Door Prize

Ron and I traveled 2 hours November 1st for a training in Springfield, Missouri. So it was one of those Saturdays I just kept my normal schedule....up at 5:30 a.m. Ug. But trainings are a requirement for my license. And honesty, sometimes they really are interesting. 

The best part of this training came with the ticket at the door....

 

Ron's ticket that is.

 

He won the seasonal turkey basket. Not a real turkey unfortunately, but this pack of turkeys in the basket.

 Here's the actual basket.

The goodies

 

More foamies

And Chenille stems/pipe cleaners (depending on where you're from) for stringing, sorting, and multiple other crafts.

(they are also used in my home to clean the pressure cooker valve hole.)

 

My door prize.

Paper.

A small but useful item.

Thanks to the Council of Churches of the Ozarks Child Care Food Program!

Awesome training :)

And the grand result is our passel of turkey ornaments.  

The kind of turkeys that won't crowd your freezer space. :)

 

 

Hudson's 1st Birthday

http://slfinnell1965.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/on-the-occasion-of-hudsons-1st-birthday/
Please click the link to see my latest blog post on "Hudson's Birthday"!

 

Gracie's FairyTale

A fun end to Gracie's Party:

Miss Gracie turned 5 this week!!!
We had a lil' birthday concert style party with a new microphone gift addition for her to enjoy at home. Little did we know, Mom had purchased a Pink guitar too.
We also played some games like "stick the jewel on the crown"

And the Birthday Feelie Bag was a hit....Everything in the bag was "Party" related.

• A Birthday napkin
• A Party Hat
• A dessert cup
• A spork (recycling those take out restaurant items)
• A Styrofoam bowl
• A Birthday Card

And the "Singing" was grand!!! Happy Birthday Gracie!

Conversation Starter in November

Fingerprint Turkeys

Our latest deep conversation went like this.........

"Pretend you grow a pumpkin so big that you are able to make 100 pumpkin pies! What would you do with that many pies?"

Adam - age 5:  I would share :)

Dexter- age 3: I would call a tractor because tractors have big trailers. Then my trailer would dump them out!

Weston- age 2:  Momma!

Gracie- age 4: I would give them to my mommy so I could have some for later.

Olivia - age 4: I would take them to the market. (future economist)

Brynn - age 4: I would put a lot of sprinkles on them.

Savannah - age 3: I'd eat them all by myself!

Quote from Plutarch (Roman historian) 

 "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled"

Conversation With Children

Love this bit of wisdom from B.B.King

We have been taking at least 1 day a week to ask "thoughtful" questions as a group. Many times children mimic each other in their answers; especially when in a group. But lately, I have been blessed with some answers that I certainly could never make up. I have decided to share this week's Conversation Starter. I hope you will enjoy......

"If you could grow a field full of vegetables and fruits, what types would you grow?"

Brynn (age 4):   Corn husk, peas, oranges, and tomatoes, but we gotta wait for mine to grow taller like yours.

Gracie (age 4):  Bananas. And I would like some eggs and vegetables and peas and oranges.

Lou (age 4):   I would grow eggs and some butterflies.

Dexter (age 3): Cupcakes

Adam (age 5):   Carrots

Olivia (age 4):  Corn and beans

Savannah (age 3):  I would do bananas and chicken nuggets!

Weston (age 2):  Pink!!

November Newsletter

Playdough Tools

Dear Families,

Thank you for your book orders. I expect them no later than Friday Dec. 2. I will go ahead & put out the December Scholastic Book Club order to give you one last chance at ordering for Christmas. They will be due the following Friday, Dec. 9. We must have them ordered by Saturday Dec 10 at the latest to insure timely delivery. You are not obligated to order, but if you do, please understand the need for this deadline date. Thank you for your understanding in advance.

We’ll keep it simple for December in our themes. Holidays are hectic for many & children feel the stress as much as we do. We will cover Christmas topics such as the colors Red & Green, Shapes associated with Christmas such as Gingerbread Boy, Star & Christmas Tree, and others I choose to keep up with the seasonal learning opportunity.

Our Tentative Christmas Caroling dates are as follows:

Friday, Dec. 9 @ 5:00 pm

Friday, Dec. 16 @ 5:00 pm

I have chosen 2 in case of inclement weather. I also have selected a later time to allow parents to accompany us as well as to allow neighbors to be “at home”. It has been a challenge in previous years to find people at home to sing to. I will send more info by note with your children next week.

