Happy Halloween! Today has been super eventful so I didn’t get much time to blog.  Thanks for your understanding. Sarah subbed for Cherokee today (who is today’s birthday girl and still on her cruise.) Pretty much we spent most of our morning outside hanging out with the other classes. Some of us were in costumes and some were not. We played hard outside until 10:30 when it was time to go inside to allow Toni, Sandy and Lizzie time to decorate the backyard. We had lunch early since the flow of the day called for it, and nap was early too. We were saving ourselves plenty of time to wake up, play, eat snack, have some Spanish time with Leona and then get costumed up for our party!

            Here’s the pre-tot costume list: Olive is a strawberry, Wynn is the mayor (be a “wynner” and vote for him), Ancel is piglet, Noah was super man this morning and is Charlie Brown for the party, Hunter is Tinkerbell (and her brother Tristan is Captain Hook), Gage is a pumpkin, and Sophie is Little Red Riding Hood.

            Please forgive me for the short blog today and no party pictures. For more pictures of your sprout (since my camera is not working quite right these days) and for pictures of the party please check out the other classes’ blogs. Thanks! Happy Halloween and happy birthday, Cherokee!

Hello, folks! Today everybody arrived outside except Ancel, who showed up a little later. Cate was subbing for Cherokee again (she's on her cruise until Friday) and we had a blast hanging out with her. We came inside for snack and went over the calendar, including a talk about what to expect tomorrow...Halloween!

We took circle time out to the deck again and talked about rectangles out there. We brought a rectangle flash card, a rectangular wooden block, and three books about shapes. When Ancel arrived, Dom's tiny dog, Soy Bean, came running outside with him. How exciting! Everybody loved chasing Soy around, and Soy loved the attention. After Soy left, Gage started playing with a soccer ball, Noah practiced tossing a small ball, Olive (in her awesome space suit) rode bikes, Sophie pushed bikes around, Clara watched her friends, Ancel made his way up the kangaroo climber, and Wynn enjoyed the company of a red bucket.

After a while our friends shifted gears and Clara and Gage hung out together and bonded, Olive slid down the kangaroo climber slide, Wynn was very interested in our rectangle flash card (from circle time), Ancel pushed a bike around, Sophie wandered around the deck and took a water break at the same time, and Clara went inside the primary room with Lizzie for a while (Lizzie saw Clara through the window and came out to say hi, and ended up holding Clara for about five minutes in her classroom. Clara loved it!)

We made a huge mess during lunch, which is perfectly okay! Everybody took a little bit of a shorter nap, but were in great moods after waking up. We were so happy that we had a sudden dance party using some of Arielle's music and Olive's Dance Party album. Heads were shaking, arms were swinging, hips were swaying...it was a rocking good time! We tore the room up with our dancing fun! After the dance party the kiddos checked out some dried pasta and really enjoyed touching it. Then the cutest, sweetest thing happen...a HUGGING party erupted! Everybody was hugging each other left and right. It was very sweet and loving. Our little tots are the biggest sweethearts.

We went on the deck around 3:00 and carved a face into the small pumpkin that Wynn's mom brought us. They were way more into the carving of this pumpkin than they were the bigger one that was carved last week. They enjoyed touching the pumpkin flesh and seeds. Then we ended our day on the playground, excited about tomorrow's Halloween party! See you tomorrow!

            Welcome back to school! It’s been a great Monday. We miss Cherokee, who’s probably chillin’ in Cancun right now. Lucky! Cate is subbing for her today and tomorrow, which we are thoroughly enjoying because Cate is such a great sub and friend. We are also glad to have Sophie back with us after her week-long-trip to Boston. Her mother, Anne, said the weather there was perfect and that they had a blast hanging out with family. We’re glad to have you back, Soph!

            Our day started out on the playground, as usual. Sophie, Gage, Olive, Wynn, Hunter, and Noah all hung out there until going inside for snack at 9:00. Our friends are so good at knowing the drill when we sign the word “eat” and ask them if they are ready to “go eat.” They will instantly head to the ramp and wait for the rest of their class to join them there. Such smart tots!

