Worth the Journey

My husband's out of town a lot, but sometimes we get to go with him. A.k.a: he drops us off for a few hours and we look around until he picks us up. And did I mention I have six kids under nine? Talk about excitement!

Yeah, the kids get tired, there are poopy diapers, and now and then someone gets lost - sometimes it's me that's lost.

It's challenging, crazy, and stressful, but so worth it. My older kids learn to help the younger kids and we get to see new places, create memories, and find out what we're really made of. 

Sure it's difficult. But would I change it? Not for a second! Sometimes in life we want to take the easy route, or get the most we can for minimal effort. But I've come to realize that anything worth doing takes effort. Nothing is easy. At least nothing worthwhile.

And sometimes that's what makes it worth our time: the challenge, the hard work, the struggle. That's what creates the memories, the love. That's what makes our journey worth it.

Baby Guinea Pigs!

Our class guinea pigs, Flower and Snickers, are the proud new parents of four baby guinea pigs!

There is a brown-and-white, a black-and-white, a black-and-brown, and an all black guinea pig baby.

They could walk as soon as they were born!

Flower is very protective of her babies!

Community Helpers- Firestation Field Trip

The field trip to the fire station during community helpers week was a HUGE success! We got to talk with a real fireman and all the children got to walk through the fire trucks and ambulances. My favorite part was watching how fast a fireman can slide down his fire pole and get to where he needs to be - we timed him and we all agreed a pole is MUCH faster than the stairs!!!

We got to see firsthand all of the gear a fireman puts on before he goes into a burning house. We found out they have to wear a LOT of clothes. The funniest thing is that they wear a darth vader mask that makes their voice change, but we know it's only a mask. We learned that if we're in trouble and we see someone dressed like that, he's there to help us.

The Children's Corner Open House!!!

Get ready for next year!!

On May 29th we will have our annual open house for anyone interested in preschool next year! It's never too early to register because there are limited spots available, but this will be a day to meet other preschoolers, get information packets, and reserve a place in the Children's Corner Preschool.

Next year, class times will be a little different:

Tiggers (4/5 -year olds) are Tues. Wed. Thurs. from 9:30 - 11:30am (8 spots available)

Piglets (3-year olds) are Tues. and Thurs. from 12:30 - 2:30pm (8 spots available)

Please email for prices and registration information and welcome to our preschool!

tammyjensen1@yahoo.com

Valentine's Day 4

Greeting Time (9:00 – 9:15)
Morning Circle (AM 9:15-9:30)

1. Song Can
2. Share and Tell
3. Calendar
4. Animal Magic
We'll read a story about love, and discuss how we know our families love us or our friends - what ways do they show us. We will talk about our moms or dads coming and what we will be doing - set up preschool room so it will be ready for parents!

Learning Centers (AM 9:30-10:15)
*Cut and Color Table: HEART SHAPES - The children will continue practicing their cutting skills with hearts today. The teacher will have various sizes or hearts pre-cut and she will continue to encourage the children to also cut them. The students can decorate the hearts with stickers, markers, crayons and also glue them together from biggest to smallest, etc.
*Messy Table: RED SHAVING CREAM - We will continue with the red shaving cream today. Children really love the feel of this and love to get messy with something they don't usually do. Again, the teacher will guide the children in writing or drawing messages to each other in the shaving cream. They will also just have fun smooshing, squishing, and spreading the shaving cream around!!
*Creative Art: VALENTINE'S DAY BOXES - The kids will continue to decorate their valentines day boxes today!! There will be all sorts of material, lace, shapes, hearts, cotton balls, buttons, candy hearts, etc to choose from!! We will use these boxes at the end of class when we pass out our valentine's cards we have made for each other.
EASEL PAINTING - Red, white, and pink paint will be at the easel today for the children to explore with!
*Dramatic Play: MAILBOXES - There will be an individual mail box for each student with their name on it. The teacher will encourage students to make valentine's for each other, write letters, draw pictures etc and place them in each others boxes. There will paper, markers, envelopes, stencils, stickers, etc available for them to make letters right in the dramatic play area. It's so much fun to get things from others!!

*Snack: VALENTINE SUGAR COOKIES - We will be saving our snack time for when our parents come today!! We will get to decorate our own sugar cookies with frosting and fun toppings and eat them with our loved ones!!

*Transition: We will learn how to say "I Love You" in sign language.
Recess (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55)

Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)

* Small Group: PARENTS COME FOR OUR SMALL GROUP TODAY!! We will start small group by playing "Valentine March" as we're waiting for all the parents to show up. Large hearts with numbers or ABC's will be placed on the floor. As the music plays the children and their mom or dad or both will march from heart to heart. When the music stops, so do the people. Each child then tells the number or letter he is standing on. Candy hearts will be passed out for each child that gets it right (parents can help :). We will then go into decorating our Valentine cookies together with our moms or dads and brothers or sisters and of course eating them together!! To end the day we will get to make a valentine craft together. Your child will get to choose to make his own with his own creativity or choose from some of the examples that Miss Tammy will have available. This should be a lot of fun and a great time to spend one-on-one-time with your preschooler and let them know you love them on Valentine ’s Day!