Have a great week!!       Stephanie

Learning Centers

Language: Weekly Readers w/activity page – Writing Journals using prompts such as Music, Turkey Letters & Thanksgiving Food Cards – On Track to Kindergarten page – Color by letter Turkey Turkey Sound/ABC match – Beginning sounds song/game w/ Thanksgiving food cards

Fine Motor: Stacking blocks & making block creations – Cutting food pics – Sorting  legos – Dressing vests

Math: Lego play *inside* the circle rugs – Mr & Mrs Potato Head play – Find the Teddy Bear card/color & shape game – Pattern block cards – Bear Bingo (small,med. & large) – Bear Bingo w/colors – Math mat w/playdoh (cover pie mat with certain number of playdoh “cherries” – Puzzle play – Pom poms & tongs filling & dumping

Science: Recording our voices singing, talking, telling a story on a recorder – Paint & salt writing – Make popcorn & graph favorite flavors(butter,cinnamon,garlic) -

Music: Music toy choices while singing – Christmas carol practice

Art: Cereal Necklaces – Color turkey, paint w/glue & sprinkle thyme over the glue -

Large Muscles: walk on the tape line with arms out, arms up, etc – Action cards – Jump in the leaves – Try to bounce a ball in the leaves (science experiment in asking for predictions) – Toy washing indoors

Dramatic Play: Hospital Prop Box – Puppet Play – Shoe Store Prop Box

Conversation Can: Have you ever lost something you really liked? What did you do?

Stories

LMNO Peas 

The 3 Billy Goats Gruff

The Leaf Blew In   

ack & the Beanstalk

My Apron    

 Tom Goes to Kindergarten

Cock a Doodle Hooooo   

Pancakes, Pancakes

& many more

November is Here!

Life-size tracing of Gracie for her 3rd Birthday Party!!
We used the back side of wallpaper samples & taped them together to make a large enough paper for the tracing.

Notice we are copying 'Happy Birthday'??? Exciting to see the pre-reading going on!!

This home made game became a popular 'after nap' activity for the early-risers.

Newsletter Below:

Dear Families,

Book orders for November are available. Great idea for stocking stuffers!! They are on the bulletin board behind the front door if interested. If ordering, make any checks out to myself as I order online with my check card. End date for ordering is Friday, Nov. 18.

Themes coming up are “ The Five Senses” & “Thanksgiving” as well as letter/prereading activities. The next newsletter will be after the Thanksgiving Break.Have a great week!         Stephanie

Fingerplay For The Coming Week!!

I Clap My Hands

I clap my hands. (Suit actions to words.)
I touch my feet and
I jump up from the ground.

I clap my hands.
I touch my feet and
I turn myself around.

I clap my hands.
I touch my feet and
I sit myself right down.

I clap my hands.
I touch my feet and
I do not make a sound.

Learning Centers

Language: Weekly Readers w/activity pages – Online Halloween Haunted House (for fun) – ABC cover up on pumpkin shape – Make a Word game -

Math: Color,cut,glue sequence page(pumpkin) – Trace Gracie & color (size comparison makes this part Math, part art) – Puzzles

Art: Shy Bats (paper folding) -  Orange collage – Tattoos for party – Water color painting –

Science: Cooking together

·         Mixing up a batch of Cole Slaw

·         Mashing crackers for Tuna Patties

Large Muscles: Monster golf (eyeballs drawn on ping pong balls) – Monster eye toss in parachute – Hop scotch indoors –parachute ball toss  & roll – Trade places under the parachute with a friend  -- ABC Bean bag toss

Manipulatives: Pumpkin lacing cards – Letter Pumpkin Fishing – Drop the eyes in a can

Music: ABC Musical Chairs (write the letter on their tablet when they sit in a chair) -

Dramatic Play: Dress up free play w/clothes, shoes, hats, costumes, etc.

Conversation Can: How many animal sounds can you make? – What kind of treat would you buy for yourself ?

Stories

5 Little Bats Flying in the Night

Shake Dem Halloween Bones

The Night Before Halloween

Look Whooo’s Counting

What Will You Be?

The Bears and the Great Big Storm