October 2011 Newsletter

A walk around Stow Lake.



Fall is here, the weather will soon be changing, green leaves will turn yellow, red, and brown, it'll start to get dark earlier, and Halloween is just around the corner. As the season changes, we here at Little Foot, will also go through some changes, too. It's Camila's last month with us and we will miss her dearly. She will embark on her new life in Panama! Aren't we jealous? Before she leaves she will help us welcome 5 month old Shane and enjoy the festivities of Halloween.

Important Dates to Remember:

• Monday, Oct. 10th-Closed for Columbus/Indigenous People's Day
• Friday, Oct 21st-Closed for Mateo's surgery
• Thursday, Oct. 27th-Kimberly's 29th Birthday!
• Monday, Oct. 31st-Halloween



Welcome Shane to Little Foot Daycare!



 This month we look forward to getting to know 5 month old Shane and making him comfortable. Shane will join us on a Tuesday or Thursday and sometimes both. I can't wait for Shane and Sienna to meet, I just know that they will become good friends. Mateo and Camila have already had the pleasure of meeting this future fireman and think he's really cool. 

 



Just recently I learned that my "waiting-to-be-assistant" has made some changes of her own. Lauren quit her job in Noe Valley and has moved to Sonoma. I'm not sure what the future holds for her but I wish her well. What does this mean for Little Foot Daycare? I am unable to hire an assistant at this time, but plan to hire one in the future when enrollment is up to capacity, I need help, and can afford to hire. I have a total of 4 children enrolled at this time (including Mateo) all under 24 months old 2 days a week. I can legally have only 4 under 24 months on a day. However, I currently have 3 days available so I may enroll some new children or at least 1 so that Mateo has a playmate in his age group. Taking our daily walk this month might be tricky when I have all four; I may have a neighbor who is willing to assist us. If worst comes to worst we may have to take a loss on our walk a few times this month.

 

 

6 Month old Sienna has made a fine adjustment. She is a very happy go lucky baby and is really happy to be around Mateo and Camila. They are learning how to be gentle with her and constantly offer her toys, check on her, and give her pats on the back. Sienna is also really interested in the older kids as well as the cats. She watches intently as they babble and tries to join in on the conversation. She loves to spend most of her time on her tummy, like an airplane, and is very fast. One minute she is happily playing in one direction and in the blink of an eye she is facing the opposite direction. She is working on sitting with assistance.



At the Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park.

Camila and Mateo have been so busy. Their new favorite game is to run away and be chased. I am so lucky that we don't play that game in the street! They definitely want to do everything for themselves right now and it can be a very frustrating situation if they get help they don't want. I have been respecting their request and encouraging them to keep at it, it can be a real struggle otherwise. They have been getting along so much better this past month. They are learning how to communicate alittle better with each other and will shake their head "no" when they don't like something the other one is doing. They continue to occasionally share, offer each other food and toys, sit together and look at books, dance and do art. They have become aware of sirens and all things that fly in the sky, even the public emergency alarm that goes off at noon on Tuesdays. Whenever they hear one they stop and listen. We sometimes run outside to spot the plane, helicopter or bird and then we try to imitate the sound that we hear. We have been so lucky to have a flock of parrots fly by, hang out on the trees, and play on the wires.

The SFPOA ( San Francisco Police Officers Association) has asked us for support. On Sunday, December 18th at 1pm they will present their annual "Parade Of Stars" show at the McKenna Theatre at S.F State University. We have been given the opportunity to attend the show with a purchased ticket of $40 admitting 5 or we can make a donation to send a less fortunate family by donating $10. Let's show our appreciation for San Francisco police officers and support their efforts to give back to children in the Bay Area. Please make your contribution with me!





Are you ready to go for a walk? I think so, do I have to wear this hat?







September Newsletter



Now we have more room on the deck play area!

This month we'd like to welcome Sienna to Little Foot Daycare. We look forward to getting to know her and helping her settled in. Our Summer days or coming to a close as we embrace more of a Fall like weather. We continue to look for sunshine and take advantage of those last summer days. We've enjoyed beautiful fragrant flowers and have taken notice to birds and are fascinated as they fly in the sky. This month we look forward to brightening up your walls with more colorful paintings and art work. And maybe some trips to Stow Lake.



