Tiny Tribe: 2011-03

Thursdays: Musical Drama with Bonnie Massey

Every Thursday our dear friend and music teacher, Bonnie Massey, is greeted at the door by a pack of excited kids. She usually has more than one giant bag of props and costumes in her arms for us to play, sing, dance, and tell stories with. All of our toddlers and preschoolers participate in Bonnie's musical drama class in different ways and that's okay. Sometimes kids just feel like observing and other times they feel like joining in.

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Morning Clean Up

Every morning after breakfast the kids enjoy a half an hour of free play in the classroom. Our group of twelve toddlers and preschoolers can really destroy the room in a few seconds flat. :) Cleaning up our toys and putting them away where they belong is an important part of our day. By keeping the classroom organized, the children can easily learn and remember where their toys go. By using the clean-up song, we make our clean up responsibilities easy and fun for everyone.

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Kung Fu at the Wushu Center

Our preschoolers at Tiny Tribe love taking Kung Fu classes with Restita DeJesus at The Wushu Center. http://seattlewushucenter.com/default.aspx Our Sifu (teacher) welcomes us with a smile and knows just how to keep our class of 2-3 year olds engaged and interested each week.

The preschoolers begin each class with a salute to Sifu. This is the proper Kung Fu way of greeting their teacher.

Quan- (pronounced chuen)- "fist"
Zhang- (pronounced jahng)- "palm"
Jingli- (pronounced jinglee)- "salute"

Here the preschoolers are standing with their legs apart, in "horse stance" while practicing quick "forward punches".

This is an example of an "upward strike".

Sifu keeps the group focused by asking for their help in counting Finn's strikes as he practices five strong kicks on the pad.

The kids call out, "One, two, three, four, five!" as Eli kicks the pad with his foot.

They end each class with Mokuso (pronounced mukso). Mokuso is literally translated from the Chinese word ‘Moku’ meaning ‘silence’ and ‘So’ meaning ‘to think’. They meditate by closing their eyes in silence while concentrating on keeping their bodies still.

Just Having Fun....

Children are always learning even when it looks like they are just having fun.

Childhood is a time of exploration, excitement, and wondrous joy.

It is important for kids to move their bodies in space; their own personal space and the space of others.

Physical play is important, organic, and simple.

It's okay to simply laugh, dance, and be loud together.

A Very Toddler Morning

The toddlers started off their class time this morning by exploring the sensory table filled with moon sand. We enjoyed making sand castles together and burying our little people under the sand. During our play, we had an opportunity to use language and develop our conversation skills.

Jena- This is moon sand... what color is it? What happens when we try to pick it up, or pour it? How does it feel when we bury our hands in it? Does the moon sand feel wet or dry? Soft or hard? Cool or warm?

Nolan- Jena, that mines? Where Nolan guy go? I find him. I do it. See mine? I eat food. No eat sand.

Myla- Blue. Mine sand. Do again. Soft. Myla go? Myla turn. No eat. Myla big girl.

Austin- Do again, Nenna. Do again. Castle. Sand. Smooth. Uh oh! There is.

Happy Birthday! Austin is turning two tomorrow! He fastened the velcro candles onto our wooden birthday cake set and we sang happy birthday to Austin this morning. :)

Myla loaded up the stroller with her baby (Elmo) and headed out to "work". She is actually all grown up, for real, too. Today was her third day in undies and she didn't have any accidents this morning. Way to go Myla!

Nolan got all dressed up to do his work, his outfit was complete with leather go-go boots and a beaded necklace. He marched around the room in his boots; sawing things, measuring things, and checking things out with his microscope.

We finished up our class time this morning with some wooden puzzles. Myla worked on figuring out where the shapes go in this tricky puzzle. The shapes have hidden pictures under them.
Myla- Where go? Jena- It's the oval, shaped like a football. Myla- Ball-see!

