We Give Thanks To… – Daycare

November 20th, 2009

-Practiced listening to the whole story – Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks
-Used feathers and tried to arrange them in order of size
-Created with several colors of construction paper and glue
-Discussed the differences in night and day, drew a picture that determined the differences
-Made a ‘Thanksgiving Dinner’ for our friends to ‘eat’
-Tried to identify where the turkey was in our classroom by using our positional words
-Used our turkey sorters to sort into color groups
-Created with construction paper, paint, and our hands
-Did the ‘Turkey Dance’ to help work on our rhythm and temps
-Practiced different gross motor skills and our teachers observed to see if we could do them
-Discussed the different foods that we eat on Thanksgiving Day and determined if they were fruits or vegetables
-Practiced washing our hands by using the proper techniques
-Practiced saying Turkey in Spanish – Turquia
-Given circles, squares, and triangles to make a turkey, encouraged to identify the shapes and the colors
-Created with brown paper, feathers, and glue
-Did it sink or did it float? We observed to see which toys sand and which toys floated
-Worked on repeating the finger play – The Big Turkey
-Used our turkey counters to make patterns with to work on following two-part directions
-Created with magazines, paper bags, scissors, glue, and paper
-Ran outside like little turkeys to work on our gross motor skills
-Took a walk to the twos room and observed their growing pumpkins
-Pretended to be turkeys and played the turkey waddle game
-Worked on our special project for our mommies and daddies

*Gavin was a helper to his teachers today.
*Gavin was excited when we gave Ms Lisa her special apron. ‘We made it for you’, he said with a BIG smile!
*Gavin told us that he was going to make cookies for Thanksgiving Dinner.
*Gavin is so sweet! He saw that Joslyn had her hands full of things to carry, so he took them and carried them for her! So Cute!
*Gavin was so excited to go outside today! He is so funny!
*When pretending to by turkeys, Gavin looked a Ms Erica like she was absolutely crazy!
*Gavin gets very excited when one of us ask him to help us! Such an awesome helper!

I Want To Be… – Daycare

November 13th, 2009

-Recited the finger play – Noisy Nails
-Built our own towers and counted how high we had them before they fell
-Created with popsicle sticks, glue, and construction paper
-Sang ‘Johnny’s Hammers’ to work on coordinating words with movements
-Built different houses, one the straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks and we discovered which one fell over the easiest
-Constructed a class house by using paper, glue, and crayons
-Used the computer to work on dragging items around the screen with the mouse
-Practiced saying our first and last names
-Pretended to mail letters to our friends and then we counted the letters in our mailboxes
-Created with shoe boxes, construction paper, and stickers
-Practiced walking on the balance beam without losing our balance to work on our gross motor skills
-Discussed the differences between night and day and we used the lights as an emphasis
-Wrote letters to our friends to work on our dramatic play
-Practiced listening to the whole story – I Want To Be A Veterinarian
-Sang ‘How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?’ to work on rhythm and temps
-Matched animals to their correct homes
-Took our pets to the vet and made sure that they were’t sick and that they were getting taken care of
-Practiced communicating our needs in sentences
-Picked out all the firetruck counters and placed them in a separate group, and counted them
-Sang ‘Down by the Firehouse’
-Saw who could kick the ball the farthest while we were outside
-Took turns passing around the little red firetruck and observed it closely to work on sharing and waiting our turn
-Tried to identify the different parts of a computer

*Gavin waited for his friend, Keegan, to start his race car! So Sweet!
*Gavin followed Joslyn around all morning! So Cute!
*Gavin did tricks on the tumble mat while his friends, Aiden and Joslyn, sat in chairs and clapped for him. Go Gavin!
*Gavin did an incredible job with his artwork today! He was very precise and didn’t stop until it was perfect!
*Gavin was very excited to see the doctor in our classroom today. He sat very nicely and listened to everything he said.
*Gavin did an awesome job matching the animals to their homes!
*Gavin did a great job sorting the cars and counting them. You rock!
*Gavin kicked the ball and said, ‘I did it!’ So cute! He got it the farthest!

Gavin likes to dance

November 7th, 2009

I was trying to record Gavin dancing around and managed to take this picture.

Interpretive dance? Contemporary dance?

How about football player?

