The preschoolers were also kind enough to share the big sensory bag they made. The younger babies especially enjoyed crawling and rolling on it!
Friday, March 11, 2016
Painting with cereal?
We have been enjoying the new art and sensory experiences Teacher Rosemary has been bringing to the classroom. Recently, she made edible paint from rice cereal and food coloring. The children enjoyed the different texture of the paint, as well as the different brushes and sponges they got to experiment with.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Sensory Box
Teacher Rosemary made us an awesome sensory box! Exploring different textures has been a big hit in this room for the past couple months. This box has lots of different materials for us to feel, mirrors to look in, and hanging bells to ring. What fun!
The curled ribbon bounces back when we pull it.
Thank you, Teacher Rosemary, for sharing your creativity with us!
The curled ribbon bounces back when we pull it.
Don't you wish YOU could play inside here??
E feels the squishy bath mat on the top and our other friend E starts to crawl inside.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Welcome new teachers!
Happy new year to everyone and I hope that everyone enjoyed and rested in the holiday season. We are so excited for 2016!
I love the following quote. We try to tell our kids this and it is great for us to follow these ideas too:
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.
By Neil Gaiman
2016 is off to a wonderful start for us, including some exciting changes. As most of you know, we have been interviewing for a while in our quest to find the right people to join our team. We were looking for a full-time person for Purple Room because Teacher Rosemary needed to reduce her hours, and for one teacher each for Rose Room and Green Room as their enrollments have grown.
We deeply appreciate your patience during the hiring process, and especially those of you who helped refer candidates to us. We are very happy to announce that we are now fully staffed (yay!!!!) and ask you to join us in welcoming our new teachers to the team!
Welcome to Teacher Vianna in Purple Room
Teacher Vianna started substituting for us the last week of December and is now officially the co-teacher with Teacher Rashida in Purple Room. Her hours are 9:30-6:00 daily, so those of you with later pick-ups will get to consistently see her in the evenings. Vianna has a degree in ECE and several years of teaching experience. We are excited to welcome her to the preschool team!
But what about Teacher Rosemary?
Teacher Rosemary has begun phasing out of Purple Room as Vianna phases in, but rest assured, she will still be with us every day. Starting February 1, Teacher Rosemary will become our "Art & Science Teacher in Residence," meaning that she will be rotating through each classroom (probably one day/week in each room) to work on special art and science projects with all of the children. This has always been one of her greatest strengths, so now all the rooms will get to benefit from her curriculum talent!
Welcome to Teacher Kayleigh in Rose Room (and helping preschool and Green Room)
Teacher Kayleigh joined us full-time in mid-October. She is the assistant teacher in Rose Room in the mornings, helps Green Room with their lunches, and then supports preschool in the afternoons. Talk about multi-tasking! We appreciate her flexibility and willingness to serve as the "bridge" or familiar face for children who are transitioning between classrooms. Kayleigh is new to this field professionally but grew up with younger siblings and has worked with young children for a long time in other settings. She is Teacher Ramona's daughter and Teacher Julia's big sister. Welcome, Kayleigh!
Welcome to Teacher Katie (Green Room)
Teacher Katie joined Green Room in mid-November. Her hours are 9:00-3:00 Monday through Friday. Katie has a degree in music and is currently a part-time student working toward her Master's in clinical psychology. She has experience working with toddlers in a summer program and is continuing to take classes in child development as well. She has a specific interest in (and talent for!) working with young children. We are so glad she joined our team!
Referrals are still welcome.
We don't have any more full-time or part-time regular staff openings, but we are always open to substitutes, student teachers, or volunteers. If you know anyone who needs or wants experience with young children, we are always happy to share what we do with the next generation of teachers.
I am very excited to welcome Teachers Vianna, Kayleigh, and Katie to our Creative Minds family!
Richa Kapur
I love the following quote. We try to tell our kids this and it is great for us to follow these ideas too:
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.
By Neil Gaiman
2016 is off to a wonderful start for us, including some exciting changes. As most of you know, we have been interviewing for a while in our quest to find the right people to join our team. We were looking for a full-time person for Purple Room because Teacher Rosemary needed to reduce her hours, and for one teacher each for Rose Room and Green Room as their enrollments have grown.
We deeply appreciate your patience during the hiring process, and especially those of you who helped refer candidates to us. We are very happy to announce that we are now fully staffed (yay!!!!) and ask you to join us in welcoming our new teachers to the team!
Welcome to Teacher Vianna in Purple Room
Teacher Vianna started substituting for us the last week of December and is now officially the co-teacher with Teacher Rashida in Purple Room. Her hours are 9:30-6:00 daily, so those of you with later pick-ups will get to consistently see her in the evenings. Vianna has a degree in ECE and several years of teaching experience. We are excited to welcome her to the preschool team!
But what about Teacher Rosemary?
