Tempera Cakes 02/09/2012
 Being alone with five children all day doesn't always motivate me to bring out the "messy" art because I know what awaits me when they all finish at the same time, but I can't deny such fun! So I want to share a little secret to anyone out there who is affraid of paint.
I get it. Paint IS messy, it gets on your clothes, walls, floor, chairs,.....hair even! Don't worry. I have a solution (kinda). USE TEMPERA CAKES!! I love these! All you need is some soap and water to clean up the mess and IT IS GONE. Add Comment Back in motion 05/27/2011
I knew it had been a long time since my last post but geez, I didn't realize it had been a whole year. So much has happened since my last post(s). Grace has grown a whole year older, my feet are well grounded into running my business, and oh yeah, I have a newborn! It's wierd to say that we are a family of four now. It'll take some getting used to our new routine of having an infant again. Sometime soon I'll get back into the grove of my love for cooking, experimenting and bloging. I'm not sure if my pregnancy is entirely to blame for slacking off on spending time on my blog, but it sure did take a lot of my energy. All that extra weight in my abdomen just didn't work too well with my hobby. It has been two months since I gave birth to my son and I am barely starting to feel more like myself again. Thank God! Being pregnant was such a wonderful experience and there isn't anything in the world I would trade for it, but I was starting to miss feeling normal. Moodswings however, I would trade. It is so true that one woman can have entirely different pregnancies. Not only can pregnancies be different but babies as well. I've seen so many different temperaments in children in my line of work, and it's an amazing thing to see it in my own children. Can't wait to see what my little man will be like as at three :) Keeping busy 04/20/2010
So much has happend in a matter of one week. As mentioned in another post 4'cs had been keeping me pretty busy with training for the new Head Start Program. Now that children have been placed in our programs it's just a matter of getting to know their routine and individual personalities. It is definitely helpful that I already had a routine for my daughter, but it changes a bit when you have new children over and your trying to implement a developmentally appropriate curriculum and schedule for two two-year-olds, a one-year-old and an infant. I sure have been put to the test these first three business days. Good thing I love a challenge :) Last week they were only with me for two days so I figured it would be best to just let them settle in and get comfortable here while providing them with one or two activities each day. We're still getting to know each other and they're still exploring this new environment (and the new toys we recieved from 4c's yesterday), so next week curriculum planning is on. By the way....I'm in the process of creating another blog site where I will be documenting my experience as an Early Head Start Provider, favorite activities, and much more. Eventually The Preschooler Blog will be moving there. I'll let you know when it's ready for viewing :) Foam paint brushes 04/07/2010
If you happen to have some foam (or foam sponges too) and disposable straws on hand, here's a cool tip for a painting project I got from my favorite teacher resource center RAFT. If you're a teacher or daycare provider and live in the Bay Area, YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS PLACE OUT!  Scissors 04/02/2010
There was a time when I would have panicked at the sight of a 2-year-old holding a pair of scissors. Can you believe I was the kind of person (naive and inexperienced) that thought children under the age of 5 had no reason to be using scissors? Silly, I know. My fear was always that a finger would get sliced or a child would go home from school with a new haircut (which has happened before), or worse that they would run with scissors, so why bother, right? Lucky for my daughter I learned A LONG time ago that isn't always the case.  L is for Limes 03/27/2010
 Waste not I say!
