Nov 30 2009 Post Thanksgiving weekend

First full day back after the Thanksgiving weekend. The weather did not cooperate, so we were all inside all day. Painting with water colors was very popular--at least half the crowd took a turn. The light box and cooking/baking station were also in great demand. A lot of wooden blocks ended up on cookies sheets and were sold as fresh cookies to the unsuspecting. In the back room, the foam "noodles" were in play all day--the primary use being to whack someone else. Fear not, no one engaged in noodle whacking without a thorough training session from Natasha and/or Deborah.
As a long time co-op er, I must also say that today's floor was the cleanest in recent memory, making cleaning it up much easier. Karma?

Regards,

The co-op ers
Bill (Clayton's Dad)

Kathi (Sophie's Mom)

Tuesday Nov 24

Another rainy day... BUT that didn't stop us from getting outside later in the morning!!

First, we started our morning playing freely in the big room awaiting Yoga Jenny. Once she got here, two groups went back and the rest stayed out in the front (and then we switched). Oran showed up and played in the big room for a while.

As always - Yoga was great. Jenny had some fall poems she taught us. Most of us are really beginning to enjoy yoga!

Also, Natasha made pancakes - banana pancakes. Yum! We helped, of course. Then we ate them.

We drew our face while looking in a mirror. Deborah talked us through it and wrote down what we saw. It was neat.

Finally - we all went outside to blow off some indoor steam :-). We played in the courtyard, riding bikes and running from the Jose Monster.

It was a great day.

kim (cam's mom)

Monday November 23, 2009

We had an exciting day today at ALG. Tiffany was here in the morning and everyone got a chance to sing with her. We sang songs we already knew like Puff the Magic Dragon and Old McDonald Had a Farm, and Tiffany also taught us some new songs. After singing, everyone played inside for a while. Natasha dissected a snake, which some kids found gross and others found fascinating. Some kids gathered on the yellow couch for stories while others played with legos, blocks and puzzles. Some kids then ate snacks and others did various art projects including painting and taping strips of construction paper to pieces of construction paper. Then everyone cleaned up together and ate lunch. After lunch, everyone went outside for fresh air. It was drizzling a bit, but we had fun anyway and played games. We sang Singing in the Rain and rode bikes and played in the little house, which was a pretend hot dog stand. After being outside, we came in and dried off, washed our hands and ate some more food. Then everyone gathered for a story with Cara. It was a good day at ALG.

November 19, Thursday

Based on the weather forecast, we decided to start outside and get all the fresh air we could!

Everyone went straight to the courtyard after circle time with the exception of the blue group - we headed out for a walk with Melissa and Kim. We walked around the block and saw quite a few cool things: motorcade (police motorcycles), boom lift for cutting down a tree, and lots of leaves on the ground. After the blue group came back, Deborah & Teale took the yellow group out - not sure what they saw but please ask if your child is in the yellow group.

We all came inside around 11 and ate lunch -we were certainly hungry by then.

Afterwards we broke into play areas inside. We all got a chance to go in the back room (what fun to have that open again!). In the back we jump off the table onto a mat, we can wrestle on the mat and we can swing. It is a pretty physical area.
In the main area we did an assortment of activities. The teachers guided us in making a picture with tape and scrap paper... we then put our 'symbol' on it so we would know whose it was. Please, ask us what symbol we are!

We played with blocks, legos, cars & washed potatoes for the feast tomorrow. We were busy!

We had a great day.

kim webster (cam's mom)

November 18, 2009

Today, Pickett took each group of kids at a time out to the yard for imaginative play. for the purple group, Daisy and Grace were kittens, Clayton was a lion, Noah, Coco and Lila were a family of giraffes. Kieran was an ant. The giraffe family had a birthday party and invited the ant. The kittens were running away from the lion. Sophia was a butterfly that morphed into a killer butterfly with claws that would catch mice for the kittens. The butterfly became an eagle with a wounded wing so the kittens went to get mice and fish for the eagle. Then Julio found a garter snake and gave it to us. We took it inside and put it in the cage with the praying mantis.
Before playing with Pickett, each group played on the bikes in the courtyard.
Jeff had the children practicing how to saw using plastic knives on styrofoam. He explained how to hold and use the knife safely and how to go back and forth against the styrofoam. It was a bit messy but well worth the effort.
We also made bread with flour, salt, honey, yeast, olive oil, and water. We ended up with 3 9" round pans of rolls with the first batch of ready by 1:00 PM. Again, a floury oily mess but well worth it.
Cara had a group of kids taping torn pieces of colored construction paper onto a full sheet of paper. Kieran taped paper in a 3 dimensional loop.
We had a steady 2-3 groups of kids on the blocks, pretend bakery, and legos.