Teacher Rosemary has begun phasing out of Purple Room as Vianna phases in, but rest assured, she will still be with us every day. Starting February 1, Teacher Rosemary will become our "Art & Science Teacher in Residence," meaning that she will be rotating through each classroom (probably one day/week in each room) to work on special art and science projects with all of the children. This has always been one of her greatest strengths, so now all the rooms will get to benefit from her curriculum talent!
Welcome to Teacher Kayleigh in Rose Room (and helping preschool and Green Room)
Teacher Kayleigh joined us full-time in mid-October. She is the assistant teacher in Rose Room in the mornings, helps Green Room with their lunches, and then supports preschool in the afternoons. Talk about multi-tasking! We appreciate her flexibility and willingness to serve as the "bridge" or familiar face for children who are transitioning between classrooms. Kayleigh is new to this field professionally but grew up with younger siblings and has worked with young children for a long time in other settings. She is Teacher Ramona's daughter and Teacher Julia's big sister. Welcome, Kayleigh!
Welcome to Teacher Katie (Green Room)
Teacher Katie joined Green Room in mid-November. Her hours are 9:00-3:00 Monday through Friday. Katie has a degree in music and is currently a part-time student working toward her Master's in clinical psychology. She has experience working with toddlers in a summer program and is continuing to take classes in child development as well. She has a specific interest in (and talent for!) working with young children. We are so glad she joined our team!
Referrals are still welcome.
We don't have any more full-time or part-time regular staff openings, but we are always open to substitutes, student teachers, or volunteers. If you know anyone who needs or wants experience with young children, we are always happy to share what we do with the next generation of teachers.
I am very excited to welcome Teachers Vianna, Kayleigh, and Katie to our Creative Minds family!
Richa Kapur
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Texture!
We love to explore different textures and materials...
And who doesn't love to be tickled?
We have so much fun in Green Room every day!
Big pom poms and strips of paper are so fun!
D is focusing on running the strip of paper through his fingers while E feels the soft pom poms.
Of course, dumping is half the fun!
This next scene happened after nap. We were exploring textured strips of paper and artificial flowers. Toddlers always enjoy taking things out of the bag and (sometimes) putting them back.
Our newest member, E, exploring carpets and balls:
We all love to read!
We have so much fun in Green Room every day!
Friday, November 6, 2015
Exploring Paint with Hands and Brushes
Fingerpaint is a delightful multi-sensory experience for all ages. It's a tactile (touch) sensation that's very appealing. It's colorful and makes visually interesting patterns on the paper, the table, and our bodies. It smells nice, it tastes interesting (mmmm!), and it even makes a sound when it squelches through my fingers. How delightful!
It's smooth and squishy...
It feels colder than most of us expected at first!
Why does my hand look different?
Our hands make excellent natural built-in paint brushes!
Tearing the paper makes a fun sound too!
Sometimes two hands are better than one...
Painting works our fine motor muscles when we control our fingers in the paint or hold a small paintbrush. We also work on our gross motor skills when we stretch our arms to paint big marks!
Painting together makes this a fun social time too. Look what we made!
Even the smallest details are interesting at this age. After exploring the paint, R became fixated on the tape holding the paper to the table. She ran her fingertips over its edges and its texture, maybe noticing that its bright blue color didn't move under her touch like the bright blue paint did. Where adults see tape, babies see something new to explore. We are so lucky to spend our days with these amazing babies!
It's smooth and squishy...
It feels colder than most of us expected at first!
Why does my hand look different?
Our hands make excellent natural built-in paint brushes!
Tearing the paper makes a fun sound too!
Sometimes two hands are better than one...
Painting works our fine motor muscles when we control our fingers in the paint or hold a small paintbrush. We also work on our gross motor skills when we stretch our arms to paint big marks!
Painting together makes this a fun social time too. Look what we made!
Even the smallest details are interesting at this age. After exploring the paint, R became fixated on the tape holding the paper to the table. She ran her fingertips over its edges and its texture, maybe noticing that its bright blue color didn't move under her touch like the bright blue paint did. Where adults see tape, babies see something new to explore. We are so lucky to spend our days with these amazing babies!
Exploring Ice
Teacher Richa brought ice cubes into the classroom today as a sensory activity. Naturally this requires close supervision, but the children had a wonderful time exploring this new material!
Ice feels cold and hard, yet watery at the same time...
Ice is slippery and hard to hold!
Ooh, it feels so nice and cold in my mouth!
As with any sensory activity, some children jump right in while others like to observe for a while first.
Even our youngest friends were curious about this natural sensory experience.
Ice feels cold and hard, yet watery at the same time...
Ice is slippery and hard to hold!
Ooh, it feels so nice and cold in my mouth!
As with any sensory activity, some children jump right in while others like to observe for a while first.
Even our youngest friends were curious about this natural sensory experience.
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