A Time of Growth and Change

It had been a while since I last posted on my blog. A lot has happened many changes to become accustomed. I have switched to work as a supply Early Childhood teacher with my local school board in the full day kindergarten program. I have remained on call if available and needed at the day care. For now the position is on call and a bit of an adjustment from working guarenteed full time hours at the day care each day. I receive call the night before or the morning of to advise were I will be teaching. It was a bit scary at first not knowing were I was going, the routines or another staff member. I love it now as I enjoy the challenge new experiences, children, staff, and schools each day.

I have created a few resources for dramatic play that I will update and post soon. I also made a few Cricut Classmates Word Builder games using two shapes the children could sound out and match using the letters and blends of the month. I do not have picture of the games yet as the children enjoyed them so much I gave them to the teacher to use on going in her classroom. The children enjoyed matching the scoops on the ice cream cone, the train cars, bird houses, fish, and the caterpillars. The games captivated the children. To make them last I laminated the games and attached Velcro circles to aid in the ease of use of the game.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Black Friday! More updates to come soon.

My New Room and Age Group

Well change has happened. I have transitioned into an Infant Teacher at my day care. So I have redecorated my new room and the Infant sleep room. I hope you enjoy the pictures. It was hard work and I had fun doing it.

I looked through the Cricut cartridges I have on my Gypsy to see what would draw the infants interest. I found the Sesame Street Characters as they are known to the infants as they are on their diapers. The word infant came from the Sesame Street Font cartridge. Both my infants and former toddlers are drawn visually to look at the letters due to the visual knowledge of the characters they are familiar with.

 The Sesame Street letters are at a key point in the room. They can be seen everywhere in the room. The children can see them while eating, playing, and reading.

I made poster cards of the basics. Seen in the photo below is contrast with black and white flowers. It also introduces the number basics 1-9. Beside this is a poster card of the basic shapes and colours: blue, green, orange, purple, red, yellow, triangle, square, oval, circle, rectangle, and star. The children are young for these concepts but their eyes are drawn to look at, point, and trace the shapes. This is definitely the start to introducing these concepts.

A close-up of the posters.

 I made a birthday display. I cannot show my completed displays due to privacy rights with the child's photo. I will be adding the child's photo between their name and birthday. Below the birthday of the child I plan on attaching a cut out of their child's hand prints to truly create a benchmark of their size and look at this landmark age.

On the bottom edge of the cupboard you can also see more of my mobiles made from my classroom children's art. The infants painted the Cricut cartridge maple leaves with both their fingers and their paint brushes. The infants experimented with how to hold and use the paint brush as they created their leaf masterpiece.

 I made the children cubby tags with the Cricut cartridges. I used the Cricut machine to cut the apples with the child's name cut out of each apple. I used black and red scrapbook paper to create this item. Beside the cubbies I made a poster of the Alphabet from the Winnie the Pooh Font Cartridge. I made this out of the colours yellow, orange, red, green, and blue. This introduces the colour and the alphabet letter to the infants.

 A close-up of the cubby tags.

 A close-up of the Alphabet poster.

Our classroom patio door. A nice window to the outside world and nature. We look at this window everyday as we interact and play. We use this patio window/door to go outside and play in our play yard. It is a focal point in the room. I made 4 Winne the Pooh characters from the Winne the Pooh font cartridge. The characters are baby versions of Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. Both the infant and the toddlers are drawn to look and and touch the pictures on the window. I laminated each character with the Your Story so that I could tape around the images edges. The complete edge taping prevents my infant friends from being able to pick or tear the pictures. It also makes moving the pictures to different spots in the daycare possible too without damage to the art.

 A close-up of Pooh and Eeyore.

A close-up of Piglet and Tigger.

 Our sleep room door. I made the new sign for the door. I used the Hello Kitty Font to make the flower shape letter. I made Winnie the pooh shape from the Winne the Pooh cartridge.

 A close-up of the sign.

