Is there a missing peep?

Here are all the peeps in the little peep's house.  

But wait!  Has one peep gone missing?

Literacy Development

It is important to all parents to provide an environment that nurtures literacy development and it would be great to be able to point to a handful of ‘best practices’ to grow good readers. The reality is that as Mr. Rogers would say, “Everything grows together, because we are all one piece.” He was referring to how our bodies grow, all the parts getting bigger at the same time. The hands grow at the same time as the torso, the head, the legs, and the feet.

The same is true in the development of the senses, language, cognition, and social-emotional development. We do not have an emotionally developed adult who is still at a child’s level in language or reading.

So how do we grow a child who loves to read? We start with the close emotional bonding of the parent and child. Our child needs to feel safe in our arms, be fed when hungry, be changed when wet, and to develop the beginnings of language through a communication exchange with us. In that communication exchange our little one starts to stockpile the words of our language, his receptive vocabulary. His cognition develops as his senses let him explore and take in the sights, sounds, and textures in his world.

The number of words in his receptive grows as he continues the communication exchanges with his parent–all the while his cognition, sensory system, and emotional development continues to grow. As a parent, we need to meet the challenges of each stage of emotional development, from the unconditional love for the newborn to developing the guidance and consistent boundaries needed by the two year old as he develops his own personhood. The language of the two year old grows from the base of receptive vocabulary to the development of an expressive vocabulary in what seems like the blink of an eye. And all this time, every other aspect–physical, emotional, cognitive, and social–is growing.

You can provide for the growth of your child’s artistic nature at Toad House this Saturday from 9-11. We will be creating a bunny scene collage’ with Andrea Korpinen. We hope you will join us! On Wednesday at 5:30 you can bring your family to the Empty Bowls soup supper at the Congregational Church. Your donation for the supper helps our local food pantries and you can choose a lovely art bowl created by an artistic child or adult to take home as a reminder that there are many people who only have empty bowls.

A chubby little snowman

Had a carrot nose

Along came a bunny

And what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny

Looking for some lunch

Ate the snowman’s carrot nose

Nibble, nibble, CRUNCH

Pantomime motions

A New Species of Toad-Bufo Philanthropus

        Wisconsin has been the home of only one species of toad, with the scientific name Bufo Americanus–at least until now. A newly discovered species, Bufo Philanthropus, has shown up in various locations beginning last summer. These toads are easily identified by their large size (about 16 inches high and 24 inches long) and most obviously by their whimsical, artistic coverings.

Only 20 members of this species exist today and each one is very different from the next. Thus each one has its own name and story. There is Bufo Bluey and Bufo Expando, quite obviously named. Vincent Van Toad and Toadally Vivaldi take their names and stories from their human counterparts. Bufo Neon flaunts his colors and Ugh Ugh believes he is the most beautiful toad of all. The toads are currently hopping about town waiting for their final debut.

These toads, along with their 15 cousins will appear all together one last time at the Rusk County Farm and Garden show on March 16^th at the Ladysmith High School. They are looking for good garden homes as they have been created with exterior plywood, exterior acrylic paints, and many coats of a clear, ultraviolet protection. They will live happily many years in a beautiful garden setting, especially if given the opportunity to hibernate with protection from the winter weather in a garage or garden shed.

Silent auction bidding for these lovely creatures will be from 9 to 12 with minimum opening bids of $50. Bids may be called in to 715-609-9721 if bidders are unable to attend in person. Each toad’s name and number corresponds to their place in a commemorative booklet. Booklets are available for $5.00 each and contain beautiful photographs of the toads by the talented photographer, Amanda Wilmot. The booklets also contain the name and story of each toad and the names of each toad’s artist.

All materials and artistic talents for the Bufo Philanthropus project have been donated for the Ladysmith School Enrichment Fund. All proceeds from the silent auction will go directly into the fund. For more information about this fund, please contact Karen Ek.

      The toads hope to reproduce for other area schools in the next year. Interested schools may contact Eileen this spring at Toad House.

A "Peeps" Event

 Mme. Toad posted a photo or two on Facebook from the 'Peeps' event. Here are some more photos of this very fun activity with Ruth Meszaros.

Mme. Toad posted a photo or two on Facebook from the Peeps event. Here are some more photos of this very fun activity with Ruth Meszaros.