Lincoln Park morning-

I love being so close to Lincoln Park! Tuesday was a gorgeous Spring day so I loaded up the buggy and headed down to the park, three babies and a toddler, some bananas and graham crackers for the road...
Ruby was with us because the big kids went to Karate that day so it was nice to have her for conversation and company. The Dragonflies enjoy spending time with her too. Finn waddles after her wherever she goes and she narrates for him the whole way. "Finny, this is how you go up the stairs and now we sit so you can go down the slide. Here Finn, sit right here, no hold my hand." It is very sweet to watch. Ruby is the youngest of the downstairs group and has a big sister, Ava, so I also think she enjoys being the "big kid" for a change.

Easter Egg Hunting

All of the kids really enjoyed making bunny hats and finding hidden eggs in the yard on Friday to celebrate the Easter holiday. I love watching how they were so excited for each other to find the eggs and how they helped each other. It is very heartwarming to see them care for each other.

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Celebrating Passover with Preschoolers

On Thursdays the Centipede group makes lunch together for the whole group. Last Thursday we made a Passover meal of Matzoh Ball Chicken Soup and a special dish called charoset that we ate with our Seder meal.

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Layla gives Grace a lift.

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Grace loving up Reid.


Spring is here!


Having fun in the kitchen cabinets!

Meaningful Jobs

Allowing children to assist in classroom jobs helps them to develop feelings of capability. When we take time for training and allow them to learn from their mistakes they are typically eager to help with household tasks. In our classroom, children as young as 2 years old enjoy setting the table, unloading the dishwasher, filling water bottles from a small pitcher, wiping down the tables, spraying the mirrors, and taking the trash out.

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The Little Scientists

The Dragonfly group (currently seven to seventeen months old) is always busy exploring the world around them. They are experimenting with cause and effect, exploring language, and practicing their fine and large motor skills. As you can see in the following videos, they are social beings and they love interacting and playing with each other.

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Seriously, too cute.

Finn


Layla


Grace


Reid

Musical Instruments

The toddlers and preschoolers have been exploring musical instruments this week. They had a wonderful field trip to the Seattle Symphony on Friday. Today they practiced playing a trombone and made some instruments of their own.

As I watch the videos from today, I especially appreciate the open-ended musical instrument project because it allowed for artistic self-expression. In the early childcare field there is an art concept called "process vs product". With product art children create a project using the same materials in the same way to create a similar end product according to teacher direction. Art that focuses on the "process" rather than the end product, allows children to design, create, and explore using various materials and their own imaginations.

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Dragonflies at Play

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Jackson and Ruby Make Lunch

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Kindness and Firmness

I have recently re-arranged the schedule so that I have Monday and Thursday afternoons off. For many reasons; but mostly to save my sanity, get office work and run errands inside the workweek, and spend time just being with Layla. So, on Monday afternoon Layla and I went to run errands and stopped at the public library to get some new board books for her. While I was there I also checked out a book called “The No-Cry Discipline Solution” by Elizabeth Pantley. Besides being influenced by Adlerian psychology like the “Positive Discipline” series by Jane Nelson (that I already love), it is really easy to read and busy-parent friendly. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a little positive inspiration in the discipline department and it emphasizes topics like: interrupting, hitting, sibling conflicts, restaurant behavior, sharing, yelling, and whining.
I’d like to incorporate some of the more helpful key points into my blog. The following excerpt is taken directly from the book:

It’s Okay to Have Fun, It’s Okay to Be Firm

You don’t always have to use clever skill (like singing and dancing with pajamas on your head- although sometimes that works wonders) to get your child to cooperate with you. There are plenty of times when you’ll just want to say it straight up. When you do, try to follow these basic rules:
• Get eye to eye. Try not to call from a distance or mumble directions.
• Say what you mean. Don’t make threats, don’t use empty words.
• Be clear and specific. Don’t make vague requests. Don’t make your child guess what you want.
• Be polite. “Please” and “thank you” are magic words for parents to use too.
• Stay calm. Anger just makes things worse.
• Follow through with action. Take him by the hand; give her the coat that you want her to put on, lead him back to the mess he left with the blocks on the floor. “Help” your child do what you ask them to do.
• Be consistent. The more you follow these steps the easier it gets for both of you.


Bonnie Brings in Musical Instruments from her trip to Guatemala:

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Team Work

One of the aspects I appreciate about having a small group of kids is the opportunity for them to feel that they a part of a larger community while still remaining small enough to feel like an extension of family. They know each other very well and interact with each other much like siblings would. Here are the Centipedes working together to paint the picnic table for the yard. Giving young children meaningful roles builds their confidence and self-esteem.

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Cooking is a great activity to do with preschoolers. They can contribute to the group in a meaningful way and they usually feel a great sense of accomplishment when they can serve and eat food they've helped prepare. They can learn about math concepts like seriation and discrimination. They are more adventurous eaters when they have prepared the food themselves.
Here is a great article about the benefits of cooking with kids:

http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/learning/cooking_preschool.html

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