I don't have to tell you all that the past week or so has brought in some crazy weather! I know people all over the country are experiencing wild snow storms, extremely cold temperatures... So, last week, we had all kinds of fun planned - including celebrating Groundhog Day and one of the kids birthdays. But we had to close last week due to the extreme temperatures and the fact that most school districts were closed. While I know that was the right thing to do, I was kind of bummed to miss all the fun we had planned.
But we made up for it this week! We've jammed packed our time with lots of birthday and groundhog celebrating and much more! Today we did 2 crafts in honor of the groundhog - the kids made a groundhog mask and we also made groundhog pop-ups that go in and out of their "burrow" (paper cup). The kids had fun with this. We also played many games like "Toss the Hog" and "Shh! Silent Groundhog" - mostly involving tossing around a stuffed groundhog puppet or some such thing.
For our birthday celebration, I made a homemade pinata - super easy actually! Just fill a paper bag with candy and then either staple or tape it shut. Then decorate the outside with streamers, tissue paper, glitter, pom-poms, whatever you like. Its way cheaper and actually fun to know that you made it! The kids demolished it and loved seeing all the candy fall out :)
Next week we'll be doing lots of crafts and games centered around Valentine's Day. I'm most excited about a little Valentine's project the kids will be making for their moms and dads. I'm sure it will make their day :)
Take care everyone - thanks for reading!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Happy Groundhog Day!
Hey everyone -
Happy Groundhog Day! As a nature lover, this is one of my favorite holidays for sure :) Groundhogs are amazing animals - true hibernators. Their heart rate and breathing slows down dramatically to help them sleep soundly through the winter. I was bummed when our preschool had to close yesterday (due to the crazy cold weather!!!) - we missed our "Groundhog Day" activities. I'm going to try and make them up next week.
Tomorrow is our field trip to the Forney Museum of Transportation. I'm super excited about this! The kids are going to love the train, model T cars, buses, bikes... Plus we'll be having cupcakes in celebration of one of the kid's birthdays!
Stay warm everyone!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Happy Groundhog Day! As a nature lover, this is one of my favorite holidays for sure :) Groundhogs are amazing animals - true hibernators. Their heart rate and breathing slows down dramatically to help them sleep soundly through the winter. I was bummed when our preschool had to close yesterday (due to the crazy cold weather!!!) - we missed our "Groundhog Day" activities. I'm going to try and make them up next week.
Tomorrow is our field trip to the Forney Museum of Transportation. I'm super excited about this! The kids are going to love the train, model T cars, buses, bikes... Plus we'll be having cupcakes in celebration of one of the kid's birthdays!
Stay warm everyone!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wonderful Winter!
Today was a blast with at Monarch Kids Preschool! Our theme was "Winter" so the majority of our activities were connected to a winter theme. Our snack was a "Snowman Snack" - we cut a snowman into our slice of bread with a cookie cutter, then spread marshmallow fluff on it and then topped it off with chocolate chip eyes and buttons. Yummy!
Our craft was super fun and I definitely want to do it again! We stuffed knee-high stockings with dried beans then tied a knot at that end. Then we dipped the "ball" part of the stockings into white paint and plopped it onto construction paper. It makes the appearance of snowballs! The kids absolutely LOVED this craft and it was super easy. To finish it off you can sprinkle glitter onto the wet paint.
We read many books about snow, snowmen, penguins...Then we played some fun counting games with white lego pieces ("snowflakes"), "Pass the Ice" (like "Hot Potato" just with something cold - play it until the ice cube melts!), and much more.
All this to say, we had a great time today! Next week's theme: transportation - should be super fun!
Take care,
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Our craft was super fun and I definitely want to do it again! We stuffed knee-high stockings with dried beans then tied a knot at that end. Then we dipped the "ball" part of the stockings into white paint and plopped it onto construction paper. It makes the appearance of snowballs! The kids absolutely LOVED this craft and it was super easy. To finish it off you can sprinkle glitter onto the wet paint.
We read many books about snow, snowmen, penguins...Then we played some fun counting games with white lego pieces ("snowflakes"), "Pass the Ice" (like "Hot Potato" just with something cold - play it until the ice cube melts!), and much more.