Down on the Farm – Daycare

November 6th, 2009

-Learned how to say Cow in Spanish – Vaca
-Sorted different grains into their own groups
-Created with black paint, white paper, marbles, grass, leaves, sticks, and glue
-Worked on going potty in the toilet
-Played ‘Farm Games’ on Ms Erica’s computer to work on clicking and dragging by using the mouse
-Tried to find our first and last names throughout the room
-Put together our farm animal puzzles
-Created with pink tissue paper, glue, and white paper
-Sang ‘Old McDonald’
-Practiced using soap and water to wash our hands to develop proper hand washing technique
-Learned how to sign cow
-Teachers held up different animals and then we tried to identify each of their colors
-Sang ‘Farmer Brown’s Cow’
-Used scissors to cut around shapes on paper to work on hand-eye coordination
-Discussed where milk comes from and then we squeezed a glove with milk in it to ‘Milk a Cow’
-Practiced showing that we can wait our turn and share our toys
-Repeat the finger play – This Little Piggy
-Created with different types of grains, paper and glue
-Sang and danced to ‘The Chicken Dance’ to work on controlling our body movements
-Teachers gave us directions to see if we could follow them as they were told to us
-Practiced flushing the toilet after going potty
-Played ‘I Spy’ to work on cooperative game play

*Gavin loved pretending that he was on a clean up train while picking up toys.
*Gavin did a great job sorting corn. He followed Ms Erica’s directions and went for it.
*This morning Gavin mad some awesome animal noises… Cock-a-doodle-doo!
*Gavin likes to play tag with his friends. He yelled, ‘You can’t get me.’
*Gavin was playing with the letter blocks and he said, ‘Hey, that’s a G and G is for Gavin. That’s me!’
*Gavin kept telling us that he was a pirate today.
*Gavin loves participating in music time! We are singing ‘Jingle Bells’ for our Christmas program.
*Gavin informed all his friends that the room needed cleaned up before going outside. So Silly!

Gavin loves to dance

November 4th, 2009

I was trying to play around with adding videos to the site so I thought I’d practice on a few of our favorites. Gavin loves to dance. If you haven’t already seen these they are worth a quick watch. Funny stuff.

The first one is from awhile ago in the restaurant Cheeseburger in Paradise.

[qt:/movies/Gavin_dancing_2.mov 360 480]

The music is hard to hear in the below movie, but he was getting down to the music on one of his toys.

[qt:/movies/Gavin_dancing.mov 360 480]

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Daycare Hair

November 4th, 2009

Gavin’s hair does not start out like this, but it looks like this by the time we get to daycare.

Trick or Treat – Daycare

October 30th, 2009

-Tried to find our first and last names on items around the room
-Used our bat counters to work on counting one to one objects up to five
-Talked about bats and how they sleep during the day and stay awake at night
-Practiced using our manners throughout the day by saying Please, Thank You, and Excuse Me
-Used ‘Echolocation’ to determine where our friends are when they make a sound
-Learned how to say Spider in spanish
-Put together our puzzle with Halloween colors
-Used black and green paper with purple yarn to create with
-Sang ‘There’s a spider on my…’ to work on identifying our basic body parts
-Played a game by using our fingers that is called, ‘This Little Spider’
-Discussed spiders and their webs, then observed a spider’s web with a magnifying glass
-Put on our spider hats and pretended to be spiders and crawled around on the ground
-Used our blocks to build a ‘Haunted House’
-Created with black paper, green paper, crayons, and glue
-Practiced picking up candy corn using tongs to work on gross motor skills
-Practiced using our patience by waiting our turn to use a toy that a friend had
-Played ‘Ghost Bowling’
-Practiced expressing our needs and feelings in sentences
-Used pumpkin candy corn as counters to help us count to five
-Created with orange paper and pumpkin seeds
-Held hands and ran around a big orange pumpkin to work on multi-tasking
-Looked, smelled, and felt the inside of a pumpkin
-Practiced pushing down and pulling up our own pants when going potty
-Took a look at a computer and tried to identify the different parts of it
-Sorted our pumpkin cut-outs by size
-Listened and danced to our ‘Kids Bop Halloween’ CD to work on the control of vigorous body movements
-Practiced washing our hands at the right times throughout the day