We started off today with circle time, where we learned that Natasha and Melissa will be going to a teaching conference later this week. After circle time, Melissa and Pickett took some kids into the courtyard to play. Those who stayed inside worked on fixing up the calendar, flying paper airplanes with Jose, and helping Natasha make butter from the cream Penelope's dad, Hugh, got from the store. They shook and shook and shook the jar of cream till it separated into milk (which Margo drank) and butter (which Leila and Natasha ate on bread). Shaking the jars of cream made Victor smile.
Later, a second group of kids headed to the courtyard, where some rode trikes and Margo, Eli R. and Edison sold ice cream and hot chocolate from a stand in the corner. Then the group went to the side yard, which was nice and sunny. Pickett had us pretend to be different kinds of families, and we had to decide who we were and what we were going to do.
There was a dog family that took an airplane to a doggie restaurant, where they ate ice cream, special dog chocolate, and some steak tartare. Another group wanted cheeseburgers and were delighted that they came with free lemonade. And some families just ran through the woods growling.
Everyone enjoyed the fresh air after being cooped up last week.

Today, we took advantage of the gorgeous, unseasonably warm weather and spent a lot of time in both the courtyard and the side yard. Jose told an exciting version of "Snow White" (in which the prince wonders if he should "lay one on her"), and also played a very convincing monster who had to be chased around the yard.

Individual kids' games included a number of tigers, lions, mommies, daddies and babies, and there was also pretend marshmallow-roasting over a pretend campfire. Inside, we had music with the lovely and newly engaged Tiffany, where we learned the words to "Turkey in the Straw"--I'm not sure how the bullfrog dancing with his mother-in-law fits into the story--as well as this alternate version of "Baa Baa Black Sheep":

Baa, Baa, white sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full.
One for Natasha and one for Jose,
and one for the caterpillar who lives down the lane...

Last but not least, Natasha and several volunteer helpers made macaroni and cheese for Friday's Thanksgiving feast (which is still lacking a turkey, if anyone is feeling energetic).

All in all, your kids had a great day!

Carolyn Parkhurst Rosser
(Ellie's mom)

Friday, November 13

Even though it was another rainy and cold November day, we had a very fun day at ALG. In the morning, some of the kids played lions and had a lair where they lived. Others built an airport out of blocks. Natasha also made tortillas with cheese and beans, they were delicious. A few of the kids ventured outside with Jose to ride bikes, but after awhile everyone went back inside because Pickett had arrived! Pickett took rotating groups of kids to the back room where the kids had a lot of fun playing circus. There was a trapeze, a bar, a jumping stage and a tumble mat. Some kids were animals like tigers and dragons, other kids sold popcorn or were animal tamers. Then it was time for lunch and clean up. To end the day, Natasha told all of the kids the story "Going on a Bear Hunt." What a great way to end the week!

Tuesday, November 10

Yay...Yoga Jenny was here today. She taught us some new songs & yoga poses. Some of us kids are still checking this yoga thing out while the rest of us are old pros. :-) Yoga Jenny is a lot of fun.
We also used the seed grinder to make flour - this was fun too (not sure how useful the 'wheat' is but it was fun).
Melissa did Bakery role playing with us while the other groups did yoga. We were bakers, customers, cashiers, kittens and dogs. Most of us ended up baking - using our spatulas and baking sheets.
We then went outside. We spent a good amount of time outside eating lunch, riding bikes, playing house and listening to Jose's story.
We had a really good day. Deborah was home with Kieran... we missed her but Cara was here which made it all grand!

Monday, November 9

We had a great Monday at ALG. The weather was beautiful so the we spent a lot of time outside in the courtyard and side yard. In the early part of the morning Tiffany was here for music class, which the kids all enjoyed. We sang some songs in french and spanish, too! After music Roland's mom, Ruxandra, showed us how to make vegetarian lasagna. Many of the children helped cut squach, zucchini, carrots and peppers (with plastic knives, of course). The smells from the kitchen were amazing! While the lasagna cooked, we enjoyed our lunches outside and then played in the side yard for a while. The weather was beautiful and everyone enjoyed the day. Some hungry squirrels searched for acorns, and it felt so warm we pretended were were at the beach and saw lots of dolphins and whales. After outdoor time we came inside for some more playing, eating and clean up, and at the very end of the day we got to taste the lasagna. It was DELICIOUS! All in all, it was a fantastic ALG day!

