"IF YOU HAVE APPLES, MAKE APPLE PIE!!"

Dear Friends, Families and Blog-Followers,

(Once, again, I apologize for blogging later, rather than sooner, for Wednesday through Friday . . . )

As you likely know, our Fieldtrip to Honeypot Hill Farms has been re-scheduled for next Friday, and, in light of yesterday's happenings, I would like to say that, although I, too, was sad that we did not go apple and pumpkin picking, I was truly proud to be a part of the Child Development Center's Team . . . Once we realized we were to remain at School, a plan was immediately put into action -- the children were no longer disappointed, and, rather, gleefully engaged in wonderful, themed and seasonal activities, with the anticipation of another adventure, next week.

Kelly and Liz quickly prepared an applie-pie baking activity, in which every child participated, one-on-one, for which Tammy picked-up vanilla ice-cream, on her way in to School, and for which I set-out (interactive) Halloween books, a variety of pumpkin and bat cut-outs and shapes, character stampers, haunted house templates, crayons, etc. -- Miss Sashi, Amy and the High-Schoolers contributed greatly, as well, and, joined in the fun!! (The apple pie and ice-cream were delicious, by the way, and especially so, served with yummy hot chocolate!!)

To reinforce the ongoing theme, I read "Barnyard Hullabaloo", authored by Giles Andreae and illustrated by David Wojtowycz, a series of silly poems about farm animals, after which we mooed, baaed, neighed, meowed, barked, clucked, and more -- and -- as a reward for good listening, the kids were given teeny-tiny coloring books, and, as well, were able to spend plenty of time, outdoors.

On Wednesday, many friends visited, and assisted with, corn painting, pumpkin and ghost decorating, Fall/Autumn word typing, dancing and singing and collage work. Guords were mixed in, with the cornstalks, for additional sensory play and our Learning Centers were appropriately themed.

Kelly taught the Butterflies and Puppies about bus safety, introduced "Matman" and, with the children, acted-out "Under the Apple Tree", by Steve Metzger with pictures by Alessia Girasole.

I read "Hair 'Em, Scare 'Em", a pop-up "misadventure", written by Charles Ogden and illustrated by Rick Carton, and, at an afternoon meeting, used jack-o-lantern stick puppets to encourage our group to be part of the storytelling experience of "Witch's Surpirse Treat!" and "Boo To You Too!", both simple and colorful reads by author Hallie Wein and artist Carolyn Jayne Church.

Kelly baked pumpkin-shaped banana bread treats for snack, this, (SNOWY?!?!), am, and, we all made get-well cards for a little friend that has been out, this week.

Miss Downing read "Night is Coming" by W. Nicola Lisa, Mrs. Dolham and I re-introduced "Matman", and, I read "Haunted Halloween Party" by Matt Mitter and Viviana Garofsky and "Farm Animals" by Joanna Jarc Robinson and Cindy Kiernicki

In the late morning, Our Sophomores, in the Early Childhood Education Program, from Minuteman's Career and Technical High School, prepared and guided our little ones, during activity time, in painting spiders, puppeteering, mummy-wrapping and a ghostly scavenger hunt -- thank you, girls!!

Our more newly-structured Circles and Meetings are going quite well, thanks to Kelly and Liz, and at Rest Time, the quiet is enhanced by and our Little Angels enjoy listening to music and stories on CD and the added comfort of Miss Sashi.

Please know that October's Scholastic Book Order will be placed, this week-end, and, with bonus points earned from September's shipment, we have, already, received new books for our classroom!! The Holiday order forms should be in your mailboxes, on or around Monday, with a due date of November 5, in order to ensure delivery in plenty of time for gift-giving.

Our Reading Challenge Poster is filling-up, quickly, and, as Mrs. Dolham mentioned during a meeting on Wednesday, the children may add the titles of books read at Home, as well as at School -- excellent suggestion!!

We continue to assess bids for playground re-construction, our "Spanish" lesson has been scheduled with Constance Maynard, Minuteman's Spanish, French and Latin teacher, on October 26th, and -- remember -- PICTURES WILL BE TAKEN ON TUESDAY, October 20th!! :) :)

Enjoy the week-end, everyone -- next week "promises" warmer weather . . .

Love Miss Peacock XOXO :) :)

"THE SUN IS NOT SUNNY"

Dear Everyone,

As Dr. Seuss says, ("Cat in the Hat"), children can still have fun when it rains -- although our fieldtrip, to the farm, has been postponed until Thursday, we made the Dr. proud, today!!

After cleaning-up the toys and activities of the early morning , I read David Carter's "Halloween Bugs", to the children -- David's pop-up books are among my favorites, and, said is no exception.

