Freedom Baptist Day School

2010-04-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

The two year old class and three year old class took a fieldtrip to McDonalds a few weeks ago. Judging by our outfits, the weather was pretty hot that day. Happy Meals and Ice Cream all around for this bunch! So much fun!!!

Who Is My Neighbor?

2010-04-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

We have been reading and discussing the story of "The Good Samiritan" in which Jesus answers the question "Who is my neighbor?" We came up with the answer that our neighbors are everyone around us and that God wants us to treat everyone we encounter with love and kindness. For that reason we made "neighbor puppets."

So even if our neghbors don't look like us (or maybe they look completely silly), God calls us to love them.

"We love others because God first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Overheard at the Lunch Table

2010-03-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

For some reason today the chidlren were discussing how large their brains were. This is what I overheard at the lunch table.

W: "I have the biggest brain in the world."
C: "Uh-uh. God does. Nobody has a bigger brain than God."
N: "What about Jesus."
C: "His brain is the same size as God's. They are the same person."

Bread and Butter

2010-03-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

Our theme for the month of March was "Folk Tales Down on the Farm." As part of this theme we read and compared different versions of various folk tales. One of my favorites is always "The Little Red Hen," so to go along with that story my class made bread together. I am not quite brave enough to make bread the old fashioned way with all the kneading and resting and rising; and honestly I am not sure that we would have the patience to do it that way! I brought in my bread machine and we talked about wet ingredients and dry ingredients and then added them all together and poured them in the bread machine. We checked on it throughout the morning and were able to see the mixture change and rise in the machine.

While we were waiting for the bread to bake, we also made some butter. If you have never made butter, it is one of the most simple and fun things to make! Start with room temperature heavy cream and a clean, lidded jar. Pour the cream into the jar and add a clean marble if you wish.

SHAKE! A lot! Take turns, because this part can take a while. The colder your cream; the longer it will take.

As you shake the sound will change from a sloshy liquid sound to a very quiet, almost silent sound. The cream is getting thicker and you are about half way there.

Shake some more!!

The sound will change again to a sloshy liquid sound accompanied by a louder "thunk." That is because the cream has separated into butter and buttermilk.

Shake it a little longer and then separate the butter from the buttermilk. Rinse the butter with clear water while stirring it around in the bowl. This will remove all the buttermilk and make your butter stay fresher longer.

Add butter to your fresh baked loaf of bread.

Eat and enjoy!!

We ate our fresh bread and butter for afternoon snack and had enough left over to share with parents.

March goes out like a Lamb . . . snack

2010-03-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

March comes in like a Lion and out like a Lamb. That is the unit that the 2 year old class is currently exploring. To tie up our unit, we made "Lamb snacks" for our snack yesterday. After their disappointment in realizing the bagels were covered with cream cheese and not icing, the kids had a lot of fun putting their lambs together and eating them. Check out their pictures with their lamb snacks!! They liked eating them better than anything!! Everyone had 2!! Could not believe it! They wanted even more!!!

He ate the ears before I could get a picture :)"Ms. Stacey, I am wicking it!"

She DID enjoy eating her lamb snack!!

This lamb snack had a mustache :)

Not really sure how she ended up with three ears :)

"Posing" with our lamb snack :)

Snow Much Fun!!

2010-02-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

Today we had a snow day at school! It snowed about 3 inches on top of some leftover snow from the weekend. Our local schools were out and the roads were a little tricky, so we had limited staffing available and fewer kids than usual. We managed to have a place for everyone who called and the best part is that we actually remembered to ask parents to send in snow gear. Ms. Stacey and I kept our 15 kids together in the "big room" to play and snack. Then we all helped each other get ready to go outside. School-agers are really helpful for zipping coats, finding hats and holding jackets!!
We took the kids up to the upper gravel lot and let them loose. They made some huge snow balls that turned into a snow spider, a snowman, and some other creation that they enjoyed sitting on and jumping off. They had such a great time running around in the snow and playing. It was a lot of work to get ready, but I am really glad we did it!!
After we played outside for a while, we came in, changed out of our wet clothes (Ms. Pam surely appreciated the two pairs of socks I stuck on her heater to dry!!) and then each kid got to make their own pizza for lunch. They were really messy, but the kids scarfed them down, so they must have been good.
I think almost everyone is sleeping now, so we must have really worn them out outside. Days like this are fun because the kids get to play with kids they don't normally play with that often (the school-agers and other classrooms). It's also nice to have another adult to hang around with in the room.

Cooking Class

2010-01-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

The two year old class has been doing a "Kids in the Kitchen" unit this week. Today we did a little cooking and made some Friendship Mix. Each child brought in a favorite snack of theirs and it was added to a big bowl of popcorn and mixed together. Each child took a turn adding their own favorite snack and stirring. Our friendship mix was our snack this morning. In addition, they are each wearing their Chef Necklaces. Fun times!!