TGIF

It was a low-energy Friday, with a few kids out sick and others feeling sniffly and tired. Many books were read. There was some good bakery play, too, with an especially hungry orca asking for cookies and some friendly lions trying to get in on the action. Others made pretend baked goods with a new playdough concoction, to be painted next week. We went outside for a chilly hour in the courtyard. Kids and grownups warmed up to Bob Marley and cajun music, when they weren't being chased by a Deborah monster or playing with Oran.

Nov 5, 2009

Today was a usual busy and creative day at ALG. In a collaborative effort the kids made zucchini and carrot muffins. The purple group started the effort with washing and grating the vegetables and measuring and stirring the dry ingredients. The red group contributed the wet ones, honey, orange juice, butter and the egg. The yellow and blue groups were invited to participate by scooping the batter into the muffin tins.
All the groups spent time in the newly configured bakery kitchen in the block area. They were able to play out some of the experiences of the Hellers and Potter's House bakery visits earlier this week. Thanks to the imagininative play guided by Pickett and Melissa everyone had a great time.
Outdoor play was blessed by a gorgeous sunny day - and even a little warm in the sun! First the yellow and blue groups played in the courtyard with many trike-bike circles and games of "boo!" in the playhouse. We also talked about which animals we would like to be and why - baby and momma giraffes were nominated as were a whole slew of dinosaurs. Then many of us transitioned out to the side yard where we rode on a pretend train for 2 hours to the park to see a whale. Then we ran in circles around a tree and ran in squares around the sandbox.
There was a lot of interest inside in reading books about cooking things - like bread and cake and where all the ingredients come from. We also made a neat tower with squares on the light board. Then some coloring before clean-up time.
We were lucky to enjoy a delicious snack of rolls and our zucchini and carrott muffins - YUM YUM.
We also found a big praying mantis that will be in a terrarium for everyone to see. We need to discover what they eat if you want to explore at home.


Elaine, Megan, & Michelle

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Today the purple and red groups went to Heller's Bakery and Potter's House, and the yellow and blue groups stayed at ALG to play. The folks at ALG went to the side yard and opened a bakery in the sandbox. There were many little bakers making cakes, breads, pizzas and empanadas. Some even made dinosaur cupcakes. There were cashiers and delivery folks as well. At one point the landlord of the bakery called and said we had to move, so we found a new location for the bakery.

The purple and red groups started off at Heller's Bakery, where they walked through the kitchen and met the chef in charge of baking cakes, the chef in charge of decorating cakes, and the chef in charge of the giant mixing bowl. They also met the chef who put all baked goods into a giant oven. Then they left and walked to Potter's House, where everyone ate lunch. After lunch, all of the kids mixed the ingredients for bread. They kneaded the dough over and over and over. They shaped the dough and placed it into bread pans that will brought to the school after they have been baked.

Everyone seemed to have a great day.

Heller's Bakery on a Sunny Day

The yellow and blue groups had a great trip to Heller's Bakery this morning. The S2 took us to Park Road, and we had a nice short walk to the bakery. We saw so many cookies that were tempting, but we passed them by to see a huge kitchen with the biggest refrigerator most of us had ever seen. They were making empanadas, and we saw a huge bowl of donut glaze. We got some bread to snack on and then walked back to the bus for a quick ride home.

Back at ALG the red and purple groups played in the courtyard with vehicles and chalk, and we all enjoyed the rest of the morning with blocks, cash registers, lots of cutting and drawing, snacking, hand washing and all the usual events.

There were lots of animals playing in the courtyard this morning - dogs and cats and bunnies and sharks, and all were very hungry. Babies went for walks and their were several high speed vehicle chases.

Lots of fun ways to enjoy a beautiful, very-fall day.

Monday, November 2

There was some sad news this morning. Natasha told us that the remaining guinea pig, Rusty, died over the weekend. She explained that Rusty had lived a long life (for a guinea pig) and that her body stopped working. There was a note by the cage that kids could write on to say how they felt or to tell Rusty goodbye. After circle time the groups took turns doing music with Tiffany, which was a lot of fun. We sangs songs about witches and black cats, and remembered what whole and half and quarter notes look like. Then everyone went outside in the courtyard to ride bikes. Deborah and Kathi took the red group plus Henry for a walk around the neighborhood, where they saw lots of spooky yard decorations, pumpkins, and a cricket or two. Some of the children collected fallen leaves. They also watched workers fixing a chimney way up high on the roof of a house. Back in the courtyard, everyone had a dance party with Natasha and Jose. Alexander and Sebastian served ice cream from their house, in cups with spoons [no cones] After lunch, we had a "cake" party for Ellie's birthday. Cara brought out the pumpkin bread she baked this morning (with some helpers), and it was delicious.