I hope the kiddos got lots of rest while they were out of school because there was so much going on today, there wasn't even time for Show and Tell! Don't worry....we will make it up tomorrow! We continued with the monthly Community Helpers theme, talking today about a special helper for animals.....a veterinarian!
Ms. Michelle started our day with some Kid Yoga. The kids all love to try and copy the movements of the people on the picture cards. Stretching, and reaching, and balancing.....helps us practice moving our body in space. Then we painted trees with textured paint brushes (handles with rags and sponges on the ends). It was really neat how using these tools left a pattern on the paper! While that dried some, we each went through the favorite blue tunnel a few times. No hesitation from anybody.....even a little pushing to get to the front of the line!! Amazing what a difference a few weeks makes! We finished the session by adding thumb-print apples to our trees. The red paint was sparkling with glitter, so it was especially fun to get on our fingers!
Our book of the day helped us learn some important facts to get ready for the Out and About. It was called I Want to Be a Veterinarian by Michaela Muntean. Ernie, from Sesame Street, took his dog Barkly to the vet's office. There were pictures of all kinds of animals in the waiting room that a vet can see in his office. We even learned about special vets who see animals at the farm and at the zoo! The story told us all about Barkly's visit to the vet and how he even got medicine to make him feel better.
Our Out and About today was a trip to Dilworth Animal Hospital. Dr. Wheelock and his staff were so friendly and helpful. They showed us how they examine a sick animal, just like the people doctor examines us when we don't feel well. It just so happens that Dr. Wheelock's furry little dog, JubJub, was sick today, so we got to watch the doctor check him out! First, he used a special light to look in his eyes. We all got a turn to look in a friend's eyes. Then, the doctor used another tool to look in JubJub's ears. He checked his mouth and teeth, then felt his tummy and fur. We helped Dr. Wheelock figure out that JubJub had a tummy ache! After he starts taking his special doggie medicine, he should feel better in a few days!
The highlight (for the kids) was the THREE lizards that we got to see! They each looked very different. One even had a blue tongue!! Dr. Wheelock helped us touch two of the lizards very gently. One was soft, and the other one felt very rough! The staff at the office commented how very calm and engaged all the kids were! Wow! We have come a LONG way from our first Out and About where everyone was falling apart before we made it back to school!
Today was a fun day and the bright sunshine was beautiful! It certainly didn't feel like the second week in November is supposed to feel outside! In a month where we celebrate thankfulness.....the weather definitely made the list today!!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Open up and say AHHHHHH! Today was all about the dentist! We couldn't get a trip scheduled to the dentist office, but we had plenty of props to help make it real. I have a whole family of dentists and they were more than eager to share some really cool things for the kiddos.
We had a large set of teeth, for counting and pulling teeth. THIRTY TWO teeth! Wow! That's more numbers than we have on our calendar! We had x-rays, lights, masks, gowns, toothbrushes, dentures, and even syringes. We are starting to get the hang of playing "dress up" as community helpers, and using our friends for experimental patients, so looking in each others mouths and giving play shots was no problem today!
Our book today was called Maisy, Charley and the Wobbly Tooth by Lucy Cousins. It was all about Charlie's trip to the dentist because he had a loose tooth. He was scared at first, so all his friends went with him, but he soon figured out that the dentist office was not a scary place. The dentist chair leans back and spins around, the x-ray machine takes pictures of your teeth, and sometimes you get a sticker for being brave! Everyone listened as we read, then we took turns matching things from our book to the real objects we had to explore.
