In creating this blog site for my child care 'ohana & 'ohana interested in child care, I hoped to keep up-to-date and post at least once a week. As you may have noticed, this has not been the case. E kala mai, my apologies! Since August, we have had several new keiki and other keiki who were part time that switched to full time. We have been adjusting to the routine and getting to know each other better, hence my lack in keeping up with this blog site.
Aside from that, I have been wanting to incorporate field trips as an extension of our learning. I am open to ideas... what environments would you like to see your keiki explore & discover?
28 September, 2011
08 August, 2011
Eating from the Land
Growing up in Keanae (East Maui) my grandparents would always tell us "eat from the land, it's good for you." And we would, probably not knowing the true benefit and how lucky we were--our daily snacks included fruits and veggies that grew on our taro farm. We'd pick guavas, papaya's, wild berries, and scavenge hau trees for liliko'i. 
After taking a Sunday trip to Keanae, I was delighted that Grandma had picked some liliko'i for the keiki. And the best part--it was sweet liliko'i!! Of course, we had some with breakfast this morning. 
Our 'aina is so fruitful--and our keiki reap the benefits. They enjoyed eating liliko'i. And now that I'm able to grasp the value of "eating from the land" it brings joy to see the keiki do the same!
Lucky we live Hawaii Maui!!
02 August, 2011
It's the simple things...
Being around keiki all the time makes me realize that it really is the simple things that matter most. A hug, a smile, our family and friends. Today during outdoor play I brought out new spray bottles. I found them in the "travel" section at Walmart where you can purchase all the travel sized amenities. I knew the kids would enjoy play with it, but I never realized that they would be amused and entertained with the spray bottles for as long as they were.
Most times, I just leave activities around and wait until the keiki discover it on their own. This provides children with the opportunity to explore on their own terms and often engages the other children, supporting the idea of keiki learning from their peers.
Here, two keiki have discovered the spray bottles. They spend some time looking at it and then both decided to pick it up. One keiki just holds on to it and the other starts squeezing the trigger. After observing the water come out, the keiki in the distance is motivated to try the same thing.
After a few tries, she successfully squeezes the spray bottle hard enough and she gets some distance! Both keiki are amused by this and it turns into a game of who can spray the water the farthest.
After enjoying this game, the bottles needed to be refilled. As I put water into it, one of the keiki said, "I want the yellow bottle, yellow water." This gave me an idea! I wondered, "what would happen if I added food coloring? How would the keiki react to this change?" Eager to see, I added food coloring...
It was obvious (well to me anyway) that there was something different about the bottle or the "stuff" in it. And the keiki seemed to notice too. So they took the spray bottles and began spraying. There was a faint distinction (they were spraying it onto concrete, so they couldn't really see the color). Wanting them to experience the full effect, I walked over to our fence (which is white) and said, "I wonder what would happen if we spray the white fence?!?" haha, that always works because the keiki ran with their little feet to the fence!
They had different expressions about the color on the fence. It included a "Wow!", "Eww, Yuck!", and a "Oooh, Blue!!". (Can you guess what your keiki said? LOL)
Anyway, they were thrilled with this activity. After transforming my white fence with the blue water, they all took turns washing it off with the water hose :)
Most times, I just leave activities around and wait until the keiki discover it on their own. This provides children with the opportunity to explore on their own terms and often engages the other children, supporting the idea of keiki learning from their peers.
Here, two keiki have discovered the spray bottles. They spend some time looking at it and then both decided to pick it up. One keiki just holds on to it and the other starts squeezing the trigger. After observing the water come out, the keiki in the distance is motivated to try the same thing.After a few tries, she successfully squeezes the spray bottle hard enough and she gets some distance! Both keiki are amused by this and it turns into a game of who can spray the water the farthest.
After enjoying this game, the bottles needed to be refilled. As I put water into it, one of the keiki said, "I want the yellow bottle, yellow water." This gave me an idea! I wondered, "what would happen if I added food coloring? How would the keiki react to this change?" Eager to see, I added food coloring...It was obvious (well to me anyway) that there was something different about the bottle or the "stuff" in it. And the keiki seemed to notice too. So they took the spray bottles and began spraying. There was a faint distinction (they were spraying it onto concrete, so they couldn't really see the color). Wanting them to experience the full effect, I walked over to our fence (which is white) and said, "I wonder what would happen if we spray the white fence?!?" haha, that always works because the keiki ran with their little feet to the fence!