Normally I don't like using food as art material but in cases like this I think it's okay. When I cut open these Limes they were DRY and ready to go into to trash. Then I realized how I could still get some use out of them. We have been doing activities centered around the letter L this week and so it was actually perfect timing. We haven't taught Grace the word Lime either, so that became the word of the day for us. For the small wedge pieces I stuck corn-on-the-cob handles (can't remember what they are called) on the thickest part of the skin on the side to make them easier for her to handle. Little Hands Remind Me 03/23/2010
 Like any normal mom, I sometimes get frustrated, tired, sad, lonely, or maybe a bit cookey. But then I walk down the hall toward the front door and stop to look at this picture hanging on the wall. It reminds me of how much has changed, how much I have grown with my daughter, and why I shouldn't lose it. These little hands remind me of my duty as her mother. I see them again as I put her to bed and notice how different they are, but still so small. 2.3 years of lifes experiences. 2.3 years of learning how to be a mom. They remind me why I love what I do. Not Just Scribbles 03/15/2010
 The simplist form of expression from a young child can be seen in what some people might consider scribbling. At first glance we interpret these scribbles as random lines and circles sporadically written on paper. We may even become annoyed when we see that paper after paper the results are the same. A few dots here, a few dots there, a line here, a line there, all in a series of 3-7 papers for something that could have been done on one. In all my years of teaching young children though, I have learned that there is more to these drawings than I used to think.
A Happy Ant 03/09/2010
 With all the rain that we have been seeing here in the Bay Area there has been a small number of these uninvited guests looking for a dry place to hang out. Unfortunatelly for them I already sprayed our home to prevent a mass invasion of these little critters. I love Ortho Home Defense Max by the way! That stuff worked great! Every now and then though, Grace will find one random lonely Ant crawling on the floor, the wall, the carpet, or the tub...you get the idea. Usually her body (and a little bit of verbal) language go something like this.....
Hello little Ant. I see you moving but where are you going? And why don't you want me to pick you up? There! Got you! Oh maybe not. Wait....ugh. Kay now! Argh.... Gotcha! Mommy Ant! She shows me her finger which now has a squished Ant on it. "How should I respond to this" I ask myself. The only thing I can think of is something I learned from one of my former professors, which is to go with it and turn this into a fun and educational lesson. This is a classic example of what Early Childhood Educators call an Emergent Curriculum, which is taking a situation or experience such as this and turning it into a lesson plan on the spot. So we briefly inspect the Ant (what's left of it), and find some legs and a body. I then get out some construction paper, cut the body as a whole (she's 2, doesn't need to be perfect), make about 10 legs, grab some googely eyes for fun, give her some glue and begin to work on putting this Ant creation together. She arranged and glued, and I asked where the legs, arms, and eyes might go. I may have cheated by drawing in a smile to indicate where the head should be, but either way we got some pretty good vocabulary practice in and she did do all the work herself. Not bad ha?! Thank You 02/11/2010
 We went to the beach the other day just the three of us and it was a beautiful day! It was a little late in the day but we made the trip worthwhile since we hadn't been there for almost a year now. Come to think of it, the last time we went to the beach was for our cousins' birthday and although it was a fun night in front of a bonfire, the night ended with an unexpected nightcap. Let's just say we don't have our tent anymore. This time we went during the day. It was the same week as the Mavericks competition so the waves were beautiful. The air was misty with just a slight breeze that was refreshing and so very missed. We kept wishing going home meant down the street in one of those houses with a full panoramic view of that beautiful scenery.  Maybe one day......hopefully. For now we can enjoy each others company as a family, away from the TV, away from the chores and errands that I have come to accept as an (almost) everyday ritual, and take a few well deserved deep breaths...refresh our thoughts.  I love it here. I can have fun with my little girl in this place without a worry in my mind. What is it about the beach that forces us to step out of our "to do" mode and into a "playful" one? There have been times where I have asked myself if being a stay-at-home mom was the right choice to make. When I think about the job I left, "yes" comes to my mind 100%, however remembering the fact that it adds a little more pressure to my husband, I can't help but second guess this decision. Yet in the time that it takes me to take off my shoes and socks and get knee deep in that sand with my baby, all is well. Nothing can touch me. I'm away. I find me. A mom blessed to have this wonderful family and the time to spend it with my beautiful baby in such a marvelous place.  Soaking up these moments is all I can think of now. "Thank you" is what I wish I could say to the angels that have given me this life. My husband included.  |
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