Grow Me. Grow You.

2012-01-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

A Peek at some Projects.

I've been wanting to get my house more organized for awhile...crafts, Tupperware, pantry, etc. Shannon gave me some great tips and I've been looking at ways I can organize things. I'm going to do a whole blog post on some fun things I've found. Last month we organized the pantry, bathroom cupboards, Tupperware, and some kid craft supplies. I'm excited to show you.

I grew up with my mom refinishing furniture and making our home beautiful. She could find some of the most random things (I think my dad wondered about a lot of the stuff she brought it) but she always made them look so amazing afterward. We have been living in apartments for the last few years and had to get rid of a lot and I could never buy many furnishings because we didn't have the space. It's been so fun to have my sis and mom here to help me decorate the house. These are the projects we've been working on:

-Nightstands. Added some black glaze to Annie's pink night stands (I bought at a flee market)

-Shopped. Bought a little dresser and cool antique night stand from the salvation army. I also went to Home Goods and Cost Plus World Market (thanks for the suggestion Christie) and found a bath mat, towels, and a shower curtain. At a thrift store we found awesome candle holders (I'm going to paint them) and a beautiful vase.

-Moved Toy Room. Switched the toy room from the entrance front room to the back half of the living room. It looks great. Pics coming soon.

-Rearranged and added furniture. My sister and parents have been storing furniture for me at their homes. When they found cool things from thrift stores, they would send me a picture text and ask if I wanted it. Now we have a lot more furniture in the house...and lot more work to do!

-Parks' Crib. Went to Jenny's fabric, in Fountain Valley, and got some darling material for Parks' room. My mom sewed all his bumpers and pads together on his crib. She got a stain pen to clean up all the scratches on the crip-looks amazing

-Toy Room Piece. Went from a throw-away piece to a show piece thanks to Mom and Heidi!

-Crayon Art. I'll take a pic. We melted crayons on a canvas for Parks' room-turned out awesome. Apollo got in on the action and made one for his room too.

-Piano. My great grandma gave me a piano that she got when she was six years old. We tried cleaning in up a bit-still needs tons of work!

-Desk. My parents brought me a vintage, roll-top desk they found. My mom glued and fixed some of the drawers.

-Molecule Mobile. Carleton bought a vintage molecule set that I put together. Now we'll hang it up over his crib. He'll love all the colors.

Years ago I found this storage piece?? Not sure what it was. Carleton thought it was a shoe rack from some bowling alley. I got it for $15 (Carleton was not excited). Somehow it came through every move with us. Carleton didn't want it in our house. My sister added wood, molding, and rollers. They stained and sanded it. Looks like a piece from Restoration Hardware now!

Here are Annie's nightstands that were glazed and wiped. They look so pretty in her pink and black room.

I learned so much about refinished different pieces. I'm exited to show you the finished pieces and share what I learned.

2011-12-14T21:16:00.001-08:00

O Christmas Tree.

We love our huge, great smelling tree. It looks beautiful from the inside and from the road. We all had a fun time decorating and welcoming it into our new home. The star we used is just an ornament from the dollar store.

Every year I have some sort of theme for the presents. I think next year I'm going to do vintage wrapping and tags. This year I went black and white with some red ribbon. It looks amazing under our silver, white, and glass decorated tree.

Dollar store ornaments!! I could not believe the incredibly beautiful ornaments at the 99 Cents Only store. We got some huge, beautiful ornaments that make for an expensive looking tree. I liked them better than what Martha Stewart has this year...I actually think they're the prettiest I've seen. I just had to share this great find.

2011-12-07T22:26:00.001-08:00

Christmas Beautiful.

We were at my sister Heidi's house over Thanksgiving and she had her house decorated for Christmas. She has the most beautiful house - she's also the best decorator I know. She buys beautiful things for her home but she also buys things from thrift stores and makes them look like they are very expensive.

She painted this armoire red and rubbed some black glaze over it. I was with her when she bought it and I can't believe the difference!! She also painted the knobs black.

For breakfast, Heidi had a beautiful spread. She got a bunch of these vintage milk containers, cleaned and bleached them, and put different drinks in them for breakfast-egg nog, orange juice, chocolate milk, and the Naked mango drink.

She has these trees in a corner, by their window. They have a view of the whole valley and city.

Love this coffee table.

She made the coffee filter tree. Click HERE to see how to make it yourself. She also made a coffee filter wreath (on the same blog site) for her sister-in-law that just had twins.

I saw HERE how to make a coffee filter light. We're going to put it in our white beach-themed bedroom.

Lindt chocolate. Yum.

Like this funky gold deer.

Place Cards. I found this idea online and wanted to share with you. We had two Thanksgivings (one with Carleton's side of the family and one with mine). These next two pictures were taken at my parents' cabin. We found the pine cones here in CA. For Thanksgiving, I left them the plain brown color and for Christmas, I'm going to dip them in red paint and make a garland.

2011-12-05T14:55:00.001-08:00

Christmas Ideas.

We have been enjoying Christmas cheer since just after Halloween. I want to share some of what we've been up to so hopefully you can use some of these ideas for decorating or crafting.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' cabin. Beautiful trees and snow-gets you in the Christmas mood. We all went shopping for my parents' and sister's tree...in the outdoors-we cut them down ourselves. The kids decorated them. Look at how beautiful these yarn balls turned out. Yarn wrapped around Styrofoam balls.

Stained Glass. these are a buck each at Michael's. The kids put the beads in and they melt in the oven. They come with little red ties to hang.

Etched Ornaments. These also come from Michael's. They sell a bunch in a pack for a dollar. They come with little tool and words like "Ho Ho Ho" and "Peace" and the kids scratch in glittery, metallic designs.

Decorated mini stockings. They have these felt little stockings at Michael's too for yes...you guessed it...a dollar. Annie used confetti, Christmas puff balls, stickers, and eyeballs to decorate hers. Apollo and Annie's mini stockings are now hung on the tree.

"Stained Glass" projects. This is one of my favorite Christmas projects from Michael's ($1). They look so pretty with the light shining through.

Here are my little elves. To make the kits, the kids glued the foam shapes to the front of the clear plastic and glued colored tissue to the backs. Afterwards, they went back to the front to decorate.

Here are the projects out to dry.

Oh Christmas Tree. This tree was made with an ice cream cone covered in frosting and m&m's. Cute idea, Shannon!

2011-11-22T13:42:00.001-08:00

Homemade Stockings from old Sweaters and Skirts.

I saw this picture and thought it would be fun to make my own stockings from my old sweaters. Here's what I did:

1. Made a pattern. I got one of my knee socks and traced around it to make a big pattern (there are a lot of free ones off the internet you could just use). Thanks to Carol, she helped me get started.

2. Cut and sew right sides together. The striped stocking below is mostly of the arm of a sweater. The two on the right were from old skirts and have a zipper running down the backs.

3. I used fusible webbing (had never heard of it before this project) to add a little stiffness to the stockings. I just asked the JoAnne's worker about it and bought some. No sewing required, just cut and iron!

4. Decorate. Click HERE for tutorials on how to make the flowers below.

Click HERE for a tutorial on how to make this flower. I used this to cover up a problem area on my stocking.

2011-11-13T19:54:00.001-08:00

Kid-Made Ornaments.

The kids have their own little fake tree where they got to go to the 99 cents only story and pick out beaded strings and tinsel. They picked out balls to take home to decorate. With all the different colors (they even chose the lights), it looks like Christmas threw up on the tree (yes, we've already decorated for Christmas). They loooooove it! Carleton and I also found some gorgeous ornaments for our real tree we're going to flock-can't wait to put it up but we don't want it to die before Christmas. We had red and silver and decided this year to have only white and silver. We found the most beautiful ornaments at the Dollar store-crazy huh. But seriously, they're better than the ones Martha Stewart is selling this year.

Looking for ornaments kids can make? Here are some using Christmas balls:

1. Paint. We used the kids paint that look like markers. I put washcloths in the kids' tins so they wouldn't roll around.

2. Glitter. Make a design or dots (easy for kids) and pour glitter over. I love these turkey roaster pans (I think that's what their called-never made a turkey) that catch all the messes-got it from the dollar store.

3. Glue. Apollo said this guy ran into a snowflake and it stuck to his mouth. How cute.

Here's one of Annie's ornaments.

4. Puff Paint.

Apollo said this is Santa. He said Santa will like this ornament the best because it's of himself.

This was probably Annie's (age 2) favorite to make. She beaded pipe cleaners. I fastened the ends for her to hang up.

Another idea. Clay. We just used some playdough the kids had. We left them out for a few days to dry. The kids molded a lot by hand and then we brought out cookie cutters. We put holes in the top while the clay was still moist so we could put ribbon through them and hang up when they dried.

2011-11-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

Letter E. E is for Elephants.

To print off an animal for every letter go HERE. I printed mine on card stock. Annie's artful letters are being hung in the toy room. They look beautiful together. I'll take a picture soon to show you.

For a cute elephant color by number go HERE. The Confessions of a Homeschooler blog is the first place I always go, print what I want, and get extras from other places. Jodi, so glad to here these ideas are helpful.

2011-11-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

Sarah Morris emailed this parenting article to me to post. Enjoy. Thanks for the article, Sarah.

Encourage Your Child's Scribbling:The Beginnings of Writing

Submitted by Sarah Morris on behalf of Primrose Schools- theleaders in preschool andkindergarten education.

Children observe adults writing dailyin numerous ways, from scribbling notes to filling out forms. Moreover, thisobservational curiosity often leads to a desire to begin writing themselves.Although their early writing attempts are commonly referred to as 'scribbling,'this can be consider a nascent form of legitimate writing. Typically, the firstconscious effort a child makes is to write his or her own name. From an adult'spoint of view, this attempt may ostensibly be random scribbling, yet uponcloser examination the patterns in each scribble will vaguely resemble letters.Such a moment is cause for celebration, the first step of a long journey tocommunicating with the written word.

