ANI'S A BIG SISTER! May 15th

Hours worked: (8:15-10:15, 10:45-12:30)

Today was a very exciting day because we told all the preschoolers that Ani had become a big sister yesterday. Sarah McIntyre went to the hosptial yesterday and had her baby girl! It was very exciting and Amy went around asking all the kids what they think Ani's sister's name should be. There were some very interesting names, but my personal favorite was Nicole's name, Molly. The day was pretty normal. The kids were in a great mood and very excited to play. Lindsey played doctor with me during free time. After snack we had morning meeting, but Hannah and I slipped out half way through to go get our yearbooks since they came out today! I ended up having to help Joey hand out the yearbooks to the sophmores because he was by himself. When we got back in it was towards the end of centers so Hannah and I jumped into the ISpy matching game. Next, there was a short puppet show put on by Amy and Raz. Then the kids went outside for a bit. While they were outside I started working on a puppet show that we had found. I had to alter it a bit because it doesn't exactly work so I had to change some of the characters and some of the lines. While I was typing that up, Hannah was coloring some pictures to make a matching game for the school to have. Unfortunatly, there will be no picture tonight because the internet is so slow! Sorry! Until next time!

Pieces of a Frog, May 14th

Hours Worked: (8:15-11:30, 6:50-7:50)

Today was another successful day! The kids were in great moods and everything seemed to run smoothly. It was a short day, but felt about the same length! We went there and they were having free time. Hannah and I jumped in with the other kids who were playing with the silly putty. Next, they had snack! I was demanded to sit next to Lindsey, which is usual, but she wasn't going to eat if I wasn't sitting there. Afterwards, half of the group went to the library across the street and the other half stayed behind with Hannah, Amy and I. Amy read a couple stories to them and then once the rest of them came back we had morning meeting. Hannah had to go to french class so I ended up running our center. The kids each got their own puzzle piece that we had ordered. We wrote their name on the puzzle piece and then got to decorate it any way they wanted. Some liked the activity more than others. Even Raz, Amy and Kathy had a piece of puzzle to decorate! Tonight Hannah and I went into the black room and printed a couple pictures that I had taken on my photo camera. They came out really well and we can't wait to print more!

Ribbit! Ribbit! May 13th

Hours Worked: (8:30-12:30)

Today was a really good day. It was the sort of day that reminded me why I wanted to work with little kids on my senior project! They were all in good moods and particularly funny! The day started off normal with free play time and snack. During the free time Hannah and I gathered together some of the kids who had not finished their frog sequence worksheet the week before. This worked really well because we helped them finish it quickly enough that they still had time to play. After snack we went to music with Bill at the music studio. They always enjoy that, especially when they get to play the instruments of maracas, hitting sticks together, and a cow bell. Afterwards, we headed back to the school, had morning meeting and began centers. Hannah and I finished up the frog sequence with the last few kids and some of the others that came to our center drew in their science journals. Ani was there the whole time because she said she had LOTS of homework to do. It was really funny! Then we listened to two books on tape at the book area. Next, we went outside to the football field where they got to ride on those sticks with the horse heads, through around really big balls and run around. I got to finish my roll of film and then we played tadpole, tadpole, frog for the last ten minutes of recess. Afterwards, we went inside and settled down for lunch. Hannah and I hung around for a little bit, but left after awhile because we hadn't eaten anything that whole morning. It was a really fun day had by all.

Hop Hop Hop, day six

Hours worked: (8:15-12:15)

Today wasn't as entertaining as others. It was a typical Monday, in that Hannah and I were both tired when we arrived. However, being around little kids forces you to wake up right away. The kids were playing and running around as usual. Then it was snack time and today it seemed that we had to continuously remind kids to sit forward or sit down or focus on their snack and not their friend sitting next to them. Afterwards, we had morning meeting where we figured out the weather and what the date was. Then it was centers. Hannah and I ran a center of puzzles, which was actually pretty popular. Some of the other options were making silly putty, painting flowers and coloring. Then Amy read two stories on the couch and we went outside on the playground. Neither Hannah or I was prepared for the weather and were freezing cold. Luckily, Lindsey didn't want to wear her sweatshirt so I put it on the beginning on my arms to help keep me warm (even though it didn't work). I ended up pretending they were big teeth and would catch Lindsey when she came down the slide by tickling her. Since all the teachers were freezing we decided to go inside and have music time where we listened to a CD, sang along and did all the hand movements for them. Finally, the kids settled down for lunch and Hannah and I headed off for our own lunch. Tomorrow I will meet with Swayze, my mentor, to discuss everything that has been going on!

Weekley Reflection, week one!

