Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone -
I just wanted to write and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Monarch Kids will be closed tomorrow and Friday and as much as I love all of my kids, I'm very excited for a couple of days off:)

Hope you all have a great holiday!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Cold!

Hello there -
If you live in the area, you know how extremely frigid it has been the past week! While we haven't been able to play outside due to the negative degree temperatures, that hasn't stopped our fun at Monarch Kids!

This past week we've done many fun activities such as swimming at the Castle Rock Recreation Center (the water felt great!), storytime at different libraries and fun crafts revolving around our theme this week which has been monsters. Next week we'll be going to the Children's Museum in Denver. I've never been there before and am really looking forward to exploring with the kids. Our arts and crafts theme next week is winter. Tuesday will be super fun as the kids and I will be making a gingerbread house. This is also another first for me - so I'll be sure to keep you all posted on how it goes:)

Well, stay warm and have a great weekend. Thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Child Care Provider

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi everyone -
Today at storytime at the Castle Rock Library, the theme was centered around turkeys, eating and Thanksgiving. The kids and I had a good time listening to stories and singing turkey songs. My favorite story was called "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie" - basically the same as the story of the lady who swallowed a fly. The kids loved this one!

After nap time we attempted a craft where you make a turkey out of painted fingerprints. This would be great for older kids but I quickly discovered that my one year old struggled with this. So instead we just had fun letting him fingerpaint however he wanted - it was a beautiful looking turkey :)

I hope you all have a great day tomorrow with family and friends. Enjoy the time off!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Parks, crafts and stories

We've had a great week here. The weather has been amazing - almost 70 degrees each day. So the kids and I have had fun being outside at the park, doing fun crafts and playing some new games that I bought. I blogged a while back about some of the old-fashioned games that I had as a child. The ones I recently purchased have been such a blast to play - it took me back to my days of playing with my grandma any time I would visit her. Games like Skip-Bo, Chutes & Ladders, Connect Four... So much fun!

We went to storytime at the Castle Rock Library this past week and had such a great time. It was packed! There was almost no room to sit anywhere - such a good sign that kids and their families are interested in reading, singing and being silly. The theme was hibernation - so most of the books and songs were about bears. The kids had a great time and didn't want to leave right away. So we played in the children's meeting room looking for different objects on the carpets and rugs.

That's about it from this week. Next week we'll be making toilet paper binoculars and placemats. I'm really looking forward to this craft because they'll get to take them home and maybe use them over the holidays! Should be fun.

Okay - have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Crafts

Hey there -
I'm pretty excited this afternoon. I've been doing some planning for the rest of the week and some crafts that we'll do together. Of course with this week being Halloween, there are plenty of crafts and art projects to do with kids. Even if you don't celebrate Halloween, many of the crafts revolve around the fall season, pumpkins and animals. As you know if you've read any of my other posts, I absolutely love animals and educating kids about them. So this time of year is great to dispel certain myths about spiders and bats especially! And doing crafts that are centered around them is a great way to have kids become more comfortable with them.

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned this website before but if not, you should check it out. Its www.preschooleducation.com I get most of my arts and craft project ideas from there. This week I've picked out several projects. The one that we'll be doing tomorrow is super simple but so fun. One at a time, you paint a child's foot with white paint and then have them press it down hard onto black construction paper. Once it has dried completely you can add eyes to the "heel" part of the footprint. This is the ghosts head. And of course kids can be as creative as they like adding other features to the ghost as well.

The other craft that I'm excited about is called paper bag pumpkins. The kids crumple up newspaper and stuff a paper bag half full. Then they twist the uncrumpled part of the bag and tie it off - this is the stem of the pumpkin. To finish off the project, kids can paint the pumpkin orange and once its dry they use black marker to draw a face or decorate however.

All of this to say, I'm super excited for the week and all the fun things the kids and I will be doing together.

Have a great day - thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Snow!

Hello everyone -
It snowed quite a bit here yesterday so today we took full advantage of it. Snow boots, coats, mittens and all, we headed outside and played in the back yard for a while. We built a snowman and gave him eyes (2 rocks from our landscaping) and a nose (a carrot of course!). We forgot the mouth and buttons so the next time it snows we'll be sure to add those features. This is Colorado, so most of the snow is already gone - but who knows? It could be back again tomorrow!

I hope you all had a great day - thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Anderson Farms

Hello everyone -
I'm excited to blog about our adventure yesterday - it seems that we've found some really fun places to go in the past couple of days. And they are either free or relatively cheap!

