Rainy Friday

On a dreary day, we stayed inside playing with Pickett and Oran, sadly Oran's last day until summer camp. Lots of cats that we tried to get rid of - sending them away in a truck, up in a balloon, in a rocket to Mars, and back in time - but those darn cats kept coming back! Baby cheetahs played with and eventually ate flounders and crabs, and fought with a shark. Back up front, the day was filled with story-telling, clay castles, self-portraits, making designs with colored blocks, and building structures out of legos, blocks, and tracks.

Thursday, March 25

Spring roared in like a lion for this first-time ALG co-oper. Loads of fun today. In the morning, kids on bikes raced around the courtyard, with a few trikeless bystanders looking for inspiration. Finally, we realized that the bikes needed gas, and the bystanders turned into gas station attendants. Jay was willing to pay extra for "race" gas.
In the afternoon Yoga Jenny walked us through a transportation-inspired yoga session, where the kids improvised moves like the submarine. One more play session in the side yard was ruled by Alice, a "monster mommy" that wanted everyone to go to bed at 5 PM, with no chocolate cake! OK maybe one slice.
Then the afternoon rounded out with an awesome puppet show by Melissa about cats and dogs.
Lots of fun, but I'm ready for nap time.

March 22, 2010

Today was a bit of a slow Monday, a bit overcast, a little rain, and some sleepy headed children at times. We started out the day singing with Tiffany, and with Pickett's help we acted out animal songs. This was great fun for the kids, as everyone barked, roared and ran around. Later a group made clay sculptures, as some children played with the magnet colored blocks on the light table. There were also a few puzzle solvers, wooden block builders, story tellers and story listeners. A bit later, a group went outside and managed to play for a while before the rain started. In the back room, Natasha played music and most of the children joined in physical exercise, jumping on mats and swinging from the bar.

Ruxan Brady

It feels like Spring!

Highlights of circle time today included a Story of the Day by Ian about turtles and a tyrannosaurus rex, and a goodbye to our friend Lila, whose family is moving to CA :(. Pickett came and the groups took turns playing animals in the back room - cheetahs seem to be popular these days. In the front, Natasha made fried plantains which were a bigger hit with the grown-ups than with the kids. Once the morning chill wore off, outside we went, for a great time in the spring sunshine - nothing like sifting cool sand between your toes, digging in the dirt with a spade, running through the woods, climbing a tree, and relaxing on a swing to welcome in the new season. Have a fun weekend everyone!

Big Mess Inside, Sunny Day Outside!

After a great story of the day about popcorn and the desert (who would have thought those two things go together?), the Purple group set off for their 2-bus-ride to the Zoo. The rest of the gang proceeded to make a big mess inside - highlights included play dough desert scenes with owls, cactus, and tons of snakes, a drawing of the Washington Monument, and some letter stamping, a pretend forest near the block area, and an underwater floor puzzle. Then after a robust cleaning session and a snack we all headed to the sunny courtyard, where we enjoyed a lot of spirited bike riding, a session climbing on the ladder, and a color game led by Melissa. Close to 1:00 the zoo folks returned to hear Cara reading stories including "The Cat Came Back."

Cold Sunny Day

Today at Circle time, the Story of the Day was by Pace, who had written a very funny one involving monsters, Superman, a penguin, and his backpack. All groups took turns in back in extended play with Oran, his guitar, and Pickett, continuing their weeklong engagement as cheetahs, whales, and a frog princess - the latter of whom was married today.

In the playhouse, Jay and Sophie helped bang some errant nails down with a big hammer. Oliver was a cat who helped out by calling the police on his phone when some bad guys appeared as dinner was served. Victor and Edison did lots of work with the magnetic tiles; and Maia babysat Nicolai.

Outside in the courtyard, Cara made necklaces from yarn and found natural objects; she also fished the pool ladder up out of the well and we took turns climbing up and down. Then Natasha came up with her traveling dance party, and we worked out lots of extra energy. It was cold but sunny - so we just kept moving.

Monday, March 15

Today was an exciting day at ALG. We had so many "special" teachers. First we had music time with Tiffany, who was accompanied by Oran, Pickett and Melissa. Together we acted out songs about pets. It was particularly fun to do "The Cat Came Back". If you don't know the song ask us to sing it for you, we know it well. After Tiffany left we had more play time with Oran and Pickett. Boy, we sure love it when they are here!

We got to spend a little while outside and inside we built a huge, beautiful castle out of wooden blocks. Check it out! We're going to try to save it for more play tomorrow. We also painted, played with legos and just had a all around good time.

beautiful spring day!

Spring has sprung at ALG - and as such we all enjoyed the nice weather. The red group went to the zoo and saw cheetas, zebras, elephants and a sleeping panda. We had to take two buses to the front entrance of the zoo due to construction and the rides themselves may have been the highlight of the trip (either that or Sara's singing).

Those who stayed got centered with Yoga Jenny and spent much of the day in the side yard enjoying the sunshine, green grass and brown dirt. When the group returned inside they made hummus with Natasha (including some savory red pepper mix that is an ancient Serbian secret). All and all another great day at ALG!

Tuesday, March 9

We went outside almost immediately (after snack & potty) and stayed out all day. It was super great.
We did some digging.
We did some running.
We were pretend doggies with Pickett.
We ran from the monster Jose!
We climbed some trees.
We totally cut lose and enjoyed the fresh air!

We then came back in, had lunch and hung out for the last little bit.
Ask me about the cat book Deborah was reading - Fun!

March 8 2010

We spent as much time as possible outside in the side yard--95% of the class was out there at one point. Everyone seemed to truly enjoy the sunshine and mild weather. It was music day with Tiffannee, as well, and some new songs were introduced. The usual playing with blocks, cars, lego's, etc. went on inside. The co-opers today were exceptional; too bad we did not have a camera on them all day, as it would have been great footage for a "how-to" video.

Signed,

Objective Co-oper

Thursday 2/4/10

Today Natasha brought in her beautiful pup, Co-Co. She showed us her tricks, including sitting, high-5's, rolling over and laying down.

We also did "Spring" into yoga with yoga Jenny, where we together made a gigantic sunflower and rained down to make more flowers grow.

A nice day outside, we ran around in the side yard and enjoyed the sun.

tuesday, 3/2/10

Another great ALG day! Oran & Pickett came and played with us in the back room - 2 groups at a time so we got to stay back for a hole hour (please ask us what we played!).

We went out to the side yard and ran, ran, ran. Jose was a monster, Deborah was a mermaid mom. Some of us did some digging in the dirt.

Tomorrow we will be back in the side yard - gardening time is coming.

March 1

Finally, a sunny (though windy) day let us get outside. The sideyard was full of monsters and running, swinging and duck duck goose. We gathered many sticks that had fallen down in all the recent wind and threw them over the fence.

Before that Tiffany came for music, some kids made collages by sewing, the yellow group worked on their Secret Wonderful Auction Project. There was the usual building, playing with playdough and drawing.

We had a jolly time and a preview of more outside fun to come.

Rachel (Anna's mom)