Thursday

Today at the bus stop we made up a color recognition game, my umbrella has rainbow colors, so I spun it around singing a song and when it stopped over one of the children's heads they had to say which color it was.
It was fun and good practice, so we will repeat this on other wet days :-)

We have been having bananas at breakfast. I talked to them today about how bananas have potassium which is something our body needs to stay healthy.

I did not get any photos but Addison and Lelia had fun with the puppets today when everyone was at Kindergarten. Charlotte watched the whole thing intently as the girls waved the puppets about.

                                     The mornings are like a ballet!

                                            Charlotte and Addison

                                                 Addison and Dolly

                                               Here comes Lelia

                         We did yoga today while  Charlotte was asleep.

 I have yoga cards for the preschool-set with photos on the front and a poem on the back.  I read them the poem as they do the pose. This is Squirrel:
                                     "When I stand upon my knees
                                       And pause to look around
                                       I can gather lots of things
                                  To store beneath the ground"

                       Frog- it is a tricky one. Phaedra has it mastered.
               "I am frog I sit and squat I wait for flies That I can spot.
            Then I flick my tongue so fast The fly is gone within a flash"

                 Butterfly- "When the soles of my feet are kissing
                                   My legs form a diamond shape
            When I spread my elbows like wings A butterfly I do make"

              Dog- "I am dog And when I yawn I push into the ground
                              My tail goes up   My back gets long
                       My arms stretch straight My head hangs down."

                             Cobra- "I press my hands. I lift my chest.
                                          I send a slither up my back.
                                   My shoulders wide. In kingly stance.
                                       Beware to all I might attack."

                                     Lion- "I can hide Silent and still
                                        When I crouch down low...

                                                    (I count to three)

                                   "...But when I pounce I roar out loud
                                           So everyone will know"

                                                       Child's Pose

                            But the cards call it Mouse: Chest on thighs
                                 My chin tucked in I close my eyes.
                                              I rest within.
                                 Just like a mouse curled in a house
                                        Where nobody has been."

                                         We end with-Do Nothing Doll--
                                      "Nothing to think Nothing to do
                                        Doing Nothing is good for you"
                      Then I "check for floppiness" to help them to see
                        the difference between tightening their muscles
                                and just being relaxed and loose "floppy"

              Rolling up the mats, they are real mats that I cut down- 
                             we use them for everything, not just yoga

                                      Later we did some cutting

                                    Phaedra wanted to make snowflakes

                            Argghhh matey the pirate pals have arrived

                          Addison designed this dress-up with the scarves

                                                          Charli

                                                Blowing raspberries

                                                        Phaedra

                                                  Lelia and Addison

              The playsilks are awesome, they are used for everything :-)

Wednesday September 28

                           Today we ate home made chicken soup! Yum

                    Our morning dance today they chose The Nutcracker

                                                     Charlotte

                                       Lelia helps with the zipper

                                      Ballerina magnetic dress-ups

                                                       Charli

                                     AJ with water and farm animals

What did we do today? Well, there was alot of problem solving and learning to wait.  We have some beautiful dress-ups and when someone has the one we *really* want it can be hard to wait.  So what do we do?  We tell our friend that we would like the next turn; and our friend tells us that we can have it as soon as they are finished.

This is a very respectful way to handle things.  As an adult we would not want a co-worker to rush up and grab the stapler out of our hand demanding that we give it to them; of course, if they let us know they needed it when we were through, it would make us feel much differently- more willing to share :-)

Other benefits are that the children learn that they *will* get a turn, they learn to develop and use their language and negotiating skills.

Children are empowered because they learn that it is ok to say no and still be a friend (this is huge when they hit high school and are being asked to take all sorts of risks) so it is good practice.

I also see empathy when a child decides 'on their own' that the other wants the item more than they do.  And the children are learning to be respectful of others rights- as well as their own.

This is why I love working with children- there is *so* much growth and learning in the seemingly smallest things :-)

*Please note that photos can be enlarged by clicking on them~ and another        click makes them even bigger*

                                                Our morning dance

                                      Charli enjoying the pretend food

                                       Look who's in the books :-)

 Princess Addison---the girls were very happy that she brought this beautiful dress!

                                     Phaedra washed the playroom dishes

            Lelia had to wait for a turn to wash dishes (remember this Kate!)

                                      Phaedra helps with the smock

 Addison also had to wait and happily enjoys her turn--and boy do we have clean play dishes!

                                                         Outside!

                             Streamers have been rediscovered and loved

                                                Someday Charli...

 The girls discovered dandelions- which must be the most beloved of childhood flowers~ this is why I let them grow  :-)

                                                         Smelling

                                        Lelia finds a fluffy one and blows!

 Addison pulled the blossom off Lelia's flower She apologized and made amends by finding Lelia another one :-)

                     Lelia is pleased - and I could see that AJ felt good too :-)

                                                          Big push

                                                  Off the blanket

                                                     Grass!!

                                                    Pumping gas

When we came inside after bring Phaedra to the bus, Addison said "there's a bird" and pointed. We were *inside* and though I did look where she was pointing I did not see anything and so thought she was talking about outdoors.

When we came back inside for rest time, a movement caught my eye and there was a bird (a carolina wren in fact) sitting on the playroom window!

It was fairly frightened so I did not snap any photos, but we opened the playroom windows and shut the door. Then I decided to try to see if it would land on the bristles of the broom (we have had birds inside before but they usually stay on the porch!)  When I went toward it, it flew to the front window, sat on the curtain rod and out the window! Phew! :-)