Plastic Cups

I brought some plastic drinking cups for the girls to explore.

First they pulled them all apart.

They looked like they were wondering what do you do with all these cups.

Then they started to pretend to drink from them.

Next they tried to put them on different body parts

and discovered that they fit well on their hands.

So we sang a little song and used them as musical instruments.

They discovered that the cups are fun to kick, they don't hurt their toes and they make noise.

They also discovered that this size can be hard to pick up.

Once they mastered that they begun to try to stack them.

It was easier to stack them when they are upside down.

And they were worked so well together building a tower.

And sometimes carrying more than one cup at a time.

I left the cups on the speaker for them to go back to.

Which they did and kept stacking and unstacking.

Another simple item you wouldn't think of a toy but offers much fun and exploration.

Working Together

I like when an idea I have and an interest a child has comes together.

That's what happened on Monday.

I wanted to make a little easel to put in our sensory tub.

At the same this little guy arrived at school with his measuring tape.

He was ready to measure.

As he went to play I continued to look around my storage room

for something that would work.

I found a large piece of flex board in the perfect colour.

I asked the little guy if he wanted to help me.

We measured and marked the board then cut it together.

But when we put it in the tub it was too big

(I had measured it myself the first time)

But that was okay, it meant that we had to remeasure,

mark and cut again.

 It felt so good doing this activity with someone who was so interested.

Stay tuned to tomorrow to see what we did with it.

Lessons Learned from our Grandfriends This Week

                  
                   Another great visit at the seniors home this week.
 
This week we met a new grandfriend, who is blind.  We learned what it means to see with our hands.  We learned that we need to talk about what we are doing.  We played a ‘what is it?’ game with Olive.  We handed her a toy and the children and I would give her clues while she touched it.  She was good at guessing.
                  

This week we learned to slow down with each other.
 
We learned that our grand friends need time to ask questions, and need time to ask the questions again.  They need time to process the information they heard from those questions.  This is the same for our children. They will ask question after question and when we try to rush them to understand their reaction is the opposite to what we want or expect.  I'll try slowing down and offering them the same respect that I give to our seniors.

Learning From Each Other

Today was a great day.

StrongStart facilitators from the North Island came together to share thoughts, ideas, impressions and experiences from their centres.

We started by sharing provocations that we have used in our centres.

Here are a few.


We spent time working on our “Reflecting on Quality”booklet. 
It’s a tool, created through the Ministry of Education, to help guide
us plan our programs.
                

In the afternoon the facilitators from my district shared outdoor activities
that we did during the Canada's 30x30 Nature Challenge.

                         
     
It’s was inspiring and gave me that little lift I need to continue to offer a quality program, for my families, in the remaining weeks before summer break.

Laryngitis

Do you know what I love most about my job?   

The families! 

Everyday is a different mix of families and I try to get to know them well and them me.

Today I went to school with no voice, yes I have laryngitis.

Luckily I feel great otherwise.

Being almost voicelss gave me an opportunity to step back and listen to the families interact with each other and with their children.

My only worry was about story time.

How do I lead the songs and the stories.

The families are again the answer.

I have been using more and more sign language in the program and singing the same songs on a regular basis made it easy for the families to lead us through.

Then I picked a story that was a well read favourite so they could do the same.

We read "Pete the Cat" and the families sang Pete's song throughout.

I was impressed that the community that has developed in our StrongStart program is a strong one.

We work together.