They had different expressions about the color on the fence. It included a "Wow!", "Eww, Yuck!", and a "Oooh, Blue!!". (Can you guess what your keiki said? LOL)
Anyway, they were thrilled with this activity. After transforming my white fence with the blue water, they all took turns washing it off with the water hose :)
29 July, 2011
Summer Break
This week our child care was closed for our week-long summer break. Although it was hardly a "break" I was able to do some deep cleaning, re-organizing, and stocking up on new (and reused) supplies & materials. We removed everything from our indoor area to shampoo our carpets and will most likely rearrange the room once we put everything back in place. We also enrolled 2 new hoaaloha to join our 'ohana! Yay!! We hope their transition into group care will be smooth and that this is the right fit for them & their 'ohana.
I miss the keiki dearly, and so does Makalewa. She has been walking into our child care room in the mornings and waiting for her hoaaloha to arrive! We are excited to resume child care next week and look forward to having an amazing child care year...
I miss the keiki dearly, and so does Makalewa. She has been walking into our child care room in the mornings and waiting for her hoaaloha to arrive! We are excited to resume child care next week and look forward to having an amazing child care year...
22 July, 2011
Paint, Water, & Smoothies
Today we had some painting & water fun and even got to enjoy some fruit smoothies! Ah, what a great way to enjoy a hot summer day :)
As always, the keiki enjoyed painting. Because I believe children learn through their senses, they have free choice to use hands, fingers, or paint brushes when painting. Most of the children began painting with the brushes, but then began experimenting with their hands and fingers. I wish I had a camera that could just capture all of the moments of the keiki learning; I too sometimes get so caught up with the keiki that I forget to capture their priceless snap shots while the keiki are in action.
With any messy activity, I usually have the water table filled near by so the keiki can wash up as they please. Today was no exception--except that the water table turned into another learning activity for them. One keiki decided to take the paint brush to the table. Before she put the brush into the water, I posed a couple questions to her (and the others): What do you think will happen to the water? Will the water change?
Eager to see what would happen, she began swishing the paint brush into the water. To their surprise--it did change! Again--I wish I could take snap shots of keiki in action, but they were amazed to see the water changing. The others quickly went to grab the other brushes to see if it would have the same effect in the water.
We also had a new friend visiting, so she got to see what a glimpse of what our day is like. After our water play and painting fun, we washed up and had some yummy fruit smoothies! I'm not big on filling keiki with sugary treats, so instead of giving them popsicles or ice cream I decided to make fruit smoothies! It's perfect for using up over-ripe fruits and it's totally healthy!! Here's our recipe:
As always, the keiki enjoyed painting. Because I believe children learn through their senses, they have free choice to use hands, fingers, or paint brushes when painting. Most of the children began painting with the brushes, but then began experimenting with their hands and fingers. I wish I had a camera that could just capture all of the moments of the keiki learning; I too sometimes get so caught up with the keiki that I forget to capture their priceless snap shots while the keiki are in action.
Eager to see what would happen, she began swishing the paint brush into the water. To their surprise--it did change! Again--I wish I could take snap shots of keiki in action, but they were amazed to see the water changing. The others quickly went to grab the other brushes to see if it would have the same effect in the water.
Yummy Summer Smoothies
Ingredients
Fruits (Mangoes, Strawberries, & Bananas)
Strawberry Yogurt
Crushed Ice
Water
- I used frozen mangoes (you can purchase or freeze it yourself), chopped strawberries and bananas.
- Place the fruits into a blender (I used a Magic Bullet). Because the Magic Bullet is smaller than a blender, I first blended together the fruits to free up some space. You may just add all the ingredients into a blender at once and blend until desired consistency.
- After blending fruits, I added crushed ice, water, and yogurt.
Enjoy!
Smoothies are simple to make and there are so many variations with fruits, yogurts, instead of water you can add 100% Fruit Juice, etc.
More pictures:
15 June, 2011
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