Our First Experience with Paint Brush Markers

Important Dates:                                                 
Monday Sept. 5th- Closed for Labor Day
Friday Sept. 23rd- Mateo's Surgery

Small Motor Activities:

The kids have really enjoyed their new found art skills and can't seem to get enough. Not only did the kids get introduced to paint last month but they have also learned how to use stickers and are working with crayons and paint brush markers as well. Camila was a pro at stickers from the very start, she has great eye-hand coordination, and I believe that she prefers using them the most. She has a great time making colors on the paper with the crayons and markers, but doesn't like to get too messy with the paint. Mateo had a tricky time with stickers in the beginning but has made such an improvement, he can use them all by himself now. He loves to have fun with the paint and markers. We are now combining the use of these materials and can't wait to share our art with you.

Large Motor Activities:

Woo hoo for dance parties. The kids love music, from arms in the air to bouncing squats, they love to dance and exercise different moves. Their favorite songs include: If Your Happy and You Know It, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Old McDonald. We're learning that toys are not for throwing. We're being reminded that we can throw balls and have such a good time doing it. We play alittle golf, baseball, soccor, and basketball, too.

New Accomplishments:

• Camila and Mateo can now get themselves on and off the rocking horse, riding car and dinosaur
• Miss dare devil Camila stands on the chair and dinosaur
• Mateo cuts two teeth
• They are both spoon feeding themselve
• Camila's first words! "Hello", "Hi", "Thank You" and "There you go" all in english!
• Mateo learns how to blow from his nose and mouth
• Kimberly teaches herself the alphabet in American Sign Language



Experimenting with the Chairs



We are definetily in the cause and effect stage. Here are some of the things we are working on and how we are handling it:

Hitting/Grabbing-I verbally tell the offender that it is not ok to hit/grab, I console the victum while telling the offender that it hurt and that it makes him/her cry or that he/she doesn't like that. If the attacks continues I move the child into the other room, tell them it's not ok and walk away. (I hope to discourage this behavior by giving them the idea that we don't want to be around them when they are going to hurt us) The behavior usually stops right away.

Throwing food off the highchair-I remind them that we eat the food. They usually always say "o, oh" as they throw the food, which tells me that they know what they are doing, and I discourage the behavior by taking them out of the chair saying, "it looks like your done with snack" and then we clean up our mess.

Fun Facts:

• Mateo brings toys to Camila when she can't play, like: in the highchair when she is still eating or on the changing table.
• Camila presents Mateo with play ideas and brings him toys.
• Mateo tries to hug Camila, whoops, they usually end up on the floor.
• They share...sometimes.
• While talking to someone we met on our walk, Camila claps her hands to get my attention and demands that we continue our walk using the sign for "more".

August 2011 Newsletter

August 2011 Newsletter



Camila playing in the pool.

 I am so pleased to present you with Little Foot's 1st newsletter! This Month we look forward to enjoying some summer fun. We will take advantage of our outdoor play area even if it means putting on a coat, so don't forget your sun hat! We plan to have fun with water play and explore with finger paints.

Good work to our Little Ones for working so hard on cutting new teeth. Congratulations Camila on your 1st tooth! Congratulations to Mateo on your 1st Molar! All the pain, fever, and rough nights have certainly paid of with your new pearly whites. Don't forget to brush.

Curriculum:

Peek-A-Boo! I see you!

We have really been working on our gross motor skills with our new discovery of walking. We were introduced to a long tunnel to promote spacial awareness and achevment as we get from one end of the tunnel to the other. With all this drizzly weather we have brought the outdoor play in with a slide. We are learning to climb, slide, squeeze through small spaces and take turns.



Mateo giving Camila ger cup to drink from.

 Speaking of taking turns we are getting along so well. We've recently engaged in the early stages of sharing! We can play with the same thing and pass them back and forth to one another happily. Puzzles are so much fun. We discovered how to play in sequence by dumping out all the pieces and trying to get them back to where they should be. We've discovered how helpful we can be by picking up food we've thrown off the high chair and putting away a few toys at clean up time. We're still far from doing the dishes or taking out the trash though, Ha ha ha.

Special Offer:  Earn 4 hours of free babysitting for every family you recuit to enroll at Kimberly's Little Foot Daycare.