Valentine's Day 3

Greeting Time (9:00 – 9:15)
Morning Circle (AM 9:15-9:30)

1. Song Can
2. Share and Tell
3. Calendar
4. Animal Magic
We will learn our Valentine song today. We'll move into Share n' Teach which develops speaking skills, and being in a group. We'll read the story "The Night Before Valentine's Day" and discuss all of the fun things that happen around or on Valentine's day. What are some things we do for others, how do we show them we love them, etc.

Learning Centers (AM 9:30-10:15)
*Cut and Color Table: ORIGINAL VALENTINE'S DAY CARDS - The children will be able to cut hearts out of construction paper (teacher will teach them or their will be pre-traced hearts for them to cut around). They can decorate them with lace scraps, yarn, and glitter to make their very own Valentine's Day Cards for whomever they want. Pre-cut hearts will also be available for who have not yet mastered the skill of cutting.
*Messy Table: RED SHAVING CREAM - shaving cream will be placed in the messy table today with red food coloring mixed in it. The teacher will guide the children in writing or drawing messages to each other in the shaving cream. They will also just have fun smooshing, squishing, and spreading this stuff around!!
*Creative Art: VALENTINE'S DAY BOXES - The kids will get to decorate their valentines day boxes today!! There will be all sorts of material, lace, shapes, hearts, cotton balls, buttons, candy hearts, etc to choose from!! We will use these boxes on Thursday when we pass out our valentine's cards we have made for each other.
*Dramatic Play: MAILBOXES - There will be an individual mail box for each student with their name on it. The teacher will encourage students to make valentine's for each other, write letters, draw pictures etc and place them in each others boxes. There will paper, markers, envelopes, stencils, stickers, etc available for them to make letters right in the dramatic play area. It's so much fun to get things from others!!

*Snack: HEART-SHAPED LOVE SANDWICHES - We will be making love sandwiches today out of bread, strawberry jelly, and heart shaped cookie cutters. Kids love sandwiches when they are in different shapes - we LOVE preschool!!

*Transition: We will learn how to say "I Love You" in sign language.

Recess (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55)

Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)
* Small Group: We will start small group by reading a Valentine's story or Love story. Discussing feelings, who we love, friends, etc. We will start our activity by sorting feelings. Pictures of happy and sad people will be cut out of magazines. On the outside of two boxes, there will be a happy face and a sad face. We take turns sorting the pictures into the correct boxes and discussing why the people might be happy or sad. Then we will play "Broken Hearts". I will have heart shapes cut out of red and pink and paper or tagboard. A numeral will be on one side and that number of heart stickers on the other side. The hearts will be cut in half like a puzzle, the children will have to match the puzzle pieces by counting.

Valentines Day 2

Greeting Time (9:00 – 9:15)
Morning Circle (AM 9:15-9:30)

1. Song Can
2. Share and Tell
3. Calendar
4. Animal Magic
We'll then read the story "The Valentine's Plot", enhancing listening skills and predictions. Discussions will take place about how to be a good friend and how the fish made good choices to be a good friend.
Learning Centers (AM 9:30-10:15)
*Cut and Color Table: FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGE ART - Paper will be provided with "To: _____" printed in the upper left corner and "From:_____" printed on the bottom. The teacher will assist the children in printing their names on the bottom and the name of the person on the top. Using paper scraps, tissue paper squares, fabric scraps, and glue, each child will construct a picture for a friend. When they are finished, each child can pass the paper to the friend it was made for.
*Messy Table: RED WATER - The messy table will be filled with red water today, to symbolize love and friendship. Floaty letters, containers, scoops, squeegies, etc, will be placed in the messy table also. What a great place to interact with friends and share!
*Creative Art: GLITTER HEARTS - Glitter glue and large hearts will be available at the art table. The children can use their creativity to make the patterns and shapes they would like on their heart with glitter glue. Kids love glitter glue!!
*Creative Art: Marbleized Valentine’s Hearts – Miss Tammy will provide large hearts and tempera paint and the children will be encouraged to paint one side of the heart. Then we will fold the hearts and squish them down with a rolling pin. When we open the heart again, there will be a marbleized design on both sides!
*Dramatic Play: PUPPET THEATER - A puppet show will be set up in the dramatic play area with various types of puppets. The children can share puppets and act out friendships using the puppets in various situations.
*Snack: Heart-shaped Jigglers will be made from red Jello today. We will cut them out and let them jiggle into our tummies!

*Transition: Learn our friend poem - "I like my friends, So when we are at play, I try to be very kind, and nice in every way."

Recess (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55)

Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)
* Small Group: We'll start small group by reading a friendship story - "Where are you Going? To See My Friend" by Eric Carle. This will give the children a chance to relax and also participate as I ask questions throughout the story. We will then start decorating our Valentine boxes or other containers. We will start by painting the boxes with their favorite color/s, and if there is time the teacher will do the hot gluing as the children choose the decorations they would like on their boxes. The hot gluing might be saved until Tuesday the 10th if we run out of time.