Choo Choo!

2009-12-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

Our public TV station, WVPT, recently had a train display set up down at their station. They graciously invited our kids down for a look. The kids got to watch some real electric trains go around the tracks

and then they had a chance to play with some toy train sets that were set out.

After some play time with the trains, we got to go back and listen to an awesome reading of "The Polar Express." We got a little bit more play time and then set off for school again. But not before WVPT donated an entire box of children's books to our school! Thanks so much, WVPT! The kids had an amazing time!!

Christmas Parade!

2009-12-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

Once again this year, we decided to participate in the Harrisonburg Christmas parade. The city's theme for the parade was "Sweet Treats and Gingerbread Dreams." We figured there would be a lot of gingerbread houses (which there were) but we still wanted to stick with the theme, so we went with a bed full of dreaming children. We decorated the bed of the truck with candy cane striped bed posts and had all the kids (and some of the staff and parents) wear their pajamas. All the classes did a candy art project for the float. The toddlers made glittery gumdrops, the twos made gingerbread cookies, the threes made over sized suckers and the four year old class decorated hard candies. We hooked up a few sets of lights, added the candy and the kids and set off. Each side of the truck had a sign that said "All these 'sweet' kids are from Freedom Baptist Day School." The weather was great--chilly but not too cold. A few parents held the sign, while some of the staff handed out candy and flyers. The other staff and parents hung out in the back of the truck with the kids. Don't forget--if you are reading this as a prospective parent, we are offering one free week of care just for mentioning that you saw us at the Christmas parade! Give us a call and find out the details--433-5709.

PetCo: Where the Preschoolers Go!

2009-11-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

This month our preschool class is learning about "People Around Us." This includes community helpers and other things around us as well; like pets. We have been talking about what pets we have and what our pets need to survive. To go along with this we scheduled a trip to PetCo in Harrisonburg to learn about different kinds of animals and their needs. We know that all pets need food, water, love, and a place to live . We saw some Guinea pigs that reminded of us of John Willy and Freddy McGee from one of our current favorite books.

We got to hold and pet a very rambunctious ferret!

We even got to pet a snake! Ms. Sandra offered to let us hold it, but no one took her up on that offer. :)

We also saw a gecko (he was not selling insurance) and learned why his tail is different from the rest of his body--He can make it fall off if he gets threatened!

Ms. Sandra even showed us her favorite bird, Jewels. She is beautiful, but did not want to stand still to get her picture taken! Ms. Sandra says she likes to give kisses!

After our trip to PetCo, we went to McDonald's for lunch. We had hoped to play on the play structure, but the rain had other plans for us, so we ate our lunches and then headed back to school.

Many thanks to Ms. Terri and Mr. Ben for coming along with us. We had a great time!

Overheard in the 4-year old room

2009-11-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

As reported by Ms. Erica:

So I was in the 4 year old class at work today and the boys were playing superheros. I was just watching and laughing at them being boys. One little boy says, "I'm SUPERMAN and I'M GOING TO SAVE THE WORLD!!" the other little boy turns to him and in a very serious voice and says.... " WELL!!! I'm Obama and I'm gonna save New York!!!"

Fall Fun Night!

2009-10-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

On Friday, October 30th, Ms. Stacey, Ms. Ariel, and Ms. Rabia hosted a Fall Fun Night. For minimal fee, kids could stay at the pre-school after hours and hang out for some fun, while parents could have a break as well. SInce it had been pajama day for most of the school anyway, we also made it pajama night for the kids (and teachers) who participated. First we started with dinner. We served "mummy dogs" alond with applesuce, some fresh veggies and milk. The kids LOVED the mummy dogs and they were so fun to eat!
After dinner we played a few games. We had a pumpkin hunt where the older kids helped the younger ones find pumpkin cutouts hidden around the building.

We also had a beanbag toss using some plastic pumpkins.

The kids got a chance to get their faces painted with some fun Fall designs.

Then we did some fun crafts. We made creepy spiders...

and spooky ghosts...

Parents came to pick up and their kids were already in their jammies ready for bed. It was an awesome night for the teachers and the kids! We can't wait to do it again!

Carving our Pumpkin

2009-10-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

While at the Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago, each class got a large pumpkin to later carve or paint. Ms. Stacey's class decided to carve the pumpkin and see what is inside this pumpkin of ours. At first the kids were a little hesitant to stick their hands inside the pumpkin, but once someone got the ball rolling there was no stopping them!

