Welcome Hunter and welcome back Ancel!

            Olive was happy to see Ancel back from vacation and excited that today was Hunter’s first day in the pre-tot class! Hunter spent the first part of the day with me, (Arielle) and her older brother, (Tristan) who is in the primary class. We all played on the playground until 9:00, then said goodbye to Asher and wished him luck in the toddler room (he moved up today! We will miss him.) When we went inside for snack we ran into Wynn arriving at school and said hello to him. All together we had four pre-tots and one teacher today. Cherokee will return from her vacation tomorrow. Woo hoo! We’ve been missing her.

            During snack we went over the calendar (I moved it near the table so they can look at it while they eat). Everybody did a great job of feeding themselves and keeping their food inside the bowl, instead of on the table or floor. We also sang songs; Olive did some hand motions, Ancel jumped up and down in his chair, Wynn smiled, and Hunter observed everybody else’s reactions to the song.

            After snack we sat down and read a book together that offered several textures for the children to touch (a good sensory experience.) They all took turns feeling each piece of material, especially Ancel and Olive, who wanted to make sure they touched each one. Wynn and Hunter were more interested in looking at the pictures on the pages.

            We did some free play in the classroom after reading. Olive sat down at the art table and used some markers and chalk on a piece of paper. Ancel explored a puzzle, Wynn looked at pictures of him on the wall, and Hunter continued to observe everybody else as she stood next to the table holding herself up (she’s very close to walking but still wobbly.)

            We went onto the deck to get some fresh air and realized that we accidentally left a book out there yesterday. It was a Sesame Street Babies book about bubbles, which they all loved listening to. When I was done reading it aloud Hunter looked at it for a while and then got up and pushed a bike around the deck. Olive found a rolling toy with sound buttons on it and spent some time pressing each one. Eventually Hunter joined her by sitting down and watching her press the buttons.

            Ancel climbed all over the playhouse and was very proud to get to the top, where he shouted “hello!” Wynn wanted to hang out with him so he continuously tried climbing up the slide to get to Ancel. Hunter took a break from the sounds and entered the playhouse through the door, which she loved opening and closing. She laughed hard when I played “peek-a-boo” with her (I hid behind the wall of the playhouse and would pop my head in the window and say, “boo!”) Ancel also joined in saying, “boo” to her; she loved it!

            Wynn kept trying to climb up the slide, but did not see too frustrated by his failed attempts to get up. He continued trying over and over until Olive walked up to the slide and showed him down to climb up it. Then she went down and he continued trying to climb up, getting closer and closer to the top each time.

            We went inside for lunch and I helped Hunter and Wynn eat their food. Hunter only wanted to eat if she was holding the spoon, so I helped her scoop the food and put it in her mouth. She eventually decided she was done eating and watched others eat. It’s typical for children to be very observant on their first day at school. Ancel and Olive had no problem eating lunch on their own, and when it was time to lay down for nap they both went right to sleep. I patted Wynn and Hunter to sleep, and everybody slept very well.

            After nap the kiddos did some art with crayons on construction paper. If you haven’t noticed, I like to hang up their art in the classroom. Older creations are tacked to the walls, and the newest ones are hanging on the clothesline near the check-in/out sheets.

            Our wonderful Spanish teacher, Leona, visited us today to sing some fun songs! She always starts with a hello (hola) song and ends with a goodbye (adios) song, with several in between. The tots loved spending time with her and really enjoyed her fun energy that she brings to the class. Overall, we had an amazing Wednesday!

*My good friend Jessica will be visiting us on Friday morning (9-7-12) during community music circle to hula hoop for and with the kids. She’s also going to donate some hoops to Green Sprout through her hula hoop company, Hoop Hoop Hooray!