Once upon a day in preschool: Twas the day before Valentines..

Mr Randy, Kynley and Jaxson being silly.

After lunch today we had a little extra time. Our journals were completed and we had already spent over three hours straight in centers - so I decided to do a little " team building". We talk all day about sharing and practice it most days but Valentines day is the perfect time to remind the children what being a friend really means - sometimes it isn't just letting your friend play with something when you are finished. Sometimes it is working together to accomplish a common goal. I put two containers of manipulatives on the tables and ask them to work together to create something. As you can see, many of them created something along ; but look closer. One table sorted all the greens. Another table created a parade of vehicles. Not one time did I hear anyone fussing over who had more . It was a great learning experience. That is what you and I ( parents ) do together. We work together to promote a positive learning attitude with your children so that they will hit the ground running in kindergarten !

Every one that thinks Mr Randy should grow his mustache back, please raise your hands !

After reading " Twas the night before Valentines " today we opened a huge box of chocolate candy. You know, the kind in a big read heart ! The kids were so excited and it was fun to watch them take a bite to see what kind of " inside" their candy had. I remember when I was a child my dad always got my mom a huge beautiful box of candy with a ribbon. Good times.

We also worked on our Valentine Mailboxes today. These are the days that I struggle to remain true to my belief in Early Childhood. I SO BAD want to take and show them how to make them beautiful, placing the pink doily directly in the middle and cutting out red hearts to place all over it and topping it off with ribbon. Oh.. mom and dad would be SO proud of it, but the child would have missed the opportunity to be creative and learn on their own. They would miss thinking about how to decorate it. They would miss the scissor practice and being reminded how to use the glue. So many learning opportunities would be missed if I " made them perfect". So, I didn't. And... if you are still trying to decide if this was an activity that reinforced skills , check out the close up of the box and see the pattern that Jaden created all on her own. I love when they replicate something they have been taught in other unexpected places.