Ms. Angela came today and we worked on throwing and catching. The first, and most important part says Ms. Angela, was warming up our arms for throwing and our ears for listening. We did this by playing the drums! Ms. Angela played a beat and we had to copy it. Sometimes she played fast, and sometimes it was slow. We had to be a good listener to make our drum sound just like hers! Playing catch with a partner was next. I know we have been dressing like doctors and dentists this week, but there might be some baseball stars in our group too! We spent as much time running after the balls, as we did actually throwing and catching! Ms. Angela had a finale game that was full of imagination and pretending. She told the kids that it snowed in the courtyard last night and we were going to have a snow ball fight! It was her against all the kids.....but they had to throw the balls over the net in order to get her! Once all the balls were on the other side of the net, she called the kids over and told them to throw the "snow balls" at the teachers! Well.....you can imagine the pure joy! How often do you get PERMISSION to throw things at your teacher?? Ms. Angela is so fun and creative! The kids love her and we are so lucky that she is a part of our program!
The ending of the day was a delightful surprise! Joseph (and his mom) brought baby Juliette for Show and Tell. She slept quietly while he told us all about what she liked to eat and how old she was, but the action really started when he took out her pacifier. She started to cry and all the children suddenly became VERY interested in baby Juliette! I'm not sure that they knew she was real until then! Garrett had Space Ice Cream to share that he got on his recent trip to Washington. The kids didn't understand how it could be ice cream when it was hard and not cold. We had so much fun exploring it together! Susannah brought her teddy bear and gave everyone a chance to give him a squeeze. When we reminded the kiddos that there was no school tomorrow, there were a lot of moans and groans! When the kids hate to miss school, it's always a nice boost to the teacher's ego..... I love that they love it here!
We had a large set of teeth, for counting and pulling teeth. THIRTY TWO teeth! Wow! That's more numbers than we have on our calendar! We had x-rays, lights, masks, gowns, toothbrushes, dentures, and even syringes. We are starting to get the hang of playing "dress up" as community helpers, and using our friends for experimental patients, so looking in each others mouths and giving play shots was no problem today!
Our book today was called Maisy, Charley and the Wobbly Tooth by Lucy Cousins. It was all about Charlie's trip to the dentist because he had a loose tooth. He was scared at first, so all his friends went with him, but he soon figured out that the dentist office was not a scary place. The dentist chair leans back and spins around, the x-ray machine takes pictures of your teeth, and sometimes you get a sticker for being brave! Everyone listened as we read, then we took turns matching things from our book to the real objects we had to explore.
Ms. Angela came today and we worked on throwing and catching. The first, and most important part says Ms. Angela, was warming up our arms for throwing and our ears for listening. We did this by playing the drums! Ms. Angela played a beat and we had to copy it. Sometimes she played fast, and sometimes it was slow. We had to be a good listener to make our drum sound just like hers! Playing catch with a partner was next. I know we have been dressing like doctors and dentists this week, but there might be some baseball stars in our group too! We spent as much time running after the balls, as we did actually throwing and catching! Ms. Angela had a finale game that was full of imagination and pretending. She told the kids that it snowed in the courtyard last night and we were going to have a snow ball fight! It was her against all the kids.....but they had to throw the balls over the net in order to get her! Once all the balls were on the other side of the net, she called the kids over and told them to throw the "snow balls" at the teachers! Well.....you can imagine the pure joy! How often do you get PERMISSION to throw things at your teacher?? Ms. Angela is so fun and creative! The kids love her and we are so lucky that she is a part of our program!
The ending of the day was a delightful surprise! Joseph (and his mom) brought baby Juliette for Show and Tell. She slept quietly while he told us all about what she liked to eat and how old she was, but the action really started when he took out her pacifier. She started to cry and all the children suddenly became VERY interested in baby Juliette! I'm not sure that they knew she was real until then! Garrett had Space Ice Cream to share that he got on his recent trip to Washington. The kids didn't understand how it could be ice cream when it was hard and not cold. We had so much fun exploring it together! Susannah brought her teddy bear and gave everyone a chance to give him a squeeze. When we reminded the kiddos that there was no school tomorrow, there were a lot of moans and groans! When the kids hate to miss school, it's always a nice boost to the teacher's ego..... I love that they love it here!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Making Sensory Boxes
Learning about the doctor was so much fun!! Today we began our monthly unit on Community Helpers and started off with "Helpers that Help Us"!
