Hello infant families, 

What a fun filled week it has been in the classroom! Ms. Jenn & I are excited to introduce OpPoSiTeS to the babes as this months theme. We kicked off the week talking about and exploring all things BIG & little! The song for this week was "five little ducks" & our books of the week were "BIG dog, little dog & BIG little things" as we read the books we made sure to express the scale of the mentioned items using our arms and hands; it's a lot of fun to watch the babes react to us as we exaggerate our body movements. Later in the week we had a few new friends come in from each classroom to talk about their size difference, our older friends had a lot of fun talking to the babies and sharing fun stories of when they were as little as them and how fun it is to grow big and strong! All of our little guys and gals were definitely intrigued with all the new faces they got to see. Overall it was an amazing week! 

Highlights of the week!

*Adele has recently mastered sitting up all on her own!

*Claire has been getting extra practice with her signing and has recently favored/mastered her milk sign!

*Enzo has mastered sitting for a few weeks already and is currently moving into scooting himself around the floor!

*Fisher has mastered sitting at the table and eating lunch with his friends, he is currently working on rolling over & plenty of tummy time!

*Finnlie has mastered rolling over & the mini push up!

*Austin has been practicing taking his first couple of steps and learning to sit unsupported at the kitchen table!


Please keep in mind that each baby is different and they definitely develop at their own pace; as long as your child continues to gain new skills and shows interest in getting around and exploring his/her environment, there should be no worries.  I just really wanted to share some of these exciting milestones with you!



Wishing you a lovely Memorial day weekend!


<3 Crystal

Hello! Daisy families,


Hope your week has been as lovely as ours! We have discussed dairy all week long.  This food theme was SO much fun, we weren't ready for it to come to an end. ;)


We started the week off by focusing solely on the milk sign.  Keep in mind that it is never too soon to introduce your baby to sign language.  Consistently exposing the babes to basic signs is beneficial to their growing brains and helps them to express their needs and wishes; minimizing the need to act out in frustration. Also it is a lot of fun and very rewarding to watch them use their signs!


We headed outdoors right after lunch/bottles a couple times this week to enjoy the wonderful, breezy weather we've been having!  During our outdoor circle time we stirred imaginary yogurt & shredded imaginary cheese using our plastic bowls from the play kitchen! Shortly after, we presented an empty carton of milk to the babes to explore, It was drummed on and tossed around by our younger friends.  We later invited our older friends to help us twist the container lid open and "pour" milk into their very own cup. 


The babes got to witness a super cool experiment using food coloring, dish soap & milk. All the babes were extremely focused during this activity, especially during the reaction of combining these three items as the colors instantly swirled into eachother, resulting in really awesome designs in the bowl. Our circle time book for the week was about animals, we used this opportunity to introduce which animals from the book produced milk, such as goats, sheep & cows to name a few.  Finally, we ended the week off with a fun art project that included stickers from the very hungry caterpillar book. Overall it was a fantastic week!


Have a great weekend! 


<3 Crystal

Greetings infant families, 


It has been a very fun and busy week in the classroom, from talking about proteins & grains to planning projects for Mother's day! All week long we have been singing a super cute tune it's titled "On a picnic we will go" (sung to the tune of Farmer in the Dell) here are the lyrics:


On a picnic we will go (x2)
Let’s pack our baskets 
On a picnic we will go.
Fisher brings some rice (x2)
Let’s pack our baskets 
On a picnic we will go


This song was a hit during circle time especially when we danced around with each babe as their name was being sung!

On Monday we celebrated Cinco de Mayo by singing plenty of tunes in Spanish including "the itsy bitsy spider= La araña pequeñita" & "numbers 1-10= Numeros uno-diez." We ended the day with a fun photo shoot of the babes in their Cinco de Mayo costume attire; everyone looked too stinkin' cute for words!

