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Today we were all overjoyed to welcome a new child into the daycare! We've been talking about how we could welcome the new child into the daycare. We thought the most important things we could do to make him feel welcome was to invite him to play with us, be respectful of his choices, share toys, and teach him how we do things together.
As the day unfolded, we did the very things we discussed, and the new child's first day was stellar!
We began with our morning routine of calendar, weather, and circle time. We showed how we clap and sing along with our calendar and weather songs, how we dress our little weather figure in appropriate clothes, and how we sit "criss-cross applesauce" and use our hands during fingerplays at circle time.
At first, the new child observed, but before we knew it, the child was interacting with everyone and attempting to take part in our routines. Our new friend was even more excited when it was music time. We had a wonderful time singing several familiar tunes like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," the Alphabet song, and "Skip to My Lou." We moved on to some songs to challenge our memories like "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain" and "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly." We finished off with the fun movemement song "Mama Don't Allow" and the children stomped, flapped, clapped, giggled, wiggled, slithered, and swam (though it wasn't allowed by mama!).
Soon, it was time to go outside. Everyone took turns showing the new child their favorite part of our back yard. For one child, it was the sandbox.
For another, it was the flower garden.
Another showed our new child how we look for vegetables. I took a few minutes to show the new child how we care for the plants every day, and he had fun hunting for vegetables along with everyone else.
After a little settling in, everyone had a fun time playing together with a ball, throwing and kicking it to their heart's content.
One child noticed a butterfly on a milkweed flower and asked me to take a picture. Little did we realize that upon closer inspection there would be several insects on the flower in addition to the butterfly. We talked about harvesting milkweed pods this year and planting milkweed next year so we might have a better chance to observe lots of insects in the future.
Our last outdoor activity was to measure up against the sunflowers. Our last measurement was on July 3, and the sunflowers have grown so much since then that they are taller than the oldest child! Wow!