Monday, January 19, 2009

Half Day


No, we aren't getting out half a day today but only HALF our kiddos are here!   I guess many decided to stay home and celebrate MLK day with the families.    As you know, we opted to not take as many days off as the school so we can be off by May 15th and start traveling and singing again!

Days that are out of the norm, like today are interesting. Children play with children they might not otherwise have played with.  There is a peace .  I don't know how to explain it. They are still doing the same things they usually do .  I guess it just seemed peaceful  since there are not so many doing it!  

One thing happened today that I want to note:

The girls come running in the "quiet room" saying you have to come see what Elliot has done! Immediately , I say " Is it good or bad?"  They say good... so I don't RUN!    As I went down the stairs he and Gavin had large pieces of cardboard that I had put in the art center to encourage some 3D art on the floor.  " Ms Debbie, we are trying to paint this airplane that we made but we got paint on the floor."  ( I am guessing the girls didn't see this!)  My head is swirling.  Do I praise the genius attitude and creativity ? Do I have a fit about the paint all over the floor?  So, right or wrong this is how I handled it.  I noted how wonderful their creation was and asked did they think there was a more appropriate place to make it.  Perhaps the art center that is already covered with paint?  No, they said it wasn't big enough.  ( Hmm more good thinking on their part .)  What about the table? It is washable. " Well , maybe..." the boys replied.  So, we talked about next time asking if they THINK  they may need help making a better choice and  be responsible in our  room.  I gave the boys a rag to help clean up their messy paint on the floor. MOST of it came out!  Then, the boys proceeded to finish their spectacular planes on the table.  

All in a days work.

1 comment:

  1. Oops!! Do I need to find you a bar of that lye soap!? I hope it wasn't in the carpet!!

    All Elliot said of this on the way home was "Mama, I was going to build a real airplane that would really fly!" The end. No other details. I just thought he had dreams of grandeur because we had watched this movie over Christmas break called Radio Flyer, where two little boys actually do build a real airplane out of their wagon. It had WAY too much abuse-themed content which we didn't know about beforehand but we just tried to explain it simply to Elliot along the way. Anyway, apparently he came away with the most important part! :) The plane.

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