While Kelly engaged the Butterflies in her Circle Center focused gathering, Liz reviewed the calendar and, together, we sang songs and "went bananas" with the Puppies -- Liz made each Puppy a pair of "binoculars", and as she read "In the Small, Small Pond", both written and illustrated by Denise Fleming, encouraged our group to use them in spotting things of interest.

During Activity Time, in tandem with Amy and Minuteman's Sophomores from the "Big School", here with us, this week, we painted our binoculars, which we plan to use outdoors; examined really, really long corn stalks, which now adorn the hallway, thanks to Kelly and Alana (!!); played on farm-themed mats, with toy animals and vehicles; and, explored the many open Learning Centers -- stocked with costumes, now, Dramatic Play continues to be a favorite.

Both Butterflies and Puppies alike really enjoyed playing "teachers", today, in the book area, as Nyah, John, Nicky and Phil took turns describing the fronts, backs and spines of the books, the authors and artists, and "reading" stories to others.

And, of course, everyone was thrilled to see Sprint and Buddy back at School -- the day was thoroughly full of fun and friends!!

Tomorrow, you will notice, next to our Spooky Tree, a witch and a mummy, lavishly decorated at School, today.

We had many laughs at meeting, as I read "Halloween Colors", a turn-the-flap book by Carla Dijs, and "Whose Hat is That", "Halloween Parade" and "Boo! Scram! Happy Halloween" -- three pop-up books by the makers of Sesame Street -- we do love our books and toys, and took a few minutes to play tunes with interactive kitties, a ghost and a chameleon.

We are planning to paint with the corn, retrieved from the stalks, later on this week, and finish-up several more festive projects, as well.

Liz has sent home "leaves" with all of the children, for their families to decorate with photos and other symbols of special memories -- when complete, they will combine to make a large "Family Tree", for all to enjoy -- thank you, Mrs. Dolham!!

And, "yahoo!!" -- our first order of Scholastic books has arrived and been distrubuted, accordingly -- we earned lots of bonus points, already, and several new books for the classroom -- I am hoping to coordinate a "reading challenge", designed by Scholastic, to provide books to children in need -- I think that our little friends will have no problem, whatsoever, reading 100 books by December -- (we have probably read more than said, by now!!) -- I plan to keep you all informed of our progress, by tracking what we read, on a wall chart -- thank you, to all participating families, for your continued support!!

Nella mattina!!

Love Miss Peacock XOXO!!!!

"WELCOME HOME, SPRINT AND BUDDY!!"

Dear Friends, Families and Blog Followers,

Yes -- it is true -- our infamous pair of turtles, Sprint and Buddy, will be coming home, to our new CDC, shortly -- we have so missed our amphibious friends!!

And -- we move further and further along into well-structured days, which include the patience and calm of our Post Grad, Amy, as well as scheduled visits from high-school students from both Minuteman's Career and Technical High School and Lexington High School.

"Fieldtripping" -- (please do not forget -- we pick pumpkins and apples and eat cider doughnuts on Tuesday!!) -- is in full swing!!

While Liz and I are using a calendar, now, with the "Puppies" -- (thank you, Liz!!) -- with the "Butterflies", Kelly has re-introduced the Circle Center, and is reinforcing letter and number recognition, letter sounds, one-to-one correspondence, rhyming words, colors, shapes, weather, and, much more -- additionally, I recently purchased color-mixing charts which will back-up learning, with fun, during meetings.

On Friday, the children enjoyed a wonderful mix of activities, such as keyboarding Fall and Autumn-themed words, shaping our pumpkiny, home-made play-dough, making "spider webs", completing "The Royal Family" and our multi-media group collages, (which fosters teamwork, sensory stimulation and fine motor-skill development), doing puzzles and playing in the many learning centers.

A high-light was, indeed, the huge, stand-up "Jack-O-Lantern" bean bag toss game, for outdoor use, built for the CDC, by our friends in Carpentry!! Thank you, Amy, for your undaunted assistance -- everyone "made their marks" by "signing" a thank you card for the High-Schoolers in said Shop -- our valued resources continue to be a great asset to our Center, and, the enthusiasm that the Shop Teachers and their Students have shown truly speak to the uniqueness of the Program.

And, snacks and lunches brought over from the "Big School" are being well-received!!

Two favorite interactive songs that Liz often sings during Circle-Time, which surely get the kids moving, are "Jump Up and Down!!" and "Turn Around!!" -- I re-read "The Dot", written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, and, as I was heading-out the door, on Friday afternoon, Liz was surrounded by our group of story-loving little friends.