*Gavin and, his friend, Anna were playing cars together. He told us that they were going on a trip. Awesome Imagination!
*We asked Gavin what he is going to be for Halloween and he said ‘a pirate’.
*Gavin was pretending to be a cowboy and saying, ‘Yeah! Partner!’ So Silly!
*Before sitting down at the table for art, snack, or lunch, Gavin always asks, ‘Can I sit here?’ He is so sweet and polite all the time!
*Gavin played ‘Car cops and robbers’ with his friend Nathan. So funny!
*Gavin did a terrific job using the tongs to transfer candy corn from cup to cup.
*Gavin greeted all his friends who walked through the door today with a big hug!
*Gavin counted the candies up to 10 by himself! Great Job!
*Ms Tracey gave Gavin some items to ‘deliver’… He loved it! So Cute!
*Gavin has his own mail carrier hat in his cubbie to take home! (Ms Emily’s dad brought Gavin an old postal hat that he had – He his a mail man.)

Daddy’s Helper

October 28th, 2009

Daddy had to ‘personalize’ Gavin’s desk. He lowered the keyboard tray so that it was easier for Gavin to use. Gavin (and Bingo) were big helpers. Gavin helped to hold things, Bingo helped measure, and Gavin put all his tools away when he was done. Which is more than I can say for his dad. =)

Apple Orchards and Pumpkin Patches

October 23rd, 2009

-Practiced saying apple in Spanish
-Exercised by reaching up and opening and closing our hands, We called it picking apples, We bent our knees and placed the apples in a basket by touching the floor
-Learned that apples are fruits… we looked at them, felt them, and tasted them
-Pretended that we made and baked apple pies
-Made apples on the computer to practice using the mouse
-Looked for our first and last names on pumpkins placed around the room
-Counted our numbers on our calendar to see how high we could go
-Played ‘Simon Says’ to enhance our cooperative game play
-Tried to identify where the apple was by using our positional words
-Placed apples inside a canvas bag and pulled them out one-by-one to count them
-Passed an apple around our circle of friends as the music played and the one that had the apple when the music stopped had to sit in the middle
-Sang ‘Apples and Bananas’ while we used our index finger to tear tissue paper into small pieces
-Discussed that apples grow from apple seeds, looked for seeds inside an apple that was cut in half
-Worked on our manners by saying Please and Thank You to our friends and teachers
-Practiced saying Pumpkin in Spanish
-Put a pumpkin puzzle together by using a real pumpkin
-Created with orange paper, shaped foam pieces, and glue
-Sang ‘Five Waiting Pumpkins’ and did the hand movements
-Played ‘Pumpkin Hopscotch’ to work on our gross motor skills
-Compared an apple to a pumpkin, answered questions about how they are alike and different
-Sat in a circle and passed a pumpkin to each other, everyone got to say something about the pumpkin – Gavin told them that it was Yummy!
-Took a walk around the building and tried to identify the different parts on computers that we saw

*Gavin has such an awesome imagination! He loves to cook. Today, he made apple pies and apple juice to go with it.
*Gavin did a great job using the computer!
*Gavin loves to play with his friend Joslyn. They were pretending that she was sick and Gavin was ‘fixing’ her belly. Gavin said, ‘Ms Bethany, I love her.’ HeeHee! So Cute!
*Gavin was very excited about Picture Day! He showed his big smile to us! So cute!
*Gavin did a great job using his manners today!
*Gavin was standing on top of the climber waving his arms and chanting, ‘ I’m a pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!’ So Silly!
*Ms Pam was reading our book, it had a ghost pumpkin in the story, and out of the blue, Gavin screams and says, ‘Oh, no! I don’t like ghosts!’ So Silly!

Responsibility

October 23rd, 2009

Gavin thinks that this is super fun!

We thought he had a cold…

October 16th, 2009

When I picked Gavin up from the daycare on Tuesday, his teacher had some concerns. She said that he had not had a very good ‘Gavin day’. He fussed when asked to do things, got upset at lunch, woke up crying during nap, and refused to sing his ABC’s when he washed his hands (he always sings them). We had noticed on Monday that his left eye was watery and the left side of his nose was stopped up. So, we started the ‘get well’ regimen… Motrin, Tylenol, Vicks on his chest, and a Vicks humidifier in his room. He got a couple of hot baths and lots of snuggle time. His flu shot was scheduled for Thursday and we wanted to be sure that he could get that.

