Wild Wednesday

Can I just say I am EXHAUSTED tonight ? I had FOUR doctors appointments today - count them... FOUR! Two for me and two appointments were my moms. I had another visit for this allergic reaction I have going on around my eyes. I would say we are at this point playing - let's take a stab at what Debbie has... I am sick of messing with it. I will probably be makeup less again tomorrow as I let my eyes rest and heal.

BEFORE I left for the tour of doctors today we had already accomplished a lot. In small groups we talked about bunnies hopping and we measured how far we each could hop jumping off the bottom step. We used a non-standard measure ( a block ) to measure the distance. The kids love this type of fun. I noticed after I was finished with one group they continued but got a ruler to measure. Smart kiddos!

We used the Weekly Reader today to learn about eggs and what hatches from them. We also explored a broken egg .

Randy had a fun impromptu singalong .

GG used one of our sorters to make rabbit ears.

Dillion enjoying the light table.

Lacing a bunny rabbit

The rabbit heads we made Monday and the carrot was the orange collage we worked on yesterday.

As I left Ms Jodie was showing the kids this cool real live feed from an owls nest. Here !

Enjoy this two video's I took before I left. One is Whitlee and Jaden singing one of our new favorite spring songs. The other video is Randy singing with the kids

What is Easter?

After breakfast today I got the kids started on an orange collage. I heard many things:

Is this a pumpkin?

Is today orange day?

You will see the end result tomorrow!

Easter bunny board game - I wish I knew why playing board games it my LEAST favorite thing to do during the day. I see all the benefits :

Learning to take turns.

Counting

Learning to be a gracious loser

Following 2 and 3 step directions

But .. it drives me CRAZY waiting. The kids on the other hand enjoyed this game.

I know it seems like we do a lot of sorting which is a great math activity ,but we are working fine motor skill in this activity to be better writers. See the strawberry huller they pinch to pick up the pom pom?

Today Randy made Carrot Salad with the kids. They love cooking . For lunch we had cooked carrots, carrot salad and crunchy ( fresh ) carrots as side dishes. After eating we graphed which was our favorite.

One of the groups planted seeds today. They are in the window and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of flowers !

It was a wonderful day. We couldn't ask for better weather.

If the kids tell you we had a visitor today, we did. A man from the state came by to check our water heater. Once a year he does this and sends us a bill for $25 . He was in the house about 3 minutes IF THAT. What a job....

In circle time I asked the kids " What is Easter?" I got LOTS of candy and eggs and easter bunny answers. And one - when Jesus died on the cross and came back to life for us. I am always leary with this age on what they can really REALLY understand. I think some can grasp the concept but others can't. My grand daughter who just went through losing her great grandfather ( my dad ) and has had many discussions with her parents about it said " but when you die you can't come back to normal." My reply was " Jesus did, isnt that amazing?" Christmas is so much easier to teach. I mean, we have a baby and angels and shepherds and camels.. not crosses and stones that rolled away. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for Easter and what it means to me but just not sure how to approach it with the kids . But then, when I just accept the Easter Bunny answers without telling the " real reason" I feel like a fraud. Parents or teachers, what is your take on this? How do you approach it with your child or your class? I have 3 more days to get it right.

What did you do on Spring Break

We are back at school. Several ( 4 ) of our friends were out today. It made the transition from break a little easier. Below you will see a picture of my mom. This is one of the best pictures we have taken in a while. I think she was well rested... and enjoyed being home. I am thankful for a job that gives me time off so I can help these things happen. Have I said it lately? I LOVE MY JOB!

I put out some of my Easter activities today. The girls LOVED the Easter Bonnets I picked up for $1 at the Dollar Tree. Jaxson is using a strawberry tongs to sort pompoms into the matching easter baskets.

Well, the boys liked the Easter Bonnet too !

Katie playing with the potato head's . She said she LOVED her trip to Tennessee !

I added these little bunny figures to the block center today just to see what they would do with them. At one point I saw the girls playing with them and over heard " look, it is a bunny family. Here is the daddy, here is the mommy and here is the little brother."

For circle time today, I made a power point book for the kids of mine and Randy's vacation. The kids LOVED it. Randy is known for staying ( or trying to stay ) in cheap hotels. When I showed the group Geneviette was in ( our grand daughter ) the hotel we stayed in she got a puzzled look and said " but there is no 8." SUPER 8 ! I thought I would laugh out loud. The kids loved the pictures. I use power point to make books for them, but my printer was out of ink. They loved the pool on the roof of the hotel and the necklaces in the trees. I showed them the mask that Randy and I bought in New Orleans and for small groups today - they made one. I just put the stuff on the table and let them have at it !

This is the one we bought. Can you see the music staff on it?

Jaxson made this one!

This is one we bought.

Audrey made this one.

We had a fun day. We started a new playlist today that included some music from New Orleans and the bunny hop. LOTS of great music this month.