Yesterday we went with another provider and her kids to Anderson Farms in Erie, Colorado. While it was about an hour long drive, it was well worth it! The weather was gorgeous - another beautiful fall day here in Colorado. I think it got up to about 70 degrees. I've been to Anderson Farms before with another job with kids that I used to have. It is a large farm that has so much to do including barrel rides, wagon ride through Animal Acres (we got to feed a buffalo and these very large cows!), wagon ride to a very large pumpkin patch, corn maze, kiddie corn mazes, petting zoo (rabbits, goats, llamas, chickens, ducks, geese), playground, fake train that kids play on and in, and much more. The kids had an absolute blast and were sad to leave at the end of the day. Children 3 and under are free - the only cost for them is the cost of a pumpkin if you choose to pick one from the pumpkin patch. Adults are $10 but you can print off a coupon from their website - and the cost of admission includes everything I listed above (except again for the cost of a pumpkin). I highly recommend to anyone and everyone that can make the trip there, to head to this great farm. It was so much fun!

We got some great photos from the day too so I'm hoping to post them on my website sometime here in the near future. Stay tuned for other changes to my website. My husband has been busy getting these changes up and running. And a big thank you to our friend Scott Asano for his great photography work on the website. I highly recommend him as well for any of your family/lifestyle photography needs. His website address is www.scottasano.com Check it out!

Okay - that's it for today. As always, thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Littleton Historical Museum

Hello -
Today the kids and I went to the Littleton Historical Museum and had such a blast. For of all, it is completely free, which is always something that I'm looking for as a provider. There is a really nice museum with displays about the history of Littleton. When you go outside, they have several different farms with living history interpreters, meaning the staff there are dressed as they would be in the 1800's. We met a blacksmith and were able to watch him as he made different creations out of iron. The kids loved watching the sparks fly as he hit the hot metal with the hammer. Its amazing what they can make!

We saw many animals there such as peacocks, chickens, turkeys, geese, donkeys, sheep and cows. We visited a garden and learned that it is actually a very small garden compared to what they would have had back then. They grow so many different kinds of vegetables like cabbage, corn, squash, zucchini, beans, carrots, pumpkins, and much more. There is also a small schoolhouse and a couple of houses. There really is so much to see and explore there. And what made it so great was the beautiful fall weather that we're having today.

So for any of you that live within driving distance of the museum, I highly recommend it. Again, its free and there is so much to see!

Have a good day!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Fall Colors

Hi everyone -
It's crazy to me that the end of September is here - I can hardly believe it! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. The kids and I will be heading out on a nature hike to look for fall colors. We'll be doing some crafts with our collection, including leaf rubbings and leaf collages.

I am a nature girl at heart, so I have one little green tip for those of you who like to collect leaves too (and this time of year many elementary kids are doing leaf collections). When collecting leaves, its important to takes the ones that have already fallen off the tree. Those that are still attached to the tree are being used by the tree and are still very necessary. Just a thought I wanted to put out there!

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Wildlife Experience

Hi everyone -
Today was a fun day for the kids and I as we ventured out to The Wildlife Experience in Parker. We had time to explore the Discovery Den (the avalanche was the kid's favorite part there), Cub Corner (one of the little ones dressed up as a skunk), the new Globeology exhibit and an IMAX film called "Wild Safari". We had a great time learning and discovering new animals and their habitats. Needless to say, we had no problems at nap time today - they were exhausted!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading -
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Tiny Town

Hi everyone -
Yesterday was a fun day for us at Monarch Kids. We took a field trip to Tiny Town - this is located near Morrison, CO and is such a fun place for babies and toddlers. I highly recommend it. Everything there is miniature sized. They have buildings such as school houses, churches, fire stations, libraries, saloons, gold mines (mostly to reflect Colorado's rich history)...all built to such a small scale. Its perfect for little ones because they don't have to be picked up all the time to see in a building - its all on their level. But the biggest highlight by far is the train ride around the property. The kids heard the "choo choo" and got SO excited! The train ride lasts about 10 minutes and goes through the town but also over the creek that runs through the property. They definitely wanted to go again. Tiny Town also has a refreshment stand, picnic areas and a playground - so you can make a full day of it. The kids were exhausted after their time there. Its certainly worth the drive!

