days of our day care

I truly love, as a hobby of mine, to peruse the internet looking for good books for children and go back and forth from websites to my library site, searching titles and authors and requesting the results to be brought to my library for my usual pick up on Saturdays after yoga.  I then have another slight hobby of going online again to find coloring pages to go along with the books that I read to the kids.  Coloring pages or activities keep us busy a little while longer after story time.  Especially on Mondays when it's time for our wormhole picture for the week.  I think I've explained my form of discipline I reverted to when time out stopped working.

Each week we have a coloring page on Monday, for each child, that gets put in their folder on the wall.  If a child misbehaves or gets time out or acts up when adults and parents arrive or uses bad language then I will ask them to go and get their picture and they get a "wormhole" or a hole punched in their picture which means that they don't get to choose a prize from the treat box at the end of the week.  If they do not have a wormhole in their picture then they get to choose something on the way out on the last day. 

This week we had a fun book called Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash.  A book which was right down my clothesline alley.  I pinned up a clothesline complete with sparkled clothespins over each folder for each child.  I then went online and found a simple picture of a sock and printed enough for each child to have one sock to color.  The kids we so excited to hang up their socks on the clothesline.  So far no one has a hole in their sock.  Hopefully it will stay that way.

Another day this week we read Harold and the Purple Crayon.  I dug out enough purple crayons, skinny ones for the older kids and little shorties for younger ones, and passed out white paper to each child when the story was over.  As they were sitting down they each asked me to flip through the pages to a certain scene they remember and wanted to draw like Harold did.  It was pretty fun and they were proud of their purple crayon drawings.

HERE is a direct to a preschool book search on goodreads.com.  Most of the time I put links on here for you to enjoy.  But a lot of times, especially with all the pc and internet trouble I have had lately, I find myself looking back and feeling safe that I have saved links here to refer back to.  Especially since I lost all of my browsing data and favorites more than once.

I also came across a really cute summer time backyard bingo, free printable that I quickly printed out two copies of and laminated.  Not real laminated... just the plastic overlay stuff.  HERE is the link to that.  You can play it with anyone I reckon!

The Dirty Dirty - Part Four

I am clearly a person who ignores organization.  Over time a clean and uncluttered room can be completely destroyed by my lack of discipline in simply putting things back where they go.  And also taking the time to find a proper home for incoming traffic.  In the case of The Dirty Dirty - Part Four, the room of great concern is unfortunately at the day care.  It is the smallest room that I call my own.  It is my office slash craft supply room.  A place that has a small gate at the doorway to let everyone know "this is  my space."  Although the more I have used the desk in the center of the room as a landing strip and used the closet and shelves as a disorganized place to store crafts made long ago the more I don't go in there for anything other than to toss new arriving supplies. 

I mentally made the resolution to "put things back" where they go in my life.  If I remove it from a drawer then that's where it goes back when I am finished using it.  This new found form of self control can be a tough one.  Mainly because it involves getting organized in the first place.  So one day during nap time I tore in to this room.  I didn't buy any fancy Martha containers, I simply used what I had.  I threw some things away and have a couple of bags to take to Goodwill.  I also moved my desk out from the center of the room to avoid using it in the wrong way.  The main thing is that it feels better.  When I walk in there I know exactly where the glues are and where all my tissue paper is and fake crafty flowers live.  And I know they are there because the last time I used them I put them back there.  Aha!  There's the key to staying this way.  I have done well in the other rooms involved in this Dirty Dirty adventure.  Unfortunately, the task is not over. 

Before

 oof

And After

Thank you for loving me through my faults of un-organization.