Welcome back to school. I know I am glad to be back.

Spring Break is Over

Today is the last day of Spring Break ! I wanted to share some of my vacation with you all. Randy and I left out Saturday ( a day early to beat the 12 inches of snow expected ) and headed for DeValls Bluff , Arkansas. DeValls Bluff is where my mom's family lives. The plan was for her to visit with them while Randy and I vacationed. To know that mom was happy and being taken care of made me leaving SO much easier.

After dropping mom off we basically just started driving. The first night we spent in Memphis on Beale Street and then we headed for New Orleans Louisianna. We had a great time. I did no work... no work. For me, that is unusual. I have a hard time shutting my "preschool teacher brain" off at times. Randy and I had so much fun. We stayed at a wonderful hotel and spent the week making memories. We ate at all the hot spots like Cafe Demonde, Emeril's Place, Bubba Gump's and Margarittaville. We heard music everywhere we went. I had never been to New Orleans so it was a real treat. I want to plan another trip . As I looked at my pictures, I realized why I might have enjoyed it so much. It has a kid- like carnival atmosphere ( if you dont walk TOO far down bourbon street..) You can take the teachers out of kiddie world , but you cant take the kiddie world out of a teacher.

Randy having fun with a Mardi Gras mask.

This was ONE of the silver men on the street. We also saw gold men.. very interesting.

She- or he ( not sure ) was one of my favorite street performers.

Our fancy dinner at Emerils.

Our hotel - Le Pavillon From 9 - 10 each night they had a peanut butter and jelly snack laid out in the foyer on silver trays with the most delicious hot chocolate ever in a silver urn. FANCY snack but made us feel right at home.

Perfect Spring Break...

Good Bye Leprechaun's

In T-minus 2 hours we will officially be on SPRING BREAK. I still have no idea what Randy and I are doing or where we are going, but we are getting out of town. We will take mom to visit her brothers and sisters and be on our way. It will be nice to have no plan and no responsibility .

Today we are finishing up our unit on St Patricks Day. I have explained this to you before but feel the need to do it again after posting on another blog. I am not really a teacher that teachers by " themes". At least learning about the " current theme" is not my goal. My goal is to use the kids interest in the theme as a vehicle to practice skills that we know they need before going to kindergarten. For instance, I wasnt teaching St Patricks Day but it gave me the opportunities to discuss how a rainbow is formed,( nature ) how yellow and blue make green , to count the gold pieces in a bucket, to graph what kind of potatoes the kids like best, to expose the children to music of a different culture and even learn an Irish jig. The list goes on and on. By using themes as that vehicle it also gives me great opportunities to change my materials out more frequently - or a good reason to do so.

We sorted M&M's onto a rainbow mat . What fun!

Some of our friends decided it was easier to sort all the M& M's into colors before placing them on the rainbow. Decisions, decisions...

During small groups today I presented the kids this small bowl of pennies. I asked them how many they thought were in there. Estimation is a great skill to work on . The answers I got ranged from 6 to 91. Almost text book the younger kids said " A lot" or " too many." After guessing I asked them how we could find out how many were in the bowl. After deciding that counting was the best idea, I showed them how to count the pennies one by one by placing one finger on one penny and separating it into a different area so we know which ones we have counted. After getting this " separation technique " down most of the kids could count the stack of pennies I gave them with little difficulty. I gave the younger children a small amount ( ten or less ) and the older children 10 -20. They were so proud when they counted their pennies. Your challenge tonight - empty your change on the table and ask them to count the pieces. If they forget , remind them to separate them to count .

WE ALSO HAD SOME FUN WITH RAINBOW GLASSES TODAY. YOU PUT THESE ON AND YOU SEE RAINBOWS!

It was a fun day.

Lunch time conversation today was a theological discussion. I TRY to just listen when the kids start talking about God. Kids are so simple and matter of fact.

Child 1 - I am a Christian now. I really am. I am going to Heaven.

Child 2. I am going too.

Child 1. You only go to Heaven if you are a Christian , isnt that right Ms Debbie.

( Thanks for putting Ms Debbie on the spot .)

Ms Debbie - Yes, if you are a Christian you will go to Heaven.

Child 3- If you are good you go to Heaven. If you are not... you dont.

Child 1- Is that right Ms Debbie ?

( Thanks again , child 1 )

Ms Debbie - Not really. Going to heaven isnt based on whether you are good or not. We should all try to be good all the time, but sometimes it isnt easy.

Child 5- Boys go to Heaven. Girls Dont.

Child 1 - You go to Heaven if you are a Christian.

Child 6 - I know Christian - he's my cousin! :)

And off they go... talking about Christian the cousin.

Enjoy a little Irish Jig for your Friday afternoon . I MAY post some pictures Randy took outside over the break, so check back from time to time.

Happy Spring!