Thank you Lord

I NEEEEDDDDED for today to be exactly the way it was. The holidays were so stressful that I needed to have my ROUTINE back. When it is VERY cold outside, our schedule is modified. That means, more time that all 16 children are together instead of small groups. Today is beautiful outside so we stayed on track and got a LOT done!

What might you ask?

We used markers to decorate a colored mitten. We cut it out and then glued decorations on. What are we learning? SO much. The very first step teaches us to make choices as the children decide what color they want. Next the children have to take the markers and a negative space and decide how they want to fill it. This is a very difficult process for most kids. After that we used the scissors to cut out the mitten. I have some children that are master cutters and others that gave me a decorated rectangle. :) The last step was the children using collage materials to glue on. Learning to use glue properly is probably one of the hardest things a child does. It baffles me. Our kiddos use a pitcher at lunch to refill their cup but dont know when to "stop" with the glue. Oh well, it's cheap!

If you want to work on some scissor cutting at home , here are some great practice tips from KidsSoup.

When teaching children to cut, first demonstrate how to hold scissors. The correct scissor position is with the thumb in the upper hole, and your first two fingers (index and middle) in the lower hole. Have the child practice picking up and holding the scissors.

The following cutting skills are arranged in order from simplest to most difficult:

1. Snipping. Prepare strips of construction paper in different colors not wider than 1". Demonstrate how to snip the paper with one cut.You’ll also want to collect all their cuttings in a baggie/envelope. Use them for a art project.

2. Cutting Lines. Hand out construction 1" wide paper with preprinted vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines.

3. Cutting on Longer Lines. Using strips of construction paper, with curved, jagged, or wiggly lines. Use the cutting to make a crown, a flower artwork or a necklace.

4. Cutting Shapes. Prepare 4" to 5" squares of colored paper, each preprinted with shapes: Square, circle, or triangle. Collect shapes and use to make a shape art project.

5. Cutting Spirals. Cutting spirals is the most difficult skill for children to acquire. Have the children cut a snake spiral and hang them from the ceiling.

Other Fun Scissor Activties.

Cutting junk mail and catalogs. Cutting play dough with scissors. Cutting straws or shredded paper.

We also played with another new game I got over the holidays. Remember how I was a little stressed the day we played card games ? I found one of those dillywhoopers that holds the kids cards for them. So, today we played Go Fish... a LOT! FUN!

Randy has been playing impromptu games of musical chairs with the kids . They are loving it and dont seem to mind it isnt the " everyone is a winner" version. :)

We read the book SNOW. It talked about how the geese fly south for the winter .

Lots of fun today...... I love my job. :)