We were interested in seeing if the children would carve one another so I left the knife on the tray--no, just kidding . . . I actually had to use two different knives because the first one I picked up was too dull. I did not realize it was still sitting there while I stood up to take pictures until everything was over and I looked at the pictures. Suffice it to say, everyone has all their fingers and toes--no harm done.

They were all so very proud of our carved pumpkin and could not stop looking at the "candle" inside. All very exciting stuff!

Today during circletime we decided that our Jack-o-lantern is orange just like our pumpkin was orange. We have two different shapes in our Jack-o-lantern . . . a circle and some triangles.

For snack we tried our roasted pumpkin seeds while we sat in our dark room admiring our glowing Jack-o-lantern. All but two of the kids loved the seeds and asked for more. The other two tried them, but were really not fans.

After circletime and reading several Halloween themed books, we did a coloring and counting project with our pumpkin seeds to tie everything together. What a great time!!

Toddler Room!!!

2009-10-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone I am the new permanent 1 year old teacher! My name is Ms. Alecia (even though my kiddos all call me Sheesha)! I just wanted to explain a little what we have been doing in the Toddler Room. We have a lot of fun!! We get to play with lots of different toys, a sink, boxes, and lots more! I love for them to be learning, but also being able to have funwhile they are learning. They love to bring books to me and have me read them! It's pretty neat when they know what the pictures are and get all excited! I have a great bunch of kiddos right now and every day is fun!!
If you are looking because you are interested in bringing your toddler to our school I can promise you that you can't go wrong! =) I think all my kiddos are very special!!

Pumpkin Patch visit

2009-10-13T11:05:00.001-07:00

Today we packed up the 2, 3, and 4 year olds and headed up to Lohr's Pumpkin Patch. We have been going to this pumpkin patch for a few years now and the kids, parents and teachers always have a blast! The first thing we got to do is take a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.

On the way we passed a pond and had all the kids look for the ducks, turtles and frogs. Once we got to the pumpkins we turne the kids loose to go look for their own pumpkins and gourds. Why do the smallest kids always pick the biggest pumpkins??On the way, we passed a pond and had all the kids look for the ducks, turtles and frogs. Once we got to the pumpkins we turned the kids loose to go look for their own pumpkins and gourds. Why do the smallest kids always pick the biggest pumpkins??

After picking out their own personal pumpkins and gourds, we got to ~~get lost~~ go through the corn maze! The kids had to walk through the big pumpkin mouth to get in and then try and find their way out. We are proud to report that we didn't lose anyone in the corn maze!!
After the corn maze, it was time to play in "play land!" They have see saws and slides, like any good play land should, but they also have two large "sand boxes" full of dry corn kernels and soy beans (Ms. Rabia very scientifically reports that the soybeans are quite comfortable.). And the tumble tubes are a hit with the kids who are big enough to push them up the hill.

When out time at play land was up, we met together at the big castle and got our instructions for visiting the petting zoo. The best part of the instructions? "Don't get too loud or the llama might spit on you!"

By this time we were getting pretty hungry, so we washed up and had a nice picnic at the tables.

Then came the part of the day that I like to call "Running willy-nilly through the very large field!"

All in all, we had a great time at the pumpkin patch. Many thanks to the parents that were able to come along with us!

Overheard in chapel

2009-10-09T22:23:00.001-07:00

Pastor Dale's wife, Diana, has been having chapel for the two, three and four-year olds every Friday. This week we talked about sin. We talked about the first sin, when the serpent tricked Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Then we talked about Cain and Abel. Ms. Diana talked about making sure that we do things God's way and not our own. We learned that Cain tried to do things his way and God was not pleased with him. Cain then because jealous of Abel and killed him. Ms. Diana showed us a picture from a children's collection of Cain holding a club over Abel (not the one above, but similar). She told us that Cain hit Abel with a bat. One of the children then chimed in with, "That's not a bat. That's a chicken leg!"

Cookin

2009-09-23T10:11:00.001-07:00

Ms. Stacey's Two Year old class did some cooking today. We made "Awesome Apple Trees." Each child brought in an ingredient and we made them and had them for snack. It was GREAT! The kids took a Ritz cracker and spread green frosting on it and put a pretzel stick for a tree trunk. They then were able to pick from green, yellow or red M & M's to add their "apples." Once their apples were where they wanted them, we took a picture of everyone's masterpieces and they gobbled them up! Everyone was able to take home their own "bushel of apples!"

"We're Home!"

2009-09-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

The official Freedom Baptist Day School school year is in full swing. All of the school agers have gone back to school, all of our graduating pre-schoolers have started Kindergarten and we have some new students that have enrolled for this school year. Ms. Ariel has made her official move into the three year old room since Ms. Treasa has moved closer to her family and Ms. Stacey has a new batch of kids in her class that are just up from the toddler room. Ms. Rabia's class is all new this year except for one returning student that she had last year. Everything is very exciting and new right now!