I cannot believe that one week of senior project has already gone by! Time sure has flown and I can’t believe it. It was so much fun. This week a lot of what we did focused on getting to know the kids and learning their schedule. It was sort of an introduction week for Hannah and I, but we still got a lot done! The biggest thing I learned this week is that you have to have A LOT of patience when working with younger kids. There were some days where I thought I was going to go crazy, but I knew that getting really mad wasn’t going to make it easier. I also learned that when planning lessons for little kids you have to vary it so that you are not doing the same type of thing everyday. We realized that after a couple days of coloring activities that they were getting bored of it, so we decided to change our activity and they seemed to really like it. I realized that you always have to change it up with little kids and that being spontaneous is what they love!
I loved what I was doing! I adore working with all the little kids. I think that working with them is really fun and I believe that what Hannah and I are doing with them is a lot of fun. It is also nice because we are two extra sets of hands to help the teachers and being a sister of a teacher I understand how much they appreciate the extra help. Hannah and I have so many more special activities planned for them and are so excited to share them with the children.
Hannah and I weren’t specifically ever asked to do certain activities. Raz always asked us what we had prepared for each day and just asks us what we needed in order to do our activities. Other than the activities that we supplied Hannah and I are always around helping opening snacks, tying shoes, playing on the playground with them and reading stories with them.
The only surprises that popped up to me is how little they really are. I mean I knew we were working with preschoolers, but I guess I just imagined them to be a bit bigger and a lot more developed mentally. I kind of realized that some of the activities we have planned, they may not be able to do because they are not there yet. Other than this I personally did not have too many surprises!
I think I will definitely benefit from this week in many ways. Now I have an understanding of those aged kids and what they like to do. They love to play outside, run around, and enjoy the simply things in life like a sandbox. I also now know what their schedule is like, so I can expect what each day will be like. I think that the preschool is a lot of hard work, but it pays off because of how much fun the little kids can be! I am very excited to see what this week holds!

F stands for Frog, Day 5

Hours Worked: (8:30-12:30)

Today started off normal, where I went there by myself since Hannah had class in the morning. Afterwards they cleaned up and had snack. Then we took a special trip to the Proctor gym where the kids got to run around and play with some of the balls in the gym. They seemed to like this quite a bit, although there was one point where Hannah and I were in the bathroom for fifteen minutes because a bunch of them had to go to the bathroom. Next, we walked back to the preschool and had a morning meeting where they told them their center options. Hannah and I had out center at a huge whiteboard that sits on the group where we taught them how to write the letter F. We showed them, wrote it with them and taught them what noise a F makes. They seemed to like this a lot because they got to use markers and draw on the whiteboard. Some got so into it that they continued to learn how to write the whole word Frog. It was pretty cool. Then there was a short puppet show put on by Amy and Raz. Next, the kids got to go outside and draw with sidewalk chalk. After, they went into the playground and got to run around. We found some fold-up tents and put those out but it seemed to cause a lot of problems. I had three kids come to me crying within five minutes. It was crazy, so we decided it was time to go in for lunch. AS the kids started to settle down and get comfortable I stapled the newsletters and put them in the kids mailboxes, so the parents will finally know what we are doing in their kids classroom! After they had finished lunch and were preparing for nap time, Hannah and I headed off to lunch. It was a really good week and I am shocked as to how fast it went by!

How Does a Tadpole Grow? Day 4

Hours Worked: (8:30-12:30)

Today at the Proctor Daycare was a very tiring day. It seemed that every child was either on the verge of tears or was crying. On the flip side we got some good frog time in. The day started of normal with playing with the kids in the morning as they colored a frog picture, that we then glued into their science journals. After eating snack they were given center options. The frog center featured coloring four pictures showing the stages in which a frog grows. Seven out of the fifteen actually completed the center. Their cutting and gluing skills were pretty good, obviously some better than offers but all of them still needed a bit of assistance from Hannah and I. Then we took them on a surprise trip to the pond where Hannah caught a huge bullfrog. They were all amazed and got to touch the frog! It was pretty cool. After we let the frog go, we walked over to the baseball field and let them run around the bases, roll down the hill and run down the hill. Unfortunately, that was cut short by Fenn having to go to the bathroom so we stopped at the health center on our way back to take a break. When we returned to the school, Kathy read them a couple stories and then they went out of the playground to run around before lunch. Meanwhile Hannah and I worked on our parent newsletter that is being sent to all the parents tomorrow. The newsletter is filled with pictures and information about Hannah and I as well as what we are planning to do the next three weeks. We had to stop early as the kids came in for lunch. We helped them all settle down, open their food and find them a spot to eat. They were all pretty tired and very ready for nap time. It was a good but stressful day!