Have a great day -
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Oldies but Goodies

Hi everyone -
Do you remember those fun games you used to play as a kid with grandma or mom and dad? I sure do! Some of my favorites are Old Maid, Skip Bo, Go Fish, Sorry, Connect Four and Uno. Well, not that this will come as a surprise to many of you, but I'm finding that the kiddos here love those classic games as well. The favorite one right now is Memory. We have a set of fish cards and we play this several times a week. My 2 year-old has become really good at this game and has great memory retention.

I'm planning a trip to the local Goodwill to pick up more of these fun games to play with the kids. Hopefully they'll have Candyland and Chutes-n-Ladders - 2 more favorites of mine!

Have a great day!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Sharks!

Hi everyone -
Last week we went to the Downtown Aquarium in Denver and had a blast! I was fortunate enough to have a free pass so between the kids and I, the only thing we paid for was parking. We saw many fascinating animals such as fish, seahorses, jellyfish, ducks, river otters, snakes, frogs and sharks. One of the kids was so excited about the sharks - she was talking about them for days. In fact, the next day I took her to the grocery store (which is always very educational!) and I asked her what we would see at the store. She responded very quickly with, "Sharks!". I had a good laugh about that one:) At the end of the tour through the aquarium we got to touch some of the animals such as sea cucumbers, starfish, conch shells and sting rays. We used lots of hand sanitizer after that but it was definitely worth the experience.

The theme for last week really revolved around this field trip. We made some fish crafts, played "Memory" using my fish cards, and sang fish songs. What a fun week we had!

Thanks again for reading and have a good afternoon/evening!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Field Trips!

Hey everyone -
I'm so sorry I haven't blogged in a while - I will try and do a better job of this in the future!

The last couple of weeks, the kids and I have been going to several fun places in Denver and surrounding suburbs. We went to My Art Workshop, Denver Zoo, Hudson Gardens and swimming.

At My Art Workshop, they have a preschool option for 0-5 year-olds in which you pay a flat rate and they get to use all sorts of arts and crafts objects to create whatever you like. The kids were able to paint, make Father's Day cards, mosaics, create insects out of pipe cleaners and pom-poms, etc. They had a great time!

The zoo was a blast (as always!) but unfortunately, it started to rain, thunder and lightning while we were there so we had to leave early. But we did go to a wild animal show where birds of prey flew over our heads (this was my favorite thing!). The kids absolutely loved that part.

Hudson Gardens is in Littleton and is a great place to explore because of the beautiful gardens, wetlands, aquatic areas, miniature train depot and waterfalls. The kids and I found a couple of snakes, several large bullfrogs, many ducks and geese, fish and tadpoles. We also saw an older lady creating an oil pastel painting of the water lilies. Some of the staff there were cleaning out one of the aquatic areas and gave each of the kids a water lily flower. They lite up about that.

And then of course, you can never go wrong with swimming! That's always a hit. The weather here this month hasn't been truly a Colorado June so we're waiting for it to really kick in soon. Then we'll be able to go swimming more often.

Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Lima beans :)

Hello everyone -
I don't have much to write but I do have a story I found amusing to share with you. Today as we were getting ready to have lunch, I was telling the kids what we were going to eat, including lima beans. Normally you would think that kids would moan at the thought of lima beans, but the kids got so excited. They shouted in glee, "lima beans!". It actually made them clean up quicker and get to the table. Pretty funny! Even one of the kids who tried lima beans once before and detested them, actually enjoyed them this time. It was a success!

On a total side note, our yard is blooming with so many flowers. Lilacs, honeysuckle, columbine and roses. I love it!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Swimming!

Hey everyone -
Today we only had one child so the two of us went swimming at the Castle Rock Recreation Center. What fun! I've been there once before and I plan on going back whenever possible. They have a great baby/toddler pool area. I should have kept count, but my little one probably went down this little slide close to 50 times today. She couldn't get enough of it! She is truly a fish :) She got very upset when we had to get out for the 15 minute safety break and I continually tried to explain to her that when we heard the whistle again, we could get back in the water. She couldn't really comprehend that but once the whistle was blown, her whole face lit up! She and I had so much fun and there were a couple of other kids there her age that she played with as well. Needless to say, she conked out almost immediately on the drive home and is now sleeping her little heart out this afternoon :)

That's it from today - I hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Books Galore!