            When we went inside Ancel’s dad, Colby, arrived in the room, and Cate went outside to get Ancel. He often is dropped off with the toddlers and primary class outside in the morning before coming in for snack. He does very well hanging out with them and we’re glad that he gets a little bit of time out there before snack.

            Our friends ate very quickly and seemed to be in a hurry to get to the deck, so we brought circle time outside today. When we arrived out there we were surprised to see the infant room hanging out! It was fun playing with them and greeting some of our soon-to-be classmates. It wasn’t long before they and their teacher, Mike, went inside and we had the deck to ourselves.

We sang the Hello song and several others, as Olive kept requesting “more” after the end of each song. Then we talked about the star shape and let our friends explore two sea stars (from Arielle’s house,) a couple of star-shaped toys, a paper cutout of a star, and flash cards with stars on them. They were much more into the sea stars today than they were on Friday.

            After circle time Sophie and Noah drew with chalk, Olive wanted to use Arielle’s pen (which she uses for documenting the day,) Wynn checked out the sea stars, Hunter cuddled with Cate, Gage had a blast with a big red ball and a smaller white one, and Ancel practiced climbing onto and sitting in a chair (without standing up on it.) We sang some more songs and were surprised by Lizzie popping her head out of her classroom to say hello. Ancel, Sophie, and Olive instantly ran to greet her. Noah was very interested in a big red ball (throwing and retrieving it,) Hunter cuddled with Arielle and shook a small bag that had batteries for the camera zipped up inside of it, and Wynn bonded with Gage (he had fun removing Gage’s pacifier from his mouth and then putting it back in Gage’s mouth. Gage seemed to think this was fun, too.)

            Everybody walked straight through the primary and toddler rooms for lunch. Lunch went surprising quick, as they seemed pretty tired. They all fell asleep before noon. After nap we plan to have snack, glue some rice to star-shaped paper, and enjoy our time with Cate. What a great Monday it’s been so far!

*If you have not already brought a hand towel for your sprout, please do so ASAP. Thanks!

*Tomorrow we will learn about rectangles.

           

It’s cold outside today, but that’s didn’t stop us from having a blast on this fun Friday! All of our friends (except Sophie, who is still in Boston until Monday) met outside on the playground (Ancel, Gage, Hunter, Olive, Wynn, Clara, and Noah.) We were glad to see Gage roaming around and playing this morning. We’re thinking he’s enjoying being in his new class with his new friends!

                We went inside for snack and ate the pumpkin seeds that came out of the pumpkin we carved yesterday! Arielle took them home last night and baked them with cinnamon, brown sugar and nutmeg. Yum! Some friends made funny faces when taking their first bite and some thought they were absolutely delicious. We also ate some bananas and watermelon, and went over the calendar, which included a discussion about this weekend and how Cherokee will be heading off on a cruise tomorrow and visiting beautiful Mexico! How fun! We sure will miss her, especially since we’ll be partying on her birthday (which is Halloween!) We’ll see her next Friday, though, and have fun with Cate and Sarah while she’s gone.

                Circle time was fun with a large circle of seven kids. Clara sat in Arielle’s lap and we all sang the hello song, followed by twinkle, twinkle (since our shape of the day is star.) Then we talked about stars, which has shown to be the most interesting shape to the sprouts so far! They gazed up at the star flash cards in amazement and enjoyed touching sea stars and star-shaped toys. Then our frog puppet gave everybody kisses, reminded them that he loves each and every one of them, and that we are all super special. They love that part of circle time. Then he told them to head to the deck, and they jumped to their feet!

