It happened again! I had everyone seated in front of me at Toddler Time for a story. Two little girls were at the back of the bunch and obviously were favorite playmates. I had started the story when I looked over, and one girl was holding her fingers out to the other girl, informing her "It's a booger." While I tried desperately to concentrate on reading the story without cracking up, the girls had a lively discussion about whatever it was they were inspecting. I heard their moms gasp and snicker, then crawl over to attempt to get them to pay attention. Thankfully the story was short.
Preschool Storytime
We learned about "Transportation" this week, defined as the way you get from here to there. On the flannelboard, we sorted various vehicles into those that go on the road, on tracks, in the water or through the air. We sang "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Hurry Hurry Drive the Firetruck." I just realized I never put the words to the Firetruck song on the blog, so here it is:
Hurry Hurry Drive the Firetruck
Hurry hurry drive the firetruck.
Hurry hurry drive the firetruck.
Hurry hurry drive the firetruck.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
(Follow the same pattern for the next verses.)
Hurry hurry turn the corner....
Hurry hurry find the fire....
Hurry hurry climb the ladder....
Hurry hurry spray the fire....
Slowly slowly drive the firetruck....
Incidentally, I was challenged by one brilliant boy on that song. He insisted that it should be "spray the water" instead of "spray the fire." Got a good point, there.
Our books were:
Minerva Louise and the Red Truck, by Janet Stoeke. The kids are falling in love with our favorite dumb cluck.
All Aboard the Dinotrain, by Deb Lund. I love the playful words like "dinopush" and "dinomight." Very fun.
Preschool to the Rescue, by Judy Sierra. Sound effects - slurp, plurp, flurp. All those vehicles stuck in the mucky mud!
William the Vehicle King, by Laura P. Newton. I hope the kids got the idea of creating worlds around the house with their vehicles and blocks and toys.
Toddler Time
Many of the toddlers are really getting the hang of how to ask for the noisemakers that we pull out each week. I know it's so exciting when I take the lid off the box of the bells, maracas, pompoms or whatever. They just want to run up and grab whatever they can, which is completely understandable for a two-year-old. Week after week I tell them, "Say 'pink please.'" Then I make sure to praise children loudly who say it properly. Sooner or later a child catches on. Just today a boy who has barely ever said a word gathered up his courage and said, "Gween pweese."
We read:
The Chick and the Duckling, by Mirra Ginsburg. They really got the hang of saying "Me too!" with me this time.
Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails, by Nancy Tafuri. I had a boy guess the bull today! Though maybe he had the book at home recently. He was pretty proud of himself.
Baby Time
We had a good demonstration of emerging shyness today. A little girl was here for the first time and had crawled to the middle of the floor. She looked over at me and I made eye-contact and smiled. She instantly started to cry. That type of thing happens more often than you'd think. I've learned with some super shy children that making eye-contact is just too threatening. Scientists have found that shyness is literally in the DNA, and a parent can't expect a child to "get over it." These little ones need understanding, support and to be taught compensation skills.