Another 2 hour Delay...

I can't even give you a photo of what led to a 2 hr delay here in our little town in NC... it was melted before I took the kids out to the bus stop. I love this town!!!

Anyway, we had a condensed morning, as most of the kids come from families of teachers (who were also on a 2 hr delay).

These great big Dinosaurs were brought out this week, by my husband, who knows D-Man LOVES Dinosaurs!! They have been getting a lot of attention all week!!

More Games, Games, Games!!!

Princess brought her special Strawberry Shortcake memory game to play. Little Miss M loved it. I tried to get my Princess Girl to NOT put out all the matches, but she couldn't resist. So, Little Miss M wasn't as successful as I would have liked, but she lasted a whole lot longer than I thought she would. She just kept picking up cards, looking at them, and getting very excited about whatever was on the card... didn't matter if it actually matched or not. She did finally wander away though. I tried to tell my (very upset) Princess, who was now without a partner, that she was just to little to be able to remember where ALL those matches were. So, she promised that tomorrow she would pare it down. I love her!!

I received a letter game, Letter Soup, from Little Miss M's Mom. I had never seen it before and when I looked online I couldn't find it anywhere but in Australia. So, where ever she got it I don't know, but I love this game!! The main purpose is to make 3 and 4 letter words by ladling up the little balls with letters on it. Since only 1 of my kids is ready for that (and she gets to play with me sometimes) we just ladle out the balls, state the letter and/or sound, and put it in our own little pot. We then count how many balls each person has, they then tell me the letters again as they put them back in the soup pot. The 2's love to just ladle, but when they put them back in I make sure we look at the letter on the ball and I tell them what it is. They love it too.

Little Man loved it too, but he had something else entirely in mind... he's so cute and innocent until that mat came flying off of the table and balls and pots were bouncing everywhere :) Gotta love that boy!!!

"Hey Mom!!"

Paint, Games, and Outside Time

Circle Time was a lot of fun today. We read Valentine's are for Saying I Love You, by Margaret Sutherland. It is such a cute little book. The 2's were able to enjoy it and understand it because it was short, sweet and lots of cute illustrations by Amy Wummer.

We introduced the letter Nn (which I guess we will spend 2 weeks on, since we didn't get to start until today) and talked about it's sound, and came up with a little phrase....

Nutty Nelli never nagged new nuts.

We then count the Nn's and say the phrase fast and slow, all while jumping around. I am trying to come up with lots of different ways for them to learn the letter. Something they will remember and be able to recall (even if it's me dancing around the room that they picture in their heads :) )

Princess brought her Hi Ho Cheerio game to play. They have really begun to enjoy board games and puzzles. We waited for Little Man to go down for his morning nap and got the game out. They enjoyed it, I don't know if you can tell, but Sprout is pumping her arms ups and down because she got to put her cherry's in her basket. To cute. Everyone learned about turn taking, patience, problem solving (we were down a few cherry's) and manners (sometimes it's hard to watch a 2 yr old keep putting their cherry's back on the tree)


Our Mini Water Tub became our Mini Valentine's Sensory Tub... it looked to nice when I put all the things in the tub, but when I went to get the camera this is what I found when I came back.

They enjoyed it!!


After reading our Valentine's Day book, I thought we could make our own cards (the little girl in the book makes lots of cards for her family & friends). So, I set out some paper with pencils, so we could write our names or messages... then set up the table with cookie cutters & paint, hoping they would use the cookie cutters like stamps.



Which they did, with 1 piece of paper

Then I found this...

I was told Finger Painting worked much better :)

Outside Time!!! Yeah!!!

It actually wasn't that cold out today, I bundled them up... Just In Case :)

MY FAVORITE PHOTO OF THE DAY!!!

Little Man found that 1 stamped paper...

Our February Box

Our February box came out today. We love to take out our monthly boxes, as we never remember what we put in there last year. We found lots of neat Valentine's Day things. Old stickers, doilies, cards and envelopes for sending notes to friends and yummy smelly stamps. Our noses looked like Rudolph's with all the smelling of markers and stamps today.

Here is Sprout being a Dinosaur, like the one she found on one of the Valentine's Day Cards. She had a lot of fun "writing" special notes to her friends and putting them in the Foamy Mailbox we also found in the box.

Miss M peeling stickers for her notes. What fine motor practice for these little ones. Holding pencils, markers, crayons, peeling, sticking, and cutting. They had a ball.

We put suds in the mini water table today. Some of them had suds up there arms and on their chins... Thankfully we use tear free baby shampoo for our suds :)

A Quick Trip Around the Room

Just some views of our new set up... I try not to move things around to much with the little ones, as they can never remember where to put things. I can't help it though. I love to change it up now and then.