Our book was Katie Goes to the Doctor by Liesbet Slegers. It's a story about a little girl who gets sick with a fever and a cough. Her mom takes her to the doctor's office. At first, she is a little scared, but once she sees all the neat tools that the doctor uses, she is brave. He gives her some medicine and she knows that even if it's yucky, it will make her feel better. The kids loved listening to the story and all had to share about a time that they were sick and had to take yucky medicine.
I brought in some of the doctor's "tools" for the kids to explore. We had masks, gloves, tongue depressors, a stethoscope, band-aids, and a reflex hammer. Each child took turns dressing up like a doctor. Then we listened to each others heart beat. It was really fun to watch the kids eyes when they started to hear something through the stethoscope! We checked everyone's reflexes and determined that we were all just fine! Nobody needs a trip to the real doctor! Let's hope it stays that way!
For art, we traced pictures of our arms on paper. We colored them just like our skin and made several red spots for our "boo boos". Then we pretended to be doctors again and put band-aids on the arm to make it feel all better. This might have been our most successful art project yet. The kids were really serious about applying those band-aids. Everyone did such a great job, we all got one extra band-aid to wear on our bodies. Who knew that was such a motivator??
Ms. Michelle and Ms. Erin came today and helped us all create individual Touch and Feel boxes for at home. We added two kinds of pasta and a whole bag of fun things to explore and build fine motor skills. The kids had so much fun building their boxes and then mixing up the contents. Jewels, bag clips, pipe cleaners, paper clips, and pom poms make fun surprises to hide and find in the pasta. Tucked inside your child's box in a sheet with more ideas for you to use at home. Happy playing!
There was new mulch on the playground today and we all noticed it right away! It gave us plenty to talk about and explore while we were outside. Our weekday friends had so much fun running around in it, that several of our friends joined in and played too. Even though it was a little chilly out there, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful first day of November! Can't wait until tomorrow!!
Our book was Katie Goes to the Doctor by Liesbet Slegers. It's a story about a little girl who gets sick with a fever and a cough. Her mom takes her to the doctor's office. At first, she is a little scared, but once she sees all the neat tools that the doctor uses, she is brave. He gives her some medicine and she knows that even if it's yucky, it will make her feel better. The kids loved listening to the story and all had to share about a time that they were sick and had to take yucky medicine.
I brought in some of the doctor's "tools" for the kids to explore. We had masks, gloves, tongue depressors, a stethoscope, band-aids, and a reflex hammer. Each child took turns dressing up like a doctor. Then we listened to each others heart beat. It was really fun to watch the kids eyes when they started to hear something through the stethoscope! We checked everyone's reflexes and determined that we were all just fine! Nobody needs a trip to the real doctor! Let's hope it stays that way!
For art, we traced pictures of our arms on paper. We colored them just like our skin and made several red spots for our "boo boos". Then we pretended to be doctors again and put band-aids on the arm to make it feel all better. This might have been our most successful art project yet. The kids were really serious about applying those band-aids. Everyone did such a great job, we all got one extra band-aid to wear on our bodies. Who knew that was such a motivator??
Ms. Michelle and Ms. Erin came today and helped us all create individual Touch and Feel boxes for at home. We added two kinds of pasta and a whole bag of fun things to explore and build fine motor skills. The kids had so much fun building their boxes and then mixing up the contents. Jewels, bag clips, pipe cleaners, paper clips, and pom poms make fun surprises to hide and find in the pasta. Tucked inside your child's box in a sheet with more ideas for you to use at home. Happy playing!
There was new mulch on the playground today and we all noticed it right away! It gave us plenty to talk about and explore while we were outside. Our weekday friends had so much fun running around in it, that several of our friends joined in and played too. Even though it was a little chilly out there, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful first day of November! Can't wait until tomorrow!!
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