A Picture

Over the past couple months, the preschoolers and toddlers have been playing on the playground at the same time. Before, they went out separately. Anyway, since last Thursday, a few of the preschoolers have started to like me. It started when Crawling Baby’s sister wanted me to help her up on the swinging bar on the swing set. We talked about Crawling Baby, preschool and other things. Then a girl who I’ll call T came over. I saw her before during one of my observations. There are a few issues going on with her. Most of which surround her bullying other kids. She also wanted a turn on the swinging bar and while she was up there, she started to be mean to Crawling Baby’s sister and ended up kicking her in the face. Later that day, she came back over to me because she wanted me to push her on the regular swings. I notice that T gets mad when I need to play with the toddlers or if I’m busy with another preschooler especially Crawling Baby’s sister. Those two always seem to argue. There is also a boy who I’ll call G who likes to talk to me when I push him on the swing. The other day he told me how he got past being in the baby room, the toddler room and how now he’s a preschooler. He tells me about his favorite books and the favorite books of his classmates. He talks about watching Sponge Bob and how he can’t pump on the swing yet, but he’s trying. I tried to listen to his stories the other day, but I kept getting interrupted by the girls arguing or one of the toddlers who needed my help.

I’ve been going in every day since last Thursday, so the preschool girls have started finding me every day on the playground. Two of them asked me why I always have to work with those toddlers and why don’t I work in their classroom? Today, I finally did for a little while, but T wasn’t there. I say that because she was the main one who kept asking me that. Since my bad experience at the previous preschool, I was hesitant to work with these preschoolers which is why I’ve mostly insisted on working with only infants and toddlers. I did miss working with them though and the conversations we used to have. It’s been fun working with the three different groups because they’re all good for different reasons. Here’s a picture that Crawling Baby’s sister drew for me today. She filled in the whole paper and there are some little designs in there. The important part is that she made it for me and worked on it for a while. While everyone else was arguing or going a little crazy, she was focused on coloring her entire paper.

Weekly Favorites for August 21, 2011

I have a short break from school so I'll try to post some things in the next couple of weeks. Here are my favorites for the week. Enjoy...
1.
Water Fun Round-Up: Ocean and Sea Creature Activities and Crafts
A round up of ocean themed activities.

2.
Bubblewrap Print Sea Scape.
A sea themed craft.

3.
DIY Rainbow Crayons
How to make rainbow crayons at home.

4.
Flowers and Fairies Sensory Tub
A creative idea for a sensory tub.

5.
Surprising Things that Babies Might do if Given the Chance.
An informative post written by Janet Lansbury about how much babies can do on their own if they have the opportunity.

6.
Making Hard Sand Castles
Sand castles you can actually decorate and keep.

7.
Eric Carle Inspired Birthday Cake
An Eric Carle inspired craft.

8.
Science Experiments
A list of basic science experiments for young children.

Weekly Favorites for August 14, 2011

I am now able to do my weekly favorites posts again. Here are some of my favorite posts I’ve found over the last month and a half. There are a lot so I’ve divided them up into categories. I hope you enjoy them.




Arts and Crafts
Hot Rocks
Seashell Snails
Glitter Jars
Soap and Toothpick Sculptures
Shell Crafts
Glow Art
Healthy Food Placemat
Seashell Crabs
3D Ice Cream Art

DIY
Busy Baby Blocks
DIY Fun Learning Toys
How to Make Sand Beads
Make Your Own Flannel Board

Foods
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake
Beach Ball Sugar Cookie Recipe
Fun With M&M's
Ice Cream Cone Cupcake Recipe
Painting on Ice Cream
Felt Hamburger Building Station
Edible Crayons
Strawberry Fun Games

Play-dough
It's Play Time: Play-dough
Glow In The Dark Silly Putty
Natural Herbal Play-dough
Ice Cream Play-dough
Blueberry Sparkle Play-dough
Science
Glow Sticks Thinking Outside the Box
Water Beads and Light
More Air Bubbles in the Ice

