Reflections on a Busy Year

What a difference a year makes! At this time last year, we were taking a deep breath and trying to relax a bit. The previous semester had been rather intense and we had made several changes to our daily schedule and routines as we focused on developing coping skills with some of our more intense personalities. Many of them moved up to the preschool in January and their replacements temperaments were more flexible. The spring had its challenges but by summer, we were able to move past most of those and settled into a calmer routine. Even the introduction of one year olds in the fall and a change of classroom space didn't do much to disturb the harmony we had achieved. Even with all of the challenges, we accomplished a lot last year.  I can't tell you the last time we used time out. Partly because it wasn't needed but also because,even with the challenges we were presented with, we learned that time out really wasn't helping.  Keeping the children engaged goes a lot further in developing social skills, critical thinking, problem solving, language and all those skills and concepts we deem necessary for children to be successful. Here is a look at some of the engaging activities we offered in 2011, most of which have not been featured in my blog to date.

Snow

Exploring tubes

Our favorite book My Truck is Stuck

Snow painting

Vehicle painting

Building from plans

Dance class

Tae Kwan Do

Dress-ups

Painting our construction site (from a plan)

Visit to the lake

Making chapati

Flower shop

Teddy Bear Picnic with the librarians

Preparing the garden

Planting seeds

Trucks and play dough

Summer picnic

We LOVE balls of all kinds

Assembling our new stroller for the little ones

Making applesauce

Apple prints

Cinnamon painting (from Pinterest)

Balls and tubes

Apple size sorting

Baby bath time

Glue pictures

Drums

Sensory steps (from Pinterest)

Straws (from Pinterest)

Ball painting

Homemade stacking rings

Play dough with tools

Musical instruments

Trying to work together to push the wagon

Water play

Doctoring my hurt knee

Raking to stay warm