Greetings again. Yes, again, I am delaying my online homework assignment. The hated "I don't care" thought has attacked my schoolwork. If I only have 60 minutes left on the computer, I tend to get a little more focused, but I still have 66, supposedly.

Today, I helped advertize my childcare center.

Speaking of which, here are more useful tips for childcare providers.

IF there is sticky rice on the floor, spray it with the bleach water solution. As long as you get it wet enough, the rice should sweep up easily. Thanks to my coworker for that idea. It has saved me some stress.

IF you need to plan an art activity, I'm sorry. Unless you want to, and then I'm happy for you. This week, I made hand-print octopuses (retrieve handprints from children while they finger paint, cut out while children are napping, apply sticker eyes, tape them on with packing tape because their glue is of questionable strength, and hang from the ceiling, tape to the wall and/or leave in a pile on your counter to do something with).

I also made foot-print fish. This idea came about with the help of another teacher. This might not qualify as good art because it was exceedingly teacher directed and I didn't even let them fingerpaint freely on the side. They did get to help pick the colors for their foot, but their choices were somewhat limmited. We will call it a sensory activity with some social-emotional development thrown in. The fish are comprized of foot-prints and a fin added to the outside of the foot by the child's thumb (with more or less direction from the teacher's hand). Then (during nap time) the fish can be cut out to look a little more like fish, the eye-stickers can be applied (my eye stickers came in pairs, so I had to cut them appart). The packing tape can be applied, and a nice smile can be added. I like happy fish.

Finally, we started on Jellyfish. They are, of course, made from paper plates cut in half and fingerpainted. I haven't gotten any further than that. The only down-side is that I had paint out three days in one week, and that's alot. But we are having fun with our oceany theme. (Okay, so the Bumble Bee song doesn't really match, but they sing it so nicely!)

Speaking of music, there is the Shark song I learned at camp (so I just never get to the part where the shark bites me). I think there is another one about fishies and a shark that I should finish learning, but I don't feel like I know it well enough to teach it yet. Then there is the Little Indians counting song. I think it is probably politically incorrect, but it has a lovely tune and involves counting, so I have changed it to the Little ______(insert theme-apropriate object here) song. We have sung about Sea Turtles and Octopuses so far.

Now there are only 51 minutes, so I will consider my homework again. My mood has improved some, too, which might help. :)

Greetings friends. I have 13 minutes before I have told myself I must get serious about finishing (starting) my chapter review assignment that was due yesterday. Instead of schoolwork, on Saturday morning, my alarm clock went off at 3:55 a.m. (think 4 hours of sleep, because of course I was excited enough between the final VBS evening Friday and the adventure to come on Saturday that it was hard to get to sleep). I drove with the sunrise overhead through flashing yellow light intersections (it was about 4:30 a.m.) to my family's house. I got to see the newest goat kid - a pretty white female goat - and observe my brothers make breakfast and finally, an hour after arriving, we left. We drove and drove and drove. We drove into another state, past beautiful mountains, to a camp where friends of my dad were helping out. We visited with them a while and then drove and drove and drove back to my family's home so that the goats could be milked. And finally, I drove home past a police car sitting on an off road (I was going 2 miles under the speed limmit) and past another one that had pulled someone over. I drove with a sunset over me. Sunrise and sunset and it's the middle of summer, so it was a long day! But a nice one. Worth losing one point in my college class (not a grade point, just one of the points used to come up with the grade point). Now I have 5 minutes until I really need to get serious, so maybe I'll just start early.