody was looking! It really had us laughing at their ingenuity, and also a little proud that they had all sat down nicely at a table in the dining area to enjoy their lunch "al fresco"!

For story time we were going to read "Pumpkin Hill" and "Hooray For Fall" but, my audience went rogue! A few of the kids chose to sit on the couch instead, reading to themselves, while the others "baked" in the play kitchen.

Hooray for Fall!

Friday the 22nd we celebrated Fall. The kids enjoyed putting leaves with their names up on the tree.

Through the window, we observed some brightly colored leaves on the trees outside and Nora lead everyone in singing Autumn Leaves are Falling Down (to the tune of "London Bridge"). We sang this again a little later while playing with the actual autumn leaves that Nora brought to share.

We read three books: Hooray for Fall, Autumn Leaves, and A Friend for All Seasons.

For the day's craft, we painted autumn leaf placemats! Everyone really enjoyed making a big mess (some even more than others...hehe). The placemats are being laminated, and I'll get them returned to everyone next time we meet.

Building Blocks 10.11.2010

Pumpkin Races

Tinkering!

Pretty Pumpkins

'Cheese ... and cwakers!'

'Miss Nora, I do love apples!'

Peek a boo

Story Time

Molly Fae and her Daddy

Hedghog

Building on The Three Little Pigs

Today we "built" on the Three Little Pigs by focusing on... BUILDING!  We started the day with some play-doh, built an impressive play fort/tunnel/bridge out of couch cushions and the coffee table, played with Legos, built block towers, and re-read the Three Little Pigs.

Thank you Nathalie for bringing cupcakes so we could also celebrate Jarrod's BIRTHDAY!