Nevertheless, it behooves a parent or teacher not to emphasize precise letterformation at this stage. A pedantic approach to penmanship will send themessage that mimicking how adults write is more critical than the act ofcommunication. It is important to create a distinction between penmanship skilland writing as a way to express their emotions. Furthermore, chastising a childcan foster feelings of frustration and inadequacy with relation to writing. Ithelps to remember that many young children are still developing thecoordination and motor skills required to write properly. Accepting where theyare in their development can help parents and teachers guide their letterformation gently.

A healthy writing atmosphere will help encourage children to communicate viastories and messages. By giving them nothing more than paper, writing utensils,and positive reinforcement, children will show enthusiasm in demonstratingtheir writing ability.

• Writing tools - Keep pencils and paper everywhere. By having ready access tothe tools of writing, children will be more inclined to practice wherever theygo.
• Reading - Reading to your child can help acclimate them to letters. Thejuxtaposition of pictures and text also helps them associate words with bright,energetic pictures.
• Imitation - Children have a tendency to mimic their parents. Make a habit ofkeeping lists, writing notes, or using a whiteboard to list daily reminders.Watching you write will trigger their curiosity. If they inquire about writing,show them how to hold a pencil and practice forming letters. If they struggleto hold a pencil, they can also try writing letters in the air with their hand.
• Email - These days, traditional writing is being replaced by keyboards in avariety of ways. As the most important aspect of writing is communication, youshould encourage a child to practice writing with whatever method they enjoy.Sending an email to a relative is and familiarizing them with the keyboard isanother way to encourage writing development.

2011-11-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Letter of the week. Letter D.

I printed off some things from here that I liked again. To avoid any confusion, when you want to print stuff off her blog, click on what you want from the alphabet page, click on the blue button labeled "download now", wait the 20 sec, then click on "download file now" (not Click here), open it, and then print. The "click here" button takes you somewhere weird when all you want to do is print.

D is for...Dots

...DECORATE then DELIVER. We decorated the cupcakes left over from Apollo's party and then Annie and I took them to our neighbors.

...DRESS UP. She loves to dress up. I got out my makeup too-what girl doesn't love jewelry, makeup, and dresses? (I guess I don't sometimes).

...DRESS UP DOLL.

... and DINOSAUR PUZZLES.

Go here to get letter searches for all the alphabet letters.

2011-10-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

For Justin.

My brother is a bachelor and is busy getting his master's right now. He said he is eating super healthy right now and lifting a lot (watch out ladies!!). He said it's hard because he's just cooking for himself and if he wants to have fresh produce that doesn't go bad, he's going to the store a bunch each week. I told him I'd send him some ideas and recipes and this is what I have off the top of my head. I got an email from Lisa this week too about how she doesn't like cooking - she's basically only cooking for two (has one picky kiddo), and wants to be healthy-so Lisa, this is for you too.

Freeze everything you can! I've been really into freezing. I like to make double and freeze a bunch for Carleton's meals or other family meals. I told Suzana, why didn't I think of this before??

1. Harvest Soup. A very VERY yummy soup perfect for the season (from allrecipes.com). Has lots of veggies-make a bunch and freeze a bunch. Would be great to warm up on a chilly day with some wheat rolls...or just alone.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
2 cups cubed butternut squash
1 cup diced carrots
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 quart chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine (didn't use this myself)
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and onions, and cook until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potato, squash, carrots, apple, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
Carefully puree the soup in batches in a blender, or use a stick blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Once the soup has been pureed, return it to the pot and stir in wine and cream. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper; simmer gently for 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped chives.

2. Pumpkin Peanut Butter Oatmeal. My kids asked for this for a couple days so I made it again this week. Annie and Apollo can eat tons of this (from Deceptively Delicious cookbook). I quadruple this recipe. It's great frozen or in the fridge for later. When I put it in the microwave later, I put in a little milk and pure maple syrup. Yum. Another fun one during this season.

Ingredients:

1 cup Nonfat (skim) milk
1/4 cup Light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup Pumpkin or sweet potato puree
1 tsp Pure vanilla extract (optional)

1/4 tsp Cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 cup Old-fashioned oats
2 tsp Natural peanut butter
Pure maple syrup

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, if using, and spice. Bring to a gentle boil and stir in the oatmeal. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until the oatmeal is soft and creamy. Stir in the peanut butter, if using.

2. Spoon the oatmeal into bowls, sprinkle with dried fruit and nuts, if you like, and serve warm with maple syrup

3. Chicken Salad Sandwich. Just use the chicken packed in a can (looks like tuna) and add as much Greek yogurt as you want to taste. The Greek yogurt has 23 grams of protein and the kind we get at Costco has no fat in it. You can add chopped nuts, grapes, or a little lemon juice if you like.

Add some jam to your left over Greek yogurt , and yum. It makes a delish, thick yogurt. Shannon eats it a lot for breakfast with fresh fruit.

4. Egg Salad Sandwich. Boil eggs, and add enough Greek yogurt to taste (or fat free mayo). Super fast and yummy.

5. Canned, healthy soups. Eat some of the can and save the left over in the fridge for the next day. We like chili out of can for lunch sometimes.

6. Watermelon. Cut and eat it fresh. Blend some of the left over the next day in a shake (just mix up the watermelon and add ice-so good). If it's a ripe, good watermelon, you don't need to add anything to it. Finally, put all leftover chunks and blend in the blender (seedless watermelon) and put it in a Tupperware in the freezer. When you want to eat the frozen watermelon puree (icee), just take it out of the freezer and thaw until it's the consistency you like. So, so good. Go here to see the cute blog that this came from.

7. My friend January made a whole cookbook of super super easy and delicious recipes for new moms to get them through the first few months. I'll email it to you, Justin. If anyone else wants this book via email, just post a comment and I'll send it to you too.

8. Whole Wheat Waffles. We put cheese, sausage, and eggs between ours today for the first time. They are so good and good for you waffles. Make a million and then freeze a bunch in freezer bags. When you want a waffle, just pop it in the toaster straight from the oven and add pure maple syrup. We like them with a little peanut butter too. You can do the same for pancakes.

2 Eggs
1 3/4 cups Skim milk
1/4 cup Canola oil
1/4 cup Unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup Whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup Flax seed meal
1/4 cup Wheat germ
*1/4 cup All-purpose flour
4 tsp Baking powder
1 tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt

*We just add extra wheat flour to replace the white flour.

9. Bran Muffins. You can make and freeze any muffins, then pop (straight from the freezer) into the microwave for breakfast or a snack. I've put it on this site before or you can find healthy ones off allrecipes.com. Just replace oil with applesauce and white with whole wheat flour.

10. Spaghetti. Use whole wheat pasta, and you have a quick, healthy meal. Double the batch and freeze a bunch for later.

11. Frozen Veggies in Bags. Easy, still healthy but you don't have to make a bunch of trips for fresh veggies and you get out just as much as you'll eat at a sitting.

12. Frozen Fruit. I like the Costco berries in the big bag. They are great for shakes and you don't have to worry about the fruit getting old. When I do see normal fruit getting bad, I just add them to smoothies we're making.

13. Homemade smoothies and slushies. Have you heard of Buddy Fruits? They're like a buck for a couple of swallows but the kids love it. I make my own now. I just put applesauce with other fruits-like bananas and strawberries.. Throw them in the blender (if you have a Vitamix, put it on high for a great smooth texture). We did straight pears the other day (with seeds) and had that instead of applesauce. Throw all these in a Tupperware in the freezer, and when you take them out, let them thaw for a few minutes and have a no-sugar-added slushy.

We do a lot of smoothies around here. Just last night, Carleton made a fresh peach one. Smoothies are great for fruit that's about to go bad. If you don't drink all of your smoothie, again freeze the leftovers. You can even put it in an ice tray and add it to your next smoothie.

14. Chips and salsa. Costco has a mango salsa without much sugar. We eat it with corn chips or you could even do whole wheat crackers.

15. Canned Fruit. This is a good bachelor snack. Canned fruit (in their own juice) and cottage cheese. You can keep a lot of the left over canned fruit to top on salads.

Cornbread. We ate this with tomato soup (straws for the kids). This last idea isn't the healthiest, but it's so good. We replaced the white flour with wheat flour. They were a big hit with all the kids too. I made two batches and froze one. I just wrapped it with aluminum foil, then plastic wrap and threw it in the freezer.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour (we used whole wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

In the next couple of weeks, I'm getting together with some friends to put together a month's worth of crock-pot meals. You cut, cook a little, and organize into freezer bags. I'll post the recipes if they turn out good.

2011-10-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Partying Made Easy

I love throwing parties in general and have fun throwing birthday parties for my kids but a lot of times end up overdoing it and feel overwhelmed. Thought I would pass on some things I did differently that made it easier this time:

1. Freeze. I made my triple layered cake, cookies, cupcakes, and homemade frosting all days before the party. One night, I did all the cakes and had fun making cookies another day with the kids. I wrapped up the cakes with aluminum foil to keep their shape, then wrapped them individually in plastic. I put the frosting in a tuperwear and the cupcakes and cookies in freezer ziplocks.

2. Unfreeze. I frosted the cake the day before the party and made fresh frosting for it that day too. The cake was easier to frost because it was cold. I put it right on the cake platter and kept it in the refrigerator over night to keep its shape. I took the frosting, cookies, and cupcakes out of the freezer the morning of the party.

3. Dollar Store. I found powdered sugar, decorations, table covers, candy, punch bowls (that were plastic but looked like crystal), and candy trays. After spending a ton on candy at Albertson's, I got smart and bought some extra candy at the dollar store.
4. Clean up. I put all our left over candy in a freezer bag (and put in the freezer) to save for our Christmas gingerbread houses. Everything can be frozen and frosted another day or given to neighbors.

