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
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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
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, April 17, 2009
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
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
Thursday, April 9, 2009
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
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
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