Tuesday was had having fun in the beautiful weather. We watercolored the morning away. Cherokee led a group sing-along. And later,  we planted our merrigolds in the garden. In the afternoon, Vanessa led an excellent Yoga class. We made boats and “rock and rolled.” The Rock and roll trick really motivated friends to give it a try.  Then, Vanessa showed off the very creative dragon that we can make with partners. ‘Twas a beautiful day.

Wednesday morning started with a bowling bang! Well, first we had a snack together outside, and then we proceeded to bowl. Any one who wanted to try it out was welcome. In the afternoon, we had an amazing music time. We sang class favorites like Twinkle Twinkle, and even did a great interpretation of our normal morning song that starts “Way up in the Sky, The Big Birds Fly....”

Thursday was all about our hats! We brought all kinds. Kian brought the wonderfully popular book “Caps for Sale” and we paid close attention to the colors and numbers of the hats. We talked about caps and hats. In the afternoon, we made cool microphone flutes using toilet paper rolls, markers to decorate, wax paper, and small rubberbands.Ms. Daphne came to have Spanish time with us. We practiced giving “besos y abrazos” to “el oso.”

On Friday, we read some books with Ms. Cherokee. As a community, we decided to decorate the playground with paint--toddler tag-up fun. We gave some color to the fence, playscape, and even some toys. Friends carefully picked their spots and used their paintbrushes to add a little of their expression to their environment.  We helped washed hands using the water hose. In the afternoon, we showed off our instruments from home, talked about them, and had a toddler jam-out session. After, we watched Chef Mike give a presentation on how to make banana ice-cream using a food-processor. Freeze peeled bananas, blend, and voila! A yummy treat that’s hard for most Toddlers to deny. We threw some coconut shavings, raisins, or cheerios to add a little umph! Great week.

We started out Monday morning with a fabulous dress-up party! We became giraffes, monkeys, knights, cowboys, and other wondrous things.  We had circle-time and work time, and every one had a chance to use something they were interested in. The barrel of monkeys has surely been a hit lately. In the afternoon, we made hearts for “sick friends in the hospital.” We met our new Yoga instructor “Ms. Liz,” and had an extra soothing and quiet yoga time with her.  Then, during snack time, we sang Happy Birthday to Julia, who turned 2! We also sang our fun birthday song “The Earth Goes “Round the Sun” and ate delicious mini-cupcakes.

Tuesday morning had a strong start with an early circle time. We read about a duck who flies an airplane.  Then, we played “Mr. Clown”—a fun game that involves doing a “trick” when you’re in the spotlight. This was followed by Montessori Work time.  Yoga with Ms. Vanessa was a blast. After snack, we got busy painting our Love Day frames, which came out positively beautiful!

Wednesday morning, we got busy making colorful bracelets.  Hunter and Livio had a chance to paint the frames we had painted the day before.  Every one else spent the morning focusing on putting stickers on their gifts. After we woke up and had some time to play, we presented our gifts to one another and talked about hearts symbolizing love, and that the gifts were meant to be given to their parents as a gift of love.  During Spanish time, we colored puzzle pieces and put them together to make a night time/day time scene to help us understand “Buenos Diaz/buenas noches.”

Thursday we had great weather and took advantage of it by having an extended play-time outside. We laid in the grass and watched birds and planes fly above, we dug holes in the sandbox, and threw leaves into the air. There was even some kind of decorative play ground Christmas tree that friends were periodically working on throughout the day. In the afternoon we painted on the chalkboard with water (it’s the best!), and then had a fun Spanish time counting, blowing, popping, and stomping on bubbles!

Friday morning we did Love Day crafts throughout our time outside. In the afternoon, Chef Mike came to share his knowledge of cooking with us. We used organize cream, shook it up in Tupperware, and made whipped cream! We ate whipped cream with strawberries and blackberries. It was a fun/messy time! Then we had our lovely Love Day celebration outside.

What a lovely week!

Monday started out great, with a circle time in which we took items from the sound bag that start with the letter sound “h.” This was followed by Montessori work time. Every one found something that they loved to focus on, and much timewas spent working during the morning. When we headed outside, there were jump ropes to be played with. We took some time making the rope go around and around, as well as using it to make a train.  In the afternoon, Ann joined us for yoga. We did our “Tick Tock, Little Yoga Clock” song which is a class favorite.