I decided that our two spaces (Our Formal Living Room & Formal Dining Room) that we use for child care should be partitioned off from each other, that way Little Man can't get into the messy stuff.

Little Man's Corner

We were having so much fun with our new February things that we didn't even get to Circle Time... I guess we will have lots to keep us busy tomorrow too!!!

Changing it Up a Bit

A new week is upon us and we are all geared up for some fun explorations. I have gone and done it again... changed the room around!!! That baby is getting real mobile and I needed to make some changes so he could play down on the floor without having to be moved or told "No" constantly.





These photos were supposed to be at the bottom, but I posted my photos backwards, so here they are at the top. The preschoolers love to serve themselves and our Family Style eating really lends itself to letting them. The 2's are eager to join in this independent activity and watching their peers is having the effect I wanted, they are watching and learning :)

Little Miss M brings her lunch from home, so she doesn't get to serve herself from the family style meals we have. Yet, with a little planning and extra time, she and I get her lunch and snacks out together and she can arrange it on her plate. I also add a jug of water to the table and she and Sprout love to pour. This way even those children who have special diets can feel included and independent.

Yes, Family Style does lend itself to messes, but after they get the hang of it it really is such a time saver for me. When I would prepare everything and leave it on the counter, it was a constant barrage of, "Can I Have More of..." As soon as I would sit down they would start asking for more. It is great for me and them.

Little Man loves the new set up. He loved having access to EVERYTHING on the shelves. I don't even think he minded being gated out of the "messy" side of the room.

I tried to get a picture of the girls shooing away Little Man. One drawback is when they are working (intently) on a puzzle or another brain buster type of activity, Little Man always seems to be there :) I kept distracting him, and the girls finally got their puzzle finished.

New play dough station... I'm not sure the smaller table will work in the long run. They like to have space to move around. I also think I want to make a lip for the table, so maybe not as much play dough will make it to the floor. We'll see.

A little practical life work going on. Little Miss M was showing Sprout some work today... very cute.


I set up this independent little water table in the "messy" area of the room. It was a big hit. I saw something like this set up in a daycare classroom I had visited last year and have always wanted to set one up. I just never had the right space for it. Now that I have moved things around, I think this will work out pretty good. I can also change things up in it as needed because it is so small, you don't need to much to make it work.

A bigger view of the "messy" area where the kids are working so nicely.

I think I may like this set up, at least for now. I am hoping it will make it easier for the kids to better be able to access their Montessori work, art stuff, and play dough without Little Man being put at risk. We still do a lot of sweeping and vacuuming to make sure everything is safe, but if you have watched a crawler or have one yourself, you know they find even the most minuscule particle to put in their mouth. Ahhhh, always on my toes :)

An "Easy" kind of Friday

Little Man had a lot of fun with the Staples "Easy" button today... well, they all did really. I couldn't believe how many times they could actually push that button and not get tired of that guys voice, "That was easy!" Make me crazy!!


I did it!!

I bought some marble runs right after Christmas, during a clearance sale. I have had them out in a basket on the shelf for a couple weeks now, but they were only interested in the marbles that I had stored in a little glass jar with a cork type top. So, today I got them down and built them for the kids. Lots of fun was had repeatedly dropping those marbles down the chute. It is kinda like the "easy button," the repetitiveness doesn't bother them. Little Man was a little annoyed that he couldn't get in the gated area to have a turn, or at least have a taste of those marbles.

Sprout had some quiet time, at least for a few minutes, until Little Miss M came by and thought she should look at the same book, at the same time, in her own lap. Ahhh, that didn't go over well, but I am glad I got this photo, the calm before the storm :)

The kids spent a lot of the morning building with the blocks. I don't know if you can see it, but that "Easy" button is even in this wonderful creation.

Little Man loves this Sesame Street toy. Little Miss M gave it to us, and a different Sesame Street Character pops out when the button is pressed, and then sings a little song... again, repetitiveness at its best. After hearing Oscar the Grouch sing his song so many times each day (hour) I dream about it. Little Man loves it, but so do the other kids, so it gets played many, many times a day.

Little Miss M practicing her fine motor skills. She didn't put them in number order, but she did identify some numbers and squeezed those cloths pins like nobodies business.

Practicing making shapes on the chalk boards.

Sprout loved it!!

The kids enjoy using our sandpaper letters as flash cards. The preschoolers take them out and play "school" with the little ones.

What a quick week. My sinuses aren't quite back to normal yet, I am hoping this weekend will bring me to the end of these sinus headaches, stuffy & runny nose (how that happens I'll never understand) and sluggishness I feel. A relaxing weekend to all!!!

Cuteness

Today was all about Cuteness here!!

Sometimes you have to put everything aside and just follow a baby... you'll be rewarded in so many ways.