Happy Friday!

Whew...we made it to Friday! What a beautiful week we have had! We have also had a fabulous month learning about caterpillars and butterflies. The highlight was definitely watching our very own caterpillars change into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. I thought the children might be sad when we let them go but they were excited to see them fly.

I made some name tracers for the children and they will be bringing them home today. Using a dry erase marker they connect the dots and then it wipes right off with a paper towel. I had planned to purchase a dry erase marker for them to take home as well but I didn't get a chance - hope you have some (the thin line ones work best for the older kids)! I will be making more of these word cards to go with our current themes each month. As I introduce the words I will place them in a box with markers (our mini centers) and they can work on them as they wish (self-directed). This is purely just an introduction to letters and words and how letters "make" words.......words go left to right, etc.


Next month our themes will be Bees, Ladybugs, Strawberries, colors yellow, red and black. We will start off with bees - if you happen to have any books with bees, please share with us. I don't think I have a single one so I'll be searching this weekend.

Thank you, everyone for the positive feedback regarding this blog. I'm so glad that you are enjoying it and it gives me a chance to share a little of what your kiddos are doing during the day. I wish I had done this much sooner!

One little picture today.....just had to take one of that hat! :-) Would have taken more but they were convinced it was fun to chase "Julia" today. Wow...I can tell you that 1...I'm out of shape and 2....I'm OLD! :-) Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, May 28

We are finishing up with our themes for May - caterpillars, butterflies, flowers, purple, yellow. The children are practicing their cutting and small motor skills -- they cut out a simple butterfly shape and then decorated it.

Lots of fun outside! Please don't notice the tall grass...it's a jungle out there!

And this is what keeps me in this job....Ali and Nolan laughing hysterically because they are swinging backwards. They just thought that was the funniest thing ever, LOL!

Closed dates - revised

Just a quick note to let you know that Sarah will be able to sub for me on Monday, June 8. I will still be closed June 4 and 5.

Wednesday, May 27

Future architect!

Scarlett taking a picture of me taking a picture of her!

Ali in deep negotiation with Kiley regarding the red hat:-)

Kiley playing the part of her Dad's fire boss (yep, that' s what she said) and the boys doing what the boys love doing....trying to keep everyone out of the way of their cars zinging (is that a word?) against the wall.

Jocey and Addie all dressed up. Jocey trying to convince Addie that it would work better if she turned the smock around, LOL.

Tuesday happenings....

It was launch day for the butterflies! The children were so excited to see them fly.....we opened the top and....we.....waited......and waited......and waited......and waited! They were sunning themselves and were in no hurry to leave their cozy house. Finally, one took flight and they all cheered! We were hoping to see them when we went outside to play but they must have been busy looking for flowers:-)

Addie and Nolan painting (yellow and purple paint)..

No books in the bookcase but Taylor thinks it makes a great chair, LOL.

Checking my settings...

Really just checking to see if you get notified when I make an update. Still trying to work out all the bugs...

Here is a picture of number/counting cards I made and laminated to go along with our butterfly theme. The children count the number of butterflies then place a clothespin on the correct number...

A butterfly has landed....

Today the children arrived and we noticed that one chrysalid was a very dark color...darker than the others which means it's ready to emerge. We made predictions and each child made a guess as to when the butterfly would come out. Some thought today, some tomorrow, Saturday and "soon." We were getting ready for lunch and they all took a look as they sat at the table. A few minutes later they all start screaming that the butterfly was out! Using Den's fancy dancy camera here is an up close look at our first butterfly......

Pictures from yesterday....

The children are working on their butterfly wings. They colored coffee filters with markers and then we sprayed them with water so the colors would blend together. Jocey is giving me the "look" as I had a hard time getting the picture...this was take four or five, LOLOLOL!!!!

Taylor and Scarlett looking their cutest. Scarlett is eyeing Taylor's new hat!

Ali drawing with the animal blackboards - notice the intense concentration and the tongue! LOL The children have enjoyed the boards but I think they get a kick out of "erasing" much more than the drawing or writing:-)

At group time the children all shared their paper plates for our caterpillar. We discussed what they chose, how they used the glue and then everyone got a turn touching and said what each one felt like...soft, hard, bumpy, prickly, scribbley (new word for me, LOL), smooth, puffy.

The finished product...our Very Hungry Caterpillar!