What a Busy Week

What a week... The letter Dd was a lot of fun and we didn't even touch on any Dinosaur activities. I will have to have a special Dino Week just to get in some of the great Dinosaur things we like to do.

Today we acted out our "5 Little Duck" play. The kids loved it, and we even had the Daddy Duck calling out to all his 5 little ducks. The little ones loved getting up and moving around the room, making their little ducks swim, hop and meander over the hills and far away. They even loved "hiding" while the amount of ducks got smaller and smaller. The Mommy/Daddy duck loved looking for their ducklings and having them follow her/him back to the "pond." It was a great little way to end circle time today.

We also finished up our Dd week by making Dotted D's with a Door. Behind the door, what could there be, but more Dots for you to see. They put on their dots, then "hid" some behind their door. I tried to guess how many were behind, and then I got to open the door and count to see if I was right. I was never right, the kids got a kick out of that. I got the idea from Jackie at Pocketful of Posies. She has really great Letter Themed activities!!!

We used our chalk boards to practice number writing, shape drawing, and making silly pictures. We sang songs, played Dolls, glued, used scissors, looked for numbers around the room, read stories about Autumn, Shapes, and Colors. We even went on a color hunt when all the kids got here after school. That was loud and fun (at least for the kids).

Next week we start out Ee week, Halloween Themed activities, introduce the color Black, review Orange, and introduce the number 3. We will continue to work on positional words (especially with the little ones) and Seasons.

Wednesday Fun

My family and I went to a local farm over the weekend, and I can't find the camera. I hate posting without photos. I have no clue what happen to it or where I might have put it. We have been doing such fun things this week, and I can't show you. But... I can tell you.

We have been having a lot of fun with the "5 Little Ducks" song. We have inserted "5 Little Dogs," "5 Little Dolphins," "5 Little Dinosaurs," and of course, "5 Little Ducks." We get pretty silly and loud, but they are loving it. I have gotten even D-Man to sing loud and silly, and he hates singing :)

We made Dotted Dogs, with our Do-A-Dot markers, counted Dd's in the room, found objects that begin with the Dd sound, and today we made a Dotted Duck, using the Do-A-Dot's and tissue paper. Tomorrow we will use our Ducks to act out the "5 Little Duck" song. I think they will enjoy the "over the hill and far away" part.


We continue to do our counting, weather, and days of the week. Congrats go out to one of our 2's, who is singing the days of the week to his whole family. Way to go Buddy!!! Repetition, song, & movement is great at this age to help our friends learn.

The Fall weather is perfect for being outside before and after nap time. The kids are exploring with the dirt & water, a lot!! Yesterday, they filled as many buckets they could find with water and made a huge long line with them. They were making "lots of little lakes, Shell." This morning when we went out most were still there. Today they became feet washers... it's funny how dirty feet can be after they were washed in the "feet washer machine."

Hopefully I will find my camera soon, I feel lost without it.

Monday, Monday

We have been settling into a routine, finally. Having an infant in the mix really threw a wrench into the beginning of our year, but I am lucky, Little Man is such a happy, content baby. He goes with the flow, loves the kids, and seems to thrive on the constant motion of the daycare. As long as he is fed, changed, napped, talked to, sung to, danced with, held, and loved... he is perfect. Thankfully all that can be accomplished with the help of all the kids and routine.

We worked on the letter Dd today. We came up with a list of words that started with the Dd sound... Dog, Donut, Dump Truck, Dinosaur, and Doll to just name a few. We read, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro... I know, not much to do with the letter Dd, but we are still learning about Fall and the changes that take place during that time, so I thought what a great, funny book to help.

Miss Beth and I worked hard this weekend to move the playroom around a little. I added an adult sized rocking chair so Little Man and I can be with the kids while I feed him. It has been great today, and definitely cut down on the tendency to "dump and run" as we like to call it, when a child takes out a toy or toys and dumps it on the floor to realize they don't actually want to play with it, then they run... leaving it for later to be picked up, hopefully by someone other than themselves. Today was much better.

For a Monday it was pretty good. Having a routine, following it and being consistent with expectations has helped our days flow more smoothly, now we will have to see what tomorrow brings :)

Something New...

What Could It Be??

We finally have a water source that the kids can use on their own. No more having to fill buckets and scatter around the yard, only have to do it 2 seconds later because they dumped them, just to dump them. Now, a little dumping is ok, but we are working towards using our water source in an environmentally safe way... no need to waste it. Our 2's are having a harder time with that than the 3's & 4's. We'll get there though.


Miss M already has the turning on and off down pat.