Ms. Ariel and Ms. Stacey decided to let their classes have a "free day" this week and we loaded them all up on the bus for one last summer fun time to go to McDonald's. The kids had such a great time at McDonald's!! They played on the playground, everyone had a Happy Meal of their choice (well, their parent's choice :)), a cup of ice cream and a Happy Meal toy to take home at the end of the day. What more could a little kid ask for??! As we started driving up the hill towards McDonald's and the kids could see the Golden Arches, they all started yelling "I see it! I see it!" Too funny how all kids KNOW McDonald's! :) Towards time to go, one of our little guys crawled off of the playground and layed down on the ground. It was so cute and I went to snap a picture. Just after getting this one, he lifted his head. I asked him to lay his head down and close his eyes again. He did just that, layed down, closed his eyes and said "Cheese." :)

What have we been up to??

2009-07-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

It has been pretty busy in the school-ager classroom lately! I (Rabia) have also been pretty busy and so I have not had much time to post updates. I made the kids some cool t-shirts so that our kids are more easily recognizable when we are out on the town.
We have been playing at the playground, swimming at the pool, (making "butt prints" on the pavement), riding public transit, and going to the movie theater (where they discourage taking pictures).

Best Fieldtrip Ever!

2009-07-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Our building and construction skills were tested today at Home Depot. We were invited to Home Depot to do a couple projects as well as take a tour of the store. We were taken into a project room and each of our kids were given a pair of goggles, an official Home Depot apron, and the tools we would need to build our Picnic Caddy and Birdhouse. After completing these projects the kids were given Kids Workshop pins that they placed on their aprons. After their projects the kids were taken on a tour of Home Depot where they were instructed to point out things one would need when building a house. They all had such a great time! Be sure to check out the Home Depot website to see about their monthly Kids Workshop sessions. Your kids will love them! They are the first Saturday of each month from 9 am until noon.

Good Bye to Ms. Treasa

2009-07-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

(l to r) Ms. Treasa, Ms. Stacey, Ms. Rabia

Today is Ms. Treasa's last day with us at Freedom. While we are very sad to see her go, we are also very excited for her to be closer to her children and granddaughter. Ms. Treasa has been an amazing threes teacher. I for one, will always remember her awesome art projects and wide variety of songs. I know that my class next year will be ready to go because of Ms. Treasa's excellent teaching. We wish you all the best, Ms. Treasa! Keep in touch!

Who is your hero?

2009-07-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today we (our school agers) had a special visit from Officer Mike Gangloff of the Harrisonburg Police Department. He spoke to us about good strangers and bad strangers, people we can trust and things to look out for when we are around people we don't know well. He gave each child a copy of their fingerprints for their parents to keep. In addition, he and a fellow officer were kind enough to let us see and sit in their police cars. The kids got such a kick out of sitting in the drivers seats! Officer Mike turned on lights and sirens for the kids. It was great!

Cow Appreciation Day

2009-07-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

We got dressed up for Chick-Fil-A's 5th annual "Cow Appreciation Day."

And even had a visit from the "Cow of the Hour!"

Martin's Grocery Store

2009-07-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

We visited Martin's where we got to see the deli, visit some lobsters, walk through the refrigerated section, and eat some freshly baked cookies (YUM!)

A very Funnnn Day!!!

2009-07-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

On my 20th Birthday I decided we were gonna do something new and fun!!! We had a chocolate pudding and cool whip day!!! The kids had so much fun!! They had it everywhere--as you can see. It was cute though because some of them were unsure about whether they were allowed to play in it, but they soon they figured it out!! It was a huge mess but hey, as long as they had fun that's all that matters!!!!

Ms. Stacey & Ms. Treasa's 4th of July Parade

2009-07-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Swimming

2009-06-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of all the 4 year olds and school agers going on fieldtrips, the 2 and 3 year old classes go occasionally as well. They took their first pool trip to Gypsy Hill Park to partake in the baby pool there. Prior to leaving, we realized the pool did not open quite as early as we thought it did. To kill some time we let the kids play on the park playground for a bit and then took them to the pool. When paying the admission to the pool, we were told the baby pool was closed for mechanical repairs. This was NOT GOOD! The most shallow part of the big pool is only 2 feet deep, but that depth only lasts a short distance. Luckily, we had some wonderful parents and grandparents that went with us on our trip and were able to get into the pool with the kids to stick with the children they were responsible for a little better. Then to top it all off . . . 5 minutes after we arrived and got the children into the pool, the lifeguards blew the whistle for the Adult Swim and we had to get all the kids to the side of the pool. What a mess! Despite the great disappointment in not being able to use the facilities we had hoped, the day went pretty well! We are planning on going again mid July.