All this to say, we had a great time today! Next week's theme: transportation - should be super fun!
Take care,
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
In Full Gear!
Hey everyone -
Monarch Kids Preschool is officially in full gear! We started the first week of January and have been having a blast! The first week's theme was "Welcome Week" with lots of get-to-know-you type activities. Last week the theme was "Evergreens". At the beginning of the week the kids each decorated a shoe box with all the letters of the alphabet. Then each week, we'll either make or collect something to put in our boxes that start with each letter of the alphabet. So the week during "Evergreens" theme, we collected a pine cone to put in their box (for the letter "P"). I really loved this craft. Plus going on a nature hike to find them was a blast too! Not only did we find pine cones, but also ladybugs, a rabbit, rabbit poop, lots of snow and ice patches, and much more. The kids and I had so much fun on our first official Monarch Kids Preschool nature hike :) Many more are sure to follow!
This week's theme is "Martin Luther King Jr." and "Winter". Today we talked about the inventor of the stop light, which was an African American. So many of our activities were centered around the stop light - the kids loved it! A traffic light snack (graham cracker, spread peanut butter, then red, yellow, and green m&ms in the order of a stop light), stop light songs, and of course the game "Red Light, Green Light"! We also read the book "We're Different, We're the Same" - a Sesame Street book. Its all about how each of us have different noses, eyes, hair, bodies, skin, feelings but that all of these things operate the same. The kids really enjoyed the book (especially because they loved looking for Elmo on each page).
All this to say that its been a blast and we're looking forward to many more fun, adventurous weeks to come!
Take care -
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Monarch Kids Preschool is officially in full gear! We started the first week of January and have been having a blast! The first week's theme was "Welcome Week" with lots of get-to-know-you type activities. Last week the theme was "Evergreens". At the beginning of the week the kids each decorated a shoe box with all the letters of the alphabet. Then each week, we'll either make or collect something to put in our boxes that start with each letter of the alphabet. So the week during "Evergreens" theme, we collected a pine cone to put in their box (for the letter "P"). I really loved this craft. Plus going on a nature hike to find them was a blast too! Not only did we find pine cones, but also ladybugs, a rabbit, rabbit poop, lots of snow and ice patches, and much more. The kids and I had so much fun on our first official Monarch Kids Preschool nature hike :) Many more are sure to follow!
This week's theme is "Martin Luther King Jr." and "Winter". Today we talked about the inventor of the stop light, which was an African American. So many of our activities were centered around the stop light - the kids loved it! A traffic light snack (graham cracker, spread peanut butter, then red, yellow, and green m&ms in the order of a stop light), stop light songs, and of course the game "Red Light, Green Light"! We also read the book "We're Different, We're the Same" - a Sesame Street book. Its all about how each of us have different noses, eyes, hair, bodies, skin, feelings but that all of these things operate the same. The kids really enjoyed the book (especially because they loved looking for Elmo on each page).
All this to say that its been a blast and we're looking forward to many more fun, adventurous weeks to come!
Take care -
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Monday, December 27, 2010
Yearly Inspection
Hello there -
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas - its hard to believe that 2011 is right around the corner!
This week is a bit different for me because the kiddos are on vacation. So I'm busy preparing for the first week of Monarch Kids Preschool (starting Tuesday, January 4th!), giving parents their tax statements for 2010, cleaning, lesson planning... I'm hoping to jam-pack this week with lots of things so I can complete many items on my "to-do list" :)
One thing I forgot to mention a while back was that I had my yearly childcare inspection by a licensing specialist from the Division of Child Care. And Monarch Kids passed with flying colors! There was one violation but I was able to make a change to nullify it while the inspector was at the home. These inspections are yearly, exhaustive and unannounced. But I really appreciate them because they ensure that childcare providers are following all of the Division of Child Care rules and regulations. Ultimately, it ensures that the children in our care are safe and have many fun and engaging activities for their development. But I will say that I'm glad its over for the year. I look forward to my next inspection and hope to do as well next time!
Well, have a great afternoon everyone. Thanks for reading!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas - its hard to believe that 2011 is right around the corner!