Hello there -
A good friend of mine generously donated several books to Monarch Kids this past week. And the kids have been loving it (that's an understatement!) These kids truly love to read and look at books so this was a welcome surprise. Here are the names of just a couple that we've read over the past couple of days: "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse", "Wild, Wild Wolves", "Free Puppies", "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day", "Stellaluna", and many more. Today during the first part of nap time, I swapped out the existing books with these newer ones. I'm excited to see how they respond when they wake up!

Have a great day - enjoy the wind!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Hiking and Roses

Hi everyone -
Yesterday the kids and I made a really sweet Mother's Day gift for their moms. I got the craft idea from www.preschooleducation.com - I really love this website. They have great ideas for crafts, music, science, centers, snacks, etc. Anyway, basically you cut out the individual parts of a cardboard egg carton and paint them each inside and out with red paint. These are the "rose petals". Once they're dry you poke a hole at the top and insert a green pipe cleaner (the "stem"). Then you can cut "leaves" out of green construction paper and tape them onto the pipe cleaner. I had each child make six roses and then tied them together with another green pipe cleaner to give the appearance of a bouquet of roses. Very cute and the moms loved them!

Today we went for a long hike at Castlewood Canyon State Park, just south of Parker. Once again we saw and heard many excited animals and plants. To name a few: hummingbirds, frogs, lizard, ground squirrels, cacti, fish, swallows, larkspur, pasque flowers, etc. It was an absolutely great day for a hike. The kids had a blast and have really enjoyed getting out into nature and exploring. I love that about them!

Well, time to get some paperwork done. Have a great afternoon!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Teachable Moment

Hi everyone -
Today at lunch the kids and I were observed either a Cooper's hawk or a Sharp-shinned hawk flying through our yard. Of course, I loved it and the kids got very excited too! This is a pretty rare event but it made way for a very teachable moment. I was able to tell them more about those kinds of hawks, what they eat, where they live, etc. The conversation led to talk about ants and how if black ants battled against red ants, the black ones would win. It was pretty amusing to say the least! I love how their little minds work. Well, after we were done discussing the ants, the hawk flew back into our yard and perched in one of our aspen trees. Quickly I tried to point out where it was in the tree but by the time kids started to look for it, it had flown off again. I think that they'll be telling their parents about this one tonight!

That's it today - enjoy the weather!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

"Earth"

Hey everyone -
I don't have a ton to write today but I did want to promote the new Disney Nature film "Earth". It is phenomenal! I took a friend of mine that absolutely loves animals (probably more than I do!) and she practically flipped out in each scene. It is a story about 3 animal families and one year of their life. It follows a family of polar bears, a family of elephants and a family of humpback whales. It is so fantastic - it made me cry and laugh. Very touching and sweet.

I don't have much else to say at this point but I'll be sure to update you all on any adventures of Monarch Kids later on. Have a great day!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

A New Discovery!

Hello -
The kids and I set out on a nature hike today along Cherry Creek Trail and discovered a great little park. The park is located back in the woods a bit and there are no parking lots right next to it, so its much quieter than most. You have to go on a bit of a walk to get there - which is fine with me, considering I love to hike and explore nature along the way. There are plenty of things to do at this park - they have the typical standbys like slides, swings, monkey bars and tunnels. But it also had a miniature rock wall, balance beam and a giant sand pit. We spent the majority of our time there - one of the kids dug for quite some time in hopes of finding some "buried treasure". Next to the park is a large field, basketball court, sand volleyball court and a picnic shelter. These are all the components needed for a perfect park! The kids absolutely loved it here and so did I. We'll definitely be going back there soon.

At the library story time, we sang a new song about dinosaurs. The kids enjoyed this as they got to stomp around the room like one of these pre-historic creatures. Pretty cute! Then for our story time before nap today we read a book called "Baby Colors" (my 2 year-old picked out this one!). It was great because once again, I showed them sign language for each of the colors mentioned in the book - and I also told them the Spanish translation for it. I really enjoy being able to incorporate both of these languages into our daily activities.

I guess that's about it for now - thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! This is one of my favorite days of the year! Today we went to the park for a couple of hours and enjoyed the beautiful weather here in Parker. Its about 70 degrees out today. Then after lunch we did an Earth Day craft. The kids were given a blue circle and then many different objects with which to decorate the "earth". I love seeing what they create and how different they are from each other.

The past two days we've read a book called "Ready of Not, Dawdle Duckling!" by Toni Buzzeo. The kids have enjoyed this book and love to say the words along with me. I recommend it - its a fun read!