Halloween party activities:

1. Danced to Halloween music. I made wands last year by spray painting dowel sticks and putting ribbon streamers on them-so the kids waved them as they danced. We acted like monsters and witches.

2. Read Halloween books. Got some from the library to add to we had.

3. Decorated cupcakes and cookies. Bath and Body works has some great Halloween "hanitizers" that we had on the tables.

4. Painted Faces.

5. Ate monster cake. I got the idea from THIS blog. I did mine a little different-I made my hair a little messier-more matted looking and used large marshmallows for the eyes (much easier!).

We displayed some of the kids' projects on a string of yarn as part of our Halloween decorations. We'll leave it up and do the same for Christmas.

2011-10-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

Letter C.

This week I needed to prep Apollo's party, so making Cookies killed two birds with one stone.

Incredible sugar cookies (you can roll these out too, cut, and cook for about the same amount of time):

1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 3/4 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray pan cavities with vegetable pan spray.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg and extract; mix well. Combine flour and salt; add to butter mixture. Beat until well blended.

Press dough into cavities, filling 2/3 full. Bake 9-10 min. or until light brown around the edges. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn pan over; lightly tap pan to remove cookies. Cool completely on cooling grid.

Makes about 1 dozen cookies

Love this pan!! Thank you Joanie! So easy for kids to mush the dough in, cook, and out come the cutest shapes.

Colors.

Cotton Balls.

Hungry Caterpillar. January made flannel board pictures to go with the book. Annie counted all the fruit.

I got a lot of my ideas again from here. They are easy to print. While Annie's working on something, I cut other things out for the next activity.

Upper and lower case word matching.

Match the colors and the word. She liked these puzzles.

2011-10-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Halloween fun for kids.

Why I love dollar stores for Halloween. I stock up on costumes and put them in the kids' dress-up bin to use all year, they have fun Halloween crafts for kids, accessories for our costumes, and Halloween decorations. I let the kids decorate their rooms this year with a few decorations and they loved it.

Halloween fun. Where do I get my ideas? The dollar bin at Michaels. Dollar Stores. Pinterest. The Family Fun Magazine.

Bloody waffles. Red food coloring in syrup.

Acrylic paint. I like it because it doesn't smear. I'm really not sure if it's the best for kids' faces but I grew up with my mom painting ours and never had a reaction. Suzana said each bottle is on sale right now at Michael's for only 50 cents.

Pumpkin faces. We got glass jars and made faces out of masking tape. The kids painted over the whole thing with orange acrylic paint. After it dried, we peeled off the tape. You can put a candle in and the light will make them glow.

Glass stained ornaments. I bought these at Michael's and they have Christmas ones out right now for a buck each. They turn into beautiful stained glass. Just put them in the oven. Great for little kids or older ones. The older ones can use tweezers and really make them amazing.

Halloween scratchers. They're like 10 for 50 cents at Michael's right now. The kids use a little tool to scratch little faces into the Halloween ornaments. They come with colorful ribbons to hang them up. My preschoolers loved this project.

Melty Beads. Apollo made this witch (turn your head sideways to see:) from a pattern. Now we just need to put the wax paper on and iron. We'll hang it up with other Halloween ornaments. Another dollar treasure and great for Apollo to work on during quiet time.

2011-10-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

Letter B. Letter b stands for...

Beads.

Beanbags. The kids each made their own.

Blood. We made fake blood of syrup and red food coloring for a Halloween decoration.

and Books. We got Halloween books from the library this week.

Click HERE to download free puzzles, number games, big B and little b matching games, and letter practices (and much more!). Annie loves playing school...I do to! These are all free so just click on the download buttons.

2011-10-02T16:51:00.002-07:00

Letter of the week. Letter A.

My plan: To do a letter of the week using learning tools and activities. Through Pinterest and the internet, it is super easy to get ideas and to print any you want off. Annie and I are going to work on them for part of the time Apollo is at preschool and bring Apollo in for the fun too.. Annie LOVES LOVES "playing school". Being a busy mom, I want this activity to serve me and me not have to serve it or stress over it. So, we're keeping it simple. I hardly take any time to look, and print off the stuff I want. For example, this week we're doing the letter B and will go biking. Since I know what letters will be coming (ha ha), I'm going to keep track of ideas that come to me so I don't have to search too much when the letter comes. Here is where I got my letter A stuff. There are tons of ideas to pick and choose.

Keeping it Together: Walmart had the flat folders for 10 cents a piece and I bought some page protectors. I put Annie's art work, puzzles I cut out, activities etc. in there and will do so with all the letters. It's a great review and great activity book for road trips or church. Apollo enjoys doing the activities and they can be done again and again. I'm planning on keeping it around for baby #3.

I got this idea from my friend, Bonnie, as she's doing the letter of the week with her second child. He's just a little guy and knows all his letters. We were first year high school teachers (she was an English teacher) together and now it's fun to keep in touch via the blogging world. She told me she has more ideas and resources than time to do everything. I've found this to be true.

I cut out the puzzles and games while Annie did her projects, then we worked on them together.

Annie likes to show Apollo what we've been working on when he gets home. He likes to do the puzzles too.

Chalk. Fun way to learn. Apollo drew out the big letters while I did the lower case.

2011-09-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

Fun twist on pb and j.

Welcome Back...me. I took a long needed break after all my preschool posts. I have still been working on tons of projects and taking pictures so I'll fill you in.

Perfect for lunch or a snack.

Toast. Pb. Cut strawberries. Drizzle agave nectar (I got mine cheaper at Costco) or maple syrup. Yum

2011-03-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

Preschool Theme: America

Circle Time. The kids shared their collages about America.

Art Time. Sticker Paintings. I gave each child a color copy of the American Flag and a set of blue, red, and star stickers (I got all the stickers from an office supply store). They matched all the dots and stars (red dots on the red stripes, blue on the blue part and put stars on the stars).

Academic Time. Alphabet tracings of America. Click on image below to print.

Math Time. Spider windsocks. The kids cut out spider legs and moved them to make them dance. Now they just need some string and a pin to hang it up. They had a lot of fun with their "dancing" spiders. Click on image below to print.

Snack and a Story. Coconut Pineapple Smoothie.
Ingredients
1 C Pineapple
1 Banana
2-3 Kale Leaves
1 C Coconut water or 1 Can Coconut Milk

Directions
Place ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Serve cold.

Music Time. We danced to Yankee Doodle and the Star Spangled Banner.

Quiet Reading. I took my kiddos to the Katie Wheeler library to pick up a bunch of patriotic books.

Science Experiment. We made and decorated cookies with red, white, and blue frosting, marshmallows, sprinkles, and white tapioca beads. Cooking is always a science experiment.

Games.

Here, Jonathan is showing us a snail he found.

Random Thoughts:

Grant: He wore a donkey watch of Apollo's today and informed me that the time was sixty and then we would have quiet time-he LOOOOVES setting the timer on the microwave for quiet time; He is so helpful and always wants to pass things out to his friends and asks to help; he told us all today during circle time about his watch and Shrek; when I said we were decorating cupcakes he asked if we were making them and said we were chefs and laughed.

Jonathan: Jonathan patted Donny's back (like he was his little buddy-it was cute) and said "are you glad we're watching fireworks" to which Donny replied "yeah"-just a cute little gesture; today Jonathan said "I love you, Miss Robyn"; Jonathan is doing awesome in quiet reading and was totally into his books today; he told everyone he wanted to be in the Army today as he showed his AMAZING collage.

Nicole: She is such a sweetie and is so thoughtful-she gave Halley a book during quiet reading she knew she would like; when we were making our cookies she had to make sure she made one for her brother; she was very proud of her collage today and told about each part; I can always tell which project is Nicole's because there is color everywhere and it's always laid on thick.

Halley: All the kids had stories today and Halley's was about the sleep over she had. We made cookies for our parents and Halley had to make one for Sabrina; she is always all around great-she loves the activities, has fun, is funny, plays well, is always smiling, she adds a lot of joy to our preschool.

Donny: Donny's story was about how he played with his dad (I can tell he really loves his dad by how much he talks about him); he worked very hard on his letter tracings today even after things were cleaned up; Jonathan said "I don't like writing" when we were doing our letters and Donny said, "Do you like to ride on rides?" and Jonathan said he did-funny; I told the kids it makes me feel bad when they don't like what I make for them (they'll sometimes say yuck before even trying it)-right away Donny said "Yum, It's good for my body).

Apollo: He and Donny worked hard on their letters-Apollo is very careful about getting his letters just right; We got a book about Apollo 13 the other day so he thought it was his book and he told Grant that it was his book but that he could read it; Apollo was excited about something today and said that it would be a "Super Blast" to which Donny said "Super Brass".

2011-03-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

Preschool: Spanish Theme

Art Time. Mexican bracelets. I found activity online. Usually the beads are turquoise but we used beans instead and glued them to toilet paper rolls.

Academic Time. We went to Starfall.com to look at the letters and hear the sounds together. We watched a guy sing the ABC's using the sound and a word starting with the letter.

Math Time. We counted to ten in Spanish. I would yell it out and and they would call it back.

Snack and a Story. Pan de Navidad (from Argentina). I served a mission for my church in Argentina and they had this during Christmas.

Painting with Pudding. I made four different colored puddings with my kids last night. I made each preschooler their own plate of each flavor and color and instead of using paintbrushes...we used our fingers! It was nice having our own plates so we could eat and paint at the same time. We all put things on our flag that we like (we painted on a Mexican flag).

Music Time. We started out dancing to It's a Small World and then sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes in Spanish. After, I taught the kids the Cha Cha to Cha Cha music.

Quiet Reading. I took my own kids to the Katie Wheeler library to have some Spanish books for the preschoolers. If you live anywhere near Irvine, check it out. It's pretty and it has fun gardens where we took a picnic lunch and read our books.

Science Experiment. We dipped a little tree in chemicals last week and they grew over the week so the kids could see it.