I called the doctor’s office on Wednesday to be sure that it would be ok to get the shot. They assured me that as long as there was no fever that it was fine. So, we were going on Thursday. Then, I got a call on Thursday… out of flu shots. They had the nasal kind. So, that is what we will get.

We talked about how the nurse would be squirting some medicine in his nose. I told him that he had to hold very still and do exactly what the nurse told him. We were walking into the doctor’s office and Gavin says, ‘Just like Grandma BB?’. Grandma BB has an oxygen tank that she has to use sometimes. So, Gavin had associated putting medicine in his nose with her oxygen tube that goes in her nose. He is an obvervant kid with an intriguing little mind!

So, we get into the doctor’s office and are done in less than 10 minutes. Gavin held very still and they squirted half the gel up one side and the other half on the other side. Done deal!

Friday morning rolls around and Gavin’s nose is still runny. And, his breath is nasty! We had him brush his teeth after lunch and he took a nap. He sounds so congested… poor kid! While he was napping, Scott and I were talking about his ‘breath’. We realized before his nap that the smell was coming from his nose. Ick!

The plan… use a q-tip dipped in warm salt water and clean his left nostril out. Then, squirt a little bit of saline wash in there. Then we would reevaluate on Saturday morning after soccer and call the doctor at that time. We wanted to catch the infection as soon as possible.

I sat down in the living and had Gavin sitting on my lap facing me. We tried to blow his nose… nothing. We got out ‘the bulb’. I sucked some snot out and then looked again. I had Scott look. Then we asked THE question (which had already been asked earlier with a big NO)… Gavin, did you stuck something up your nose?

Gavin says, “It’s paper towel, I think.”

Scott looked at me and I looked at him… ‘Tweezers?’. I talked to Gavin about what we were getting ready to do. I told him that he had to hold very still just like at the doctors. Then, Scott came down the stairs with the tweezers and a flashlight. He was thinking that we were going to shine that up Gavin’s little nose… Gavin was NOT happy about the light. So, we put the light away.

I asked Gavin to hold still and explained what was getting ready to happen, again. I used the tweezers, reached into his nose, and pulled out a tiny piece of something. I tried a second time. Gavin was getting kind of squirmy. I got another little piece. Then, I explained that if he did not hold still… we would be at the doctor’s office and they would not be as gentle. He held very still. And, this is what I ‘caught’…

Eeeeewwwww! The stench! It was gross! But, I looked at Gavin and said, ‘Does your nose feel better?”. Gavin looked at me with a big grin and said, ‘Oh, yes’.

So, what did you do on Friday night? =)

Scarecrows, Hayrides, and Corn Mazes – Daycare

October 16th, 2009

-Learned how to say corn in Spanish – maiz
-Created with paint, paper, and corn cobs
-Practiced shucking the corn that we will use for art to enhance our gross motor skills
-Practiced saying Please and Thank You to our friends and teachers
-Took a walk through the building to find computers and discussed the different parts
-Repeated finger play of ‘I’m a scarecrow’
-Measured our class scarecrow with corn cobs
-Created with squares, circles, rectangles, straw, glue, paper, and googley eyes
-Tore orange paper and then glued it to white paper to enhance our multi-taking skills
-Held up different foods and identified if it was a fruit or vegetable
-Practiced pushing down and pulling up our own pants during potty time
-Repeated finger play of ‘Fly Away Crow’
-Used our critter cars and matched the words to the correct colored car
-Tried pulling corn kernels off of cob to work on hand-eye coordination
-Practiced sharing and waiting our turn for toys
-Worked on sitting for a whole story – The Falling Leaves and The Scarecrow
-Used our blocks and built towers with our friends
-Practiced walking on the balance beam
-Went on a scavenger hunt and looked for a small bale of hay

*Gavin whispered to his friend, ‘I Love You!’ So Sweet!
*Gavin enjoyed shucking the corn and he even attempted a taste of it. Yuck! Silly Boy!
*Gavin did a great job tearing his orange paper into small pieces to glue on his pumpkin!
*Gavin had fun helping Ms Jackie put the straw on our class scarecrow. Great Job!
*Gavin absolutely loves Joslyn! He was giving her hugs all morning! So Cute!
*Gavin is such an awesome friend! He shared his toys with Sam when he asked him to play!
*Gavin did an excellent job using his listening ears during story time. He even received a sticker! Awesome Job!
*Gavin decided to walk the blue line. He did a terrific job!

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