The preschoolers had lots of ideas on how to use their water.

Watering plants???

Miss M helped Sprout fill her bottle. Sprout is learning the logistics of turning the knob herself.

Mud Pie's anyone??

Finding a use for the water... "It's a mud puddle Shell"

We also have our tire swing up and running... the are getting very good at pushing just enough to twist, but not hard enough to get sick. Trial and error on that one, let me tell ya :)

WEEEEE......

We also talked more about the changes in the weather... how the mornings are chillier than the afternoons... one answer, "The sun isn't hot enough yet." One of the kids told me that it was darker when they woke up and that was how they knew it was Fall. We inspected the leaves outside our window to see if they had changed colors or fallen off the tree yet... Not to many have changed yet, but we see a few starting to change. Thankfully they haven't fallen yet.

The preschoolers have been practicing drawing a circle, square/rectangle, and triangle on their chalkboards. Today we used all those shapes to create a drawing of ourselves in our Drawing Journal. They came out really great.

The letter Cc was reviewed and Show-n-Tell was had. What a busy morning we had.

A Day at the Park

To the Park we go...

You know, when I am not trying to gather everything for a simple trip to the park my camera is always within arms reach. Sometimes I am to busy to pick it up and take the photo, but usually I can get 1 or 2 of our day. Yet again I forgot the camera when we left to go to the park. I kept saying to myself, "Just grab it and stash it in the diaper bag." I would go to get it, and a child needed their pants pulled up, or a nose wiped, or redirected to finish picking up toys so we could get out the door. The story of my life :)

We had a really great time at the park today!! The weather was so beautiful!!! We ran, chased, climbed, slid, balanced, ate yummy snacks, and dug in the sand. The kids had a great time and met lots of other kids today. I guess we weren't the only ones to think of going to the park today.

It was nice to take a time-out & just run and play the morning away.

I'll Cc You Outside!!!

We have been learning/reviewing our letters this year in order. Last year I taught them in the same order the school did for kindergarten, thinking also that they will really know them if I teach them our of order. I have decided, in my opinion at least, that it doesn't matter. When they are ready to learn them, they do. I love giving them games to practice, and crafts to reinforce. I think our Mystery Bag is their favorite though.

We did a C-Cotton craft. The kids counted out 5 to 10 cotton balls and then glued them on to their C. Fun, Fun!

After Calendar, Circle, and Crafts we went outside... the beautiful Autumn weather is upon us. We have chilly mornings that lead into warm afternoons. The temps are supposed to go back up by the end of the week, but no more than 80 or so... so it will be nice and comfortable. Maybe it is time to get out the Halloween decorations.

Birthday Cake making again... the kids found a pile of rocks we just put down for a water spigot we installed, and they became sprinkles for their cakes/cupcakes. I haven't looked yet, but I wonder if I have any rocks left.

These two spent a lot of time watching the other kids make their "cakes" and proceeded to confiscate their utensils and bring them to THEIR bake shop. They then proceeded to bake their cakes to their hearts content... undisturbed by those pesky big kids, who continually take their things :)

Making a run to the grocery to by more ingredients for their cakes.

Even our Littlest Man got some fresh air and outdoor time. He loves being outside with the kids, but the breeze kept taking his breath away... he would catch his breath, put his head down and smile and kick those arms and legs... he's growing so fast.

This Big Guy had a ball tooling around the yard trying to get the big kids attention. He was quite happy when Little Man gave him some giggles and grins.

These two has a game of tag going on for at least 1/2 an hour. They ran every where, up slides, down hills, in between swings, up ladders... I don't think D-Man let him catch him, but he did take a turn being the chaser and not always being the chased.

What's Up at Shell's??

Just a little of this & a little of that!!!

Friends having a Birthday Party for the D-Man... No, it's not really his birthday, but who needs a real birthday to celebrate!!

These girls are really starting to play well together, not just along side of one another. There newest thing is to play babies. I (thankfully) have 2 strollers and they put "their" babies in and walk around the house, feed them and use the doctor's kit to check them out. All the while jabbering away to each other.

We have been learning about shapes (along with other things, of course) and I realized that last year I spent a lot of time having the kids identify shapes, but not really try to draw them. So, out came the chalk boards... I think they did a lovely job!!!

Just this little bit of practice and I already see a noticeable difference in their drawings, especially the Princess. Before, the drawings were very random and open ended, now I am seeing an attempt at people, animals, trees and even cars. The chalk boards are really great for this kind of practice too, we can always erase what we don't want and then take a picture of the the pictures we want to keep forever.