 

On Tuesday Ms. jenn was out for the day so Ms. Liz filled in for her, the babes & myself sure enjoyed her company! During circle time we brought in various grains for our friends to look at and touch, we talked about the hard texture of these particular grains and also discussed that once these grains are cooked they transform into a completely different texture which is much softer and quite squishy. We made sure to explain to the babes that these grains were not to be eaten and explained the reason was because they were not safe to consume as they hadn't been cooked. Later in the afternoon I filled a basin with warm water, gathered the grains and allowed our older friends to dunk them in, to watch them change textures; this activity was very entertaining for everyone. 


On Wednesday we celebrated Austin's birthday by having a PJ party and enjoying a special snack time treat. We sang Happy Birthday to him as soon as he walked in the door. During circle time today we talked about how some families include vegetables as their meat/protein instead and it is very yummy and full of nourishing vitamins.


On Thursday Ms. Jenn was out for the first half of the day so Ms. Sandy filled in for her; it's always a joy having her visit with us! During our circle time today we shared some really cool pretend food with the babes, they were very curious about these new items and instantly started to explore them.


On Friday we spent the majority of the day prepping/creating a very special art project. We ended the day with circle time, our friends Paige & Paislie from the primary class were ecstatic about being able to help us present the project to the babes. We placed some rice into a secure bag and placed a couple drops of food coloring to encourage our friends to give it some shakes and become excited about the color change. This activity was a great success, our younger friends were able to join in on the fun as well! 


Wishing you a fantastic weekend and may you have an absolutely wonderful mother's day, showered with plenty of love from your little one!!! 


<3 Crystal

Greetings infant families, 


Hooray! To another fantastic week in the classroom! This week was all about veggies. We have talked about planting, growing, washing and eating these wonderful foods everyday this week. On Monday we transferred our spinach and purple carrots into a large container so that they will have room to grow; during the process we explained everything in detail to our daisies. We made sure the babes had a turn to squish & explore the clumped, damp soil using either their hands or toes, this made for a great sensory activity.


 Fisher brought a special item to class to share with his friends- a stuffed caterpillar toy; from the very cute story book A Very Hungry Caterpillar.  We were excited to incorporate this fun book as it follows the progress of this hungry little caterpillar as he eats his way through a very large quantity of food; absolutely perfect for this month's theme. Each friend had the chance to cuddle with the fuzzy caterpillar  as we sang the VHC song throughout the week.  On Tuesday a few friends joined me in the outdoor garden to help me snip some herbs and share with the rest of the class. We placed the herbs in a spice container and passed them along for each friend to sniff. To ensure that our younger friends got a strong scent we gave the container a few shakes.  Wednesday was a bittersweet day for us because it was June's last day in the infant class. We prepped a goodbye sign for her and made sure each friend signed it using a dab of paint and their fingerprint. After morning nap we headed to the outdoor garden so that the entire class could explore the many vegetables that are growing and to enjoy the lovely weather. In the afternoon we celebrated June's graduation into the pretot world! Our older friends had a special snack with yummy fruit while our younger friends got to sip on their warm bottles and still enjoy all the fun. We ended the day peeling and placing food themed stickers onto paper. On Thursday we brought in some broccoli and carrots for our friends to explore and feel the textures. We ended the day talking about the fun new visual aids that are on the floor (sweet potato, eggplant, carrots, broccoli) and how some of our friends have recently been introduced to them. On Friday we headed out to the deck to water our veggies. Everyone helped us as we held the watering pot; they were fascinated by the water pouring out of the container. Also, we filled a soaking tub with water to have a fun water sensory activity. The babes certainly enjoyed splashing the water!


All classes at the sprout are currently incorporating the reggio web into their curriculum and this month's focus is "Taking Care" whether it be others, self, animals or school.  In our class we have decided to make self our main focus. Everyday this week we have helped our older friends wash their hands after lunchtime while talking about the importance of keeping our hands germ free & clean! With our younger friends we talked about this during diaper changes and such. We are thrilled to include this in our curriculum as it will help greatly with each daisies transition into the pre tot classroom. 


Wishing you a beautiful weekend, filled with love & sunshine!!! 


<3 Crystal