I made crib labels for the crib the infants use. I used Velcro circles to attach the children's names at the bottom of the square. I used the Velcro circles at the top to attach the Winnie the pooh characters to make them interchangeable on the Scrapbook paper backgrounds. All the Winnie-the-Pooh character shapes are off the Winnie the Pooh Cricut Cartridge.

A close- up of the Piglet crib sign.

The crib sign above the crib.

A close-up of the Eeyore crib sign.

The Eeyore sign above the crib.

A close-up of the Tigger Crib sign.

The Tigger crib sign above the crib.

 As the children in my room are not all full time or everyday I have other names of children that attend part-time. I attached on the wall Velcro dots to attach part-time children names not in attendance that day. This allows me to switch the crib labels each day to the children actually attending my classroom that day.

Updates to my Toddler Classroom

 Here is the updates to my classroom I made over these past months. I added a beautiful Asian fan I bought at a garage sale to add to the multicultural elements. I continued to make murals with my toddlers (ages 18 months-2 1/2 years). The toddlers helped paint the backgrounds. They helped paint and color Cricut cut shapes. Last they helped decide on the location of the shapes and glue them. My class made a beautiful work of art every time. A few more works of arts are also included in the update.

 To add to the science elements in the room I put up Velcro circles and added pictures I printed off the Internet and laminated with the Your Story machine. The children loved looking at the pictures and being able to rearrange and redecorate the room. I also at a garage sale found Plastic science sheets with 3D raised parts of  Zoology and Plant pictures. The textures of the 3D elements of the sheets interested the children. I also put these plastic sheets up in the same window as the laminated photos seen in the photo.

When the children showed interest in the Velcro dots and decorating I added the dots to the front of the fridge. This activity built the children's fine motor skills. I also put both the rough and smooth sides of the Velcro dots on the fridge and pictures so the children could learn to notice the differences. The children learned how the Velcro works. They learned and experimented with the Velcro. If their picture did not stick the first time they tried again with the other kind of dot (rough/smooth).

 I added to the top of this white shelf multicultural pictures from a banner I bought at Scholar's Choice. The next photo shows a close up of the top of the shelf.

 To allow the children to see their art work as they arrive at the daycare I put a display on the window. The lettering is store bought. I had it before I bought the Cricut.  On the Cricut I made the train. I had the train incorporate math and the numbers 1 to 5 on one side and symbols on the other side. The children decorated the symbols and numbers by marble painting them. I taped the shapes to construction paper and rolled it inside a pringles chip can. I had the children pick the color of paint and I put some in the can. I taped on the lid and gave it to the children. They shook it and rolled it and then I took the masterpiece out and let it dry. When the shapes were dry I put them on the train. It came out beautifully.

 To add to interest in the room I added mobiles. The shapes used were mostly off the Cricut. The children created crafts and once a month I rotated the art on the mobiles. I have had up stars, birds (class favorite), trees, bugs, and paper airplanes. The children are so proud to be able to look at their art and remember making it.

 I added to my science area by putting up picture cards I made by laminating pictures out of old Wild, Owl, Chickadee, and other Nature magazines. I placed the pictures on scrap booking paper that matched a color within the picture. The Your Story machine has been a valuable investment to me as it enabled me to have my things last through more than a week with very curious young children.

 Here is another example of a group of photos I put in the window to encourage learning and questions with my children. The week I put this up we were going for a nature walk near the end of the week. I provided the pictures so we could talk about and name the creatures and then when we go for the walk the children could help name them and/or find them as we go for our stroller ride.

 I like to take pictures and my children love to look at pictures. So I printed out a small collection of my pictures and brought them in. To ensure the pictures last I attached them to scrapbook paper and then trimmed them to fit inside clear protective binder sleeves. I last taped the sleeves shut so little hands could not take the pages out. They children loved this display as the  parakeet picture reminds the children of a special visit they had with Desi the parakeet. My mom brought in her bird Desi the bird in the photo and he gave each child a kiss on their finger. Desi's picture drew the children in and then they started to point and ask about the other pictures. This display was such a literacy builder. The children were interested in the pictures and focused their attention on developing their literacy so they could communicate about the pictures.

