Fall is in the Air

The Tree I put in Dramatic Play

  Fall...I love fall...all things fall!  The colors, the smells, football (Roll Tide), the flavors, the crispness in the air, sweaters, and big, tall boots!  Fall and leaves are one of my favorite themes to do in school.  This weekend I have been busy creating fall in my classroom!  My hubby and I put together a tree and spent yesterday afternoon cutting out leaves an adding them to the bare branches.  I think it turned out pretty cute!
I have been coloring leaves, cutting out leaves, and laminating like crazy!   I had a lot of this stuff from before, but most of it got lost in the last three moves, so I started over!
 One of the activities we will be doing is a leaf memory game.  This activity was a favorite of the kids in my classroom when I taught before, so I went back to it!  I found it in The Mailbox Magazine from October/November 2003...wow!  My hubby drew the tree for me, but I photocopied the leaf cards and colored them myself...red, yellow, green, brown, and orange.  This is a great memory game!
I think one of the activities I am looking most forward to is the lovely leaf match!  I made twenty leaves from scrapbook paper, laminated them, and cut them out. The kids will match them based on pattern.
I have many more activities planned for our centers, group times, and special activities.  Pictures and details to come!  It's going to be a fabulous fall week! :)

My hubby drew this awesome tree for me so we can play a leaf memory game!

Leaf lacing cards

Leaf Match 

Priscilla Pig

Priscilla Pig Before her muddy makeover

Oh lovely mud

Priscilla Pig after a day in the mud 

 

 

 

Well, I couldn't let the box I had picked out for my barn to go to waste, so I enlisted my hubby's help to cut out this pig.  Why do I enlist the hubs on big projects...because I can not cut a straight line with a ruler, much less make a pig out of a cardboard box!  Anyway, I saw this idea on www.pinteret.com (again, love love love pinning and I always find the cutest stuff on there!)  So the Owlets and Papa Owl helped me paint her pink then I added her snout and features.  The Owlets loved her and were so excited about her, we had to name her...so we named her Priscilla, cause that's an awesome pig name! We took her outside and painted her with brown paint "mud" hand prints!  The Owlets had a great time making Priscilla all dirty.  This was a pretty cool way to tell them that pigs like mud because it helps keep them cool, keeps bugs away from them, and keeps them from getting sunburned.  I discovered that there is enough stuff out there on pigs to do a whole unit on them! Maybe next year I'll do pigs one week and the farm the next! 

Our Little Farm

So here it is...our little Owls Nest farm!  I love the barn, it's just so cute!   I added a weather vane to the top and then some scenery.  I made the grass with green construction paper and the hay bales with empty boxes that I wrapped in yellow construction paper.  I made a mental note to use bulletin board paper next time, it will be so much easier!  The other props I added include straw hats, flannel shirts, overalls, stick horses, stuffed farm animals, and a couple of tractors!  The Owlets are having so much fun in the Dramatic Play area this week!  I love being able to change up the look of the room to fit our theme!

Getting Ready to go to the Farm

I spent most of the weekend getting ready for our farm theme!  My vision for my barn was way different then what I ended up with, but sometimes you just have to roll with it! I had a grand vision of a large cardboard box cut and painted to look like a barn, standing in a corner surrounded by animals.  My hubby went out searching for a big box, but couldn't find one and the one I dug out of the garage was too small.  So, instead of my grand vision I got a red piece of poster board that my awesome hubby cut into a barn shape and that I painted doors, windows, and trim on.  Even though it isn't exactly what I had in mind, I think it turned out pretty cute!  I'm excited to put it up and get our farm ready for the week! 

More Apple Antics

Making Apple Prints

Apple Patterns

Sorting Big A and Little A

Science Experiments

Clever Owl holding the Diaper Dust she made

Glow in the Dark Slime

Clever Owl was in scientist mode when she came home from school today.  She has a ton of science experiment kits and when she pulled this kit off the shelf and asked for help doing a couple of experiments, how could I say no!  So we made Diaper Dust which was just powder and she added water to it, mixed it together until it made a squishy slime!  Then we made glow in the dark slime.  It was pretty cool..she couldn't wait to show her friends!  I think it is so awesome that she loves science!  Papa Owl and I want to do everything we can to nurture that love, even if it means buying her every science kit on the market...because she will ask for all of them!

Apples Aplenty!

Our apple tree and apple orchard sign (dramatic play)

Apples and basket match (math)

Picking apples off the apple tree with tweezers (fine motor)

