Happy Friday yall!

We had a lovely day here at the sprout!  Today we decorated our very own t-shirts! We made triangles out of tape and gave the kids two colors of paint to use in and around the triangles.  They seemed to really enjoy decorating their shirts and also spending time with the community.  

In the afternoon we had long naps and stayed inside as long as possible.  It was so very hot, and we were having a good time rolling cars across the carpet and playing doctor.  Julia enjoyed trying to put the butterfly puzzle together while Miles gave me doctor visits, and Malik cooked in the kitchen.  Ronav enjoyed pulling the magnets off the board and putting them on again.  We also had a visit from my mom and it was her birthday!  All the kiddos enjoyed spending time with my mom and sharing toys with her.  I hope everyone has a lovely, long weekend!

xoxo
Sandy

Hello, Families!

We had another great day in the pre-tot room! This morning our friends had a blast playing together in the playhouse. They all marched into the house, and then Miles opened the door and they marched out. They explored both the inside and outside of the house and peeked at me and their friends through the windows and through the fence. It was great to watch them play and enjoy each other's company. 

After circle time we headed out to the deck where we did our sensory activity. We took two buckets and filled one up with warm water and  the other one with water and a little ice. We then talked about how one was warm and the other was cold. One by one we put the children's feet in the warm water for a moment and then switched them into the cold water. Then we placed one foot in the warm water and one foot in the cold water. Miles seemed very happy to be standing in the water and he seemed to enjoy both temperatures equally. Julia decided to step back and forth between the buckets, putting one foot in each then both feet in one and then back to the other. Ronav showed a distinct preference for the warm water. When I dipped his feet in the cold water he promptly took them out and returned them to the warm bucket. This activity was a great way to get the children thinking about and using their feet and to expose them to different temperatures and the associated language. 

In the afternoon Toni took over the class, as I had to leave early for a grad school obligation. 

I hope everyone has a great night and a wonderful Thursday!

<3 Magdalen

Happy Tuesday everyone!

We are having a splendid week here at the sprout! Today we enjoyed some outside time exploring the backyard and welcoming back our new friend Malik. We enjoyed pushing wheelbarrels, getting in and out of chairs, and watching the big kids play chase. We came inside just in the nick of time before the rain started pouring.

During circle time we read “Little Feet Like”, once again and everyone enjoyed feeling the sensory items in the book with their little toes. We talked about all of the things our little feet can do like walking, jumping, and doing yoga. For our motor activity today we practiced walking the line. We practiced walking a straight line, and also the zig zag line. At first our friends were very confused, but after trying it a bit they seemed to get the idea.

In the afternoon we did yoga with Miss Amelia. Everyone enjoyed singing our favorite yoga tunes and dancing around. Miles enjoyed singing the namaste song and doing a bow. Ronav enjoyed tick tock little yoga clock and said, “tic, toc” after the song was over. Malik mostly sat and observed, cracking a smile every now and again.

I hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Xoxo
sandy

Howdy friends!

It's been a MARVELOUS Monday here at the sprout! It was a small class today because one of our little tots is out sick :(

We began our morning outside with all of our friends in the school. Julia played with a bouncy blue ball and was having a blast bouncing on it. Ronav rode on one of the cars and tried scooting himself over the mulch; he stuck with it for a while before moving on to something else. Miles ran around with some of our toddler and primary friends who were pretending to be sharks. 

After all the other classes went inside for snack we continued to play outside for a while since it was nice weather. Shortly after, we decided to have picnic style snack outside. Ronav, Miles and Julia did so great using their signs when they wanted some more snack. They did the sign for "more" and "please." Mags and I are so proud of them.

Once we went inside we had our kiddos wash their hands and transition to circle time. We started our circle time with our good morning song and followed it with our days of the week and weather song. Since this week we're focusing on legs and feet we sang "If you're happy and you know it." Our kiddos loved stomping their feet on the ground. Afterwards Miss Magdalen read "Little Feet Like." As she read it we asked them to touch the sensory pages with their feet; they all really enjoyed this.

After circle time we did our art activity where each kiddo got to paint on a big piece of paper with their feet. Ronav got to go first and at first he seemed a bit cautious, but once he saw his feet making prints on the paper he stomped all over it. Julia was next and she lived squishing her little toes in the paint. Miles went last and he didn't hesitate at all to get his little feet in the paint. He really enjoyed sliding his feet in the paint and feeling how slippery it was on the paper.

In the afternoon Miss Abby will be joining is for a yoga session. All of my little friends love when she comes and sings the Butterfly song and my little light. 

We look forward to seeing all of our little friends tomorrow!

Much love,

Cherokee <3

Hello Families!

I would like to begin by welcoming the newest member of our class, Malik! He had a great first day yesterday and we are excited to have Malik and his parents, Hindatu and Michael as part of our community!

For those of you who don’t know, Friday mornings at Green Sprout are usually dedicated to community activities such as school-wide dance parties. Yesterday we spent most of the morning outside with the toddler and primary classes. There was a dance party of course, where Miles stole the show by bouncing and swaying his whole body right in front of the stairs on which we had placed the boombox. After a picnic snack we gathered round the big table for a painting/stamping project. We had toilet paper rolls with foam flower and leaf stickers on them and we rolled these in paint and spread it all over a huge piece of paper. We stamped circles using the ends of the rolls and we even used big sunflower leaves as paintbrushes! Malik, Julia, Miles and Ronav had a blast smearing paint around, both with the “stamps” and with their hands.

Livio chose to explore the sandbox where he got to meet a new friend, Collette. Collette came to Green Sprout on Friday for a playdate, and we are looking forward to having another playdate with her next week.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

<3 Magdalen

Hello pre-tot fams!!!

