Day 2 of fall semester 2018

B week! For Butterflies!

Taylor & Isaac writing in the cornmeal

A for Abraham, building castles with Kylie & Auberon

 

B for Benjamin!

A for Adelina

A for Arc!

A for Auberon

Sharing the moon sand :0)

Isaac - who is 2 - did this whole butterfly puzzle all by himself!

Nixon loved putting "eyes" (beads) on his playdough snakes!

Our mud kitchen gets a little, well, muddy! Please dress your children in playclothes ;0)

We acted out the 3 Billy Goats Gruff (B week!)....guess who got to be the troll? Yep, it was me most of the time!

Jonah & Malachi got to hang out while mom Judy was teaching German!


We had a wonderful day & everyone's personalities are beginning to show through as they get more comfortable with each other & our room :0)

First day of prek fall classes 2018!

A little cliche these days, but yes, A for apples!
We read 10 Apples Up on Top & used stickers to show how many apples our animals could balance

Farm animal fun in the lentil bin! 

Playdough is always a hit - we used stamps to mark A's & a's in the dough

Chef Abram!

I love our cozy table with the window!

Arc really enjoyed the Thomas trains - all my boys have loved these over the years too :0)

Adelina, Isaac & Taylor making cupcakes

Hi Kylie!

Auberon matched all the pieces!

Diving right in!

Isaac & Benjamin's turn with the playdough

Malachi & teacher helper Grace concentrated on their paintings for a long time :0)

Taylor takes care of our room by throwing away her trash!

...so does Malachi....

....and Isaac!

A quick walk outside to collect leaves & plants for a group sticky picture!  We put contact paper up on the wall sticky side out with a bare paper tree trunk stuck on it - and then added our nature treasures!

It was a wonderful first day!  This coming week we are hoping for blue skies & lots of sunshine so we can get out to the playground & maybe the mud kitchen ;0) Remember - class time ends at noon now! 

Week 1 of July!

With a few short safety lessons & of course, supervision, even 3 year olds are able to use glue guns! It has been very satisfying for even the younger ones to be able to work on projects that require this tool :0)

Mmmmm playdough cupcakes!

"Twining" girls! Ella says she loves having a 'little sister' at Countryside❤

So proud of their creations! Simeon & Priscilla worked so hard on their houses - even ASKED me to take pictures!

We are thankful for the shade near our mud kitchen - such a relief on the really hot days when we still want to be outside

Watch out for those heavy doors! Poor Mac got these 2 shut in one...thankfully tiny fingers are still flexible!

Week 4, end of June

A tree frog was hiding in our mud kitchen supplies! We studied his suction-cup feet & yellow legs then watched him climb/hop all the way up the giant oak tree! We talked about camoflage, amphibians, & hibernation....

This is a mystery bug - he was huge

This fabulous shady spot is perfect for volleyball & badmitten

I love that they all have each other to play games - sometimes it's hard to find enough people at home to play

Bry got to visit this week & was so helpful with the younger ones :0)

Bry's cousin Ruth also got to visit this week! One family was on vacation so we had a few openings :0)

December 29, 2017

Watercolor snow scenes with sprinkles of salt for ice

I don't do any instruction in the Tinkerlab...I just provide the materials & they create! It's amazing. We are taking it up a notch next year by adding old appliances for them to take apart & put back together as they choose! We'll also have an expanded art area!

We made snow ice cream - so easy & delish

Simeon wanted a bear to look into the window of his winter scene!

Below freezing temps means plenty of ice to experiment with - even paint!

Everyone was prepared for outdoor play in the snow today, & their mittens came in handy while playing with ice!

Ellie & Ezra were pals today

I love the multi-age grouping...some children get to practice being big sisters/brothers & others get to borrow big brothers & sisters! The older ones are such a wonderful help :0)

Our sledding hill is perfect for the littles....

And a gentle challenge for the older ones who want to ski!!!  I love winter as long as we have enough snow to play in - and these guys didn't once complain of being cold.  As the northmen say: There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing!

Priscilla loved trying to break the little toys out of the ice!

We ended up meeting every day in December!  I'm so thankful to spend time with each of these precious ones - now it's off to some warmer weather! See you all in February!