Do you SEE what I see ?

Did you know we have a treasure chest ? It is a decorated chest that we let the children get in when they do something special or their behavior is extraordinarily good. Today they ALL got in the chest for the first time. Ask your child why !

Orrin got glasses out of the treasure chest .

I want Ms. Bethany to be good at EVERYTHING we do so today she did small groups.

We have had an exciting day today. We had our first walking field trip. I want to say that this group was BY FAR the BEST " field trippers" we have had in a long time. They obeyed all the rules we talked about before we left. Parents, you would have been so proud of them. We had 14 with us and they walked into the hospital SO QUIET and respectful. ( " There are sick people and babies that need to sleep in there." We saw Kat's new baby sister . Her grandma greeted us in the hallway and was so excited. I actually had chill bumps thinking of the day I will be with my daughter to have a baby - IF, that day ever comes. :) What a joy to help this family celebrate today. Kay was SO excited. If course, when we got home the "baby business " ensued. We had babies being born all over the house. I heard one little girl saying her " mom found her in a trash can." I laughed, she knew it was a joke and who hasnt said that to their little one a time or two when you dont know how else to answer the question. If you want some help or information on how to answer that question for your little one - click HERE.

When we take walking field trips we learn safe ways to cross streets.

Kingston playing a Brown Bear letter tile matching game.

What would we do if we could not see ?

I had to show off Dillion's journal today. Awesome writing buddy !

MUFFIN TIN MONDAY ! And yes, several of them DID eat the brussel sprouts.

Today was a Monday... and it was A GREAT DAY!

Not even a mouse...

Our first nap time of this year just started and so far so good.... We have had no screamers or runners. As the norm we started the " I gotta go potty one more time" parade. This early in the year you hate to say "no" even if they just went.

This is the way our day started out . Kat is the youngest and has found a way with her sweet voice to wrap each one of us around her little finger.

I spent the day Saturday in a training called TIPS. This is a great parenting tool I will be able to offer you . I have information on a wide range of topics and as the need arises we will use them. I am excited about the possibilities with these four little boxes.

Today we started talking about our feelings and our emotions. What did a " what we know " chart and these guys know a LOT about emotions. One of the biggest things we can do to help children learn how to deal with life is teaching them to recognize their emotions and giving them a name. For instance if a child hits another child we say " Look at your friends face. Does he look happy or sad? ( Wait for answer) How does it make you feel to you made your friend feel sad. When you hit someone they feel this way." Learning to read OTHER peoples feelings also is a learned skill. Dont we all know people that have no filter or no knowledge of others feelings? The book below is about many emotions that this little boy goes through. As we read we made the same face or emotion he was making.

More friends playing dress up.

Everyone likes to feel important - like a star ! Today we decorated a star with each child's picture on it.

We also acted out with figures the nursery rhyme of Little Miss Muffet.

Little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider, who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

It is important that children learn that letters make words that can be read back , like in a book. One way we do that is I dictate a LOT . Today we dictated ten things that make us happy.

Today was our first MUFFIN TIN MONDAY ! Mondays is almost always finger food and served in a muffin tin. Muffin Tin Monday is a great way to serve a new food or even make a themed lunch such as all one color. The kids love it. Today Aveary said " Ms. Debbie, are these trees good?"

And then we all fell asleep - exhausted.

Kat will be a big sister this week ! Randy was holding her and read her a book. She retold the story to him. His heart melted and he asked me to video. I thought her mom might like a video of her baby... before the new baby comes home. Both are obviously very lucky kiddos to have a mommy that finds reading important.