I found this apple experiment online-Explain to your children that even though people appear to be different on the outside they are all the same on the inside. To illustrate this, bring several different varieties of apples, and then cut them open. We talked about how people look different, some people have freckles, some have a wheelchair etc. But inside, we love our families and all want to be happy-we have the same desires.

Games. Basket of Colors (I think that's what it's called). Every one had our own chair. I would yell out a physical characteristic and those that had it, would run and switch with other having that same characteristic (long hair, boy, brown eyes, etc.). If only one person was left standing, that person would do a little dance in the middle. The funny thing, was that the kids all wanted to be in the middle to do a dance-so cute.

Random Thoughts:

Grant told us he's going to take a salsa class; he "read" a book to the other preschool kids; always so happy and has so much fun every week.

Nicole: Nicole tasted the Fruit cake and said Yuck! as she pushed it away...nibbled at it...ate it...said it was good... then asked for more:) She said she liked to eat the frosting so I think she expected frosting on cake (most do); she always so sweet and wonderful in preschool-a hard worker.

Jonathan: He told me today that he missed me-what cutie; he did a great job in circle time and music time today following all the hand movements and movement pieces.

Halley: She did the best Cha Cha. She really looked adorable and really likes to dance. She told us that she is going to ballet class soon; she is a good auditory learner. We sang the alphabet song (with words and sounds) and she could remember what they were after only two times of listening to it-smart girl!

Donny: All the kids missed him today.

Apollo: He read a book to the kids today-they are good listeners when one of the kiddos is telling a story or talking; Apollo liked making all the things for preschool today and enjoyed eating it all.
Annie: Got to go to Disneyland with Katie!! Lucky girl.

2011-03-17T13:37:00.002-07:00

Preschool Theme: Art Appreciation (and happy St. Patrick's Day)

We went to the Getty Museum for our field trip so it was fun to celebrate art today. Carleton put a play list together for me of famous classical music pieces to welcome the kids and I played it throughout class.

Circle Time. For homefun, the kids put together and painted different wooden projects (related to transportation). I bought them for $1 at Michaels. Apollo loves them-we've put together a lot-Annie just did her first one this week (a monster truck). The kids did a great job and were so proud.

Art Time. James Pollock Masterpieces. I Googled images of Pollock's splatter paint style (a different one for each child) since this is the easiest famous artwork that can be copied by kiddos. Each child brought a pillowcase and I let them go to town with fabric paint and a little picture of their art to imitate.
The kids really got into it and had fun. Their "masterpieces" actually turned out really cool.

Academic Time. Van Gough "Still Life". I put fruit on a pretty platter and had the kids draw it. Click on the image to go to the site.

I had them draw their "still life" in the frame and put a big and little z in the lines below for them to copy.

Math time. Pablo Picasso collage. The kids cut out six shells and glued them onto a paper bag (sand). Using scissors has been a hard skill for some of the kids to master but they are so happy and proud when they get it. They turned out cute. Click on the image below to print.

Snack and Story. We made guacamole (green for St. Patty's) and ate it with chips. I had the best guacamole while watching a basketball game the other day at someone's house. The guy (sorry it's not the most exact recipe) had fresh avocados, 1 Tb sour cream, a little salsa, and some garlic. Soooo yummy. For our story we read Imagine a Night. The artwork is beautiful. It was the first book I ever bought Apollo.

Science Experiment. We put a little tree in a solution and it's supposed to grow crystals over time so we'll check it out again next week (it already looks cool). They have a bunch of little experiments at the Dollar Tree right now for kids.

Music Time. We danced to Beethoven's 5th symphony and other songs the kids can move to.

Games. Mother May I. So funny to play with this age of kids. So so cute. My mom played this game with us as children. The game master tells one of the kids (they take turns) to take 3 giant steps forward (or 2 leaps, or 5 baby steps etc.) and they say "Mother May I" to which I would reply "Yes, you may". If they forget to say "mother may I" they have to go all the way back. The first to make it to the Game Master (me today) wins.

Random Thoughts.

Grant: As always, he is such a champion and builder-upper of other people. He always encourages his friends; he looked adorable in his outfit!! Krista is so great about putting a cute outfit to match the theme or celebrate the holiday; he kept calling the guacamole different things like macamole; he enjoys the outdoors.

Jonathan wasn't too excited to do his collage, and Grant tried to cheer him up; he loves to make other people laugh and loves to laugh himself. Jonathan: Jonathan's story (after Donny's) was about being a tiger. He's always telling us he's a tiger and likes to act it out; He really enjoyed our splatter painting today and was one of the last kids to want to keep working on it; he LOVED Halley's cookies-all the kids did; he is enjoying quiet reading time and likes to talk about the books he has read.

Nicole: She did great at Mother May I and ended up winning the whole game; she is so kind to the other kids; she is always so positive-ALWAYS-she shouted "I'm happy" today; she is very skilled at using scissors and is very confident in her abilities and is a go getter.

Halley: What a darling frog she made today!!; Her story today (after Donny's) was about how she wore princess shoes as a baby; She was the hit of the party with the St. Patrick's Day cookies-very yummy (it's one of the things the kids remembered as we did our final review); she was very happy today (like always). Donny said he was "Gordan" today so Hally called herself "Gorda" for awhile (it's kind of funny when you think of it in Spanish).

Donny: He was the only one to eat the guacamole today (Apollo finally joined in); Donny said he had to tell us a story at the beginning so we all sat around to here Donny's story. He got old on his arm and showed his dad and Apollo. After that, all the kids had to each tell a story. It was cute to see how well they listen to one another. They crack me up.

Apollo: He LOVES our "Beaver Time" song and had a lot of fun with all the songs and hand motions we did today during circle time. He looked so cute going back and forth for "Days of the Week"; he likes to keep clean and had to change his pants when he got a little paint on them (even thought we always do messy things).

2011-03-17T13:37:00.001-07:00

Preschool Theme: Trains and Transportation

Toy switch. Each mom brought a bag of toys to switch with another student. This way they have "new" toys to play with and they'll be excited again to see their old toys when they come back (we'll be switching around for the next few weeks).

Art Time. License plate rubbings.

Wooden projects. Apollo loves these-they're a buck at Michaels and they have many many options (we've done a lot at our house).

Academic Time. Helicopter dot to dot. I put a big a little y for them to trace in the clouds. Click image below to print.

Math Time. Click on image below to print.

Snack and Story. The bran muffins were such a hit last time, we did it again. This time, instead of adding a cup of butter, I added a cup of applesauce. Tasted great.

I borrowed this flannel board and food guide pyramid from January. The kids took turn putting the foods in the right group.

Music time. We pretended to be trains. We sang Down by the Station (I would sing a line, and they would copy me).
Down by the Station
Early in the morning,
See the little puffer bellies,
Allin a row
See the station master
Turn the little handle
Puff, puff, toot, toot, off we go

Science Experiment.
Rolling jars. Several clear jars of the same size were filled with different items (quarter roll, napkin, salt shaker, etc.). We rolled them on the carpets and discussed how he items affected the jar's ability to roll.

Ramps. We had a big ramp (very long table) for the kids to roll cars down. I switched the angle and the kids could guess which angles made the cars go slower or faster. They LOVED this activity.

2011-03-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Growing/Planting

Self-Selected Time. The kids worked on puzzles while others played.

Circle Time. The kids showed each other the monsters they had cut out.

Art Time. Gardening Hats. All the kids decorated gardening hats with random things like pigs, beads, leaves, shells, balloons, etc.

Academic Time. Foot Flower. I painted all the kids' feet and they stamped in on paper. They added stems and made drew Xs on the bottom for grass.

Math Time. Trace the hand of the child and have them put the leaves on (double sided tape works great). Have the kids count the number of leaves on their tree.

Snack and a Story. Avacodo Smoothie. I like avocados but I was curious how this turned out. It was creamy and yummy. Half the kids really liked it and the other three were not fans. I got it from the Family Fun Magazine. They said that avocados are added to a lot of ice cream in South America. I called it green ice cream and since it was "ice cream" the kids wanted to eat it with spoons:)

Music Time. We all got instruments and danced around.

Science Experiment. Planted seeds. I bought potting soil for inside, little pots, and seeds at the Dollar Tree. I sent the kids home with packets so they could see what the plants would look like and know how to care for them.

Colorful Carnations. Each child picked a color and colored their water. I explained that plants drink water using their stems. We did this toward the end of preschool, so we didn't see the carnations change color.

Random Thoughts:

Grant: He does a great job during circle time with our dance, songs, and funny things; Jonathan told a story about going to the hospital, then Grant had a story-they all had little stories today during snack time.

Jonathan: Such a sweetie today. Nicole spilled her red water outside and went to get napkins. Without being asked, Jonathan went in and grabbed some too to help her. Very thoughtful; He does awesome...awesome in quiet reading time now.

Nicole: She is very independent (in a good way) and always jumps right in with every project with confidence. I have heard from the kids "I can't..." before. I don't think I've ever heard that from Nicole as she always tries her best; Very darling very great to have in preschool.

Halley: When the kids were telling stories, she had to make sure everyone was listening and that they knew it was her turn to talk; she likes working on crafts and projects; she is happy being funny and hanging out with her friends-she has a great sense of humor.

Donny: He got really pumped when I announced we would be planting seeds; Donny really went to town decorating his hat and likes wearing it; As always a great eater and likes any veggies or fruit we have; he is sooo photogenic-he has such big brown eyes and always-takes great pics.

Apollo: Donny was having a hard time drawing his Xs. I was making the smoothies so I asked Apollo if he would help him. Donny was sooooo happy when he got it. Apollo was yelling, "You are right, Donny!! You did it!! Yeah!" Apollo had his hands in the air. Donny was so happy and so proud and had Xs all over his page.

2011-02-24T14:36:00.001-08:00

Preschool Theme: Monsters

Circle Time. We had a fun array of books to read today. We read Where the Wild Things Are during circle time along with our other normal activities.