Please note that, although our first order has yet to arrive, it is on its way, and, more Scholastic offerings are in your mailboxes, along with Unicef collection boxes for Halloween and Pumpkin Hill's directions for growing really, really big pumpkins and toasting pumpkin seeds!!

For those of you with children in Lexington's Public School System, please know that contributions are being accepted, at said schools, for our beloved troops -- participation in the "FLAGS" program offers youngsters credit for community service -- and -- a local dentist is offering to buy back Halloween candy, to, as well, be sent to the people stationed overseas.

If anyone has any questions about Scholastic book ordering, Unicef collections, "FLAGS" and/or the candy buy-back, please see me -- thank you!!!!

We continue to decorate for and enjoy the season!!

Love Miss Peacock, (Maria), always on behalf of Miss Downing, (Kelly), Mrs. Dolham, (Liz), Mrs. Goell, (Tammy) and (Miss) Sashi XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO.

TRICKS AND TREATS!!

Dear Families and Friends,

Good evening!!

The past couple of days have brought, with them, great anticipation of and enthusiasm for the fun to be had in October -- we have been talking about and preparing for fieldtrips and trick-or-treating!!

Both Kelly and Liz have been teaching the children about the season via apple-themed songs, games and exploration.

Wednesday, the kids looked at apples from the outside to the inside, marveling at the patterns of "stars" in their middles, counted and began rooting the seeds and engaged in stamping and printing with the halved and quartered fruits -- they have eaten them, as well, and do plan to make applesauce and/or pie, in the near future!!

As a result, our Butterflies and Puppies have explored apples from scientific, mathematical and artistic perspectives.

We finished decorating our "Halloween Tree", which you may already have noticed, as it is covered with even more orange, black and white crepe paper, cobwebs and large rubber bugs -- yuck!! :) !!

We have almost completed our Jack-O-Lanterns, which will be displayed on a bulletin board, in the main classroom, and have read a wide variety of October-inspired stories, such as "Black Cat Creeping", "Goodnight Goon", (a spooky take on the original, by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd), "Pumpkin Cat" and "Vunce Upon a Time", (a very entertaining tale of Dagmar, a young vampire, who is a vegetarian, eats candy and is as scared of humans as they are of vampires)!!

Soon, Kelly will finish "The Royal Family", with our little ones, so that it may be available to peruse.

We all have been thoroughly enjoying music and movement and newly-devised activities, including the use of a calendar, during separate circles and meetings, and, today, made perfectly-colored pumpkin-spice play-dough, shaped into pumpkins, bats, ghosts, witches and more, as well as, immersed very sappy pine-cones in tubs of water, to discover, later on, that the "petals" closed!!

Lots of outdoor play has exposed us to sun, rain, wind and a myriad of fall colors -- it is wonderful to have real yardspace.

The CDC has had many visitors, lately, including Amy, our friends from LABB and, today, some seniors from Lexington High School.

With Tammy in California, for a few days, Nyah, with the assistance of Kirsten, has taken on the responsibility of narrating "Caps for Sale", just before rest time -- thank you, girls!!

Do have a wonderful night, all, and we look very forward to seeing you in the morning!!

Love Miss Peacock XOXO :) :)

"Now, Where Was I?"

. . . Oh, yes -- more about yesterday, (Monday), -- I walked into a morning already in full swing, with Mrs. Dolham and the children parading around with large, colorful game pieces on their heads, singing "The Wheels On The Bus" -- all I could do was laugh, and, be reminded of why I love my work!!

Mrs. Dolham, as well, read, "The Grumpy Morning", a story about cranky farm animals made joyous by their farmer, written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Darcia Labrosse, and, "The Spotty Pig", a story about a pig who learned to appreciate the wonders of being different, written by Dick King Smith and illustrated by Mary Wormell.

I will be working, as follows:

M - TH 09:00 - 01:00
F 09:00 - 12:45

This morning, I arrived to the aroma of freshly-baked banana mini muffins.

We were fortunate to have Amy, with us, today, a post-graduate in Early Childhood Education, at the Minuteman Career and Technical High School, who will continue to join us every day, -- thank you, Amy!!

Shortly after Kelly had her first Circle of Butterflies and Liz and I had our first Circle of Puppies, we ventured outside to explore nature, once again -- Liz spent quite a bit of time reading and talking about the beginning of Fall, (Autumn).

(Today was the first day that we began having regularly scheduled meetings and separate circles -- woohoo!!)

We collected all kinds of leaves and other bits and pieces of nature, (no picking or plucking!!), and, later, during activity time, made beautiful multi-media collages, in small groups, and, examined our findings with magnifying glasses.

