Week 3 Day 5 The Letter C

 Camping is our theme this week, so I added Playdough with cooking things.  I set up our little tent that you can see in the background. 

 We have a Fishing Pond.  The fish, each have letters on them and they caught the fish and again identified letters and colors! 

 Sam even ventured away from the Train Table to Fish!

 Kalea decide to swim for some fish!

Bad picture because of the Sun, but they do like Playing with the Weather Frog during Free Choice, so I let them.  Gracie enjoyed Playing with Mr. Frog, today!

Joy School Week 2 Day 4 Letter B

Lots of fun!  With Play Dough!   Beads, Beans and Bug Eyes!  They were all very creative with their BUGS!

Week 2 Day 3 Letter B

 I wrote the ABC's on little plastic balls and put them in the pack-n-play on the bassinet setting with- out the pad.  I had more B's then the other letters, so every time they found a "B" it went through the hoop.  Some followed directions, others did not.  But they all looked at the letters and were trying to identify the different ones the found.  Also colors! 

 This was a sorting activity.  I got sand from Northmore Park.  And put a bunch of those little erasers and marbles mixed in the Sand.  The kids then sorted through the sand and organized the objects into the little baskets.  Marbles were the favorite item to find.  I put a twister mat under the table and then just shook it outside when Preschool was over.  The kids were really good about trying their hardest to keep the sand in the bin!  We have some great kiddos!

 Left overs from other projects and Letter Stamps!  Lots of fun!

 And of course the TRAIN TABLE!  We changed the Track up this week which made it exciting again!

 Pretty much all the kids enjoyed throwing the balls through the Hoop!

 More Organizing!

Jordan showing off his Apple!

Joy School Day 2

 The boys are the most content during free choice.  These three spent the entire time playing at the train table.

 Kalea is also perfectly content playing with the babies in the house

 Gracie likes to check everything out.  She played in each area today.

 Jordan loves the Felt Board. Jaycnthe loved exploring all the different areas as well. 

 Gracie found one of the apple books in the magazine rack and was reading aloud to herself. 

 Kalea and the slide. 

 Jaycnthe and her Puppy Friend!

 Liana, loved the writing area today. Stamps and envelopes.  Jordan also spent a little time here today.

And the boys still remain at the train table.  :)

Today was a great day!  I will most likely run the Joy School this way for the rest of the time it is at my house. 

I think with every house being different things are going to be adjusted according to your space.  I understand that and I think that is the Joy of Joy School!  Things will be changed up every month in some ways but remain consistent in other ways :)

The kids found their pictures and did their attendance!   I loved this :)  Thanks Stephanie!  It turned out awesome!

Backpacks on the stairs and their snacks go in the kitchen on the table at their spot.

All these activities reinforce name and letter identification.  

We then started the day with our craft/Fine motor skill.  Many of the kids are new to pasting.  Some just wanted to paste one square on and be done.  For these kids, I put little dots of glue all over their apples and had them cover them with red paper.  I then had them practice putting their own glue on 

the paper. 

We did this craft for a good 15 minutes.

We then went downstairs, and the found their Mats.

Helpers:

Pledge: Liana

Prayer : Kalea

Calendar: Ty

Line Leader: Xander

Weather: Jordan

Snack/Attendance:  Jaycnthe

After the Calendar I sing the song..."Days of the Week"  Sung to the tune of Adams Family.

(Hopefully they will catch on and start singing with me!)

After the Weather, I sing the Weather song.

What is the Weather the Weather the Weather, What is the Weather like today?

Jordan says it's rainy, rainy, rainy.  Jordan says the weather is rainy today!

(Again the idea is that they will start singing with me!)

I read two books, one about Apples, (Non Fiction) and one about Colors (Fiction)

I told the story of "Scat the Cat"  Focus on Colors (File Folder story I have).

Then we had Free choice.  Sorry my pictures are not that great, but I take them with my phone and I figure something is better then nothing.  It gives you an idea about what is going on.

After Free Choice, I gathered them again and we did some movement songs and we Fed Mrs. Hungry Mungry Apples.  Focusing again on Big A and Little a :)

We then went upstairs for Snack at 11am.  This works the best for me.  To have Snack at the end of the day.  It is too hard for me to transition from Snack earlier and then back to something else.

This solves the problem of some kids finishing earlier then others.  When the kids are done with their snack, they can look at books, play with the toys I have upstairs or finish up the craft they did to start the day.

This worked really well for me.  

Next week we are Focusing on the Letter B!

The theme is Little and Big things!  :)

First Day of Joy School

I did not know what to expect on the first day of this wonderful school that we have established, but with only a few minor kinks, the day went relatively well!

We came downstairs where they wrote their names with Mom's help.  And drew a simple picture of themselves.  

We then had Circle Time,

We told a story about the little bear, who finds a star in the center of the Apple.

If you cut a RED apple through the middle you can see the star.

Each child is unique and different in our little school, but we all have one thing in common and that is the star inside each of them.  We all have our own unique way of shining!

Xander was our Calendar helper

Liana was our Weather Helper 

Jordan was our Pledge Helper and held the flag

Samuel said the Prayer for us

We learned our Big A and small a, the Color Red and the Numbers 1-5 by feeding Mrs. Hungry Mungry some apples.  Everyone had the chance and turn to find what Mrs. Hungry Mungry wanted to eat.  Red Apples, the apple with the # 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 or a Big A or a small A.

We sang "Way up high in the apple tree"

and read a book about apples.

We then had Free Choice.  This is where I had time to take some pictures.  Girls played in the kitchen and boys played with Cars, trucks, trains and blocks. 

The Girls also liked drawing and stamping on the paper on the wall and on the table.

I then gave them a 5 minute warning and we sang the clean up song!  Pretty much everyone was on task and helped clean up.  :)

We then gathered and I told them a story about the little monster who ate the ABC's.  They had to be very quiet so the little Monster would come out and see them.  They ALL Loved this.  :)

SNACK TIME

This is where the little flaw happened.

Some kids had more snacks then others.  Some brought drinks and some didn't.

One child (Mine) had some issues that his snack was not like some other kids.

The ones with little snack finished quickly while others finished slower and wanted more time.

I need your help on this.  I still like the idea of having everyone bring their own snacks but why don't we do NO DRINKS?  I will provide the drinks.  (Water)

If also everyone could just bring 1 or 2 things for their kids that would be great.  Also things that they can open and serve themselves would be helpful too.  Remember there is an 8 to 1 ratio :)

After Snack, we went outside and played

Ring around the Rosie

Motor Boat (Loved it)

Duck Duck Goose (Loved it)

We then came inside, where I was going to have them do a Craft but we ran out of time. We will start with this on Wednesday.  They will be doing an Apple Mosaic craft!  Or in Preschool language gluing paper on paper :)

Over all, I am very impressed with how smoothly and well the kids did on the first day!

We have a great group of kids!

It will be a fun journey to see how our little ones progress over this year!

Thanks!