Today was "Wear your favorite color day!!". We had Blue, Camouflage, Yellow, Pink... lots of favorite colors!!

Knowing what to look for....

It is important that childcare providers know what to look for when they see a child playing with a toy. It usually isn't JUST playing. Children learn through simple play. In the photos below, you will see that Emma was having fun playing with the stackers. She was not directed to play with them she initiated it on her own. She tried many configurations with the stackers. When she had difficulty getting them in the right order she took them apart and would re-stack them. After several minutes she was able to correctly stack the toys in order! She was really proud of herself for accomplishing it! ************** Math Foundations were met during this child-initiated activity: Mathematics - Problem Solving (F.6.15): Use trial and error to solve problems. (Age 3-5) Mathematics - Problem Solving (F.6.19): See a simple task through to completion (Age 3-5) You can view the "FOUNDATIONS to the Indiana Academic Standards for Young Children from Birth to Age 5" by going to the Indiana.gov website: http://www.doe.in.gov/primetime/foundations.html

Painting FUN!!!

Our Art Activity today was painting with colors and stencils! This activity reinforces our Colors & Shapes Theme! The kids really love to get their hands dirty and it IS IMPORTANT that they experience the freedom to be CREATIVE!! We love letting the kids paint and we never force them to make anything specific. We encourage them to embrace their creativity and just enjoy painting what they want to paint! This particular activity also encouraged teamwork. We had the children work in groups to create a beautiful painting.

Playing with our new Prop Box... "I'm a Science Teacher"

What is a Prop Box?

Rachael's Daycare VIDEO

PATHS TO QUALITY LEVEL 3 ACHIEVED!!!

I am so excited to announce that Rachael's Daycare had achieved a LEVEL 3 status in the Paths to Quality Program! The PTQ program is a voluntary rating system for Daycare Centers, Daycare Ministries, & Daycare Homes. Your PTQ level is achieved by maintaining a certain level of quality in your childcare program. With help from my PTQ mentor, Tikela Welch, I have completed all of the requirements needed to obtain my Level 3 status. Thanks Tikela for all your help!

To watch a VIDEO about PTQ click HERE

The PTQ program defines the 4 Levels as:

All participants have demonstrated a commitment to the highest level of

professionalism in child care, achievement of a nationally recognized

accreditation. Level 4 providers are managed by a provider or director who

has volunteered to provide mentoring to others in the field.

All participants have demonstrated knowledge and skill to plan appropriate activities and opportunities for children that lead to school readiness. Level 3 providers have made a significant investment in the professional development of the staff, and incorporate family and staff input into the program. All participants have demonstrated a commitment to improve program quality and offer opportunities for children to advance their growth and development. Level 2 providers will have evidence of consistent daily schedules, planned activities for children, and will provide relevant information to families. All participants have demonstrated that they are operating in good standing and have been recognized by the state of Indiana to meet all required health and safety standards.

Our new daycare set up!

Our new professional changing table allows for plenty of room to store each child's diapers seperately. We use a paper roll to drape sanitary paper over the changing table as an extra precaution against the spread of germs.

Each child is given a special place in a locker just for them! They are able to display family photos on the front of the locker!

The view of the playroom above shows how open the playroom is! It is a bright and sunny room!

These are our lunch tables and learning tables! The kids really enjoy having their own seat to sit in! The babies have really nice Graco wood highchairs to sit in during meal time!

Celebrating Easter!!

PHOTOS OF SPRINGTIME FUN!

WE ARE SO HAPPY TO BE GETTING OUTSIDE AGAIN! The kids have really enjoyed running around the backyard! It's so nice for them to be able to get out that energy.

Rachael's Daycare welcomes Miss Jeanelle!

Jeanelle joined our Daycare Team on November 11, 2009! She has previously worked with children with disabilities and is a mom of 1. Welcome to our team, Jeanelle!

The Kids really enjoyed all of our CHRISTMAS festivities!! Our Christmas Party included a visit from Santa, Dinner for all the families, presents for all the kids, & a wonderful performance by the daycare kids! It was awesome! Thanks to all of my daycare families for attending!!

TEACH SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED!

Dear Parents, I have been awarded the TEACH scholarship by the IAEYC! I will begin classes on January 11, 2010. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to pursue a degree in a field that I am passionate about... Early Childhood Education!

CLASS 2 License Achieved!!!

Rachael's Daycare is pleased to announce that we have been approved for our CLASS II State License. This will allow the daycare to add a few more children, while also adding a few helpers... therefore the adult:student ratio will go down. We all feel that this improvement will benefit all the students! If you have any questions about the new license, please don't hesitate to ask me. Thanks!

NURSERY RHYMES!

I'm so sorry that my blog updates aren't coming as quickly as they should. I am hopefully going to get better at updating more often. :-) We have explored a week of Nursery Rhymes! We did a "Humpty Dumpty" Experiement and the kids got to drop their own egg from a wall and see what happened! They loved being able to poke at the egg yolk and see what that felt like. It was a fun experiment! (and don't worry... nobody at any... ) Also, we did some tumbling ... just like Jack & Jill! We have had a lot of FUN PROJECTS AND EXPERIMENTS THIS WEEK! The kids love the "1,2,Buckle my shoe" and "This old Man" songs! My voice is officially sore from singing them so much! LOL!!! But, I love that the kids were that excited about it! We have more EXCITING CURRICULUM coming up this month! Next week will be SILLY SONGS week! I will have to rest my vocal chords over the weekend! LOL!!