Austin and Nolan talked to each other about their similar vehicle puzzles as they worked.
Nolan- My firetruck red. Eeeoooo. Eeeooo. Taxi cab. Bus go fast. Vrooom. Vrooom.
Austin- Eeeooo. Eeooo. Truck. Dog. Fire truck. Bye. Bye.

Circle Time for the Beetles

Every morning, the Centipede and Beetle classes divide from 9:45-11:00 for individual class time and circle time. Our daily circle time for the Beetle class provides the younger toddlers the opportunity for learning basic preschool skills like shapes, colors, and the alphabet in a calm and fun environment. Our circle time box is filled with different activities, which are rotated out monthly. Some of the things you will find in our circle time box; children's books w/ coordinating felt board pieces, song idea cards, homemade books, and props for group games or storytelling.

Circle time allows each child at Tiny Tribe an opportunity for individualized attention within the group. Children are never made to feel inadequate if they don't come up with the "correct" answer. Participation is encouraged and all of the kids are usually eager to join in the fun of learning in this way.

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Centipede's Book Review

Join In and Play by Cheri J Meiners
I love all of the books in this "Learning to Get Along" series. Each book introduces an important issue for preschoolers; like sharing, meeting new friends, being honest, or feeling afraid. Each book includes a list of questions for discussion and games to play that support learning about the values in the book.

Our thoughts after reading this book together:
Reid- Yeah, that's a good book. I didn't get a turn to ride on the new red car today but I might get a turn later after snack time, right?
John- That boy was sad. He didn't get that ball because he wanted it.
Quinn- I like that book. I want to read it again. If I say how I feel and the other person says how they feel, then we can talk about it.
Dorothy- That book is good if you don't want to be mean. Quinn said things not nice earlier but we said sorry.
Finn-That book has a train table like me and a ball like Layla's.
Layla- I can give my friend a turn after I all done with my new bike on Saturday.
Jackson- I can say no if I don't want to play with someone.

Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex
This book claims to be a "petrifying parody" of the classic "Goodnight Moon". When I saw it at the library last night, it caught my eye immediately. It combines two things that young children typically adore; monsters and familiarity... how could I go wrong?

Our critique of this book:
Dorothy- I don't think this book is very bedtime-ish. I mean, that word "jaws" is a little too scary for right before bed.
Finn- I think it was scary. I liked the monsters.
Quinn-It was pretty darn bad. The whole book was pretty boring.
Reid- It was scary and it was that monster with sharp teeth. I want to read it again.
John- The monster was scary because it had teeth.
Jackson- That book was too short words for me. I liked the pictures but not the words. It was boring.

A Trip Upstairs to Layla's Room for the Beetles

Shhh... don't tell Layla... :)

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Mixed Media Art with Markers and Paint Dobbers

Grace-
It's a tree with polka dots on it. They are going to get some cookies. They are getting chocolate cookies and the polka dots are going to eat all of the chocolate cookies. They eat piggies too. I am going to give it to my mommy and daddy.

Ella-
I am making another good drawing. I'm using pink, yellow, blue, purple, and white. It's made out of a tree, this paper, because it's brown like a tree. It's for my cat, Blue, he likes to lick the paint off of it.

Luka-
I am making a little, little owie. My tootsie got hurted. This is my cat and I am fixing all the owies on my cat. I put lots of band-aids on for her because she has twelve little owies.

Layla-
It's for my mommy and my daddy. There's lots and lots of dots, all blue dots. It's just dots because they are food for my mommy and daddy. It's shrimp and sushi and tofu soup. My mommy and daddy love that.

The Process of Potty Training

During circle time this morning we used a pull up and some underwear to help us perform a simple little science experiment. The kids took turns helping pour water into the pull up. They were surprised when the water stayed inside. Hmmm... where did the water go and how did the pull up stay dry? Then we poured some water into the underwear and discovered that the water just went straight through. Hmmm... why did the undies get all wet?
Pull ups and diapers keep wetness inside but undies don't; they get all wet.
Oh, now we see, when we have our underwear on, we need to make sure our pees and poops make it into the.... potty.