On Tuesday, we spent the morning making “FREE HUG” signs, which every one joyfully wore. Talking about what the sign said made them excited for hugs, and throughout the day we witnessed spontaneous acts of affection between our kiddos.  Ashley brought in some new costumes, and we spent the morning playing dress up and pretending to be super-heroes.  We had circle time, followed by work time, and again, every one found something to focus on.  We headed outside, and Cherokee led every one in a fun song-singing session. In the afternoon, we read several books before Vanessa came to lead the class in yoga.  We practiced downward dog, tree pose, and got introduced to bridge pose just before learning a little bit about meditation. Vanessa shook a large bottle of purple glitter and water to give the kids something to focus their attention on as we “cleared our minds.” You could sense the peace every one had as we finished up our meditation.

Wednesday, we had a fun free-play kind of morning. A lot of time was devoted to dramatic play with our little bear and rabbit house, using markers and crayons to color on paper, and reading books with Ms. Ashley. Work time was very productive.  During morning snack, Ms. Toni paid our class a visit. She read to us a story about life-size animal parts, like hands, mouths, and tails. Every one was very interested in the concept of “life-size” and they had an impressive amount of engagement—making comments, laughing, and all the while watching the book, during the beautiful morning. Before nap time, a large stuffed-animal giraffe came to the class to say hello and wish every one a good nap’s rest. In the afternoon, Ashley gave us a presentation on Ancel’s fire-truck, and every one had a chance to touch it and talk about it. Daphne came for a visit, and read us a wonderful book about a donkey who cries. We tried to connect crying sound, pictures of the donkey crying, and different forms of the word “llorar” in order to learn about emotions as well as get introduced to new Spanish words.

On Tuesday, our friends separated themselves into a younger group and an older group. Our younger group laughed and talked while they made artwork, and our older group listened to Ashley read stories. When Daphne came, she introduced to us a fun freezing and dancing game in Spanish. Every one got a chance to dance, and at points the room was full of laughter. In the afternoon, we enjoyed using the Owl costume that Tula donated to us, and a keyboard. We took turns two at a time to play the piano, and we all had a blast. Later in the afternoon, we played with balloons! It was much too cold to head outside.

What a wonderful week!

I was off on Monday and Tuesday was a snow day! I walked in on Wednesday and friends were chaining together a “dragon” using tape and construction paper. We read Jackson’s wonderful book “Dragons Love Tacos” during circle time and were able to do some fun “fire breath,” a breathing exercise we do sometimes when we have yoga! Then, Ashley gave us a demonstration on how to use a barrel of monkeys. We had some Montessori work time, and headed outside. While outside, we made several discoveries of ice around the playground, and used this opportunity to talked about water in different forms. In the afternoon, we had Spanish time with Ms. Daphne.

Thursday, we had a wonderful circle time where we discussed celebrating the Chinese New Year at the upcoming potluck. Austin from the baby room came for a visit, and showed off his traditional Chinese clothing. After circle time, we put our smocks on and got busy painting to prepare for the celebration. We used red paint and horse figurines on large paper to make “horse tracks” in honor of the year of the horse. We told a story about horses running through the forest and leaving their tracks for us to see, adding an interesting dimension to their creations. In the afternoon, we had “te” with Ms. Daphne. She spoke only in Spanish, and we pretended to poor hot tea in cups. We used spoons to mix, and used our breath to blow on the tea. This made for a really engaging interactive lesson in Spanish.  At the end of the day, we read books and Ashley flew a panda bear kite. Simply watching a kite fly with a child can give your child a sense of calm and inner peace.

Friday started out with the lovely color red. Friends were decked out with red to help celebrate the Chinese New Year. We went in to do some coloring on the Chinese symbol for “Family.” We talked about how every family has different traditions, and celebrating together can help us feel a sense of togetherness that makes us happy. While we were outside in the morning, friends watched teachers do their best to try to fly Dax’s dragon shaped kite, but we just couldn’t get it up there! So Ash brought out her awesome panda bear kite later in the day.  In the afternoon, we went out to the deck to celebrate primary friend, Jasper’s birthday on the deck. Then Chef Mike came to demonstrate how to cook fried rice in an electric wok! We were all so impressed to see how patiently, the toddler and primary classes could stay engaged with the demonstration. We had fried rice for snack. Then, we went outside and found balloons every where. Parents started arriving and the celebration ensued.

Love,
Jackie