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
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
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
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
Monday, March 30, 2009
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
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
Friday, March 20, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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
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
Monday, March 2, 2009
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!
Friday, February 27, 2009
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