All the kids are sleeping now so I'm going to take advantage of this and get some lesson planning done.

Have a good afternoon -
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Sign Language

Hello -
Well, the second day of the CAEYC conference in Denver was even better than the first! I sat through the keynote speaker's presentation in the morning and then one of her sessions in the afternoon. She is fluent in Spanish and American Sign Language. I learned so much sign language in just one day. I did not know any going into this day and I came out with so much. And what's even better is that I've already started to incorporate that into my daily routine. Yesterday we were reading a book about colors and I was able to teach the kids signs for many of the colors in the book. One of the kids even went home and taught her mom what she had learned. I'm absolutely hooked on sign language now - I see how beneficial it is for all kids.

Well, that's about it for right now. I'll be sure to update you all later on this week. Have a great day and a great Earth Day tomorrow!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Friday Conference

Hello -
Well, after braving the mid-April snow storm that we're getting hit with right now, I made it to the CAEYC conference in downtown Denver. I'm excited to go back tomorrow for day two.

Today I went to four sessions:
1) Ready! Set! Learn Through Music
2) Language & Early Literacy: Playing with Words & Sounds
3) Musical Math
4) Science: Hand-on Learning

I learned some great activities and games that I can work into our daily routine. Tomorrow will be very exciting because the keynote speaker will be talking about using American Sign Language will all children and incorporating that into classroom management and transitions. She is also fluent in Spanish and uses that component in her classes as well.

Here are the sessions I will be attending tomorrow:
1) Activities for Toddlers and Twos
2) Achieving School Readiness
3) Sign Language: A Passage to Literacy
4) What Every Infant & Toddler Needs

So let's hope I can make it on the roads tomorrow and get back to learning about these great lesson planning tools and activities. I know the kids will benefit greatly from what I've learned at this conference.

I'll update you all sometime next week. Thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Nature Hike

Hi friends -
This week has been great - the weather has been gorgeous and just perfect for some nature hikes. This, of course, is one of my favorite things to do. I love going by myself, with my husband and especially with kids - seeing their faces light up when they see a cool beetle or animal footprint just makes my day. We went on two nature hikes this week and below is a list of some of the natural objects we saw:

Birds (robin, chickadee, Northern flicker, Canada geese, great blue heron)
Some kind of metallic beetle
Dandelions
Mullen
Bird nests (I think they were from the magpie)
Scat (a.k.a. animal poop)
Millipedes
Old wasp nests

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I firmly believe that kids need exposure to the outdoors now more than ever. Simply being outside in nature starts to peak their interest in natural things around them. This can foster a life-long love of nature and all living things. So here at Monarch Kids, you can be sure that we include this aspect into so much that we do!

Tomorrow we are planning an outing to Monkey Bizness here in Parker. The kids will have a blast! And then to top off our Friday, we'll be watching "Mary Poppins" in the afternoon. We very rarely watch a movie but I thought it would be a nice little treat. Plus "Mary Poppins" is one of my favorite movies. (P.S. My husband used to have a crush on her when he was a little boy - so cute!)

Have a great night!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Behind-the-Scenes Day

Hi everyone -
Well, today has been a bit different for me. Because of various circumstances, I ended up not having any kids today. I've been making good on this "day off" to catch up on paperwork, organizing and lesson planning. The most exciting thing so far today has been replacing the current toys with some that have been downstairs. I think its important to give the kids variety in what they play with, and this will certainly help! So I put away some existing toys for a while and put out some different things. For example, I found a play drum set that also has some maracas, tambourines and flutes. This will be great for our music time during the day. There is also a play microphone that the kids can sing into! I found other toys that I know the kids will enjoy as well.

Well, its time to get back to the paperwork and lesson planning. As always, thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Snow Days!

Hi everyone -
Well, this past week was a little unusual for us here. We had a major blizzard in Denver and the surrounding suburbs last Thursday and Friday. So many of the kids were picked up early on Thursday and were not able to come in on Friday due to being snowed in. I certainly missed the kids but it was good to catch up on some planning and general upkeep!

I mentioned the CAEYC conference in a post a couple of weeks ago. I officially registered today and am now trying to decide what breakout sessions to attend. There are so many choices - there are some tough decisions but I know that whatever session I go to, it will be very beneficial to myself and the children.

One last thing. I have a great children's book to recommend to all of you. It is called Ish and the author is Peter H. Reynolds. I have had several of my friends read this book and we all agree that it is so touching and has such a good take-away message for young children. So if you get a chance to read this one, it will certainly be worth it!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Castlewood Canyon State Park

Happy Friday everyone!