Sensory
Pond Sensory Tub
Squishy Bag - A tactile/multisensory approach to pre-writing and writing skills
Homemade Moon Sand
Bug Sensory Bin
Clean Clouds
Ocean Sensory Bin Shaving Cream and Shells
Sensory Ocean Beach Pictures
Advanced Squishy Bag
Cloud Dough
Bright and Colorful Sensory Bags for Preschool

Water and Nature Play
Around the Web Water Play
Ice Treasures
Marble Water Launcher.
Tools for Water Play
Ice Melting Bags
Ice Cube Bead Necklaces
Mud Bakery
Icy I-Spy
Preschool Science and Sensory with Balloons and Water
10 Reasons Why We Should Let Children Play in the Mud

Water Play

Since this week’s theme is the ocean, we did some sensory play with the babies. We were supposed to let them play in the mud today, but we decided just to start off with sand. It was in a low sensory table, but the babies were having trouble standing, holding on and trying to play with the sand. So we decided to take the tub out of the table and put it on the ground. This way they could sit in it. While most of the babies were napping this morning, Baby L and Baby K were the first ones to try it. Baby K freaked out and didn’t want anything to do with the sand so we put her in the swing. She loves the outside swing. Baby L loves the sand and he kept putting it into his mouth. He kept playing with a shovel and a turtle scoop. Eventually, we had to take him out because he was eating way too much sand. The sand turned out a little like mud since the tub was still wet from the water that was in it yesterday.

Then this afternoon, the classroom supervisor brought in some seaweed. Since seaweed dries out quickly, we added water to the tub, but we dumped the sand back into the sand box. This was also nap time for most of the babies. Babies J, K and L were awake. Baby K freaked out even worse this time so she went back into the swing. Baby L loved the water. He kept splashing and splashing. The water would get all over him and the ground which made him laugh. He tasted the seaweed and I wondered what he thought of it. It couldn’t have been that good. Baby J also tasted the seaweed, but he wasn’t as excited about the water. He splashed around a little bit though. I was disappointed that Baby C and Crawling Baby didn’t get to play with the water and seaweed. I would’ve liked to have seen their reactions.

Then when I was about to leave, they were setting up a painting project and tomorrow, they will get to color and play with the mud. The babies are having a busy week.

Assignment: My Daily Supports

To me, someone who supports you is someone who is there for you when you need them. It’s someone you can share your problems with. It’s someone you can depend on to be there emotionally or if you need some other form of support. An important part is to make sure that you return that support in whatever way you can.

My two biggest supporters are my mom and boyfriend. My mom is there when I need something. I can talk to her about things. She supported my decision to go back to school and encourages me. She occasionally helps with the bills when we can’t cover it all. I don’t drive so she takes time out of her day to bring me where I need to go. She occasionally makes food for us for no reason. There are a lot of things she does. She gives me advice even when I don’t want or need it, but I suppose that’s what mothers do. Without her, things would be very different.

I can talk to my boyfriend about anything. He gives me advice or support when I’m going through a rough time. He helps around the house with the chores and cares for our pets. Of course, he helps me with the bills too since we couldn’t afford our place on our own. He supports my decision to continue my education and I can talk about my classes with him. He’s also in school and understands what the work is like.

I try to support them as well by being there if they need to talk or helping them with whatever they might need.

I started volunteering and substituting at a different center in February. This was quite a change from what I was used to. I was meeting a whole new group of people and by my request; I started working with a new age group. Over these past few months, some of my new coworkers have been supportive. I was able to talk to one of them about a problem I was having with another of the substitutes. A couple of them support me by teaching me the things I need to learn to do the job instead of just doing them for me. Sometimes when new people come in, the people who have been there for a while sometimes take over instead of teaching the new person. I appreciate my coworkers that take the time to show me something or let me try something new.

A huge challenge would be if I had to move away and start over completely. I’d be away from my supports. I’d have to start work in a new place and go through the process of getting to know new people and learning the procedures at a new center. I’d have to find a different apartment and find another way of traveling from place to place. I’d have to build up new supports over time. It wouldn’t be impossible, but it’d definitely be a challenge.