Starting a summer daycamp class tomorrow!

Robin · Guru

Starting a summer daycamp class tomorrow!

Juni · Guru

so excited for you. Those kids are lucky to have you as a teacher. What a fun summer they are going to have. How fun you get to have your kiddos with you. :)

Robin · Guru

First day went well.

There were 8 kids, including mine.

About half calm/quiet, half rowdy.

And with only 8, that's nbd.

My hardest task was keeping them quiet during naptime.

We don't have naptime but ALL the classes around us (and they're very close together) do have naps.

I tried to keep them outside but it's 100 degrees out there so even the shade was hot.

The kids loved fuse beads. Some of them had never done that.

We played with Play-doh during the special "No Talking" time.

We also watched a bit of "Ice Age", played Uno, played with those velcro mitt/soft ball things, played with some various toys (baby dolls, blocks, fire truck, robot, etc.), played with some Tinker-toy-type things (with big truck wheels).

I showed them a homemade lava-lamp experiment, and all the kids got to do a baggy bomb (which I renamed "popping bags" so no one would think I was trying to blow up the church.)

At the end of the day, the kids told me they had fun.

I took some pictures.

Robin · Guru

About an hour into the day, Henry put on his "I'm sick and miserable" face.

I distracted him with a few games of Uno, then it was time to go outside. Surprisingly he liked the playground.

Then the rest of the day went pretty quickly so he got over his misery.

apies · Guru

robin, that sounds awesome!

happylib · Guru

Robin, I want to come to your camp!

Robin · Guru

Honestly the whole program seems to be sort of a mess.

The director told me when I interviewed and again today (both times in great detail) that she was getting ready to quit but decided to stick it out through the summer. She also told me she'd had surgery several times the past year and healthwise was not doing well. Plus she said she was a little flaky from all her personal issues. [She was!]

Whenever I'd ask the director a question about something--"Are there snacks?", "Does the TV in our room work? Can we watch a movie?"--she'd start to answer then go to a completely random other topic, like showing me all the craft supplies in the filing cabinet and closets in the workroom.

I really hope I get paid.

Erin · Guru

ugh on the disorganization/director. I second Apies that it sounds like you might be a perfect replacement....

You may already be doing this, but, I know at Kiera's summer camp, they sort of have "class periods" that help guide the day. Like break the day into 5 time periods, and then schedule different activities for those 5 time periods - crafts, science experiments, quite time (play doh/reading, etc), shade/water games (water ball duck duck goose, sponge relays, pinaqua (saw that in Family fun, basically a trash bag filled with water, treated like a pinata) etc., movie. May make it easier to plan out your days and the kids sort of know what to expect.

They are so lucky to have you!

Robin · Guru

Erin wrote:
ugh on the disorganization/director. I second Apies that it sounds like you might be a perfect replacement....

You may already be doing this, but, I know at Kiera's summer camp, they sort of have "class periods" that help guide the day. Like break the day into 5 time periods, and then schedule different activities for those 5 time periods - crafts, science experiments, quite time (play doh/reading, etc), shade/water games (water ball duck duck goose, sponge relays, pinaqua (saw that in Family fun, basically a trash bag filled with water, treated like a pinata) etc., movie. May make it easier to plan out your days and the kids sort of know what to expect.

They are so lucky to have you!

I worked on a schedule last night, and I had Henry make one. I told Henry I'd combine the two.

His schedule was very similar to mine--except he made his all fancy by typing it on the computer and color-coding it.

I thought of some more activities plus I think I'll add another "subject", then I may post the schedule outside the door (to impress the parents).

Robin · Guru

Okay, on tomorrow's agenda:

Make "invisible ink" pictures.
Free play/games/puzzles.
Honesty/goodness game.
Snack
Paint flowerpots.
Reveal invisible pictures.
Go outside. Play with spray bottles and/or sidewalk chalk.
Bathroom/wash hands.
Eat lunch.
Watch DVD. (Tangled?)
Clean up.

That's enough stuff, right?

Joyce · Senior Member

That sounds great Robin!

Robin · Guru

Great day!

Things went much more smoothly.

Spray bottles were a HUGE hit outside on the playground, the honesty/goodness game was a (very messy) smash*, and everyone was happy and mostly well-behaved.

And I don't think we woke up any babies.

The schedule Henry and I made will work well.

*Forgot to explain the game. Put a dime in the bottom center of a cup, then pack flour into the cup up to the brim. Put something flat over the top of the cup and flip it all upside down. Tap the top of the cup and lift the cup so that there is a tower of flour with a dime on the top. I had to retry a couple times because the flour wasn't packed tightly enough. Then each person gets a turn to slice off a bit of the flour tower, trying not to make the dime fall. We got flour EVERYWHERE but the kids loved the game. Oh, and the dime represented goodness (or doing what it right), and slicing off the flour around it was the bad influences around us--trying to get us to do things we know aren't right.

-- Edited by Robin on Thursday 9th of June 2011 03:10:25 PM

Corey · Guru

you are so fun, robin!

Robin · Guru

Planning for tomorrow . . .

I've got some stuff for colored sand art.

I'm thinking of doing a lemon fizz science project but I need to try this one first. My last science experiment was a bust.

I said I'd make up some poster-sized food pyramids for the VBS preschool classes. [Did you know it has totally changed AGAIN?] So if I can get the supplies together, I'll let the kids in my class make them.

Last week, I had decided which life lesson topic we'd do this week but I already forgot. I need to look through the book to pick one and get the supplies I need.

Robin · Guru

This Tuesday I'm going with a fish/fishing theme.

I found some really cute fish crafts.

I'm also going to do a cute windchime craft that doesn't exactly have to do with fish or fishing but I plan to use fishing line instead of string.