Art Time. Monsters. The kids made monsters out of gloves using fabric paint, googly eyes, yarn (for hair), pipe cleaners, and glitter puff paint. They loved making it and are having fun wearing them. I got this from the Family Fun Magazine (my all time favorite).

Academic Time. Click on the image below to print the W water page the kids traced. I wrote their names at the top so they could trace them too.

Math Time. We made monsters with different amounts of body parts-2 noses, 6 ears, 5 eyes, 4 arms etc.

Snack and a Story. We had Watermelon with Waffles to celebrate letter W. We read another monster book afterward.

Music time. Go here to see the video the kids watched and sang along. They looooved it and asked me to play it again and again. there are some great songs at supersimplesongs.com. I put "She's a monster by Neo" while we all danced and acted like monsters.

Science Experiment. We looked at all our eggs that we had put in various liquids last week. Don't read any further if you don't want to know the results (I didn't know and I'm glad I didn't-it made it more fun). I was just excited as the kids and would note the difference every day. The little scientists took copious notes. The egg in vinegar soaked in the liquid and got big and squishy and we popped it (yes, popped the egg) and it squirted out. Halley kept saying-"it's peeing". There were big reactions with the other eggs too. We put them in root beer, red dye, lemon juice, vinegar, and milk.

Game. Monster. Different kids took turns being the "monster" as the others races back and forth to the "safe" couches. Physical Fitness. We all jumped rope. Donny was an expert.

Homefun: The kids need a little help holding their scissors (we've done a couple scissor activities) so I found a monster for them to cut out and bring back next week. Click here to print out a cut monster cut out activity.

Grant: Grant said about the blueberry waffles, "I like blueberries" and Apollo followed up with "I like the Boom Boom Pow"; He was so concerned that Halley hadn't come with him this morning and asked her why she didn't come; He is always cracking jokes and has the funniest things to say-I need a pen and paper just to follow him around because I wish I could remember them all to have for the blogs.

Jonathan: He loves to play and loves to be outside-he had so much fun running around with the jump ropes and kept asking me to grab on and chase him-I got a little workout; he was so happy to celebrate his birthday with his friends last week and someone (I can't remember who) asked when we were going to have cupcakes today. The kids favorite thing to do today was to ask to smell the eggs then say act disgusted.

Nicole: She walked by Apollo and gave him a hug and said, "Love you"-she is always very loving to everyone; Nicole asked where Annie was today (always so thoughtful) and I said she is not old enough for preschool. Apollo replied "She can't remember the tings (that's how he says things)"; We sang a song "Go Away Scary Monster, Go Away" so as the women came to pick up the kids she would sing that to them-funny".

Halley: She had fun pretending to be a monster; Halley looooved playing our monster game at the end of preschool-she had fun being chased but also did great as the monster trying to get everyone else; she likes everything we do in preschool and is such a gets into each activity (she's not always a fan of my snacks...not even of watermelon but loved the blueberry waffles); always funny and always fun to have.

Donny: He was an awesome jump-roper!! He is athletically talented. He showed Apollo how to do it. I said around...down...jump. He was copied exactly what I said and picked it up right away. He likes anything related to sports or physical fitness and is good at it; Donny was very helpful today and picked up all the pens without even being asked.

Apollo: He is verybig on detail and his Ws looked amazing today. He and Donny took their monster gloves to scare Katie when we went to pick up Annie-they were so excited; He had a lot of fun during all the songs today and really enjoyed dancing, singing, and doing the hand motions today; he asked for our "Beaver Time" song first thing after Hokey Pokey this morning.

2011-02-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Farm Animals

Happy Birthday, Jonathan.

Circle Time. The kids showed off their names they traced. All so very proud.

Art Time. Traced farm animals. I bought these for preschool. The kids practiced tracing and we talked about which animals we see at a farm and which we see at the zoo.

Pig Nose.
Materials needed: Yarn, egg carton, black marker, pink paint

Directions: Cut the egg carton bottoms (the part the eggs sit in) into its twelve sections. Let the children paint it and put the nostrils on it. Next attach string to both sides (staple or punch holes and tie) and the kids have cute pig noses.

Academic Time. Celebrate letter V. We practiced drawing letter Vs on dry erase boards (I got the ones with lines on them). For a change, we went outside on a bench.
Math Time. Click here to print out this fishbowl.

Snack and Story. Bears in yogurt.

Music Time. We acted like different animals to the music.

Animals on the Farm (tune of Wheels on the Bus)

The pigs on the farm go oink. . .oink. . .oink
Oink. . .oink. . .oink, oink. . .oink. . .oink
The pigs on the farm go oink. . .oink. . .oink
All night long

The sheep on the farm go bah. . .bah . . Bah
Bah. . Bah . . Bah, bah. . Bah . . Bah
The sheep on the farm go bah. . Bah . . Bah
All night long

The cows on the farm go moo. . .moo. . Moo
Moo. . Moo . Moo, moo. . Moo . Moo
The cows on the farm go moo. . Moo . Moo
All night long

The ducks on the farm go quack. . .quack. . . quack
Quack. . Quack . . quack, quack. . Quack . . quack
The ducks on the farm go quack. . Quack . . quack
All night long

Mary Had a Little Lamb

This is the way we. . .

This is the way we plant the hay
plant the hay, plant the hay
This is the way we plant the hay so early in the morning

This is the way we feed the chickens
Feed the chickens, feed the chickens
This is the way we feed the chickens so early in the morning.

This is the way we chop the wood
chop the wood, chop the wood
This is the way we chop the wood so early in the morning

This is the way we milk the cows
Milk the cows, milk the cows
This is the way we milk the cows so early in the morning

Science Experiment.

What happens to the eggs?

Get several raw eggs and place them into different liquids (we did rootbeer, vinegar, red dyed water, lemon juice, and milk). I wrote down the guesses as to what the kids thought would happen to each egg (we'll take a look at them next week). milk: G-explode, H-crack Root beer: J-explode Lemon Juice: G-explode Vinegar: G-explode Red: Explode, D-turn red

For our second science experiment, we put little capsules in hot water and they grew to be farm animals (thanks Aviana).

Games. I played farm animals sounds (googled to find them) and had the kids guess what they were.

2011-02-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Valentine's

Art Time. Mailboxes.The kids brought mailboxes for their Valentine's cards so we decorated them with butterflies, candy hearts, glitter, stamps, stickers, puff paint, colored pens, decorative scissors, and confetti.

Valentine Ornaments. The kids dipped different colors of yarn (about 1 ft each) in a mixture of water and glue. I sprayed Valentine cookie cutters and aluminum foil. They put the cookie cutters on the foil and the string inside them. They didn't come out quite as expected, but still fun. Next time I would use bigger and more simple cookie cutters.

Academic Time. The kids traced the letter U. There was a hum of them saying doooown up dooooown up as they traced their "U"s. On the other side, they circles pictures that started with letter "U".

Snack and a Story. The kids made blueberry muffins.

Music Time. I put a song in each heart for the kids to draw.

Here are the kiddos dancing.

Valentine Exchange.

Loved Donny's card. It was of him looking like he was holding a lollipop (I wasn't fast enough to take a picture before Apollo took his off). Donny colored all of them.

Science Experiment. We played with some sticky goop called Gazzet while we reviewed what we did for the day.

Random Thoughts:

Grant: Grant asked to do the timer for quiet reading time but I told him that he had done it last week and that Apollo had asked last week to do it this time. A lot of kids would be bummed by that-not Grant (an unconquerable spirit) instead he yelled out to Apollo after he finished the timer, "WAY TO GO APOLLO!"; I noticed he encouraged others on and lifted them throughout the class.

Jonathan: During self selected time Halley and Jonathan had so much fun crawling around the room being tigers; he loves to goof and play around and the others kids love to play and goof around with him; he still is always polite and says "excuse me".

Nicole: She tells me almost every week that she loves "Miss Robyn"; she loooves crafting and really liked the Valentine ornaments and could have stayed there all day dipping the yarn in the glue and making shapes.

Halley: I told the kids "Your moms and dad will really like your mailboxes". Halley said (in a low voice mimicking her dad's) "I really like it, but where are all the princesses?" She had covered up her princess box with the decorations she put on.

Donny: he's very well rounded, likes learning, loves his buddies, great disposition, very pleasant and fun to have in class; he saw that kids got to choose hearts during music time if they were dancing or doing what we were doing-he danced his little heart out, he wanted a heart so bad...it was so so cute.

Apollo: He is very detailed about his tracing and worksheets so a lot of times I have to tell him we'll work on things later; he didn't like getting messy with the glue and was glad when he could clean his hands and go on to the next activity; he looks forward to preschool every week.

2011-02-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: My Body

I hope my fellow moms are finding the preschool part of my blog useful and can use it with their kiddos. I love hearing when people use ideas (and I love taking ideas from others). A lot of what we do in preschool can be adapted for different ages.

Circle Time. The kids were each assigned a sense for homefun this week (hearing, seeing etc.) They each brought a bag representing their sense. We had smelly socks and candles for smelling-cute. The kids were all proud to show what they brought. They all liked feeling the gel in the ziplock (for touch). Apollo's bag was full of different items so the kids could guess what senses we could use with them.

We played an elimination game. I would call out different features: Everyone with brown eyes... Everyone with freckles (I'm the only one)...etc. The kids would stand if they matched what I said. We got to see that we're all different and special.

We read a book about bodies.

Art Time. We traced the kids' bodies. We colored lungs, intestines, livers, and stomachs, and talked about where our food goes. They loved this.

Academic Time. We celebrated the letter T. They traced letter T, and on the back side of the worksheet, they circled all the letter Ts they could find in a letter search.

