Mondays

Mondays... What a day.

It was chilly here today. I think we lasted about 15 minutes at a time outside today. The wind was blowing and our cheeks and noses were red and rosy, as well as runny :) We found lots of layers of ice in the front and backyards. The kids loved looking at it, touching it (even though their little gloved hands got wet and cold) and then breaking it. Seeing the ice in tiny, shiny pieces was amazing to them. I think it looked, to them, like shiny gems or jewels lying in the sun like that.

We also put up our Child Care Christmas Tree.... it is a cute little, pre-lit tree I bought a couple of years ago, but we love putting it up and decorating it for the holidays. The wrapping paper came out and a wrapping frenzy began. We had tape, blocks, toys, and paper pretty much covering the whole playroom at one point. You know, I love these types of leaning moments. I didn't actually "teach" any specific thing, but the kids learned about sharing, patience, using their words to express frustration when the paper didn't do what they wanted it to and co-existing with their peers (something that doesn't always come easy to a 2 yr old). That doesn't include the measuring, the estimating, the predicting, sorting, and the creating going on. We worked together, helping each other have fun and learn within a child centered moment. I was only there to help, not lead. Now, the funny part... it took them about an hour to wrap these "presents" for under our little tree... it took about 3 minutes of happy, laughing, wonderful glee to open them up. I never saw a child so excited to open a square, wooden block before.

We had messes today, but we had fun!! Oh, and we did review our letters A thru J, did our calendar, checked out the weather, sang some songs to the Little Man, read some more holiday stories, and made a gift for Ms Courtney... what a busy Monday.