The weeks are already flying by due to the many things we are doing at Grandmas House Daycare (GHD). And this email has ended up being rather lengthy. Sorry. First off, I must apologize for mixing up the second and third week on several activities. That Labor Day Monday threw me off and I was doing 9/13 week activities on 9/8 week. Eeeekkkks! But we are back on schedule. I try to stay on schedule so you can have conversational ideas for your evening chats with your children. We start every day after breakfast and everyone arrives with our Pledge of Allegiance, a quiet moment of prayer, and then our practice of the days of the week and adjusting our calendar. We have a daily classroom helper, starting from oldest to youngest, that I use for many things throughout the day. They are all so very proud to help not to mention the special sticker they get to wear for the day. The youngest classroom helper for now is Emma. Very soon I will try Walker in this area. They learn so fast.
Our math focus this week has been making groups of numbers. The younger children enjoy the discovery of playing with the manipulatives as we talk about the characteristics of each and the older children are understanding groupings of various things all equating to the same number. Shape Attribute Blocks was a repeat winner from last week. The younger children are beginning to sort by color while the older children are learning to sort by attributes of that shape. All in all it’s a playful way to learn some very good and basic concepts of math. We made some fun things in art this week. On Tuesday we did a water color of “happy” as we discussed our feelings. Wednesday we had an afternoon of playdough fun. Everyone loves playdough … even Ms Sandra and Ms Karen. And on Friday, Ms Sandra taught us how to make tissue paper flowers for Mommy.
In literacy, the younger children get to work on coloring sheets that correspond to the subject of the older children. These little guys are just beginning their small motor skill proficiency in their art work and having lots of fun. We are working on alphabet identification and relation of capital letters to lower case letters. I introduced a new card game to the pre-schoolers of three letter words in lower case letters. It’s a great time filler and our big boys are showing to be fast learners of phonetical sounds and making simple words. We will be reading simple sentences before too long. Which is a perfect time to introduce a new concept to the older children I have been thinking about for a while … library books. We don’t do field trips here at GHD so we cannot actually go to the library. But we have been talking about the concept of the library and having to take care of other people’s books returning them promptly. I have a vast array of inexpensive booklets that I am beginning this concept with. I will send them home in their art folder in a baggie. Please look through the book with your child and help him to return the book on Monday in his art folder. We’ve also been working on opposite words and simple Spanish words during our literacy studies. Water is agua, milk is leche, drink is bebida, please is por favor. “Drink of water please” is “Bebida de agua por favor”.
The weather has been lovely this week and has allowed us to go outside every day. Even little Vance has enjoyed playing outside. We are still putting insect repellant on each child every day but still the mosquitoes seem to search for Walker and Bryce. We have missed Emma this week who has been ill. We are look forward to seeing her on Monday after being out for three days! Little Samantha has asked and asked, “where’s Emma?” So cute. I hope you are all enjoying the pamphlets from Weekly Reader. We will have a new one every week for the entire school year. I use these as a springboard for much of our talk and activities throughout the week. They are very inexpensive so even those that are obviously too young to understand get one. The children enjoy showing their parents their papers at such an early age. I hope you can enjoy these with your little ones.
On Monday we will begin collecting our money change for the “Change Is Good” campaign which is sponsored by the Community Partners of Dallas for the Child Protective Services. After careful consideration, I decided to have one jar for all. The event, I just discovered, is a sold out event but I will have pictures to show the children after it occurs in mid October. A fabulous opportunity to talk to our children about the way we can help those children less fortunate. So, we will begin our collection on Monday. BTW … This weekend you have an opportunity to view beautiful hot air balloons at the Plano Balloon Festival. http://www.planoballoonfest.org/schedule.html Maybe I’ll see you there.
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Daycare Forms
Grandma - Ms Karen
Grandma's Philosophy
Research shows at least 80 percent of a child's brain development occurs by age three & as much as 30% of that brain capacity can be lost without a nurturing environment that encourages learning during those early years. The first years bring "doors of opportunity” that open a child’s life forever. Working hand-in-hand with parents, we provide a balanced mix of love, playtime, rest, devotions and learning activities, always striving to foster self-esteem, in a Christian focused environment as our little ones walk through these early doors of opportunity.
About Grandma
I strive to honor God in everything I do. I enjoy motorcycles, motorboats and scuba diving. I love my husband and my family and I adore my grandchildren. I have always had a heart for children. If children are around, I'm frequently the one on the floor playing with them. After 20+ years in HR, Accounting & Office Management, I chose a self employed venue in child care with aspirations of making a difference in the lives of children. I am a certified Professional Child Care Administrator licensed with the TDPRS to care for twelve children, ages infant thru pre-kindergarten. I employ one full-time assistant. I love my job but it's hard to let go when it's time for the children to move on. Even though they are not my grandchildren, I bond with them as if they were. Alas, tis the nature of the business. But if I can instill in them an excitement for learning, sow a few Godly seeds in their lives, if they can see Jesus thru me, it's certainly worth it.
About Ms Meagan
Megan has worked with children for many years both in the day school and Bible school environment. After trying her hand as a Paralegal, she decided to change her career path, go back to school and is now enrolled in college courses both on-line and at night at a local community college. Megan is focusing on a degree in Early Childhood Education/Child Development. Working here at GHD will provide her opportunities of practical application and she likes the aspect that it will allow her time to work on her studies while the children are napping. She anticipates staying with us for three years while she continues her studies and then pursues a career in the field of Early Childhood Education. I’m thrilled with the direction God has led me in finding Megan.
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