Bible School

2009-06-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Pam, our Administrator, our Pre-K and School-Age kids were able to go to Bible School at Covenant Presbyterian Church this week. This is something that our kids do each summer. They LOVE it!! Covenant's Bible School hosts several hundred children with a wonderful staff of church members and youth. All of the kids are split up into groups of 4 - 6 children. Their age and/or grade level determines what their projects and activities will be for the week. They spend the 3 hours a day, for 5 days, moving to different rooms and activities such as crafts, outside play, bible lesson, snack time and group worship. There are wonderful Christian songs that the kids sing each day and enjoy dancing while they sing. Their sense and knowledge of the Lord grows so much during this week. Thank you so much, Pam!

What's Growing?

2009-06-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

On Thursday when the school agers and the pre-k kids went to the greenhouse, they had some really nice flowers and veggies sent home with them to plant. With their busy field trip schedule, they have not had a chance to plant them. Ms. Stacey and Ms. Treasa's class decided to plant them for them today. We planted tomato plants, watermelon plants and some pretty flowers. The tree the kids are standing behind has flowers planted around the base of the tree. Everyone had a chance to dig in the dirt, help pack the dirt and water the plants. They are all excited about watching their "garden" grow!

First Field Trip

2009-06-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

During the summer we have more students than through the school year. We have many school age kids that come to Freedom Baptist Day School for the summer. As a result, we take the Pre-K students and the School-Age students on fieldtrips throughout the summer. Here are pictures of one of our first field trips of the year. We took a trip to Sunnyday Greenhouse, in Weyers Cave, where we learned all about the different types of flowers that grow this time of year. We also learned how to handle the dirt properly to ensure the best results from your planting. Each of the kids were able to plant their own sunflower seed to take back to the center with them. In addition, they sent us back to our center with flowers, tomato and watermelon plants to plant and observe through the summer.
After leaving the greenhouse we went to Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton for lunch and spent the afternoon at the pool. It was a fun time for all!! Unfortunately the only camera I had on me was the one on my phone. The pictures could be better.

Field Day!

2009-06-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Today was Field Day for Freedom Baptist Day School! The toddlers, 2 year old and 3 year old classes participated in Field Day. The Pre-K and School Agers were on a field trip and were unable to participate. We set up obstacle courses, bean bag tosses, sand sculpture stations and pillow sack races. The kids had such a great time doing all the activities! The toddler class really did not understand what they were supposed to do, but they had a great time throwing their bean bags at the fence :). After their morning field day activities, they all settled down for lunch outside! Even the teachers had a super time. What a great day!!

Field Trip to the Park!

2009-06-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ms. Stacey's and Ms. Treasa's classes went to the Grottoes Park today for a field trip. What a great time all the kids had playing, running, jumping, sliding, etc.! The weather was quite hot, but we had lots of water for them to drink. What a super day!! Check out the pictures! A few kids fell asleep on the way home and everyone slept well at naptime!

Pre-School Graduation

2009-06-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, June 4, my (Ms. Rabia's) class had our preschool graduation picnic at Oakdale Park in Bridgewater. It was overcast or raining most of the day, but when we got to the park it was clear enough for the kids to play on the equipment for a little while before we ate.

We sang some songs together that we had learned for the ceremony. We made the graduation caps as an art project earlier in the week. Each child had to find the correct letters to stamp his/her name on the top and then count out 10 jewels to decorate the caps with. I found a nice poem about the end of the school year and pasted it inside the kids' mortar boards. It says:

I'm glad I was your teacher

I've come to love you so.

I can't believe the end is here,

I hate to see you go.

Remember all the fun we had

In all the things we did.

But most of all remember...

You're a very special kid!

We enjoyed a nice potluck dinner, complete with cake. Many thanks to all the parents and kids that came out to celebrate these kids' special achievement!

Welcome to the Toddler room

2009-06-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Daily Class Schedule:
7-Open
7-8:30-Breakfast
8:30-9-Free Playtime
9-9:15-Diaper Changes
9:15-9:30 or so-Snack
9:30-10-Free Playtime
10:10:30-Circle Time...songs, shapes, letters, abc's, 123's..ect.
10:30-11-Free Play Time or center play...playdough, whipped cream...
11-11:15-Diaper Changes
11:15-11:30-Clean up, get lunch ready.
11:30-12-eat lunch
12:15-3-Nap Time
3-3:15-Diaper Changes
3:15-6-Free play
6-Close

