I love routines !

Today has seemed like a very calm day. Maybe it is because we are back into our routines again. I had to wonder if that may be a reason I enjoy being a preschool teacher so much . I LOVE routines too !

Daniel loves playing in the homemade gak !

This is a video I took sometime last week and had intended to upload it for Valentines Day and completely forgot. When the kids sing the part that says I L O V E U we point to the letters on the board.

Remember the white carnations yesterday we put in water colored with dye ? Here are our results. The kids loved this little experiment !


I ordered several new books from an author a friend recently told me about . Her name is Julia Cook. The books are a little more wordy than I prefer for my age group but with good storytelling you can keep the kids attention. Julia uses wonderful language to explore some social issues that sometimes are hard to explain . Today's book was called " My Mouth is a Volcano. " It is about a little boy named Louis who's mouth ERUPTS all the time. He has such important things to say. You can see the story below.

Does your child have a volcano mouth ? Maybe you can watch this video of the book with them and discuss their volcano ! :)

Tomorrow's story is about boogers and booger ghost . This was the first book of Julias that I read and fell in love with.

Back on Track

We all seem to be back on schedule today... and that is an awesome thing!

We started an experiment today. We put these white carnations in water with food coloring . We talked about how plants outside drink water and discussed how we thought these plants might change colors. It will be interesting to watch the change!

We had visitors today. They were here for training again.

William enjoying a good book ! The boys busy in the art center .

Orrin painting for his mom.

Andrea exploring the water table .

G and Rosanna found a new way to use our Valentines picks. The turned them into people and used playdoh to put clothes on them. CREATIVE!



Noah put together all our " hearts" puzzles that we made from a deck of cards. Then.. he put them all in order - he even knew how to put the jack, queen and king in line. He said he learned that " from playing solitaire on the computer with my mom. "

In small groups today we played with paint chips. I told the kids the story of a man that was a painter . He was going to paint a house PINK. He was walking out the door with his paint and fell down the stairs and got his paint all mixed up. First we sorted out the light and dark pink. Then together we worked to put them in line from lightest to darkest.

Even with the visitors here today we were able to be in our normal routine and well.. that makes this preschool teacher very happy.

Happy Valentines Day

Its pretty late. Today EXHAUSTED me. I think I got used to our snow days off. To come back after being out for a few days and it be a HOLIDAY/ PARTY day... wow . I am using a different camera so it may take me a few days to get in the swing. Just for today if the picture is taken the wrong way - just tilt your head. That is how my head has felt all day! :)

We made a bouquet of heart picks today. Great fine motor fun and Ms Jodie popped in to surprise us and pass out Valentines. Thanks Ms Jodie !

Cohens mom, Beth came in to make cake in a cup with the boys since they missed that activity during the " Mommy and Me Tea Party " yesterday. Thanks Beth!

Mr Randy graphed candy hearts with the kids.

Making " heart animals."Malia's grandmother came in to help with this. She also made the cute group Valentine Greeting cards for us. Thanks Tammy!

WE GOT TO PLAY OUTSIDE TODAY!

Passing out Valentines. My LEAST favorite activity of the day. Do you know how long it takes 16 kiddos to pass out Valentines even IF they only write their name on the card ?

This is the Valentine Randy and I gave the kids. It is an ice cream cone with cotton candy in it . It says " Here's the scoop! We like you ! "

A valentine the kids made their parents.

Sunday afternoon - Mommy and Me Tea

Whew ! Day two of school this week !

I took lots of great pictures on my phone today and now they wont load. :(

I cant find the battery charger for the camera... :(

So , I grabbed a video I put on facebook today of one of the groups of kinds making tarts.

We had a fun day. I usually dont bring them into the kitchen to cook we do it downstairs at the table but today I branched out. ( There is a reason... too much to try to explain. It isnt against state rules for them to be in there but it complicates things. For instance, if they are in the kitchen there cant be knives in the sink. Little things that are normal in most homes cant be normal. And now.. you know why the gate is there too ! ) Anyway, I loved having them in the kitchen !

Valentines Fun

Since we were out of school for snow almost a whole week Valentines Day is sneaking up on us pretty fast. I had a ball taking all my things out today. As Jodie pointed out the last day that she worked-- I have a bit too much. Here are a few things that we had out today.

I made home made pink playdoh . I also put peppermint oil in it. It smelled yummy and was so pretty. As I put it downstairs I could hear the children talking about it smelling good and being warm. Nothing like playdoh, fresh from the microwave . Making it at home helps the children think outside the box about how we " get " things . I remember when Addam was very small and I would use the excuse " we really dont have the money right now." His reply would be " well, go to the ATM and get some." Using the warm homemade playdoh also tingles the other senses of smell ( since I added peppermint ) and obviously touch.

This is a Valentines ice tray. The heart erasers from the Dollar Tree fit perfectly in the spaces. Tight enough though that a child has to use their fingers to pull it out. The two fingers we use to pinch our our pencil. There is a method behind my madness.

Deck of card - heart puzzle.

Homemade Pink Gak. This was left over from last year and it was still good!

Impromptu valentines making station. No, I didnt freak out about the mess , that is what kids do and when I walked over there- the girls looked at me and said.. " we will clean it up." If a playroom stays clean, there " aint" much playing going on. :)

Matching and fine motor...

Lacing - I made both of the above games from decorations found at the dollar store.

Scholastic patterning.

Look at all the Valentines Boxes that showed up today ! Wow ! I am impressed !

WATER PLAY !

We talked about the letter V in Valentines. When you say it you bite your bottom lip and when you say V it tickles your lip a little. These are things that were in our V drawer that start with the letter V. Kids this age still get the concepts of beginnings sounds and rhyming words mixed up. We dont spend a lot of time on things like this. But introducing them to letter sounds is not a bad thing if you use objects that can touch or relate to - like names.

Today has been a good day. ... a busy day. I enjoyed hearing the kids come in and be excited to see their friends. Orrin even said " Ms Debbie, I missed you all those weekends I was gone. I kept waiting for you and you never came." Totally... made my day. I missed you too guys.

Parents, there will be a letter in your cubby about the tea and plans for the rest of the week. Your calendar for the month is also in your cubby.

I hope you have been safe today... we have enjoyed being back.