It's been a great week here at Monarch Kids. We've had such amazing weather and have made sure to take advantage of it while it lasts. As those who live here know, it could be 70 degrees and sunny today and then snowing tomorrow!

Today we went to Castlewood Canyon State Park. This is one of my favorite places to hike here in Colorado. The canyon, pine trees, hawks, etc. are incredible. Even though its warm out today, its not quite warm enough for many animals to be active just yet. But the kids were very interested in the millipedes. We talked about the differences between a centipede and a millipede (what they eat, differences in body type, where they live, how they move...). By the end of the hike, if they found a millipede, they would move it off the trail to a safe place so they wouldn't get stomped. Kids after my own heart!!!!

This week, we've also started reading "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. This was one of my favorite books as a little girl so I know that the kids will love it too! We're slowly making our way through it. I like to stop along the way and ask them questions to see what information they're retaining. Sometimes I get some really great answers!

Okay - signing off now. As always, thanks for reading and following the exciting tales of Monarch Kids. Have a great weekend!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

CAEYC Conference

Hey all!

It's nap time right now and I'm getting caught up on some things. I'm currently looking into a training coming up in about one month here in Denver. Its the CAEYC 2009 Spring Conference. This stands for Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children. They have some amazing breakout sessions scheduled. Some of the categories include: music and movement, curriculum, physical health, sign language (very excited about this one!), science, literature, phonemic awareness... It will be difficult to choose which ones to go to! I'm excited to get signed up for this conference and become a member of this great organization.

So we're all a little sad today. One of my kids went back to school so we are really missing him. He had been with us for 3 weeks while he was off-track. We've been thinking of him a lot and hoping that he's having a great day back at school.

We did some watercolor painting this morning, which is always tons of fun. One of the girls really enjoyed mixing all of the purple, brown and black colors to make a big blob on her page. Then she started a new picture and this time had an ocean and beaver on there. She's very creative. I, on the other hand, had fun painting an apple tree and a boy flying a kite (my husband really is the artist but its a joy to paint anyway!).

We'll be playing outside once nap time is over - its a bit chilly but with the proper clothing and attire, it'll be just fine. Have a great day!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Its gorgeous outside today! The kids and I went to a park today and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After nap time, we are heading to a small pond to do some nature investigating. Its a little too early for many things, but you never know what we might find! We read "Monster Count" (Scholastic) before nap time. This is a good book for those that are beginning to count. I had hoped it would be a little bit longer, but other than that, it was a good read. Hope you all get to go outside some today - enjoy it while it lasts!

My first official blog!

Hello there!

I'm excited to post my first official blog for Monarch Kids. Right now the kids are taking their naps so I have a chance to update you all on what we've been doing for the past month. Now that I know how to do this, I will be sure to update this more often.

I've had a great month with the kids and I've enjoyed every moment with them. Our days are filled with a lot of activity inside and outside the home. When we're home we participate in many fun activities such as dress-up, watercolor painting, coloring, storytime, card games, puzzles, preschool activities, cooking/baking, music and much more. I'm thrilled that the kids get as excited about "Old Maid" as I used to when I was growing up! This was one of my favorite games to play with my grandma - that as well as "Sorry" and "Skip-Bo". So that has been a nice treat for me.

We frequently visit many of the local parks here in Parker. I'm a big fan of the daily storytime that they have at the Parker Library. We're constantly on the look-out for other free field trips right here in our backyard. Next week we'll head to the Parker Fieldhouse and go swimming, which will be a nice change of pace for us. Of course, I'm a nature gal, so the more we can be outside the better!

Last week, we went on a field trip to Hammonds Candy Factory in Denver. None of the kids had been there before. They got to see how hard candy, such as ribbon candy and candy canes, are carefully made by hand. Of course, their favorite part was the free candy at the end:)

I'm surprised at what good eaters I have! Last week I made some tuna casserole and thought it could be a total bomb, but the kids couldn't get enough of it. One kid even had 3 or 4 helpings! This has been a fun part of the job too - making healthy lunches and snacks (which is good for me too!). My nutrition consultant from Kids Nutrition came out and observed us this week and said we were doing a great job.

Well, I'm sure I could write a ton more but I'll leave it at that for now. I'll be sure to write on a more consistent basis now.

Thanks all - have a great weekend!