Morning Class Time Choices

Layla built a castle out of the magnet shapes. She told all of her friends that they can come over for a sleep over!

Finn got right to work making a collage. He enjoyed picking out the pictures and gluing them on the paper.

Grace was busy making a bracelet today. She said her bracelet is for her mom.

John also made a collage this morning. Here he is squeezing glue onto his paper to make the pictures stick.

All The Little Fishies in the Deep Blue Sea

We Are Flower Sellers To The Whole World

Luka and Eleanor spent time together in the yard picking dandelions and putting their stems through the small holes of a tennis racket. They talked amongst themselves as they worked to fill the racket with flowers.

Luka- These are the flowers we have. We have so many.
Ella- Yes, this is our flower keeper. We can keep all of our flowers on here.
Luka-We can take them to sell because we are flower sellers for the whole world.

Jena- How much are they? I'd like to buy some.
Luka- Oh, they're just free. They are free for everyone.
Ella- Yeah, free for the whole world. Here you go!

Trimming Our Jasmine

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The preschoolers and toddlers love to help around the yard. Today we trimmed our jasmine with scissors. It was a fun task, challenging, and rewarding for everyone.

Eating the Cucumbers from our Garden

The cucumbers, yellow squash, and zucchini are ready to pick from our garden. We have cared for them from seed to plant and are now enjoying our vegetables. Today we tasted the cucumbers from our garden. Six out of the ten kids at school today loved them. Pretty good odds. :)

Fire Safety at Circle time!

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Once a month, we practice a fire drill with the kids so that we are all prepared in the event of an emergency. Today, Jena used flashcards that were given to us by firefighters to learn about the ways that a person can safely exit a situation where there is a fire. We talked about how to dial 911 in case something wrong happens, that a firefighter is always there to help, and how smoke rises. The kids were all excited when they got to practice their stop, drop and roll for the camera! Check out the smilebox above for pictures and a video!

Beetles: Classroom Time!

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Today, we had a really fun classtime upstairs where the Beetles colored, did puzzles, and just had a generally good time! Here's a smilebox with some pictures from this morning.

Creating Our Own Solar System

Today, the Centipedes decorated their own planets. They used plain foam balls, and painted them in their own way. The past week or so, we have brought out some books that talk about the different planets, as well as talking about the solar system during circle time. So, this was a perfect way to incorporate our solar system unit into an art project!

Reid decorating his planet with red paint! Kind of like mars, don't you think?


Luka showing the camera how great she was doing while painting her planet


Layla's planet has many different colors!


Finn and his very own planet

Beetles: Sensory Play with Smells at Thriftway

This morning, while on our morning walk to Thriftway, the Beetles stopped by the essential oils section of the store to smell different oils and see if the smells reminded us of anything. We smelled various kinds of oil, like orange and cinnamon. Then, the kids explained what kind of smell the oil reminded them of, and immediately the kids started telling us things like, "JUICE!" Here are some pictures of their faces while smelling the different types of oils.

Centipedes: Sensory Play with Paints

Today during class time, the Centipedes worked on sensory development while playing with paint. They got to feel the paint on the paintbrushes (and a little on their hands!) and they also got to see what it was like to put the paints on paper, and mix different colors together. Playing with paint not only helps their color identification skills, but learning different types of materials and textures allows them to learn more about how their hands work. Here are some great pictures of the centipedes playing with paint!


Ella: Look at the paint on the paper! It is all different colors, and is like water!
Luka: Mine's for my Mommy.
Ella: See how I am doing it? We're friends so we put paint on paper the same.
Luka: I like how nice your paint is. Mine's the same!

Beetle Fun

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Summer Fun

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Centipede Stamping

Finn-I have two N's in my name. I write a F. Look what I'm doing it's just like a marker it smells like a marker. I can wipe it off. I wrote my name in stamps, that's cool!


John- It's for my mommy. I put a giraffe on here. I want a kite. I see kites up in the sky. There's a cheetah. I am going to put all of my mommy's favorite things on here. I know she will like it. How about flowers? Yeah, I think mommy will like flowers.


Layla-I'm writing Layla! I can spell my name. LAYLA. After L is A. I'm using stamps to write my name. It's for my mommy, she's not here today, she went to camp. I like camp. She likes when I give her pictures to put on my wall upstairs. I put butterflies and flowers on my picture. She likes those, they are her favorite.


Reid- I'm making it for my momma. R is my favorite letter. It just is, I like R. I'm putting a cloud on my paper. Clouds come out when the sun comes out. I like when the clouds come out. Then a rainbow comes out too. I see lots of rainbows, they are pretty.

Kids Are Capable of Contributing in Meaningful Ways

Classroom jobs are an integral part of our daily routine and our behavior management philosophy, called Positive Discipline. We believe that children are motivated by feelings of belonging and significance in their world. One way that children can feel a sense of significance is by contributing to the classroom in meaningful ways. The preschoolers are modeling for the toddlers who are eager to learn. In the below video, Lena (20 months) helps Layla and Luka (both 3) set the dishes on the table, get the food out, and place the milk pitchers out for lunch.

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