                We took the sea stars out on the deck with us, but Cherokee was the one who was the most interested with them out there. J Noah went straight for the balls, Ancel and Olive rode bikes, Clara open and shut the playhouse door (with a huge smile on her face,) Wynn climbed to the top of the playhouse, Gage explored the deck toys, and Hunter cuddled with Cherokee. After a while our friends switched activities, except Noah, who was now bouncing the balls around the deck (future ball player?) J Clara played with the bikes, Gage sat back and happily observed his friends (and did a little bit of cute dancing,) Wynn was fascinated with a toy motorcycle, and Olive, Hunter, and Ancel all gathered around the water table (it was a little too cold out for water play so they played with toys inside the empty table.) Then the toddlers arrived on the deck to carve their pumpkin! It was tons of fun until we started feeling a little too chilly and then headed back inside to warm up before eating lunch.

                Lunch was super messy, but went very smoothly. Our friends who were finished early read books and played with toy animals while waiting to have their diaper changed and their friends finish eating. When everybody was changed and fed, they headed to the other side of the classroom for nap and relaxed on their nap mat.

                After nap Gage is planning to go home with his Daddy and start his weekend early. We will attempt to paint on paper star cut-outs with water color and paint small pumpkins with tempra paint. We’ll see how successful we are at accomplishing both activities! We’ll spend a little bit more time inside due to the chilly weather, but we all know we’ve gotta get used to it soon! Have a great weekend!

Hello Families! The morning started off pretty cloudy, but ended with a lot of sun! We stayed outside all morning long and even had our snack outside. I think our kiddos loved the picnic style snack and being able to sit really close together on a big blanket.

After snack Miss Arielle carved the big pumpkin we had in our room and took all the seeds out. Wynn really enjoyed playing with the slimy part of the top that Miss Arielle cut out.  All of our guys were super excited when Miss Arielle pulled out the seeds from the pumpkin. Olive, Gage, and Wynn played with the pumpkin seeds for a while. Noah made the funniest expression when Miss Arielle tried to show him some of the slimy seeds; I was lucky enough to get a picture of it. It’s the one where he looks kind of disgusted at how slimy the seeds are.

After Miss Arielle took all the seeds out, she then carved an owl into the pumpkin. Ancel, Wynn, Olive and Clara watched her every move very quietly.

When Miss Arielle was all done carving the pumpkin, all of our kiddos dispersed to different parts of the playground. Ancel spent some time playing in the sandbox and pouring sand into a cup. Clara was helping to spread new mulch that Mr. Nick was bringing in to cover the playground area. Gage was very curious about what type of plants were in the garden and wanted to touch them. Noah spent a lot of time playing on the playscape and walking up and down the ramp. Wynn spent his time climbing up on the mulch hills that Mr. Nick was creating all over the playground. Olive spent some time scooping up mulch in a cup and then pouring it back out.

Then it was time to head in for lunch and get ready for nap.

In the afternoon we will be joined by our Spanish teacher, Miss Leona! She will come and sing songs with us and possibly read us a story in Spanish today. Afterwards, we will paint our tiny pumpkins and put them on display.

Tomorrow we will be introducing the star shape and painting on stars. Then we will be exploring what a real sea star looks and feels like.

See you tomorrow guys!

<3 Cherokee 

Hey guys! Today we had a very busy day. We started the morning outside and were greeted by Ancel, Hunter, and Gage. Olive greeted us just as we were heading in for snack. Once we were inside we were greeted by Wynn and Noah. Shortly after snack we all headed out to the deck, except for Gage who was still enjoying his snack; he really loves cheerios and cantaloupe.

Once we were on the deck, we got to hang out with the babies from the infant room! Our kiddos were super interested in the babies and wanted to touch them. Wynn went up to Genevieve and began caressing her face ever so gently; so sweet!

Ancel was a great little helper and picked up baby Julia’s pacifier when it fell off her shirt. It was great watching them interact with the babies, which is also awesome because we will soon be joined by more of them in the future.

Noah spent some time playing in the kangaroo climber with Wynn.

Hunter played with the big red bouncy ball for a while and then handed it to me to bounce.

Olive found some green chalk on the deck and spent some time drawing on the floor. Afterwards, Miss Toni brought out some tiny pumpkins for all of our kiddos to play with. They all really like carrying the tiny pumpkins around. Ancel was pretending to clean one with a scrubber that we had on the deck.

