Sharing thoughts. resources and experiences.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Ready for the New Year

We had our relicensing review today from the Dept. of Social Services. As usual it was an unannounced visit. And since we were not planning for it, it threw our whole day off schedule.

On the bright side everything went really well and our paperwork is done for our license for another year. That's always a good feeling.

On top of the surprise visit (even though it is always unannounced, I really wasn't expecting it until mid-January ) we also a few more kids than we normally do at that time of day. So it was a little hectic. But all in all I was very pleased with how well things went. The kids did a great job of playing quietly and happily.

And  now we're all set for the new year.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Notes from Monday 12/28/09

It was nice to get back to normal again. Of course it's still not quite normal but I can feel things starting to settle back down after the excitement of Christmas.

We are going to be less structured this week while I work on some new ideas that I will be implementing with the kids next year. More on those later.

For now, here are some pictures from our day.



 

And here are some of the books we enjoyed today.









Draw and Share by Margaret Allen, Ph.D. This book is actually one from a set called Dr. Maggie's Phonics that I used to teach Austin and Amanda to read.



We had five children ages 1 - 8 on all shifts today.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Notes from Monday 12/21/09

We only had a few kids today, partly because of the snow, and partly because of Christmas vacations.

Doug had to meet our earliest child and her mother in the parking lot across the street this morning because snow plows had blocked the end of our driveway again and she couldn't get in.

Here are a few pictures from our day.



 

 

 

 Here are the books we enjoyed today.





All Aboard

We had four daycare children ages 1 - 10 on all shifts today.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Snow Day

I have not updated here for a few days because I was not feeling very well. It was taking all my energy to make sure the kids were taken care of. But time, rest, and antibiotics for a sinus infection and I'm feeling much better, just in time for ~ Snow!



Two kids who were scheduled to be here today were not because of the snow. But one little guy, who's grandmother works night shift, is staying with us until the roads are in better shape.

Here are a few of the fun things he got to be a part of today.



Looking out the window at all that white stuff!




Taste testing the snow cream.




 


And decorating the Christmas tree.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Notes from Tuesday 12/15/09

Today it warmed up enough that the kids were able to go outside and play for awhile after lunch. We've had several weeks of wet cold weather and everyone was getting cabin fever.



Here are the books we enjoyed today.



Menu
Breakfast - Cereal, Milk, Juice
Snack - Yogurt, Crackers
Lunch - Green Bean, Hotdog and Cheese Casserole, Fruit Cocktail, Bread, Milk
Snack - Rice Cakes, Milk
Dinner - Taco Salad, Fruit Cocktail, Milk

We had a total of eight daycare children ages 1 - 10 on all shifts today.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Notes from Monday 12/14/09

Here are a couple glimpses into our day.


Books we enjoyed today.





Menu
Breakfast - Pancakes, Bananas, Milk
Snack - Crackers, Juice
Lunch - Omelette Wedges, Apples, Oranges, Toast, Milk
Snack - Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Milk
Dinner - Meatballs and Cheesy Shells, Baked Potatoes,Milk
Snack - Graham Crackers, Milk

We had a total of seven daycare kids ages 1 - 10 today on all shifts.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Notes from Friday 12/11/09

Here are some of the books we enjoyed today.





A few pictures from our day.






We made the nest craft because it starts with the letter Nn, our letter of the week. And we used blue background paper because blue is the color of the week. The kids were very proud of their work.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Notes from Thursday 12/10/09

Today was busy but that's a good thing. Here are a few pictures from our day.


Lunch time.


Even Doug got in on the playdough fun. The picture below is supposed to be a face. It's sideways with a big round yellow mouth, mustache, nose, eyes and eyebrows.



Besides playdough, the kids had fun building with blocks, reviewing our color, shape, ASL signs, and songs for the week.

Here are the books we enjoyed today. When we read books we often take a lot of time to look at the pictures, count objects, talk about the colors, look for specific letters in the words, etc., etc. A lot of fun learning goes on beyond just the story.





We had a total of nine children here for childcare on all shifts today.