We toted each other around, in our wagons, (thank you, families), and decorated a shelter/box with crayons -- what lovely weather, indeed!!

In addition, during activity time, we continued decorating for Halloween, played with Legos and engaged in dramatic play -- we even made a card to send over to "the big school" -- to thank our friends, in Cosmetology, for their hospitality.

After lunch, I read what has now become a "new old favorite", The Scary Show of Mo and Jo", by Hanoch Piven, and, "the Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert -- the children surely love their stories, and, often, head over to the Book Area, to "read" -- a beautiful sight!!

A very special thank you to Daphne, Ellie's Nanna, who made berets for all of the teachers -- how thoughtful and generous -- and toasty -- thank you, so very much -- a group photo is certainly in order!!!!

Tomorrow, we look very forward to seeing both Amy, again, and, our LABB students, and adding more and more touches of "Autumn" to our classroom!!

Love Miss Peacock XOXO

OUR DAY AT THE "BIG SCHOOL"!!!!

Good Morning, Friends,

I understand that Friday was another full day at our Center!! :)

And, yes, we looked like we were all "going on a bear hunt", yesterday morning, as we walked and wagoned our way beyond the football field, into our high school, and up the stairs to Cosmetology, where the kids were scheduled to have their hair washed, dried and styled!! and, oh, the pictures!!!! Some of the children chose to engage in activities that we brought over, with us, "just in case" . . . Many of us visited Ms. Devlin and our big high school friends, and, all of us spent some time in the library, (where we have our very own section of books!!), and, then, at the bakery, (which was beautifully decorated for Halloween!!), before we headed back to Mill St.

Many, many thanks to Cindy DeMaio, her staff and students!!!!

To our complete delight, our little friend, Noy, who is now in kindergarten, is joining us on Mondays!!!!

Our first day of "school lunches" went relatively smoothly, and, all of the children seemed very happy with their pasta.

Oh my -- I must be off -- I'll write more, later!!

Love Miss Peacock XOXO

CHILLY OCTOBER DAYS

Dear Friends, Families and Bloggers,

Well, once October hit, so did the fall weather -- it has been a couple of cold days, indeed!!

This began my first week of working Monday - Thursday -- yet another transition -- I will have to get the "scoop", on today, Monday morning . . .

On Thursday, however, we continued to delve into autumn -- Liz began teaching our children "The October Song" and "Jump Up and Down", along with a myriad of other songs and games, and, she discussed, with them, the concept of "the harvest", in preparation for the months to come.

You may have noticed, as well, that most of the kids had new hairstyles upon pick-up -- some of the girls had french braids, while quite a few of the boys donned pony-tails, straight-up, on which they insisted stay, indefinitely -- we have a few photos, of course -- thank you, Mrs. Dolham!!

I read "If You Give A Cat A Cupcake", the latest in the series written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond -- for those of you that possess a special fondness for said stories, you may like to know that the hardcovers and accompanying stuffed companions are being sold at Kohl's, for $5 each, with almost 100% of the proceeds going to charity -- it is not only a great way to build the collection at an exceptionally reasonable price, but also to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate children.

The Halloween themed version of "I Spy" was popular, as well, during activity time, and, just before rest time, Mrs. Goell, and the little ones, too, performed another lively re-creation of "Caps for Sale".

Speaking of books . . . please know that the Scholastic book order should be arriving in less than two weeks, in plenty of time for trick or treating, and that new forms should be in your mailboxes, very soon, so that you may purchase specialty books well before the holidays are in full swing -- we thank you for your support!!

We continue to decorate our big Jack-O-Lantern shapes for display -- a work in progress -- some of the happy pumpkins are so covered with leaves, colorful tape and a variety of textured stickers, and more, that there is hardly any orange left to see -- they are quite extra-ordinary!!

In keeping with the spirit of the season, we have begun to adorn our "Tree" for both the Red Sox and Halloween, using orange and black crepe paper, "cobwebs", hand-made ornaments and photographs of players -- however, we have only just begun!!

As well, the Butterflies and Puppies, alike, polished-up their red paper apples, which were then added to the family-inspired bulletin board, played in the many learning centers -- dramatic play is an especially popular area -- and spent quite a bit of time, outdoors, in quite an invigorating temperature.

Our new "Abstract Art Gallery" is located, across from the entryway, in the front lobby, while our "Spotted, Dotted Butterfly" is attached to a wall in the main classroom.

Two of our friends from the maintenance crew worked on improving the functioning of our doors and gates -- thank you!!

Please enjoy this week-end, and, we look very forward to seeing you all, for the beginning of a new learning and fun-filled week, at the CDC!!

Love Miss Peacock XOXO