Later, Mr. Mike, who was out with the babies from the infant room, spent some time teaching our kiddos how to jump. Wynn and Ancel seemed fascinated by his movements and stared at him for quite a while.

Shortly after, were joined by Gage and Miss Arielle. Gage seemed so happy to see some of his old friends from the infant room for a little while.

We also sang songs like, “Five Little Ducks,” “If you’re Happy and you Know It,” “Row Your Boat,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and “Yo Gabba, Gabba: Hold Still.” Then it was time for lunch.

After lunch, we will be joined by Miss Leona, our Spanish teacher, who will come and sing songs with us. After that, we will do our art project where we will have the kiddos glue foam hearts onto heart shaped pieces of paper.

Tomorrow we will be painting our pumpkins and then later carving them and letting them play with all the pumpkin mush.

Happy Humpday!

<3 Cherokee

Hello! We had a great start to our week today. All of our friends (Noah, Wynn, Olive, and Hunter) except Sophie (who is is Boston; we miss her) and Ancel arrived on the playground, including our friend from the infant room, Gage, who had a long play date with us today. Overall he had a great day and we were happy to spend it with him!

                When we went inside for snack Ancel arrived. Our friends had four different fruits to choose from this morning: apricots, raisins, craisins, and prunes. We provided each kid with all four and it was fun seeing who picked what out of their bowls. We were surprised to see how many friends liked prunes, as we have never provided them for snack before. Yum! After eating some friends did some artwork with chalk, markers, pencils, or crayons on triangle-shaped pieces of paper.

                Gage had his first official circle time with us today and our older friends showed him the drill. He did a great job sitting on a rug and participating! We sang the hello song, followed by zoom, zoom, zoom. Then we discussed triangles and pointed to pictures of triangles found in three different children’s books. We also presented a flash card with a triangle on it (the same one that’s hanging on the bulletin board next to the sign-in/out sheet. Our friends watched intently as we showed them all the triangles. Then Daniel the dinosaur/dragon puppet gave everybody lots of kisses and told them one-by-one that he loves them very much. We announced that it was time to head to the deck and we pointed to the door that leads to it. Our friends jumped up and started heading out of the room. On the way to the deck we passed through the toddler and primary classes. They were eating snack; it’s always fun for our friends to see what the other classes are doing. Both classes greeted us kindly as we filed through their classroom.

                On the deck Gage and Wynn bonded while exploring a big roll of bubble wrap. Hunter mounted herself on the fire truck (on her own), Olive checked out the bikes, Noah cuddled with Arielle (what a snuggly guy he is) and Ancel found a duck watering can that he really likes. He walked up to Arielle to show it to her and she said “quack, quack” then turned it around to give him kisses with its beak. He loved it!

                After a while out there Wynn started his own game of peek-a-boo by hiding behind the playhouse door and popping his head up at Arielle. He giggled with excitement when she would say “where is Wynn? There he is!” Ancel announced “thank you” several times and spent some time climbing on the playhouse. Gage relaxed on a boppy (he seemed tired, as it was currently the time that his infant class was taking their first nap. He was a trooper and powered through the morning until our naptime, where he slept well with our friends.) Olive rode the famous eggplant and Hunter explored the different bikes. Noah played with a scrub brush by dropping it into a cylindrical container.

                Our friends ate very well during lunch and we discussed the different types of food each one was eating. During that time Gage showed us how he makes a very interesting sound, as well as giggle and clap. None of our friends tried to leave the table while eating or before they were finished with their lunch, which is pretty awesome! Good job, guys!

                After nap we used glue for the first time in our class by gluing small foam triangles to paper. Gage returned to the infant room afterwards to see his infant buddies awake from their second nap. We had a lot of fun with him today and look forward to him joining our class permanently either on Friday or next week, depending on how his play dates with us go. It’s been a fantastic Monday!

Here are some important side notes:

*Please continue to provide a labeled spoon/fork (if needed for child to eat lunch items) in their lunch box each day. Thanks!

