Welcome Back!

Hi there! It's been a great summer - we got to go to Mexico for a friends wedding...

spent lots of time at lake with family and friends...  

had our second anniversary, got another foster dog, worked my summer many job, and did some prep work for the new year!

....speaking of... the school year starts tomorrow! Whoa! I am so excited to meet the new kinders and implement some things I have been working on starting tomorrow!

Welcome to all the new parents, teachers, and followers - I am excited to learn with you!

So some of you know what I like to do in my none-so-spare-time, play with our doggies.  Well, recently we started fostering dogs as well from Chicago Pit Stop Rescue. These are all dogs that come from Chicago Animal Control and are at risk of being put down.

We have fostered two babies already...

Sneakers - Adopted!

And....

Slingshot - Adopted!

We now have an adorable little girl - Dora.  She was returned to CPSR after a year of living in a home with children and is now with us.  Dora is SUCH a sweetie and very special because she only has three legs. She'll need a lot of help getting around and a dedicated owner. We love we so much and hope she can find her forever family! 

Here's all the swag she came to us with - spoiled with stuff!

Oh and she is an EXCELLENT cuddler!

Call me crazy - but I love this!

Ahh It's a Bug!!!

It's now officially one of the most fun times of the year - bug centers! The kids have a love/hate relationship with bugs.  They hate the ones that are alive, and love the fake ones! It is also REAL cute that when we start talking about bugs and the jobs they have in the environment, that some of the little ones want to save all the bugs they see and some still want to squash them. This become a super-battle and if you squash a bug, whaa whaa, you are "mean." Whiiiiccch creates a whole 'nother problem....but I digress.

So...Bug Centers...I am using Growing Kinders "Going Buggy" Unit with some additional pieces of my own. Her unit is awesome!

This sweetie is practicing "counting on." There are two bugs in that little magnifying glass on the right and number 7. So he has to count 7+ (2 bugs)...7, 8, 9. We practiced doing this before using blocks and our fingers. 

These lil ladies are taking number cards (ex. 13) and writing that number and the next two numbers in sequence. 13, 14, 15. 

Here, we are counting by ten frames to count numbers over 19. AWESOME! :o)

Now it's time for BUG HUUUUNNNT! This is basically write the room with bug vocabulary. This is our #1 favorite activity. It is leveled as well for differing needs.

And last, we are sequencing sentences.  The kids have to match mix-matched sentences, put them in order and write them down.  This was one of the more difficult centers, as our creative minds just wanted to use the cards to create our own sentences. Which, of course, is fine as well! :o)

Hope you enjoy! Do you have a bug unit? Link it up! :o)