School-Ager Training

2009-05-29T17:37:00.001-07:00

This morning I (Ms. Rabia) went to an awesome training sponsored by Child Care Connection. The theme was "School's Out: Now What?!" The focus was on how to best serve school agers during the summer months. Considering the fact that we only have two more weeks of school before we take a break for the summer, this was a very timely training.
We were greeted with a keynote address by Todd Bale, the executive director of the Harrisonburg/Rockingham Boys and Girls Club. We then broke up into three groups and rotated between topics.
The first topic I attended was called "Conflict Transformation" by Vesna Hart. She taught about how important it is to teach conflict resolution to young children. She described a story in which two children are fighting over an orange. The teacher swoops in and cuts the orange in half, giving each child half. The first child eats the fruit and throws away the peel, while the second child throws away the fruit and uses the peel to make cookies. Had the teacher taken a moment to listen to both sides of the story and get to the bottom of the argument, both children could have gotten what they wanted without the need for compromise. How often do teachers (and parents, too) step in to "fix" a problem without really taking the time to find out what the problem really is? The things we do every day model to our children how to solve problems. Are we teaching them to think things out, to walk away, or that the biggest person always gets their way?
I actually had a student this week that gave me a great chance to teach about conflict resolution. A boy came over to me at the table during center time. He was crying and visibly upset. He said that she wouldn't give him a pony to play with. I calmly asked him what he had already tried. "How did you ask her?" He looked at me and said, "Oh! I forgot to ask!" I laughed (gently) and suggested to him that he try that and see what would happen. Sure enough, as soon as he went over to her, she let him have his choice of ponies. It was a very easy problem to solve, but he just didn't know how to get started.

The second session that I went to was about dealing with problem behaviors by Pat Kennedy. I have been to this session before, but enjoyed going again. It is a good reminder of how to look at all sides of a behavior issue before trying to solve it. The facilitator's main point was to try and find the underlying causes of a problem behavior. She pointed out that children at this age do not really sit at home at night thinking of ways to get on their teacher's nerves! There are always reasons for their behaviors, and if you take the time to think about those cause, things become easier to deal with.
Another thing Pat brought up was the importance of being consistent-across days, across children; between teachers and parents. Children are quite expert at what I like to call the "Mommy-Daddy game." If one teacher (or parent) will not give them what they want, they usually know they can go to another person and get a different response. As teachers and parents, we need to work together to ensure that we are consistent in our expectations and our consequences. It has to be a partnership to have the greatest benefit for the child.

The third session I went to was, by far, the most FUN! It was taught by a PE teacher from Montevideo Middle School. We spent 45 minutes running around the gym playing group games. He talked about the importance of building a community within your group. He had lots of great suggestions for how to keep the kids busy and having a GREAT time. He also had a handout with lots of awesome game suggestions. It was fun running around like a kid again, and I was glad I had worn tennis shoes!

Kids are so funny!

2009-05-20T19:35:00.001-07:00

I am Stacey and I teach the 2 year olds class. Many two year olds still have difficulty communicating . . . you can often understand several words in a sentence, but not the entire sentence so you must decode their talk to communicate with them.

Monday, while my kids were sitting at the tables waiting patiently for me to give them their lunch, two of them were talking to each other. It was mainly a one sided conversation where a little boy was listening to a little girl talk (may as well get used to that at a young age :).) In listening to this conversation I was only able to understand one word she was saying over and over again. Unfortunately, this word was a "potty word." Ms. Stacey does not allow "potty words" to be used in her classroom and invites the child to sit in the potty if they wish to use these words. I interrupted the conversation to remind this little girl that we do not use "potty words," especially at the table. I asked her if she wanted to sit in the potty. She very quickly shook her head no and I went back to preparing their lunch. The next thing I know . . . I hear whispering. I turn around to see this same little girl continuing this "conversation" with the same little boy, but is whispering to him . . . I guess so I could not hear if she used a "potty word." I suppose you had to be there, but I thought it was hysterical!

I NEVER experience a boring day at work! They are all so funny and quite entertaining.

Ms. Stacey's Class

2009-05-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Ms. Stacey's Class

I teach the two year old class. I typically have 10, 2 year olds in my class each day. We have a daily circletime in which we use the Fireflies preschool cirriculum. Fireflies cirriculum provides different themes each week and includes wonderful ideas for learning that is dependant upon each child's pace and ability. In addition, we review our calendar daily and determine the month, day of the week, and numeric date of the day. We learn to count, learn our colors, work on shapes, and focus a lot on how we are to treat one another. We love to sing songs and read books. After circletime we work in our centers for a more "hands on" approach to learning.

Puzzles

Marble Table

Aqua Doodle

Our art projects are a class favorite. The kids thoroughly enjoy the time spent making projects and then being able to pick theirs out when it is displayed in our room. Our class schedule is as follows . . .