*All items (especially water and milk bottles) must be labeled with child’s FIRST NAME and LAST INITIAL before arriving at school every day. Thanks!

*We would appreciate if all water bottles and milk sippy cups are filled with water by the time arrives at school. This makes our morning run smoother and decreases the number of small tasks we must do in order to start our day. Thanks!

*Please continue to bring in a hand towel for your sprout, if you haven’t already. Thanks!

*Part of our peace education curriculum involves students developing awareness of others. If you have not already provided photos of your child, a family collage/poster/portrait, and a CD or two of music that your family listens to, please do so ASAP. Thanks!

Happy Friday everyone! We have been having such a great day filled with dancing, music, and lots of love. We started our morning outside with a whole school dance party; some of our little guys got jiggy with it. Sophie was sitting on the ground and started shaking her little booty to the beat when she heard the music. Wynn did his little playa bounce and put his hands in the air, and waved ‘em like he just didn’t care. Hunter got down and started raisin’ the roof! LoL. We all had such a great time outside; soon it was time for snack.

We missed Miss Arielle today, who is out enjoying an awesome art show, but in her place we had our awesome sub Sarah. After snack we enjoyed circle time and sang our “Hello song,” and “The Wheels on the Bus.” We also went over the shape, square. We had the most awesome circle time; all of our little guys are doing an outstanding job of sitting in a circle and listening.

 After circle time we all headed out to the deck. I brought out a felt board with Velcro shapes that stick to it. All of our kiddos really enjoyed pulling the shapes off and listening to the sound the Velcro made. Shortly after, we were joined on the deck by our toddler friends. We then had a music session where we all sang songs like “The ABC’s,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and “Everybody Needs to Stand Up.”

Olive spent her time getting on all the different push cars we have out on the deck; she rode the purple dragon the most.

Ancel really loves the red “space” chairs we have out on the deck. I don’t know why they remind me of space, but that’s what I call them, lol. Every time we go out to the deck, those chairs are always one of the first things he goes to.

Noah spent most of his morning cuddling up with me, which I didn’t mind one little bit. He wasn’t sad or anything, I just think he really enjoys being cuddled.

Afterwards, we all headed back inside to eat some lunch and then get ready for nap.

After nap we all woke up and ate some delicious seaweed and raisins. Then we all sat down and read “The Tallest Tree,” and “Bear’s New Friend.” Then we all out on our shoes and got ready to go outside.

Next week we will be introducing the shapes triangle, heart, and star. I hope everyone has a safe and awesome weekend!

Much Love,

<3 Cherokee

Hello friends! It has been such a beautiful day; the sun was shining and the weather was nice and cool all morning. All of our kiddos arrived outside on the playground this morning, so we spent some time playing with all of our friends on the playground. Soon after, we all headed inside for snack and circle time. Today we introduced the shape “square,” and set out some square shaped legos for the kiddos to play with. We also sang the “Hello song,” and “Little White Box.” Then we all headed out to the deck.

There was lots of love in the air this morning; Ancel gave Noah a big hug and shortly after Noah gave little Clara a kiss on the cheek. Unfortunately I couldn’t pull out my camera fast enough to capture the moment, but I did capture Ancel giving Noah a big hug.

Olive enjoyed pulling Ancel around on the little purple dragon we have out on the deck; such great teamwork.

Then later I pulled out some bubble wrap and Olive, Ancel and Sophie all joined me as we tried to pop the little bubbles with our feet

Wynn got picked up early today to go get his 15 month check-up and to see his grandma who is in town.

Shortly after, we all headed inside to eat some lunch and then get ready for nap.

After nap, we all woke up and had snack and got ready for Miss Leona, our Spanish teacher. Today we sang, “Buenos Dias,” “Hola Amigo,” “Emociones,” “Hermano Juan,” and “Adios Amigos.” After we all said goodbye to Miss Leona, we pulled out some color pencils for art.

Tomorrow we will be playing with felt for our sensory experience and using crayons for art on square cut pieces of paper.

Much love,

<3 Cherokee