We have been having such a great and productive day today!

We began our morning with outside drop-offs. Some of the other kids in the school were painting with water colors and making some fabulous art! Ronav joined in on the action a little bit later.

Shortly after, our friend Livio showed up. He has been adjusting very well to his new school and all of his surroundings; yay! While outside, Livio played in the sandbox with a little broom, which in Italian is called "scopa." 

Afterwards, Ronav, Livio and I headed into the classroom for our snack.

Once their little bellies were full of delicious fruit we headed over to our play area and played in our centers. Livio and Ronav first started out at the building station where they played with some of the toy cars and blocks. Ronav even handed one of the cars to Livio and showed him how to drive it on the hand-made streets that I put up.

Shortly after they headed over to the magnetic board and practiced taking the magnets off and then putting them back. This is such a great exercise for them because it helps them to develope their fine motor skills!

Then it was time for circle time! We began our circle time with our good morning song and sang out each persons name. Livio and Ronav ROCKED circle time today; it was awesome!!! Afterwards, we sang our days of the week song and our weather song. (If you would like to know how we sing these songs and would like to learn them, please don't hesitate to ask) 

During circle time we talked about our hands. I asked them if they could show me their hands and wave them. Then we sang "1 little, 2 little, 3 little fingers." Then I read "Hands Are Not For Hitting" which is a book that talks about all the different uses for your hands and how hands are not for hitting.

Later we did an activity where they had to practice using gentle hands. I brought in 2 types of flowers as well as a tomato that has grown in our garden. Ronav and Livio got to smell and touch the flowers and tomato while practicing their gentle touches. I showed them how the tomato feels when you press it too hard on the outside. Then I cut the tomato open to show them what the inside looked and felt like. Livio And Ronav even took a little bite of the tomato; they seemed to really enjoy it!  

In the afternoon, once our two kiddos were awake we made our transition over to the circle time rug and did Spanish. 

We ended our day back outside with some free play as all of our friends got picked up. 

Have a great day guys!!!

See ya again tomorrow!!!

Much love,

Cherokee <333

Hello Parents,

We had a small group today, with only Ronav and Livio in the class. This morning we had a picnic snack outside with the rest of the school. After snack Livio picked up a broom and swept his area around the table. Later he did some sweeping inside as well!

During circle time we read "Hands are Not For Hitting" again, and we talked about the different things that we can do with our hands. I brought out play dough for our sensory project of the week, and Ronav had a great time smooshing it and then tearing small pieces off and squishing them in his fingers. He placed play dough in a cup and pretended to drink out of it. 

We spent a lot of time exploring our new environment today. Both Ronav and Livio were very interested in our construction area. They had a blast driving different trucks along the carpet and along our roads on the wall. Livio also enjoyed the kitchen, where he turned the water on and off, opened doors and explored the different pieces of "food."

I also want to let you know that two children went home with high fevers yesterday, and one of them may have hand, foot and mouth disease. I took extra care to clean and disinfect the toys and the classroom so hopefully it will not spread. I hope our friends who have been out recover quickly!

Have a lovely evening,

Magdalen

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Welcome to the beginning of the new school year! We are so very excited for the changes that have recently occurred in our classroom. We could not be more proud of the new classroom layout and décor. Cherokee, Magdalen and myself spent a lot of time and consideration picking out every single detail from the rugs to the toys and we couldn't be more excited to share it with our new pre-tot class.

Today was a very exciting morning because it was not only the first day of school for some, but the last day of school for others. We spent the morning outside enjoying the weather and having group snack at the large outside table. We also had a graduation ceremony for Maya and Leina who will be leaving GS to head to kindergarten. We all took part in watching their graduation ceremony and sending them off in style.

For our circle time today we ran through a few songs such as the Good Morning song, the Days of the Week song, the Weather Song, and the counting song all while discussing our fingers and hands. We read the book, “Hands are Not for Hitting” and also peeked inside our numbered baskets to find treasures. We pulled out some hand shakers and played some music together as a class.

For our activity we poured and shook glitter onto a handprint labeled with each child's name on it. Everyone really enjoyed looking at the glitter and touching it with their fingers. I could tell that they were really proud when I hung them up in the art display.

In the afternoon we had yoga with Miss Amelia. Everyone enjoyed trying to sing along and practice the dance moves for the songs. We ended with our usual Namaste song some great big hugs for Miss Amelia.

xoxo
Sandy

Hi Friends, 

We are very busy these days at the Sprout as we get ready for the new school year! Our older friends have been spending time in the toddler room over the past two weeks and Ashley has been having playdates with the toddlers this week as well. While Ashley has been in the toddler room, Cherokee has been spending time with the pre-tots. We are excited to have her join our class, and the kids have been having a blast reading books, singing songs and creating art with her. We also had Ronav join us today and our newest friend, Malik, came for a playdate! 

This week we are focusing our creative powers on making decorations for our 3rd birthday celebration/potluck this Sunday. Look out for some colorful banners made by our very own pre-tots!

We have also been livin' it up outside--we've had parties around the parachute where we watched it catch air as we lifted it up and pulled it down (we've even bounced balls on it!). Today a big group of teachers and children gathered together to sing song after song! 

This afternoon Cherokee taught a little Spanish to our friends... she read a book in Spanish and sang some of our favorite songs in Spanish as well!

REMINDER: GREEN SPROUT WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY FOR OUR TEACHER WORK DAY! We will be spending the day re-creating our classrooms and preparing for the new school year. 

Have a great evening and we'll see you tomorrow!

<3 Magdalen