7:00 am - 8:30 am Arrival time and Breakfast (until 8:00)

8:30 am - 9:00 am Free play and prepare for start of day

9:00 am - 9:10 am Bathroom break and/or Pull-up/diaper changes

9:10 am - 9:25 am Morning Snack

9:25 am - 10:00 am Circletime learning, reading, singing, etc.

10:00 am - 11:00 am Centers and project time

11:00 am - 11:40 am Outside play

11:40am - 11:55am Bathroom

11:55am - 12:40pm Lunch

12:45pm - 3:00pm Naptime

3:00pm - 3:15pm Bathroom break/Pull-up and/or diaper changes

3:15pm - 3:30pm Afternoon snack

3:30pm - 6:00pm Free play/outside play/parent pick-up

Thank you for your "visit" to our classroom! Hope you had a great experience! If you have any questions please feel free to click on "comments" on the bottom right of the blog. Please be sure to leave your email address so I may respond to you and answer any questions you may have. :)

Ms. Treasa's Class

2009-05-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Ms. Treasa's Class

Our three-year-old class is taught by the very capable, very artistic Ms. Treasa. This classroom uses individualized lesson plans based on each child's learning needs. The development of each child is reinforced in all activities and routines throughout the day.

At group time her class works on numbers, colors, shapes, and the alphabet. Her class has a new theme each week, which comes from the "Fireflies" curriculum. They do creative activities to promote emotional, cognitive, social, and physical development; with lots of hands-on, interactive projects that allow children to use their unique leaning styles.

Ms. Treasa's class schedule

8:00--Arrival and free play
9:00--Clean up and bathroom break
9:30--Morning snack
9:45--Circle time
10:05--Project time/art
10:30--Clean up
10:45--Outside play
11:30--Bathroom break/Wash hands
11:45--Lunch
12:15--Get ready for nap
12:30--Nap time
3:00--Bathroom break
3:15--Afternoon snack
3:30--Story time
3:45--Clean up
4:00--Outside time
5:00--Free play/departure

Thanks for all you do for our 3-year-olds, Ms. Treasa!! And congratulations on winning the fundraising basket auction contest. Ms. Treasa's "Movie Lovers" basket went for $75 at our auction last weekend! Ms. Treasa received a $25 Wal*Mart gift card for her success!

Ms. Rabia's Class

2009-04-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Ms. Rabia's class!

I currently have 9 students in my class; six girls and three boys. We are on a journey together to get ready for Kindergarten. We use the Blueprint curriculum, which is a very literacy based program. There are 10 monthly themes that include read-aloud books, learning games and suggestions for extension activities.

Our Daily Schedule:

7-8:30--Arrival/Breakfast/Free-play time

8:30--Clean up and bathroom break

9:00--Morning snack

9:15--Circle time (Includes read-alouds, songs, and "Message time plus")

10:00--Center time*

11:00--Journal or Bible or Group Project

11:15--Calendar

11:25--Outside time

12:00--Bathroom break and wash up for lunch

12:15--Lunch

12:45--Nap time

2:45--Wake up/clean up

3:00--Bathroom break

3:15--Afternoon snack

3:30--Afternoon story time

3:45--Outside Play or Inside Free Play until pick-up

*Our centers include:

blocks, kitchen/dress-up, library,

art,

and table centers such as lacing cards,

pattern blocks, legos,

puzzles,

sorting and lacing beads, etc.

I hope you enjoyed your "visit" in my classroom, please add a comment or feel free to ask a question in the "comments" section.

And come back soon for another classroom profile!

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Earth Day, Ms. Stacey and Ms. Treasa's class walked around the grounds of the school and picked up trash that had collected in the flower beds, grass and gravels. The kids had such a great time cleaning up our Earth! Ms. Treasa's class planted their grass seed. This is a project they are hoping is going to be a great observation of how grass grows. Ms. Stacey's class planted grass seed week before last and today made note of how much it had grown and that some of the cups need cutting.

Going Live!

2009-04-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

Each family is getting a flyer today announcing the launch of this website. So if you are visiting for the first time, WELCOME! Let us know what you think, what you would like to see and any other comments you have. You can comment under each post that interests you. If you look over on the right hand side of the blog you will see a few other things to note:

Start Here-a great place to find basic information about the school. You will also see our updated parent handbook. Enrollment forms and other forms will be added here in the near future.
Blog Archive-shows the latest posts. You can click on any of the titles to be taken directly to that post.
Labels-These show all the posts about a certain topic. If you click on "2s" you will be taken to all of the posts about the 2-year-old class.
Followers-these are people who are interested in keeping up with this blog. Click on this link to be notified whenever this site is updated.
Other Links of Interest-you can check out what our parent church is up to, as well as taking a look at Pastor Dale's blog.