FCC Classes

Last week was completely crazy!  I started the orientation for opening an FCC (Family Childcare) on post.  I went in on Monday thinking it was just going to be a one day thing, but nope, it was all day all week!  I have watched videos from the early 80's on the purpose of FCC and on child abuse, had a lot of information thrown at me about curriculum, planning, environment, growth and development.  Taken a class on medication which involved taking a ton of notes because the handouts were forgotten, happily I managed to pass all three tests that came with that class!  Friday was CPR and First Aid.  When I taught preschool I had to take those classes every year, but haven't had it since before my oldest owlet was born!  A lot has changed!  I am happy to report that I am now certified in both!  I really dislike the whole CPR thing, I don't like having to practice on a dummy in front of a bunch of other people...but this class was different, we all did it together and she graded us on our skills, so it wasn't as bad!  The day we spent on planning was kind of a review to me, I have used the curriculum the Army uses for its FCC's before and I kind of felt like the teacher's pet because I have taught preschool and all of that stuff is old hat to me, the teacher kept talking to me about NAEYC accreditation's (I've been through that before!) and other preschool related stuff!  All the stuff that was thrown at us in a day was stuff you would spend three or four months on if you were taking Child Development in college!  We had three ladies in our class and one dropped out after that day, I assume it was because the whole day was pretty overwhelming! 
I have also had the pleasure of observing two operating FCC homes.  I went to one home on Wednesday and one on Thursday.  I had to write up observation forms on both!  I had to laugh at the first home, leopard print everywhere!  Now, that's not my taste, but to each her own I guess!  It was a little chaotic too, but the craziest thing was the Faberge eggs that were on tall metal racks in the living room.  I wouldn't do that because I have three owlets that run around all over the place and they would get broken...but I certainly wouldn't have them if I had six little owlets running around!  Not only would I be afraid they'd get broken (think of the cuts) but then I think they could be used as weapons!  The house I went to Thursday was managed so well...you could tell the lady really enjoyed what she did and that she loved the children in her care! 
My last FCC class is tomorrow, we will cover all the business practices.  I can't wait to get my FCC up and running!  I know it will be a little crazy in the beginning, but I really miss working with kids!  I've made a couple of new friends throughout this process too, so that's a bonus!  My little owlets have been so happy in the FCC they have been going to, they love the provider!  I think it speaks very highly of her that they want to go everyday and cry when I pick them up because they want to stay and play!  I only hope that I can run my FCC that well!

Kellipalooza 2012

Today is my birthday..I have called this special day Kellipalooza since high school...why?  I really don't know why...I guess it makes me feel like my birthday is a big deal (even though it isn't!)  Basically, it's another day, yep I'm a year older.  Do I feel it? Nope, not at all!  Am I sad or depressed about gaining another year? Not one bit.  Why?  Age is just a number and I am happy, very satisfied, with the place where I am in this stage of my life!
Today has been, a normal day...except I didn't clean my house!  I made breakfast for my family, because I love them and want to nourish their bodies and send them off with full tummies so they have the best day possible.  The breakfast was a little more special than normal, I made cake batter pancakes and they were fabulous! I registered my babies for CYS, now they can go to hourly care or participate in CYS activities!  Then we went to the post library for story and craft time.  The librarian read stories about turtles and then the girls cute turtle magnets.  My little Owlets love story and craft time, they love being read to, they sit so still and listen so intently even when other kids are jumping up and down, screaming, and playing!  The Military Family Life Consultant complimented them for being so well behaved!  We came home and had lunch, then playtime, and then it was time to go get Clever Owl from school. 

Kosmic Karma Pizza!  Best pizza ever!

Cause I love owls and lime green is my favorite color!

Favorite place to get a pie!

When Papa Owl came home we went to my most favorite pizza place, Mellow Mushroom for the best pizza ever created, the Kosmic Karma!  After we finished dinner, my hubby surprised me with a cake!  My little owl family sang "Happy Birthday" to me, then we dove into the cake!  I got very sweet cards from each member of my little owl family!  It has been a great day!  I love my family so much and I am one blessed Mama Owl! :)

Nursery Rhymes

Kittens and Mittens Math Activity

    

Pocket chart with Morning Message at the top and Jack and Jill literacy at the bottom.

Mother Goose on the Loose!

Our theme for this week is Nursery Rhymes!  The Owlets enjoy nursery rhymes, so I thought this would be a wonderful unit.  There are so many fantastic rhymes, but we are only focusing on four (we took Monday off), Humpty Dumpty, Sing a Song of Sixpence, Little Miss Muffet, and Jack and Jill. 
Yesterday we focused on Little Miss Muffet.  After reading the rhyme, I read the morning message to the Owlets, "Why was Little Miss Muffet frightened?"  After explaining what frightened was, the Owlets said with conviction that "She was scared because their was a spider that sat by her and wanted her food."  Then it was center time.  Here are what the centers have to offer this week:

Language/Literacy: I wrote the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill on sentence strips twice.  I placed one set in the pocket chart, skipping a line between the strips.  I cut the other strips and placed them next to the pocket chart.  The object is for the Owlets to place the cut out words in the empty spaces underneath the matching words.

Dramatic Play: There is a lot going on in our dramatic play area this week!  The Owlets will be hanging laundry on a clothesline (made with yarn), I added doll clothes to the prop box for them to hang.  I added bowls, spoons, rolling pins, plates, and pie plates in the prop box so the Owlets can make pies.  Finally, I will be adding props so the Owlets can be doctors.  I am incorporating fine motor into this center as well by using the clothespins. 

Gross Motor:  I added a candle cut out to three different heights of wooden blocks, the Owlets jump over them.

Math: I made ten cat cutouts and ten mitten cutouts.  I numbered the mittens and the kittens 1-10.  the object is that the Owlets match the mittens to the kittens.

Blocks: The Owlets are building walls and putting plastic eggs on them.

Our letter of the week is E.  The story we are reading is an awesome classic, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.  We are doing some pretty cool activities related to this book and the Owlets used their hand prints to make elephants! 

So far in art the Owlets have made spiderwebs after saying Little Miss Muffet and added a plastic spider ring and today we made crowns after reading Sing a Song of Sixpence.