For math time, I asked the kids how much of everything they had. They didn't know how many fingers and toes they had so we counted to ten together. One child thought he had nine fingers:)

Snack and a Story. We had a healthy shake and sunflower seeds (Apollo asked if they came from the sun). The kids helped make the shake. Combine the following in a blender for a super yummy shake: frozen strawberries, milk, some fat-free/sugar-free vanilla Jello pudding powder (banana creme, white chocolate, and cheesecake are yummy), a banana, and a bunch of raw spinach (you can't taste-we add it to all our smoothies). The kids used the food guide groupings I made to put all the food on the chart. We talked about healthy foods we can put in our bodies.

Little Red Riding Hood.

Music Time. We sang: Where is Thumbkin, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Bean Bag Rock (it tells them to put the bean bag on different parts of their body).

Games. I played music and every time I stopped it, I had them do different things like "put your elbow on your waist."

Grant: He really enjoys circle time and sharing homefun; he is getting better at tracing and is really trying to do a good job.

Jonathan: I think my heart stopped beating when he was hiding behind the tree and was quiet as we kept calling his name. I'm constantly counting 1,2,3,4,5,6 wherever we go and when I counted to 5-yikes-found out from Mom and Grandma this is a game he often likes to play; he loves to goof around and play with his buddies.

Nicole: She said again, "I love you, Miss Robyn"; she is a go-getter and is up for all the activities we do-she is so fun to have in class.

Halley: She told me today that she loved me after Nicole did; she said she's very excited to go on the train and go to the petting zoo; Halley loved hearing about food and what it becomes.

Donny: I can always count on Donny to enjoy the snack I make; last week we ate salsa and I told them about a class I take at the gym and a song that goes "I love salsa" so I sang it and did a little demo for the kids. Donny remembered it and said it this week with a big smile on his face.

Apollo: Just now I was snuggling with him in bed and I saw him smiling. I asked what he was smiling about and he said, "I'm tinking (that's how he says it) about my friends in preschool"; while eating the snack, he said it (the snack) would go into his wiggly things (intestines).

2011-01-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Nursery Rhymes...THANK YOU, HEIDI

My sister, Heidi, gave me one of my favorite presents this year for Christmas. She planned today's lesson. It was darling-she based everything on letter S. She cut out scarecrow parts for the kids to put together (including a little picture of how it should turn out) and had the name of each student on the bag. So, thank you for this and all your cute ideas we did today! Very thoughtful...very creative!

Circle Time. Each child brought a nursery rhyme to share with the rest of the group. Halley had little paper finger puppets to share Humpty Dumpty.

Grant brought a blind mouse ( a mouse with goggles on it) and pretended to cut off his tail with a plastic knife as we did Three Blind Mice-he had it on cd.

Nicole dressed up as Old McDonald.

Apollo drew a spider and we pinned it to his shirt and he held up a sun as he red "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Donny brought "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and all the kids did the actions.

I put cotton balls on a headband to represent Mary had a Little Lamb.

Jonathan shared his book with us.

Fun things to do with nursery rhymes: we acted them out and I had the kids clap so they could feel the cadence.

Art Time. We finished our opposite books by coloring black crayon on white paper and vise-verse. I hole punched them and tied them together with curling ribbon (see my last post to go to the website and see more pictures of the book pages).

We put together the kids, scarecrows as we talked about other words that start with letter S. This was a big challenge for my preschool kids (our first time using glue sticks)-and after they were all done they were so proud of what they had accomplished.

Academic Time. Heidi had Ss we could trace and a little match the picture to the letter activity on back.

For math time, I read "Mother Goose Math" and had all the kids count together.

Snack and a Story. The kids made salsa (this starts with ....S). I have split the kids in groups to make snacks, but found out today for this age group, they like taking turns doing something one at a time and making one item all together. We had the chance to joke and talk as we made it.

Homemade Salsa Recipe: Put the following in a blender-1 can Rotel tomatoes, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1/4 C onion, 1 tsp jalapenos (I did not add this with the kids), 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/2 t cumin, 1/2-3/4 t garlic salt. Mix together and refrigerate for 15-30 min.

Quiet Reading. We got a lot of Nursery Rhyme books from the library for the kids to read. My favorite is "This Little Piggy". It gives directions on the bottom of how you can interact with your kids when you read it (Apollo and Annie can't get enough).

Here are some thoughts from the day:

Grant: During Self-Selected time Grant said "Follow me Mates!" and the whole crew followed him back forth across the room; Krista told me she and Grant had practiced his "Three Blind Mice" nursery rhyme-I was dying as he pretended to cut of the mouse's tail-he was super excited to share; he looooved the salsa today.

Jonathan: He leaned over to me and said "I missed you, Miss Robyn"-so sweet, melted my heart; the kids were playing dress up and Jonathan announced "I'm the king" and Apollo declared "I'm the Sultan", then Grant "I'm the rescuer" and Donny, "I'm the firefighter"; he had fun joking around with everyone during music time-the boy likes to move.

Nicole: As always, Nicole goes all out on projects. She attacked the glue stick and I doubt there was any left afterward. She LOVES projects and gives them her all; Apollo put on a Mexican wrestling mask and was the monster and was chasing the kids around. Nicole said, "Is that you, Apollo?"; as I was getting snacks, Nicole said "I love you, Miss Robyn"- I told her I loved her too...and I do very much.

Halley: The kids were pretending to put out fires today. Halley was upset and sad and when I asked her why she said they had put a fire on her. Apollo said "we're just pretending Halley" and they were putting everyone on fire and putting the fires out (Grant, Apollo, and Donny had on their fire fighting hats); I was happy to get a goodbye hug; she loves sharing her homefun with the rest of the group (today but it is true always).

Donny: He's a smarty pants and did really good with matching the letters to the pictures (he would love preschool workbooks and would find them fun and challenging); I noticed he responds better when I touch him on the shoulder when I ask him to do things (thought this would be helpful for his parents); I'm a wimp when it comes to spices so when I had some salsa I said "Whew, I need some water, whew" and Donny said "Whew, I need some water, whew" and took a drink:)

Apollo: He enjoys working on projects and enjoys reading books during quiet reading time; he gets so pumped up during preschool seeing his friends doing all the activities-he becomes a little jokster and becomes full of energy; this is the second week he told me he would be the teacher; he is very particular about doing his tracing and projects.

2011-01-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Opposites

Great idea: I got this idea from Krista and I love it. I picked up these lasagna tins from the Dollar Tree so the kids could glue, glitter, and paint in them. I always put a table cloth on but this makes clean up even easier.

Circle Time. The kids shared the opposite pairs they brought with the other kids. We read a story about opposites.

Art Time. Opposite books.

Go here to download the pictures of opposite pairs. I copied each picture and pasted them in Word (4 to a page). Their pages look awesome. The kids use a swimming pool amount of glue per object so we'll have to let them dry for a while and finish them next week.

The kids added some texture to three of the pages for fun...cotton balls to the SOFT kitty, sand on glue to the turtle's HARD shell, and leaves we collected to the dog OUTSIDE.

Academic Time. To celebrate letter R we looked at Youtube clips of a roller coaster, rabbits, river rafting, and runners racing. We did a page out of this Preschool Workbook. I got them at the Dollar Tree. Apollo finished it in two days and loved it so I bought it for all my kids. They have great academic workbooks and flashcards for many ages.

Snack and a Story.

Big Marshmallow. Little Marshmallow.

Mushy applesauce. Crunchy crackers.

Sweet fruit snacks. Salty chips.

Black and White cookies.
We read Red Stop! Green Go! By Dr. Suess

Music Time. We did the bug dance. We hop forward and backward-step left and right so we talked about the opposites. I put on Black Eyed Peas (again...they love it) and we danced high...low...crazy...peacefully...fast...slowly...loudly...quietly...big...small.

Games. We played Red Light, Green Light. We played charades where I told the kids to do something like sleep and after the kids guessed what the child was doing, we all did the opposite.

Physical Fitness. Our first attempt jumping rope.

Random Thoughts about the kids:

Grant: He called me mommiebobby or something today; when I asked if he wanted applesauce he said no, just the marshmallows and chips-funny-normal kid; everyone loved his crocodile-it was the hit of the party; I love how he always comes running in to preschool...he even gets me more excited for preschool with his great attitude!

Jonathan: Good eater, very polite, he picked flowers for me today when we went outside to play so I put them under my headband; he picked flowers for his mom last time but I forgot to tell her; he loves to play with trains; I could tell he was done making his little book and said he felt sick but as soon as we started music time all of the sudden he had energy and was as happy as could be:); I asked Apollo what his favorite part of preschool was and he said playing trains with Jonathan (just before preschool started) he said "I asked him to play with me and he played with me."

Nicole: The lasagna tins are awesome for Nicole to keep her creativity contained-she doesn't color with one pen but a handful at a time and every inch of what ever she does is covered; she loved doing a puzzle with Halley today; she's such a GREAT helper and is the first one to clean up

Halley: I loved the opposite pair Halley brought- diaper and undies-she was very proud to show them to the group; she worked hard at jumping the rope and had fun; she saw Jonathan picking flowers for me so Halley did too-very sweet;;

Donny: Feel better buddy.

Apollo: He has a very long attention span and had fun putting his book together. He was very detailed and did an amazing job tracing his letters; he was frustrated jumping the rope-we'll have to work at it; he was goofier than normal today-probably just getting more comfortable and having fun with the kids;

2011-01-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Sports

This day was filled with fun events that are easy to put together and a lot of the items can be found around your house. Great afternoon activity for your kiddos.

Self-Selected Time.

Circle Time. When I was young, I put together a babysitting kit. I pulled it out the other day and have been doing different activities with the kids. I read "The Yellow Mitten" today to them as they took turns holding up animals.

The kids took turns showing off the sports outfits they wore and told about sports they played that week.

Art Time. We painted with racquetballs today. I printed off this coloring page for the kids to paint (click on image to print it off).

Academic Time. We cut out our own Olympic medal and the kids did a maze. I made slashes so the kids could trace letter Q.

