Welcome back!

                Happy Tuesday, all! We hope you had a relaxing and fun three-day weekend. Welcome back to school!

                This morning Olive arrived first and was held up high over the top of the fence to say bye to her mom as she left. Then she checked out our new additions to the playground: mulch, new plants in the garden, and the exciting new climbing dome! Eventually she ended up playing on the playscape.

                Ancel arrived next and also checked out the playground additions. He ended up spending a lot of time playing with an orange cone. Sometimes he’d scoop dirt, sand, or mulch into it, or perhaps a tennis ball or some other type of toy.

                Towards the end of our early morning playground time, Wynn arrived and was fascinated by the dome and mulch. As he explored both, Olive and Ancel played side-by-side in the sandbox. All the other sprouts (toddlers and primary) were busy climbing away on the dome. We’re so glad to have it as part of our playground now!

                When we signed the word “eat” and told our little friends it was time to go in for snack, they did a great job of making their way to the gate. When we went inside we were greeted by Clara and her mom, who had just arrived at school. We washed our hands and ate some yummy kiwi and cheerios. Snack went quickly and we actually forgot to do calendar, so planned to take care of it during lunch. After snack Wynn did some art with a brown marker and Ancel played with the toy pig (which he loves) while they waited on Clara and Olive to finish eating.

                During circle time we did the usual routine of singing, discussion, puppet, and transition. Wynn sat in Cherokee’s lap and Clara in Arielle’s. Ancel and Olive sat on their personal rugs and enjoyed clapping along to our Hello song and were amused by our hang motions while singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Then we discussed the color brown and pointed out our friends and teachers who were wearing it, as well as our monkey puppet, who gave everybody a kiss on the cheek before asking Cherokee where to head next. Since the infants were chilling on the deck at that time, we decided to go to the playground. Cherokee and Arielle pointed to the door that leads to the playground and there was no confusion about where to go; all the tots walked straight to it. Now that’s improvement! Go pre-tots!

                Wynn walked straight down the deck to the playground. Ancel walked the opposite way and Cherokee had to run and grab him (he’s a very adventurous boy!) Olive and Clara received help making their way down. Once on the playground, our friend Noah showed up, completing our class for the day (Sophie was sick over the weekend and stayed home for one more extra day of recovery. We sure did miss her today!)

                Noah headed toward the playscape and Clara the sandbox. Ancel went straight back to the orange cone and Olive explored the textures of the mulch. Wynn surveyed the entire area.

                Suddenly the toddlers came bolting through the playground! Their teachers, Jackie and Dom, grabbed some extra leftover soil from the gardening project and put it in the outside sensory table. Then they hid shells and potatoes in the soil, which the kids dug through to find the exciting hidden treasures. One toddler, Theo, hung out with Noah for a while and talked to him (he really likes him!) Ancel played with a chunk of dirt from the mound of soil and also found a potato hidden in the sensory table. Olive drew in Arielle’s documentation notebook with her for a while and then played with the big black tube. Clara walked around with Cherokee and then played at the water table, finding shells. Noah found a cool scoop to play with and so did Ancel. Wynn saw Olive walking around with a bucket and offered to put handfuls of mulch in it. Afterwards he decided that he wanted to climb up the dome (he saw Dom climb to the top) and Arielle held him up there for a while and then put him down. He was determined to go back up and has proven to be a big fan of the new climbing dome.

                We came in for lunch and were very impressed with how all of our friends stayed in their chairs the entire time they were eating! A few kept wanting to get up but we reinforced staying in their chair until they were finished and caught them climbing off of it before their feet had touched the ground. It seems as if they practiced this skill at home over the weekend. If that is true, thank you so much for reinforcing these types of experiences at home! They definitely showed lots of improvement compared to last week. Go tots!

                After nap we painted with brown paint onto cardboard boxes that we have saved up. Most of them were diaper boxes and some were donated by you guys from your homes. It was a cool combined sensory and art experience. It’s been a fabulous Tuesday!

*Arielle is hosting another Parents’ Night Out this Saturday (10-13-12) from 6pm-12am. It’ll be $40 for one child, $60 for siblings. Please feel free to sign up! J