Here are another couple examples of my classroom murals made with my classroom children.

The focus of the first mural was on birds. The children showed an interest in the robins we can see out our window so I followed their lead and provided the materials for this craft.

The focus for this mural was summer. We were talking about what we do in the summer and how we have fun. So the children told me or showed me what we can do. I looked for shapes on my Cricut cartridges and cut them out. The children painted the background by sponge painting. After the children's nap the children  glued their summer shapes on their masterpiece.

 To add to the blocks and building area I made picture cards of some of the wonders of the world. I printed them off the Internet and laminated them with the Your Story machine. The children found interesting and colorful. This also gave the room more multicultural elements.

 I added to my rooms shapes the children had interest in. The toddlers seemed drawn to trains and Thomas the Tank Engine. I made the name of my classroom age group out of the engine, caboose, and letter train cars. The children loved the train and it was a key element in I-Spy games too as it incorporated colors and letters in our room to look for. I also made shapes the children often use such as the  paint, paint brush, and crayons.

 On my classroom door I bought a multicultural sign as I love that it incorporates sign language in the spelling of the word welcome. The whole sign language alphabet it on the back too. It is a great resource to have. I made the bright orange and black clock  and schedule sign to draw attention to visitor to my room. This helped prevent nap interruptions. It also helps parents know approximately when we did activities. That way if parents wanted to drop by and see a certain activity they know when it will be.

 I added to my programming board. I added from the Toy Story Cricut Cartridge Buzz and Woody. This helps the older toddlers that are past Elmo and are now interested in movies, space, and Toy Story.

 I modified a poster I bought and had laminated at Scholar's Choice. I made the numbers 01-09 with red and black scrap booking paper. I laminated the numbers and background paper with the Your Story and then applied the Velcro circles beside the number on the poster. The children had fun playing with this activity. They used the Velcro well. The younger toddlers use the Velcro and moved the numbers around the different Velcro circles on the poster. The older toddlers looked over the poster and actively looked to match the number card to the spot on the poster it belonged. This is a strength building activity in many areas of child development.

Incorporating Math Activities in everyday learning and play

In an effort to expand my classroom children to numbers and math I introduced the Ruler. I made a display on top of one of my low bookshelfs. I used packing tape to secure the ruler to the surface.

Next I used colourful letters to attract the children's gaze and attention. I used the Cricut cartridge  Makin' the Grade.
It worked as my children in the classroom have all come over to the area to look at it and talk about it. It is from here I can scaffold/support their learning and extend the activity by introducing different things the children can measure. This follows by a size of the object being found. First the size is a number in Centimeters or Inches. Then I ask "is this Big or Small?" My children look at me and I suggest we measure another item. After this we can discuss the Big and Small characterisitics and put the two items beside each other. We talk about the two number measurement of the items and compare it to the numbers Scholar's Choice poster that shows the number in multiples of items. We point and count out each number that was found in the measuring and work on learning which number is big and which is little.

Dress-up Snowman Magnet set-Cute Christmas Fine Motor activity and Creative

The Christmas and Winter Creative Bug bit again.

This snowman and the clothes are from the Seasonal 2009/2010 Solution Cartridge "When it is cold outside". It is so cute. I made one snow person and a variety clothes to match. I attached magnet pieces I had bought from the local dollar store. Last I laminated each piece with the "Your Story" to ensure that the pieces are durable and the magnets are not pulled off.

Christmas Bullentin Boards

I caught the Christmas Creating Bug. Here are the Christmas Bulletin Board updates I made for my room.

The Snow Flake Border is off of the Winter Frolic cartridge. The Ornaments is off the same cartriddge. The holy border is off this cartridge too. The snow person is off the holiday solution cartridge that is from last you \"When it is cold outside."