Make a Wish!

I was so glad to get the Editorial turned in. I had a tough time writing it. Not only am I not a very strong writer I also have never had to write something like that. Even though is suppose to be difficult to make it short enough, I had trouble getting it to be long enough. I ended up about 50 words short, but I felt like if added anything after that it would have been worse not better.

This week at the day care the theme was Nursery Rhymes. The room was decorated with a pretend house, castles and other things to pretend. The children loved playing house, stacking blocks, and Legos during free play. They also had the chance to play with the biggest amount of Floam that I have seen in one spot, and make magic wands!

On Monday the story was The Gingerbread Man, the kids got to help read the story because they could remember to use the phrase “Run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.” Then they had the chance to decorate their own gingerbread man at the craft table.

On Tuesday at free play there was a table set up where they could draw letters in shaving cream. I remember doing this in school and loving playing in the white, fluffy stuff, but it had changed a little bit. They found a way to make it a no mess area. (A little disappointing but probably a good thing with such young children.) They put plastic on the table and then shaving cream then another sheet of plastic over that. So they could draw then wipe it away or change it, all while staying clean.

The story that day was Humpty Dumpty. After the story the teacher had a project for the children. First they had to work together to build up a “brick wall” with blocks. Then the teacher dropped an egg into a bucket of straw, sand, water and an empty bucket. Each time before it was dropped the children had to guess whether they thought the egg would break or not. They really enjoyed this project and were very interested. Very cool first view of a science project and a hypothesis – even though they don’t understand either of those things yet.  

When I Grow Up...

Daycare is over for the week and I thought I would get something written down before I forget some of the specifics. There were many exciting activities that I got to help out with! This week the theme is jobs. The children went over many different types of jobs on Monday. They helped read the story by guessing what person did each job. With such a span of ages (2.5-4 years), backgrounds, and learning levels some of the children sit and watch occasionally joining in, while others are very on top of everything giving out all of the answers. One child was answering everything the teacher said,” Jasper, you are doing such a wonderful job, lets see if the other kids can answer the next one.” When the next job came up he waited about ten seconds before whispering the answer. It was so funny because he wanted to tell them so badly.

The main job that they discussed was a firefighter. They had a pop up fire truck in the room that the children could pretend to drive around. Accompanying this were pretend firemen hats, water hoses and pretend houses that the kids could find to put the fires out.

Along with the fireman job the children learned about fire safety, like having an escape route in case of a fire. The teachers went over what the escape route was at school, then sent a paper home so that the families could talk about having a plan in case of a fire at home. Also, they practiced the “stop, drop and roll” method of getting fire out of your clothes.

The talked about calling 911 whenever there was any kind of an emergency – but only in a real emergency!

The other safety issue they d

When I left today the kids were going to get to a special visit from a firefighter. Also they hoped the rain would stop so they could see a real fire truck!

A Small Mix Up

FALL BREAK was wonderful! It was great to see my family and relax at home for a few days.

At the end of last week I had finally turned in all of my paperwork and testing to the daycare center.

Service wise this week started way easy. Since I usually do my service on Monday’s and Tuesday’s I didn’t have any days this week to go in to the center. I thought maybe if I was going to have extra time I would go in Thursday but would wait until Wednesday to decide. When I got up Wednesday morning for class I checked my email. I had one from the director of the center. She was informing me that she had received all of my paperwork. Also wondering when I would like to start and with what group of students I would like to work with. I was confused because I have been volunteering all along. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to be.

I was worried because I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble. I had been told with two groups combining this year there were some communication issues. This was obviously the case here. I was turning in paperwork to one person and setting up service time with another. Before replying I got advice from Cody on how to proceed.

I ended up saying that there must have been some communication issues because I had been volunteering while the paperwork was being filled out and that I was sorry for any miscommunication on my part. Today the director emailed me back saying “Thank you for connecting the dots for me. I hope your time is going well.” Even had a smiley face with it. I was very relieved to find no one upset and the problem was easily fixed.

Fast Moving!

Wow when thinking about this week of service I had some difficulties. Thinking back to Monday and Tuesday is a bit challenging, I had meant to get this down earlier and one thing after another seems to always slow me down a bit.

Okay here goes Monday morning I was up pretty early to get to PUSH and get a physical, TB test and a flu shot too. When my mother asked if I passed my physical I just told her that I could still touch my toes, which is always a plus. After getting that I had a bit a break and before class, so naturally I went and got Starbucks. Later that day I went to the daycare to help out. It was really nice out and the kid had a lot of fun when they got to play outside.

On Tuesday I was there during free play. This week’s theme was the zoo. The teachers are so creative when making these themes. They had paper cutouts of animals that “fenced in.” There was paper food to feed them also. On the floor there was a zoo carpet piece and plenty of animal piece for the children to play pretend with. This day they put hidden jewels in the sand table that the kids could search for. During free time there is also art projects, writing projects, puzzles, and books. 

On Thursday I went back to PUSH to get my TB test checked and to get my physical form finished up. After getting both of those I went and turned them into the daycare.

I need to email my supervisor because I will not have my Monday and Tuesday hours this week. I might go in later in the week to make those hours up.

I am still enjoying the daycare very much and I feel relieved that I am finally done with all of the paperwork!

Almost All Set

My supervisor wanted me to make a schedule of when to come in so that she knew when she needed other help. I said I would pick two days each week. Sometimes I can do more than that but I don’t want to commit to more than I can handle. So right now I am going in on Monday’s and Tuesday’s, which will be three and a half hours a week. Then if I ever have extra time and want to stop in that’s fine too.

Last week was pretty fun. I know most all of the children’s names now. It is much easier to communicate with them if you have a name. On Mayday’s I am there when they are outside playing. They have a sandbox, climbing/slide area and a kitchen. Also, there are plenty of wagons, trikes and things to push around. The playground is new but has a few safety problems, so the children have to be watched pretty closely.

On Tuesday the kids had a few special guests. They got to go into a playroom area and learn to play soccer. Being so young it wasn’t actual soccer but they got a few basics, like kicking and stopping the ball. They each got to make a goal at the end also. Most of them really enjoyed it and participated in the games.

Tomorrow morning I have to get up insanely early (I am not a morning person.) to be at PUSH by 8:15. I am going to get my TB test and physical. Hopefully completing all of the requirements to keep volunteering.  I am not sure exactly how they do a TB test but I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.

Excited to see the kids this week for what I’m sure will be another adventure. I’ll let you all know how it goes!