Our Photographers

One more thing today: I love taking pictures and I take lots of pictures in general but this time I have help. My friend Mr. Allen is not around during Summer so I get to rely on Miss Kelli and Miss Amber. They have been doing a great job capturing the right moments so I can share them with you!

Thanks to my assistants!!!

Amber Hiller and her little brother.

Kelli Klopstein and her nephew.

Aquatic Center

Today we went to the Aquatic Center and the kids enjoyed the day!

We talked about Pool Safety before we left and they were great!

Some kids came down the slide for the first time. Emily Zehren, who is a Life Guard and also teaches Swimming Lessons to some of our kids helped them a little bit but after that they all knew what to do.

I am sure we are sending some tired kids home tonight!

The ones who did not come to the pool with us went to the Library and Pet Shop with Mrs. Z.

Next time we visit the pool we will bring them along so we can rotate the group and everybody gets a chance to go.

Sorry for not having our pictures on the blog. We took the camera along but we totally forgot to take pictures! Next time! I promise!

Tomorrow we will have our second day of Piano Lessons and we will have pictures of that as well!

Discovery World

Our field trip to Discovery World was another successful adventure.
First of all I would like to thank and compliment all the parents for such great kids.
They were very good, listening, following directions and paying attention to all that was being explained.
We had a great time watching them, learning from their reactions, admiring their expressions.
They are all born "LEARNERS" and it is amazing to see how curiosity and chance of investigating together make the perfect mix!


They learned how the energy produced by walking really fast on a giant "hamster wheel" could light a bulb.




Through games and sounds they had fun while learning and experimenting.

We had the chance of petting sharks, sting rays, starfish, sea urchins and slugs. We also learned that shark like the water way colder than sting rays. They also have a very different texture, not to mention the slug.
Some kids didn't feel like touching the animals so they looked from the other side and had a great time as well.



The water tunnel is one of the most interesting parts of Discovery World and it gave us the feeling of being under water, really close to the fish. Such an amazing display!



Being on a boat was also part of our trip. Kids got to enjoy walking around and exploring the ship, its parts and shapes.


The HIVE was a big hit!
A 3D experience where the kids got to fly through outer space.
It was amazing to see their reactions trying to "catch" the planets or "touch" the sun.

At the end they show how "small" the Solar System is if compared to the rest of the universe.
The kids and I were talking about that in our way back to school.
When we have an idea of what is BIG or SMALL it is always so relative, isn't it?
The Universe is so big... We are just part of a little planet and we are not even taking good care of it. Great discussions! Your kids realize that it is all connected and it's amazing to hear what they have to say.

Busy Day

This morning Daycare kids attended "Bubble Wonders" at the Senior Center. The activity officially launches the WPL Reading Program for this summer.
After that, while we were having lunch, we had a surprise visit from Mr. Mitchell, who brought three of his birds and taught us a lot about the animals.

The kids listened while Mr. Mitchell brought them valuable information about the birds. The kids understood the need to use reliable information to answer their questions and took turns while asking. By doing this they show how familiar they are with some factors to consider in judging the merits of information.

Our friend Mr. Mitchell even showed us some tricks. We had a chance to ask questions and laughed a lot with the funny parts.
Thanks Mr. Mitchell!!!

That was quite a surprise!

Thanks Joshua Mitchell for arranging the whole thing!

After that we went outside for a while.
We also worked on a new project: Rag Dolls.
The kids understood this is not a 15 min. project and they realized sometimes projects need time, preparation and lots of steps.



We picked the doll, cut the pieces, used the pins to keep them together.
Another day we will sew and fill the pieces up and maybe assemble the doll.

The kids learned how to read a graphic and understand the meaning of the different symbols.

They also learned that safety is very important when we are handling pins and scissors.

We found out our scissors were in bad shape so we will need to take care of that as well!
It took us about forever to cut the templates! Someone has been using our "good scissors" the wrong way and they are very, very dull!


It's been a fun day!!!

Thanks for the parents who have subscribed to the blog!

It's good to have you around!

Decorating our Flower Pots

We are getting ready to plant some flowers.
Before we buy soil and seeds we decided to decorate our flower pots.
Some of our friends worked hard and here are the results!

Natural Art

As we walk around we explore the environment and we learn to use what nature has given back. We find leaves and seeds, bark and pine cones, rocks and twigs. Together they are a great inspiration: natural art!

Kids analyze, compare, create and learn about our environment. They were able to develop questions that will help them learn about the environment and do simple investigations.

The results are great!

Visiting Lincoln School Playground

We do not have to stay in our playground all the time... we have been walking around and looking for new ones to explore!

Walking, staying healthy!

As a group we have been going on morning walks, exploring the surroundings, enjoying the weather, growing healthy!

Playing together, friends forever!

As they explore the playground they play pretend, they bond, they understand what friendship is all about!

Great weather

A great weather will allow us to go outside and have a lot of fun!
Play ball!!!

Summer Colors

Besides the bright sun, blue skies, green grass and flowers all over, we find summer colors inside.
They are in the kids who spent part of their morning turning the third room into a colorful place. Their self portraits are all over the walls and hand in hand they show us what St. Bernard's is all about!

By looking at each other and understanding how others describe themselves they identify attributes, organize information and learn to compare and respect the differences.

Reflection

During "Reading Group" this afternoon we read one of David McKee's books - "Elmer Again".
When I asked them what a REFLECTION is, I learned that "A reflection is not really you, it is another you."

At the Grocery Store

This morning we had a small group trip to Pick'N Save where we took pictures of healthy items.
Kids learned about picking healthy items and also with good quality.



Some learned about coconuts, some found out what a kiwi is and we even compared cucumbers and zucchinis, cabbage and lettuce.



They picked the ones they wanted to add to our fruit salad.


When we got back to school it was time to prepare the fruit salad and we had a lot of helpers!

The fruit salad turned out B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!



While some friends were cooking, some were reading!

Our first days

Today was the second day of our Summer Program.

Miss Kelli has been keeping the kids active; today they went for a walk and had a great time at Union Park. She has also started working with some activities of the Project Learning Tree (PLT) which is part of our project "For a Greener Earth".

Some of the posters you will see around have been donated by the DNR and have information about the animals and trees of Wisconsin. Stop for a minute and talk to your child about what you see in the posters.

We had planned a small group trip to Ebert's but the weather was not looking as great as we had expected so we shifted gears and went to the movie theater instead. The kids had a good time watching Pixar's new animation "Up".

The little boy Russel is quite a character and they laughed a lot.

Maybe you want to talk to them about the elderly since the movie's most touching scenes are about the relationship between Carl and Ellie.