We read the tiny books together reading about number 5 and 11. We are on a roll...the kids can find the right pages now with a little help.

Snack and a Story. In lieu of our sports theme, I passed out water bottles, granola "energy" bars, and Sport Jelly Beans.

Music Time. I played the bean bag song and the kids followed only this time with a big ball. They loved it.

We pretended to play different sports (volleyball, basketball, swimming, running, water skiing, and dancing) to the Black Eyed Peas.

We played "hockey" by swatting at the balloons with the wands I made for them earlier.

Quiet Reading. Most amazing thing! I announced Quiet Reading Time to the kids and asked them to pick out some books while I used the bathroom and got my book to read with them. I come back out and all...all of the kids are quietly reading their books!! We always do this call back thing where we talk about what we do for quiet reading and then we pretend to zip our lips and throw away the key (all with sound effects). I told them how amazing they were and went to do our key thing and Apollo told me they had already done it. He said he had already set the time (I always set the timer for 10 minutes). Who needs a teacher? I should just hand over my lesson plan!

Science Experiments.

1. Get as many different types of sports balls as possible and pass them around your class and talk about each one.

2. I split the class in two groups. I called out a sport and they pointed to the right picture. I printed off different people (I found some kid ones) playing sports-cut them out, and taped them up.

3. I handed all the kids some shoes, and we played with the laces on the shoes.

Games.

Basketball toss. Have your children toss a basketball into a small trash can or basket (we used the little trampoline as our target).

Hammer Throw. Take a tube sock and put a small ball (tennis ball, racquetball, etc) have your children sling it above their head and let it go. See who can sling the ball the farthest.

Discus. Have your children throw paper plates as a discus.

Javelin. Throw straws and see who can throw them the farthest.

Obstacle Course. Set up an obstacle course with paper feet. Today they hopped on one foot to the Trick-a-ma-stick (from the Dr. Suess game I Can Do That), walked around it holding a ball up high, hopped on two feet, and then did a little trick on the trampoline.

Relay Races.

Her are my random thoughts for the day:

Grant: He looked like the coolest guy coming in with his mitt, helmet, and baseball outfit; always so happy; looooved the granola bars; he and Apollo like to tease and wrestle; after Apollo told a story, Grant had a story about a big monster named...Grant and he had different voices-it was hilarious-I wish I could have gotten it on video; as we talked about the sports we played this week, he said he played with his dad last year (it's funny how they use time), he called the obstacle course Popsicle course and said "Let's Rock and Roll"; he always says the cutest things

Jonathan: We missed you today. Feel better soon.

Nicole: She loved the little soccer ball she brought today; She is such a pretty girl with a pretty smile-she looked darling in her little soccer outfit today; I always thing of how Carleton said she does everything with gusto-everything she paints is taken to the extreme-she puts her heart into everything she does; she had a lot of fun doing sports and had a great attitude

Halley: She was so cute in her tutu and danced around the whole time she was wearing it; she was funny when we painted our sport papers with a racquetball-she painted the ball and the paint container but wasn't to interested in painting the paper; she has such a fun time in class and gets very involved in every activity-a joy to have as a student

Donny: Even though Donny really struggled to cut his medal, he wanted to do it by himself and cut out the whole thing!; he is a little athlete-he threw the farthest both times on our hammer throw; he was so funny when the kids were telling about the sports they had played that week and he told a random story about running around and Apollo; after Grant and Apollo's story, Donny told a story about how he ran around and saw a wolf but his dad told him they weren't real

Apollo: I told the kids I had a story, but first Apollo had a story about his dad and a helicopter; he was saying funny things this week and said "my preschool kids will think it's funny" (I always call my preschool students my kids); I'm going to use these ideas from this lesson many times over because Apollo had so much fun

2011-01-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Winter.

Such a fun day. The kids are becoming such good friends and they are progressing in preschool too. We did a lot of call backs today (great attention getters) and the kids did awesome. When I say ham...you say burger. Ham...burger they all yelled. We did it with hot dogs. When I say go. When I say what? Go! they yell. When I say that word, meet me at the table. They're growing up and it just makes preschool more and more fun.

When I was younger, I loved to babysit. I had the whole babysitting kit. I made fun activities for the kids. No wonder I'm having so much fun with preschool. I asked for some preschool items for Christmas and tried them out in class today. Christmas Presents. I have to share some of my favorite gifts for Christmas...love them!! Heidi (my sister) planned out a whole lesson for me on the letter S. Including a salsa recipe the kids can make, the 5 senses, and scarecrows with each kids name on the bag. How thoughtful is that? Even if you're not a preschool teacher, what a great gift-to put together a rainy day activity kit for kids. Cds. Carleton bought me movement cds. I love them because we can just follow the music and it tells us what to do (eg. walk like an elephant, put the bean bag on your head). He bought me a circle time cd too. I think these are great for any mom wanting to have fun with their kids. One cd is called Action Songs for Preschoolers and the other is called Circle time Activities - Theme-Based and Transition Activities both by Georgiana Stewart. Heidi (my mother-in-law) gave me a fun preschool book. I'm excited to explore it.

Self-Selected Time. The kids were so excited to be together again today and had fun playing together. I picked up a Mexican Wrestling mask in Albuquerque at an outdoor market for Grant because I he loves to dress up in Apollo's so much.

The girls liked playing with the fake fruit you can cut while the boys like the train set Carleton put up.

Circle Time. The kids shared kind deeds they had done one at a time.

Art Time. We made graham cracker houses and decorated them. I think some of the kids were more interested in eating the frosting and candies than building a house:)

Academic Time. Today we celebrated letter P. I printed off this worksheet for the kids (click on the image to print one off for yourself):

Each child made squiggles with glue bottles and covered it with glitter to make a winter scene after tracing the letters. We have gone over numbers 1-10 and now, instead of celebrating a number a week, I do math time with the kids. I made a poster for the kids called How many mittens tall are you? We guessed how many mittens tall everyone would be. The kids counted out loud as we recorded our findings on a graph.

Snack and a Story. I really like these carrot packs. The kids liked them too. We also ate some of the leftover graham crackers.

Music Time. We had a lot of fun trying out my new movement cd. We passed a beanbag around as the music told us to stop, go faster, and go slower. There was a cute song that told the kids to step, run, and then told the kids to dance. This was my favorite time of preschool today. I love to see the kids bopping around having so much fun. They're stretching in this pic.

Science Experiment. We made snow today. I drew a snowman on colored paper today and let the kids color it. The "snow" paint is 1 cup salt, 3/4 cup water, and 1/2 cup flour. After mixing it together, we painted our snow scenes over the snowman. When it dries, it looks very cool-like real snow. What a great activity for kids this time of year-or even cute for on winter cards. I showed the kids some fun YouTube scenes (we don't get snow here in sunny CA) of trains going through snow, a family snowball fight, and someone jumping into a pile of snow.

Games. We played the Dr. Suess game "I Can Do That." They drew cards and had to complete funny challenges. A perfect game for this age of kids. We looked online before buying it and all the reviews were great.

Physical Fitness. All of us took apart a newspaper, crumpled it up, and taped them together. We had a great "snowball" fight outside and at the end, they made baskets in the garbage bag. We really had a blast. I couldn't throw the "snowballs" away quite yet, it will be fun to use again at least once more during another music time.

Here are some thoughts and observations from today:

Grant: I gave him the Mexican wrestling mask. He went back to it later to put it on and told me thank you for getting it for him. He is very sweet to his friends. He likes to wrestle with Jonathan and Apollo. Apollo had a big smile on his face as Grant was wrestling him today. All the other kids jumped in too and were laughing and tumbling around. Nicole had just shared with us how she had made a homeless lady a sandwich as a good deed and Grant was next and told us about the kind of sandwich he likes.

Jonathan: So sweet. He told me today "you have pretty hair." At the end of preschool, I let the kids take a turn doing a trick on the trampoline. Jonathan got on with all his confidence and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen...Jonathan" and gave a little speech; when he saw Grant today out the window he said, "There's my buddy, Grant"; he is very sweet.

Nicole: We went outside today and Nicole had everyone hold hands. She grabbed a couple hands then all the other kids wanted to join in. She told me today "I like you"-made me feel great!; She and Halley always have fun during music time. We had the pom poms out and Nicole and Halley were swishing them in each others' eyes and having so much fun. She loves the "I Can Do That Game" and did a great job. She always has a smile on her face.

Halley: She loooved the wooden fake fruit that was out today but was very concerned when the lemon was missing-she's very organized; her graham cracker house was amazing! she has an eye for beauty and is very creative; I laughed to myself as we were all sharing nice things we did for others. Jackie had left me a little note about how Halley had shared some food with her cousin because she didn't bring a snack. I reminded Halley about the story so she could tell about he kind deed but (I'm laughing right now remembering) her cousin had drank out of her (Halley's) water and Halley was not happy about that; Jonathan had messed up her hair, she said, "Jonathan pulled my pretty hair. My mom did it this morning"; she's so funny because she comes to preschool seemingly so shy but don't let that fool you-she is full of spunk and fun. She told me today, "I'm going to marry Donny". I asked her to wait at least twenty years:)

Donny: He needed some help in the bathroom. He told me "I like going to your bathroom. It looks nice"; the kids were eating bear cracker cookies and he said "those cookies are spicy"; I asked the kids what they got for Christmas and Donny replied "Everything. I got lots of presents"-lucky kid to get everything for Christmas.

Apollo: When we had to cancel preschool last week he was bummed. When he started feeling better he said "I feel better, now the preschool kids can come over"; he had a lot of fun making the house today; he makes preschool so fun because he loves everything we do; I always tell the kids we're going to do a new activity or shout "New Activity" when we move on. The other day at home he said, "Can we do an activity" instead of can we play a game, or just play what ever.

