Daycare Outreach Round-up, July 10 & 17

For July, the theme at the daycare centers was the rainforest. This was not an easy theme for which to find books, but with some help from my Flannel Friday colleagues and a few inter-library loan requests I was able to put together a nice series of story times. I will return to the centers twice more in August, when the theme will be camping.

Week 3 (Wednesday, July 17)

Group 1A @ 10:00 a.m. (Ages 2-3)
Song: These Are My Glasses 
Rhyme: Five Little Parrots 
Books: Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme, If You’re Happy and You Know It, Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth 
Notes: Normally, I see two classes together at 10:00, but the room we normally use wasn't available until 10:30, so I visited each group in its classroom for 15 minutes. This group has the most receptive kids in it, so they wound up doing a few more activities than their counterparts in the other classroom. 

Group 1B @ 10:15 a.m. (Ages 2-3)
Song: These Are My Glasses 
Books: Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme, If You’re Happy and You Know It 
Notes:  The favorite book in this room was If You're Happy and You Know It. This session seemed to run slightly shorter; I think the clock may have been fast. 

Group 2 @ 10:30 a.m. (Ages 4-5)
Songs: If You’d Like to Read a Book,  Visor, Tee-shirt, Shorts and Shoes, These Are My Glasses 
Rhyme: Walking through the Rainforest 
Books: The Umbrella, Where’s My Mom?, Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhymes
 Notes: This group is always the most talkative, because they're the oldest, so they had lots to say about the illustrations in each book. The Umbrella was kind of a flop, but they laughed a lot during Where's My Mom?

Group 3 @ 11:00 a.m. (Ages 2-3)
Song: The More We Read Together 
Rhyme: Five Little Parrots 
Books: A Walk in the Rainforest, If You’re Happy and You Know It, Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth 
Notes: This group is the youngest and busiest, so it's hard to keep their attention. They did well during A Walk in the Rainforest, but everything else we did lost them quickly. 

Group 4 @ 11:30 a.m. (Ages 2-3)
Song: These Are My Glasses 
Books: Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme, If You’re Happy and You Know It, Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth 
Notes: This group is always very chatty, and this was no exception. They liked If You're Happy and You Know It the best of all the books. They also asked if we could keep reading instead of singing!



Week Four (Wednesday, July 24)

Group 1 @ 10:00 (Ages 2-3)
Songs: Hands Up High, Fly Like a Butterfly,  One Little Finger, Five Little Monkeys, These Are My Glasses,The More We Read Together 
Books: Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree, Jungle Day, Ten Naughty Little Monkeys
Notes: This group got a full 30-minute story time, and they loved everything. They are such a joy to visit because their teachers are enthusiastic and the kids are great at following directions and doing the motions for various songs.

Group 2 @ 10:30 (Ages 4-5)
Songs: Visor, Tee-shirt, Shorts and Shoes, These Are My Glasses 
Books: Welcome to the Green House, Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree, Ten Naughty Little Monkeys 
Notes: I was so surprised by how well these kids responded to Welcome to the Green House. We spent the most time on that book. Ten Naughty Little Monkeys wasn't in my original plans, but I'm glad I decided to read it. They loved it!

Group 3 @ 11:00 (Ages 2-3) 
Notes: This group wasn't in their room when I arrived, and they never showed up! 

Group 4 @ 11:30 (Ages 2-3)
Songs: Hands Up High, These Are My Glasses 
Books: Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree, Ten Naughty Little Monkeys, Jungle Day 
Notes: This group's session always gets rushed because the teachers put out the kids' lunches while I'm reading and the kids get nervous they're going to miss lunch. They loved these books, though, and they remembered These Are My Glasses from a previous visit.