Peter CottonTail
Have you ever waited and waited for something to happen and each day got up just knowing that ” today would be the day ?” That is how we feel around here. We don’t do anything different than any other day when we aren’t expecting anyone, its just an anxious feeling that comes each year when our QA visitors come. I don’t know if I have ever explained why they come. I know I have given you general ideas of what they do when they visit. ( count toys – I need 32 soft toys. etc… listen not only to WHAT we say but HOW we say it. and check our records ) Most facilities are licensed with minimum standards. That is a book put out by licensing that mainly covers safety issues to make sure a child should not be harmed while they are in care of a FCCH . Then there are quality standards which are a step higher than minimum standards. In a whole separate book they address things that not only keep children safe but also enrich and help build a strong foundation academically and socially . After spending the day in a home or center an monitoring all the indicators a facility must score an overall 4 out of 7 to attain a ” quality rating.” As an ABC site, our home must garnish a 5 out of 7. So ABC sites are even a step higher. Not receiving a score of 5 can affect my funding for the following year and the funding can even be withdrawn. So… now do you understand why there is a little anxiety attached to this visit ?
Blah Blah.. I know y’all are sick of hearing me whine about it. It should be over soon .
Some of the other activities on the table today were a book about real rabbits. It has the rabbit from birth to 6 weeks. VERY COOL! A sorting colored chicks game . ( Does anyone remember getting colored chicks for Easter ? Funny thing is I never remember what happened to mine… hmm…. ) Dillion also had fun with the play carrots on the table for counting as he turned them into carrot fingers !
Do you see the rabbit puppy peeking out from under the scarf ?
This is one of my new favorite pieces today! I bought this grass a while back just because I liked it. The kids have moved it to many places. Today I took out the little play carrots and wondered ” what can I do with these…. ?” And the idea came to make a carrot garden . I wrote numbers on the carrots and the kids can line them up in the grass in order.
I was so proud of Dillion in this picture! I asked him to go get the journals and it took him a long time. When he returned he has only the kids journals who were inside at the time . Normally we bring the whole basket and I go through them and lay them on the table. Smart Smart boy to go through 16 journals and pick out his friends that are inside with him !
This morning we completed the bunny art project we started yesterday. The kids cut out a bunny head and added a face. I think they turned out very cute.
We also graphed jelly beans by color. The funny part of the morning was listening to Katelyn at the table with Randy when it was her turn to come to small group. She turned to Randy very serious and said ” It’s ok. Don’t be upset. I will be back ” and then putting her hands to her face to whisper said ” and I will save you some jelly beans.” It was the cutest thing ever. She did return to the table after small group and offer to share her candy with Randy but since he has recently started Weight Watchers online – he declined. Randy’s low voice can sound a little grouchy at time but these kids love him and I think they really think he is 4.
During circle time today we did a magnetic story of Peter CottonTail. That is the LONGEST story ever. If you want to show your child a clip of it — here is one. The moral of the story is : Always obey your parents.
We also read a story about Rodney Rabbit who was very slow. He entered a race. I asked all the kids if they thought he would win and no one did. In the end, Rodney did win the race because since he was always slow and noticed things, he knew short cuts that the other rabbits did not know. Being first isn’t always the best thing , by running you sometimes miss important stuff !
As we sang ” Little Bunny Foo Foo” today Emeri said ” Oh Miss Debbie, we should read that book!” I knew exactly which book she meant. On our leprechaun hunt we purchased the book ” Little Bunny Foo Foo.” I haven’t brought it back out because of the ending ( THE FAIRY GETS EATTEN !) But ,since Emeri was smart enough to put the song we were singing together with a past experience, I wanted to reward her . Don’t get me wrong, the kids love it. Now, the book will go back in it’s little hidey hole. Why you ask? Ask me at that very moment when Emeri asked for the book I wasn’t SUPER happy that the QA person wasn’t here. We lose points for scary things – such as dinosaurs with huge scary teeth or monster books.) I do plan to see Marcy tonight at a training and plan to take the book and ask her what she thinks. It will be interesting to see if my intuition is right.
I made shaker eggs today to go with the song we are doing about ” shake your eggs.” I have made them once already this year and the kids opened the eggs and we had peas everywhere. I had hot glued the eggs but hot glue and plastic don’t work well together.
I watched some of the girls for a while today having a party. Guess what they were eating ?
Don’t forget tomorrow is ” The Great Egg Drop.” Please let your child be part of the process of helping to decide what to cushion their egg with. You place an UNCOOKED egg in something that you and your child think will keep it from breaking if dropped from 5 foot up. This will be fun !