We hope that you enjoy your visit here. Please leave a comment to let us know what you think.

God bless!!

School Pictures

2009-04-21T05:27:00.000-07:00

Lifetouch school pictures are in and ready to go home with you! Once again, they came out precious. The staff actually kept them an extra day so we could make sure to see them all (sorry!). Ordering information is in the package, but if you have any questions, any one of our teachers should be able to help you out.
Please remember that Freedom Baptist gets a portion of every package that is sold. We have made about $100 from each of the last photo sessions. If that tips your decision to buy another sheet or two-THANKS!!

Our School Egg Hunt

2009-04-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Easter this year, Freedom Baptist's two year old, three year old, and four year old classes hosted an Easter Egg Hunt on the Thursday before Good Friday. Each of the children brought in 10 plastice eggs that were filled with candy, stickers, toys, etc. Ms. Rabia, Ms. Treasa and Ms. Stacey's classes each made their Easter baskets during the week so they would have something to hold all of their Easter loot. We were so lucky to have Sophie's mom, Amy, come by to help out for the morning! Amy and our oldest school ager, Latekah went out and hid a laundry basket full of eggs on the playground and out on the field.

After organizing the kids into their age groups we let them loose, group by group, to fill their baskets as full as they could and then we sent them home to Mom and Dad :). Each age group had a bit of a head start on the group older than them. They all had such a wonderful time and in the end everyone ended up with an equal amount of eggs. We would like to thank all the parents for providing your child with their 10 eggs (some parents more than that) so all the kids could participate in the hunt!

Funky's Skating Rink

2009-04-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

It is Spring Break for the city and county school systems this week, so we get to have our school-agers all day for the week. A local church had rented out the newly renovated skating rink for a "Christian Family Skate" and so we loaded up the four, five, and six year olds in our care and headed out to the rink!

When we got there, not many other people were around, so the adults from the other church helped all of our kids get their skates on and tied. What a blessing! Once the kids were all laced up, they headed out to the rink to try out their wheels. The neat thing about roller skating with kids is that there is a bolt in each wheel that can be tightened so that the wheels don't roll very much. This gives the kids a chance to try out skating without falling so much.

One of the first things that the kids did was play "red light; green light." It's a fun game because you don't have to be able to skate-just crawl. The DJ calls out "red light" or "green light" and the kids have to pay attention. Sometimes he called out "go!" and the kids that moved had to be sent back to the wall to start over.

As you can see from the pictures, the kids had a great time.

The DJs played all Christian music, so we didn't have to worry about lyrics or dancing. That was a huge worry removed!

I even put on a pair of skates and did a few laps. So did Ms. Pammie!!

About mid-way through, they called all the kids back into the party room and had a devotional time for them. I like for our kids to hear God's message in all different arenas, and it was a good excuse to take a break.

A Food Lion nutrition tour

2009-04-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sarah Kesner is the Deli Manager at the Food Lion just down the hill from Freedom Baptist. She is also the mother of one of the kids in Ms. Treasa's class. She so graciously agreed to give Ms. Stacey and Ms. Treasa's class a tour of the ins and outs of a grocery store and help them learn how our nutritious food gets on our tables at home. Each child received a hair net, in order to enter the deli. We sampled some cheese, walked into a storage refrigetator and freezer (VERY COLD), saw some boxes being crushed for recycle, and waved to the meat department employee. We also took a tour of the produce department identifying all of our favorite fruits and veggies as well as being able to spary off the lettuce with the hose--a definate favorite! Sarah and the entire staff at Food Lion were so welcoming and the tour was very fun and informative! Before we left, Sarah gave each child a Food Lion goodie bag and a yummy banana to remember their visit. We hope to make this an annual nutrition unit fieldtrip!

Clownin'

2009-03-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ms. Stacey and Ms. Treasa's class just finished a circus unit. Today we brought in a clown nose for the kids to try on and get their picture taken. Some of them were quite happy to put on that nose and pose for a picture. Some of the kids were not too sure about that nose--not sure what it would do to them:).

Welcome to our school

2008-12-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Freedom Baptist Day School is a private, Christian-based day care and pre-school serving the Harrisonburg area. We provide care for children ages newborn through 12 years old. Our after-school program currently serves the Keister School district. All of our teachers are CPR and First-Aid certified, along with receiving continuing training throughout the school year on a variety of topics related to our classrooms. Our Pre-K classroom uses the Blueprint curriculum, which is the same curriculum used by local public school Pre-K classrooms.
Please call us at 433-5709 to set up a time to come visit our school and discuss the benefits of enrolling your child.
Please click here for our Parent Handbook.
Please click here for our enrollment form.