Tiny Tribe's Toilet Training Philosophy-

We understand that the potty training process is different for all children and families. Some children are potty trained by age two while others are not developmentally ready until around age three.

Stages of Toilet Training:

1. Even before age two, we begin talking about using the toilet and reading books about the process. Toddlers are interested in observing other children using the potty and may begin to want to try the potty out by themselves.

2. Part of using the toilet involves the ability to dress and undress themselves, climb onto the toilet, and wash their hands in the sink. We practice these skills even if the child shows no interest in actually using the potty.

3. We begin changing them near the toilet while standing. This encourages toilet use and observation. At this time, if you wish, you can provide pull-ups or underwear with plastic pants and we will have the child use the potty at every diaper change or more frequently if the child shows interest.

4. Once you feel that you (the parents) are ready to officially complete the training process at home, we recommend a transition to underwear exclusively. We will talk about growing up and using the toilet like the older kids do. Once the child has transitioned to underwear they will definitely have accidents for the first few days. We will have them undress themselves completely, wipe themselves down, and put new underwear and clothing on. This gives children responsibility for their actions. They will be less likely to ignore the urge to use the toilet if they realize they spend more time undressing and dressing themselves when they’d rather be playing. Of course we make sure they are wiped and cleaned properly and that they wash their hands. Lots of verbal encouragement is given during all of the stages of the potty training process.

5. We will encourage success by first having the child use the toilet at scheduled times throughout the day. Once the child is regularly using the toilet w/out accidents (this usually takes a week or more) we will give them more freedom to decide when they will use the toilet. Some children will need to continue to wear pull-ups or diapers while napping until they wake up consistently with dry diapers.

Chloe Marie Visits Tiny Tribe!

Jennifer and Chloe stopped by for a visit on Friday. All of the kids came over to take a peek at her while Victoria held her. They touched Chloe's tiny feet and her soft little head. The kids had lots of hugs for Jennifer and they were surprised to find that her big belly wasn't big anymore!

Layla was excited to hold Chloe on her lap gently.. Chloe even smiled and cooed up at her.

Carrie wanted some Chloe smiles too but she saved them all for Layla!

Finding a Snail in the Yard

Preschoolers and toddlers are inherently drawn to the natural world. They are often mesmerized by the small living creatures that live in our backyard; like snails, worms, ants, and ladybugs. It is during early childhood when children’s experiences influence their future values and attitudes about life. Regular positive interactions within nature help children develop respect and a caring attitude for the environment. Children who are connected to nature learn to appreciate it as something to be loved and preserved, not as something to be controlled and dominated.

Eli holds the snail gently and watches it intently to see if it will move at all.

Luka takes a closer look at the snail curled up inside it's shell.

Grace loves snails and regularly carries them around the yard with her.

Eli and Luka take turns holding the snail and watching it.

Musical Thursday with Bonnie Massey!

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Circle Time with Our Friends at the Kenney-

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Spring is Here!

Spring is here, said the bumblebee.
How do you know, said the old oak tree?
I saw a yellow daffodil,
dancing with a fairy on a windy hill!

The Centipedes stopped for a snack and some water on a long bench by the Kenney Home. The cool breeze and the warm sunshine on our faces felt fantastic! The Beetles enjoyed a nice walk in the buggy with Ashley this morning. They saw lots of daffodils and hyacinths springing up from the ground. They noticed some birds out chirping and waved to the people and cars they saw a long the way.

The Beetles Visit the Kenney Home

Saige was excited to dress up in the necklaces and many other dramatic play items that she discovered in the big bin of toys the Kenney Home staff provides for our toddler play visits.

Ava and Myla met Sassy, the dog. She stopped by to play with us for a while before going to "doggy daycare"!

Myla showed one of our friends the big green race car and how fast it goes.

Aliza and Millie were best friends today. Aliza read books, played catch with the balloons, and showed Millie all of the cool toys that were in the basket!