Miss Arielle spent the day in the Shining Star room today!  We are all so excited she will  be in our room permanently started on Monday!
This morning to warm up our bodies Miss Lizzie made a new game up.  We all ran around the playground outside acting as if we were different animals. As we ran the perimeter of the playground each kiddo picked what animal they wanted to act like.  This game definitely got us all warmed up and ready to start another fabulous day.
During circle time we continued our discussion about Australia.  We focused on the people who live in the desert in Australia called the Aborigines. Miss Lizzie introduced a new musical instrument called the didgeridoo, and explained that the Aborigines play this musical instrument using circulatory breathing.  We all listened to the sound it makes and then gathered at the table to make our own didgeridoos!
As the kiddos were painting their  we looked at pictures of the Outback in Australia.  The class decided that our next field trip should be to Australia! :)
This afternoon unfortunately we did not have Spanish but we had another special visitor.  Miss Lizzie's best friend and roommate came to hangout with us this afternoon.  The Shining Star's absolutely loved meeting her and telling her all about the fun they have at Green Sprout!  Because Mrs. Leona was not here we took this time to go out on the deck to play our new musical instruments!  We gathered in a circle and blew into our didgeridoos making the sounds we heard earlier.  We had so much leaning about the Aborigines and acting as if we were in the Outback In Australia!

This week, continuing our unit of 'Global Awareness' we are focusing on Australia.  This morning during circle time Miss Lizzie introduced to the Shining Stars the continent of Australia.  We located Australia on the globe and discovered it is an island.  We discussed that an island is a piece of land surrounded by water.  We also discussed that most of Australia is a desert and because it is on the opposite side of the world the seasons are different from ours.  The kiddos were very intrigued by the fact that when Australians celebrate the winter holidays it is summer!  We chatted about all the different animals that live in Australia.  Miss Lizzie introduced the word marsupial and explained the different animals that are considered marsupials.  We then decided we wanted to write a story about the kangaroos living in Australia.  The story turned out hilarious!
After our long discussion about Australia we took the time to play in centers.  During centers Mr. Nick had a special project for the Shining Stars to do, we made a mobile for the baby room!  We decorated stars with shiny jewels and sparkles on stars.  Each one turned out so different and beautiful the babies are gonna absolutely love it!
This afternoon we had yoga, all the kiddos were very ready to stretch their bodies after a long nap! Miss Abby led us in some stretches to wake our muscles up and we passed around our "breathe ball" to stretch out our lungs.
We have had such a fabulous day here in the Shining Star room and can't wait for tomorrow to continue the fun!

Happy Friday! We have had an absolutely fabulous Friday here at Green Sprout! How can we not with weather like this?  We spent the entire morning outside, we just couldn't resist this amazing weather we are blessed to be having right now.
We spent our time outside this morning playing soccer, having a dance party, playing chase, helping Mr. Nick spread more new sand in the sand box, and watching our new friend Grace finish painting the door! It is beautiful!  The Shining Stars absolutely love the pre tots and spent a lot of time dancing with them, laughing and singing! 
We came in for lunch and had a surprise visitor, Colette's dad came by to say hello and share many laughs with us! What a great surprise!
This afternoon after a long nap we were more than ready for music with Mrs. Jackie.  We enjoyed music outside on the deck, the kiddos loved singing and dancing in the sun to the tunes of Mrs. Jackie's guitar!
We then headed to the backyard to wrap up a fabulous week here at the Sprout!
See you Monday :)

Much love,
Miss Lizzie and Mr. Nick

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today we spent most of our time outside exploring our new backyard! All the kiddos are really excited to spend the time to make up new games with all the new additions and toys we have.  Tristan, Colette, Leina, Maya and Dax made up a new game to play around the dome.  They were practicing balancing as they walked around the border of the dome!  They all did a fantastic job balancing as they walked across.  Each kiddos was showing so  much encouragement towards each other! Mrs. Jackie brought a book outside to read after we finished snack,"The Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly".  Paige and Colette were very intrigued by the pictures of this book.  When Mrs. Jackie was done reading the book Ivy wanted to read it to Miya.  They sat down and looked at the pages together, coming up with their own story to go along with the pictures.
During lunch we had our circle time.  We discussed why we weren't at school on Monday because of Martin Luther King Day.  We explained we was a civil rights leader who helped the people of our country love one other equally.  We also discussed that Miss Lizzie's birthday was on the same day and that is why she was absent yesterday.
After a long nap we all gathered for snack and then for an afternoon art project because Mrs. Leona was out sick today.  We sat down to paint a Shining Star collage.  We painted as we listened to different types of music.  The String Cheese Incident really made the kiddos express so much joy when listening to the music. 
We then made our way outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and our new toys in the sandbox!

Much Love,
Miss Lizzie and Mr Nick

What a beautiful day here at Green Sprout! Everyone was in such high spirits today and very eager to learn laugh and love!  This morning we enjoyed center time while waiting for all of our friends to arrive.  Rhys, Jasper, Miya and dax enjoyed playing with our bear puzzles that have different emotions; they each took turns using the bear puzzle to make each bear have a different emotion. Leina used to her time play our color counting game.  She did a great job organizing all the tiles in order of their numbers and color.   The kiddos then turned their attention to the drum machine to have a dance party! It was so much fun!!

During circle time Miss Lizzie introduced the class to a new continent, South America.  We located South America on the globe, Colette Leina and Maya were quick to notice that we live closer to South America than France.  We then discussed the rain forest and what animals live in the rain forest.  Monkeys were the topic of discussion; we each took turns telling a story to Miss Lizzie as she wrote it down.  Taking turns telling a story really helps the kiddos learn to listen to what others are saying and take that information to build a story with cause and effect.  We wrapped up circle time reading a couple of books Colette brought to school.  One was a book about monkeys and the other was an eye spy book in German. 

Everyone then gathered at the table to paint a picture of the rain forest.  The kiddos really used a lot of time to be very precise in their painting. The kiddos used a lot of details to paint what they thought the rain forest looks like. 

During our morning outside time we did some work in the garden.  The kiddos helped Dom Dom and Nick plant broccoli and flowers in our garden!  They loved getting their hands dirty and digging holes to put the plants in.

This afternoon everyone had a blast in Spanish!  We were introduced to new songs and loved singing the old ones as loud as we could!  Mrs. Leona then passed out drums for everyone to play while we listened to music.  We said adios to Mrs, Leona and Alma and headed outside to work together in our backyard to make it beautiful!  The kiddos helped shovel new sand in the sandbox and continued to help in the garden.   What a great way to spend this gorgeous afternoon!

See everyone tomorrow!

Love, Lizzie and Nick