This week is a bit different for me because the kiddos are on vacation. So I'm busy preparing for the first week of Monarch Kids Preschool (starting Tuesday, January 4th!), giving parents their tax statements for 2010, cleaning, lesson planning... I'm hoping to jam-pack this week with lots of things so I can complete many items on my "to-do list" :)
One thing I forgot to mention a while back was that I had my yearly childcare inspection by a licensing specialist from the Division of Child Care. And Monarch Kids passed with flying colors! There was one violation but I was able to make a change to nullify it while the inspector was at the home. These inspections are yearly, exhaustive and unannounced. But I really appreciate them because they ensure that childcare providers are following all of the Division of Child Care rules and regulations. Ultimately, it ensures that the children in our care are safe and have many fun and engaging activities for their development. But I will say that I'm glad its over for the year. I look forward to my next inspection and hope to do as well next time!
Well, have a great afternoon everyone. Thanks for reading!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A Little Boy and His Wooden Spoon
Hey everyone -
I have to tell you all about one of my little guys in the child care and his love for this wooden spoon. Everyday when he is dropped off, one of the first things he goes to find is the spoon. And then he proceeds to carry it around most of the day, talking to it or about it with me. Its really the funniest thing. And then at the end of the day when his parents pick him up, he has to put the spoon away and he usually gets super upset about that. Poor guy - we're trying to help him understand that its okay and that he'll get to play with the spoon again the next day :)
On a much more serious note, please check out this link:
www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=169935
It states that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is banning the manufacturing, selling and reselling of drop-side cribs. It is good information to read and be aware of for any drop-side crib owners out there. They will obviously be banning these from all in-home childcare facilities as well.
Have a great day everyone - thanks for reading!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids
I have to tell you all about one of my little guys in the child care and his love for this wooden spoon. Everyday when he is dropped off, one of the first things he goes to find is the spoon. And then he proceeds to carry it around most of the day, talking to it or about it with me. Its really the funniest thing. And then at the end of the day when his parents pick him up, he has to put the spoon away and he usually gets super upset about that. Poor guy - we're trying to help him understand that its okay and that he'll get to play with the spoon again the next day :)
On a much more serious note, please check out this link:
www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=169935
It states that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is banning the manufacturing, selling and reselling of drop-side cribs. It is good information to read and be aware of for any drop-side crib owners out there. They will obviously be banning these from all in-home childcare facilities as well.
Have a great day everyone - thanks for reading!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids
Monday, December 6, 2010
Lesson Planning
I've had so much fun lesson planning for the preschool. I subscribe to "The Mailbox" - which is a great magazine resource for teachers of young children. I get the preschool edition of the magazine. It is full of great games, activities, snack ideas, science lessons, crafts, time management ideas...I really look forward to receiving it in the mail every other month! I don't get into magazines too much, but this one I love!
Anyway, it is a great resource for me as I plan for upcoming lessons. I've started to plan for the month of January. The first week's theme will be evergreens and the letter of the week will be "P". We'll spend our nature and science time studying pine cones and pine needles. There are gobs of arts and crafts centered around pine cones and needles that I can't wait to incorporate. My husband will be leading the kids in art projects and we've found some really cool ones involving needle art! One thing I did struggle with was finding some good stories about pine trees. There are many books out there about Christmas trees, but I really have been looking for ones that just have a fun story about an evergreen in general. I found a couple and will continue looking for some more.
Well, time to get back to it. Thanks for reading, and as always, spread the word about Monarch Kids Preschool. Its a blast!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
Anyway, it is a great resource for me as I plan for upcoming lessons. I've started to plan for the month of January. The first week's theme will be evergreens and the letter of the week will be "P". We'll spend our nature and science time studying pine cones and pine needles. There are gobs of arts and crafts centered around pine cones and needles that I can't wait to incorporate. My husband will be leading the kids in art projects and we've found some really cool ones involving needle art! One thing I did struggle with was finding some good stories about pine trees. There are many books out there about Christmas trees, but I really have been looking for ones that just have a fun story about an evergreen in general. I found a couple and will continue looking for some more.
Well, time to get back to it. Thanks for reading, and as always, spread the word about Monarch Kids Preschool. Its a blast!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Preschool Teacher
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