Hi Parents,
As you all know we are going full time next week. I wanted to go ahead and send this information to all parents so you all know how naps and afternoon activities are handled in lieu of any future changes to enrollment. As the children who are only doing half day are being picked up, the rest of us will use the toilet, and get our nap items (this includes a blanket and pillow brought from home). We will set up our cots together then read stories and sing lullabies. After that we rub backs until everyone is asleep. When the children wake we will have snack and they can choose work or go outdoors. We will be starting to fill planting pots and mixing soil and compost for our garden. Pickup is at 5:30 and we will probably be outdoors at that point. Expect tired children next week as it is a big adjustment. We will let them sleep as long as they need to and make changes only if you, the parents, request it.
I wanted to let you all know that we were not able to get the bulk order of training pants. Brandi has called the both the distributor and the manufacturer and they are backordered. We are thinking that we are going to target to buy the fuzzi buns (I may have the wrong brand) and just call it a day. We did find a woman who is starting her own business and willing to make specialized sizes, however, she needs a couple weeks to get them made. In the mean time we will just have to use target training pants. THIS WILL NOT COST YOU EXTRA! Just wanted to make that really clearJ. We are committed to supporting small businesses and providing our children the best quality possible. We had no idea that buying training pants in bulk would be so difficult. The good news is that if you all are interested in selling yours once your child is done with them, we will offer a trade/barter system so you can get most of your training pants fee back.
So we got a lot of exercise this week. We took walks on both Tuesday and Thursday. We actually made it down to the chickens on Thursday. The kids were exhausted from it but loved seeing the chickens and walking through puddles and mud. It is a long walk for our little ones so we won’t do it too often but they all did great and never asked to be carried! We did a lot of food preparation. The children love it and so I will soon be adding extensions to include lessons of grace and courtesy. I have ordered more materials and will be introducing them slowly so the weekly emails will be a little more interesting in the following weeks. I have started to have the children walk down the steps by themselves (I walk in front of them of course) without holding my hand. It is a great opportunity to refine gross motor skills. They learned to hold the railings and take one step at a time. Even our youngest was able to do it! This may seem mundane to the average adult but it is a big step towards independence for your child. Remember to celebrate these types of feats as they mean a lot to your little ones. –Ellie and Jodi
Alon: He was so tired after our walk on Thursday and was asking for “night night”. He did banana slicing and Lara bar slicing (using a different hand slicer). He loves the fire truck book and always brings it to circle. The weather was nice enough on Thursday that we were able to leave the back door open. Alon loved this and he swept the deck for us. We also worked on getting on the toilet according to AMI guidelines (they climb around the toilet seat). I can tell this is easier for him on our toilet. We will keep working on this next week.
At home Alon did a lot with train track this week. We are reading a book about the subway and another about a baby that goes through many first words. We are having some incidents of breakdown over very small things, like going to get his socks. Words are coming together in new ways and we heard him use the present progressive for the first time this week “momma drinking it”. He is starting to refer to himself as Alon.
We have been practicing counting with montessori rod set. He is recognizing numbers and I have seen him accurately counting items to himself. Potty training is going well. I suspect we will be using diapers only at night in another month.
He is enjoying school. Mostly he talks about the food. But I suspect that is in part because he has more words for food than for most other activities. I also think the repetition of food prep is more memorable than the activities which are not repeated daily.
Alon has moved back into his own bed and is showing more signs of independence. I am concerned about his stress level and am making an effort to maintain routines, clarity in the home, and limit my expectations. He is very well behaved.
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