2010-12-09T17:49:00.001-08:00

Preschool Theme: Christmas

We had a fun Christmas party today!! It was a nice way to bring in some Christmas cheer. The kids are always in a celebrating mood. I enjoy this preschool more and more each time as I get to know the quirks of each kid and they say the cutest things. They are becoming great friends and have cute little conversations around the table together...it was like little group of adults chatting today. I love watching them grow week to week.

Christmas Breakfast. I invited all the kiddos over for breakfast to start preschool. We made red pancakes and decorated them with a red writing tube and Christmas sprinkles. Everyone was excited about the Christmas juice (pomegranate). Apollo told me later that this part was his favorite of preschool.

Self-Selected Time.

Grant made and ice cream truck and Jonathan made an ice cream.

Circle Time. The kids each shared what they wanted for Christmas and we read White Snow Bright Snow (I had to laugh because it's a super old book and some of the words they use we wouldn't use today).

Art Time. We rolled out fondant (about 7 bucks at Michaels) after the kids warmed it up in their hands. The kids used cups to make circles. We passed around bowls and measuring cups filled with food coloring and the kids stamped their fondant circles (thanks for the idea Kirsten). I put them on tree plates (99 Cent Only Store) so their moms could put them on top of cupcakes they give out. They can also poke a hole in the top and make them into ornaments after drying them out.

Academic Time. The kids decorated gold and silver covered (99 Cent Only store again) trees with Os (Cheerios and O looking beads).

Afterward, the kids connected the dots from 1-10 to make a tree. Click on the image below if you want to print one off.

Music Time. I played Christmas songs on the piano while all the kids played and sang with me (I mostly sang, they mostly played, and random notes mostly heard). I played some songs off itunes for them while we danced.

I got out some "drums" for the kids.

Games. Everyone chose numbers, and based on those went in a certain order to be blindfolded and choose a gift (each preschooler brought one gift). They loved it.

We celebrated every time some opened a gift.

We played Santa, Santa, Reindeer (another version of Duck, Duck, Goose). We have played other versions, and it's fun to see they all get how to play and have so much fun.

I found Christmas posters for the kids to color (you guessed it 99 Cent store).

We all went outside for a change of pace to a bench and ate our holiday goodies a couple moms brought. I really loves those small moments when we can sit and chat and I learn about them (usually during snack time).

Grant: Loved Grant's little Christmas cheer on his face; he told me he was wearing his Christmas shirt; Jonathan was having troubles getting his shoes on so Grant offered to help and got it on-very thoughtful; he's so funny and cheery-he brings out the goofiness in all of us; he makes the best Mexican Wrestler (the next Nacho Libre)-he loves the Mexican wrestler masks we got in Mexico and has me tie them up during Self-Selected time

Jonathan: I asked the kids if I could have one of their chocolate cookies and Jonathan and Nicole both offered...so nice; he had a lot of fun during music time today; he thought the game "Santa, Santa, Reindeer" was so fun and was laughing his head off the whole time; he was so excited to be blindfolded and choose a present but ended up going last because of the numbers he picked (Murphy's Law always works that way)-he was super excited for a yo yo

Nicole: She looooves crafts and looooved working with the fondant and asked if she could keep working on it when she had finished all her circles (a girl after my own heart...Halley too is my crafter); wants some trendy toy for Christmas that I didn't recognize; Apollo was naming all his friends (all the preschool kids included) and said Nicole and then said CoBo jokingly, Halley calls her Coley

Halley: She loved sharing her cookies and carried them out to a table where she pulled them out for everyone; Halley told a couple of the boys not to sing a song anymore (I think Grant, Apollo, and Donny) because they were adding funny words and being silly and the next second she was joining them and doing the same thing; she was great at making fondant circles and liked it

Donny: Wants a roller coaster track; every time we get to the cave during our bear hunt (it's our transition into academic time) Donny talks about the roller coaster (Suzana just explained he means Matterhorn from DisneyLand); AMAZING with numbers and loves to work with them-he was the only one that could connect-the-dot for the numbers; it was cute during circle time we all said "My name is... and I want.....for Christmas, he said "Hi...I'm Donny", very cute and casual

Apollo: we did a states puzzle after preschool (just wanted to write it down anyway) and he said Monica probably lived in Montana (maybe because they both start with Mo??); he really liked Nicole's cookies and Halley's candy cane. He found another one someone probably left and wanted to eat it too. I said he could have it tomorrow and I know that's the first thing he'll ask about when he wakes up.

2010-12-06T21:59:00.000-08:00

Preschool Theme: Space

Self-Selected Time. For self-selected time, I added big foam letters and numbers for the kids to play with and a kid size tent with a car mat and little buildings. I'm also always adding fun items to the dress-up kit.

Circle Time. Besides our regular games and activities, the kids shared their homefun with the group. During preschool we drew hidden messages with lemon juice for their parents, and their homefun was to heat the paper up. Fyi- if you're doing this project, you almost have to burn the paper (I put the papers in the oven at low heat) to get it to work. Grant and Halley were super excited to share their work.

I put Jonathan's in the oven and it turned out great.

Bugsby Space Adventure. Grant used the Bugsby pen to lead us through a space story. The preschool kids and my kids loooove Bugsby books. Apollo plays with them in his room before bed...they play with them all the time. Great for road trips too. If you're thinking of a cool reading tool...Bugsby is great. It's a big pen and you switch out the cartridges depending on the book the kids are "reading". Annie is 22 mo. and she loves to use it too.

Art Time. Kimberly let me borrow a book "Early Years Thematic Notes" that had a cute idea for our space theme. We had all different sized lids for the kids to trace with crayons to make planets. Once they colored in their planets, they painted their space picture blue-the wax repels the paint.

Academic Time. We organized all the alphabet letters and numbers 1-9 on the floor. I found this at some church garage sale (they have a preschool). Garage sales are a great place for learning toys at a cheaper rate...$5.

We all celebrated our puzzle putting together success.

The kids colored astronauts and traced the letter "N" I had dotted on each of their papers. Click HERE to print off your own. I printed off the face of each of my students.

I copied off some aliens and had the kids color them. On the backs were dotted numbers they could trace. After they aliens were cut out, I would call out a random number and the kids would find it in their pile.

Snack and a Story. Steel Cut Oatmeal Cranberry Muffins. Yum. Ziggy turned me onto steel cut oats for breakfast (fyi 1 cup steel cut oats to 4 cups water-put in pan on low until it thickens-yummy with peanut butter and a little syrup in it). I looked up a steel cut oats muffin recipe on line and came up with this one. I didn't even cook the oats a head of time and they came out great-kind of a hearty texture. I got the steel cut oats from Sprouts in a bin.

Steel Cut Oatmeal Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients:

1 C steel cut oats
1 C unbleached flour (I used bleached and it was fine)
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 C brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 C olive oil
1 egg
3/4 C milk

Directions:
Put in muffin paper and cook for about 15-25 min @ 350 degrees. Let sit until cool. Enjoy!

I made 2 doz. and they were gone in two days. My preschool kiddos all looved them and went to town-super healthy too.

Music Time. I bought some pom poms for each of the kids. They had so much fun dancing around with them to Christmas music.

Quiet Reading. All the boys happened to sit together on the couch so I couldn't resist a shot of them.

Science Experiment. We finished our science experiments (with the worksheet) from last week. The kids also made and flew airplanes. We talked about evaporation and the water cycle after some of our water escaped out of the cup we left out. Jonathan put Nerds into water during our last class and I pulled it out of the freezer to check it out (a fun experiment to try).

Physical Fitness. We walked, ran, went slowly, etc. the same distance and timed ourselves to see what way was the fastest and slowest.

Ending Circle Time. I love to hear what the kids remembered from the day. Very cute.

Random Thoughts:
Grant. Always has his funny little words that he adds and the kids go back and forth saying funny things and laughing; he liked sharing his lemon juice homefun with everyone and was not happy when Annie wanted to check out his oven mitts; he called me Mommy a couple times today; he looked like he glowed with a little tan; he liked sharing about his trip-liked the pools; he was very excited about his planets all class long.

Halley. Got SUPER excited about sharing her homefun during circle time and started speaking loudly and quickly about dinosaurs; the muffins were a hit today and even Halley wanted another muffin; I had not bought pom poms for Annie (not knowing she would be in class today) and asked if anyone would let Annie use one...Halley said she could, so nice; Halley kept bringing books for Annie during quiet time.

Jonathan. He had fun during music time with his pom poms; he is super fast during our physical fitness section and beat all of us on a few of the activities; I think it's cute how he calls me Miss Robyn outside of preschool (most all of the kids do even if they didn't before preschool); he likes to play; he is always so polite every week.

Nicole. She was very particular about making her solar system and had to put a lot of paint over the whole thing- she is always into the art or crafty stuff we do; she likes to do things herself; liked playing with the Bugsby books; she likes looking at the pictures after I take them; she always has a beautiful smile.

Donny. He reminded me that it was his dad's birthday today; he likes the "Bugsby Books" (all the kids did); he was good at organizing the puzzle even when the thrill of starting it was over, he worked on it until it was finished; he still talks about the roller coaster from Disney Land when we go on our bear hunt.

Apollo. He asked for water today and I laughed as I teased him and said "What's that in front of you" and he started laughing. All the kids thought it was so funny so they all started asking for water and I would reply the same way-everyone was giggling; he loves preschool and is so fun to have in class.

2010-11-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

Magnetic Alphabet.

My mom made this magnetic alphabet with matching pictures for each letter for Apollo's birthday. He loves it. We put the alphabet in order and then he puts the pictures next to the letters. Next, we'll have him spell out simple words. This is great for little ones to just start recognizing pictures or letters and for readers too. They're great for road trips because they stick and stay in place. My mom is selling them at a Christmas boutique over the Thanksgiving weekend. If anyone wants one, let me know and I can pick one up for you or she can mail it to you. They are $32 for the set and if you just want to use your own pan (for the magnets to stick on) you can just get the magnets for $25.