Head Start and Early Head Start

Today I had outreach for Head Start and Early Head Start. My plan was to do snow but I got a call from one of the teachers who said they were doing a unit on roads and could I do a book about roads. I did a reference interview and found out they were learning about how a road is made and what a road is made of. There is only one book about that so I read it first. Then I did snow.

Opening song: The More We get Together - on uke
Book 1 - Road Work by Sutton

Finger Play: Snowflake Snowflake - This is supposed to be an action rhyme but the kids were so stuffed onto the "circle time rug" I did it sitting.

Snowflake, snowflake dance around
Snowflake, snowflake touch the ground
Snowflake landing on my nose
Snowflake landing on my toes
Snowflake, snowflake flutter to the ground.

Book 2 - Snowmen at Work by Buehner

Song - Shake your Sillies Out - they needed to get up at this point.

Song - Happy and you Know it

Book 3 - Snowmen at Night by Buehner
 - a little too much like Snowmen at Work but they weren't really paying attention at this point anyway.
Closing Song - May there Always be Sunshine by Gill - on uke

Then for Early Head Start I did some singing and reading books.

Book 1 - If You're Happy and you Know It! by Cabrera

Book 2 - Skip To My Lou by Westcott

Songs:
Wheels on the Bus
I Know a Chicken by Berkner
Alabama Mississippi by Gill
May There Always be Sunshine by Gill - on uke

Fingerplay
Roll, Roll, Sugarbabies by Jbrary
- just not enough adults for this one.

Toddler Storytime - Food, Glorious Food!

For this week, I took my pizza storytime and my cupcake storytime and smashed them together to make a food storytime.

Opening song - Open shut them
Book #1 - If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Numeroff
    I wish I had done our big book for the If You Give a Moose a Muffin because I had a very large group. But it went okay.

Action rhyme:
Fruit Salad (Jbrary)

Flannel rhymes: Hand me down Pizza by Irving
Five Little Cupcakes by Dr. Jean

Book #2 - Soup Day by Iwai

 This one might have been too long but I liked doing something multicultural.

Action songs: Spaghetti Legs by Gill and If you're happy and you know it (ending with if you want to hear a story sit right down)

Book #3 - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Carle
 - I would have liked to do this as a flannel but I have one child who enjoys taking my flannel pieces and destroying them so I just read the book.


Scarf songs -
  Popcorn Kernals (Jbrary)

  Baking Pizza (Abby the Librarian)

Closing song - What a Miracle - Palmer

Got out the Parachute - They loved it but it was a little disorganized. I am going to prepare more if I do it in January. I am not doing toddlers until January 6th, but I have one more outreach before vacation.

My Early Literacy tip was about play. Something like this: The most critical aspect of play as it relates to language development is that children learn to think symbolically. They learn that one thing, like a block, can represent another think like a phone. It is the very kinds of thinking that is used in language. A picture of an apple or the written word apple represents the real apple.

Penguins in toddlertime

This was a good one!

Opening song: Open Shut them

Book #1 Penguin and Pinecone by Yoon
 - I got some ahs from the caregivers
Penguin Puppets - I made paper penguin puppets (laminated) for the kids and we did up, down, in, out, high, low, around etc. Storytime ABCs is where I got this idea.
 - very good
Book #2 - Flip and Flop by Apperley
 - some of the younger ones started running round. Ignored them and kept on.
Action songs - Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Penguin Pokey and If you're happy and you know it. Last one "If you want to hear a story sit on down"
 - brings them back for a last short story

Book #3 - I am Small - by Dodd
 - definitely lost most of them but it is short so I finished it. I thought about cutting it short but it is so cute I had to finish it.

Shaker songs - Penguin Shuffle by Grunsky and "I know a Penguin" (thanks L. Berkner) that I sang

Closing song: What a Miracle by Palmer

The kids were a bit antsy today but it went okay. The only annoying thing was the parents first sat in the very back of the room - some of the kids came closer as time went on but even though I said something about how it is more of work for me if they sit back there, they weren't budging.

Preschool Outreach - Pizza

This preschool is small but I really like the director so I always make time to go there every other month.

I did my old standby Pizza for this one. I took my uke and it is a good thing because the heat was off in the room where they had their circle time and I didn't have access to a boom box.

Here is the run down:
Opening Song:
The more we get together (on uke)
Book:
The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza by Struges
Flannel Board -
5 little pizza slices
Song:
I am a pizza by Charlotte Diamond (on Uke)
 - very well received, the director wanted my music, I told her I learned in on youtube
Book:
Hi Pizza Man! by Walter
Song:
If you want to eat pizza clap your hands!
Song:
Pizza man Pizza man turn around
Book:
Pizza Kittens by Voake
 - not the best one to end on but it went okay
Closing Song:
May there always be sunshine by Jim Gill (on Uke)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Saturday Babies storytime

I had some fun this morning doing a baby storytime. I used my Garden theme. I almost ran out of stuff so I repeated over and over again.

Opening song on the uke - The more we get together

Bounce - Roll Roll Sugar Babies

Fingerplay - 5 little flowers

Choral Reading - One Mole Digs a Hole

If you're Happy and you know it on the uke

Wheels on the bus

Shaker song: Garden Song

Closing Song - May There Aways be Sunshine on the uke

Bubble Song - Oats, Beans and Barley Grow

It was pretty good. There was a small group but they participated nicely.

Things I might do next time...More movement songs. Maybe a flannel. I am doing another Saturday baby storytime in January.

Thanksgiving Storytime for Toddlers

I had a great group for this week. Since there are no storytimes next week I decided to do Thanksgiving early. Here was the lineup:

Opening song: Open shut them

Book #1 – Bear Says Thanks by Wilson

Flannel Song - Did you ever See a turkey? (like this) Storytime secrets

Song #2 - If You're Thankful and you know it

Book #2 – I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Jackson

 - a bit long but I had to do this one!

Song #3 - The Turkey Pokey  - put your wing in, your beak, your claw, your tail, etc

Book #3 – The Thankful Book by Parr

- This one was a little long so I paperclipped some pages.

Song #4 - Thanks a lot - Raffi (scarves) and flannel

- I put laminated pictures of what Raffi was thankful of on the board as the song played. One little boy grabbed one of the pictures and yanked off the felt on the back. I was pretty shocked!

Closing Song - What a Miracle!