Our End of the Year DVD ~

Last Day

The last day and we get to add one more visiting animal to our list of pets brought in by the kids. Kimber and his mommy found this turtle on the road and brought it in the share with us. We did end up sitting him outside . He became a little stinky. :)

Today is a bitter sweet day. We have spent a year getting to know these little guys and teaching them while we play and today is our last day. Some of them will move on to kindergarten while others will return next year.

Dear Parents,

I give you back your child, the same child you confidently entrusted to my care last fall.

I give him back pounds heavier, inches taller, months wiser, more responsible,

and more mature then he was then.

Although he would have attained his growth in spite of me, it has been my pleasure

and privilege to watch his personality unfold day by day and marvel at this

splendid miracle of development.

I give him back reluctantly, for having spent nine months together in the narrow

confines of a crowded classroom, we have grown close, have become a part of each other,

and we shall always retain a little of each other.

Ten years from now if we met on the street, your child and I, a light will shine to our eyes,

a smile to our lips, and we shall feel the bond of understanding once more,

this bond we feel today.

We have lived, loved, laughed, played, studied, learned, and enriched our

lives together this year.

I wish it could go on indefinitely, but give him back I must.

Take care of him, for he is precious.

Remember that I shall always be interested in your child and his destiny,

wherever he goes, whatever he does, whoever he becomes.

His joys and sorrows I’ll be happy to share.

I shall always be his friend.

~Author Unknown~

I look forward to seeing what each child will do in the future. If there comes a time you have to " take away" something - make sure it isnt your child's faith in adults, their confidence or their spirit. No matter what we give kids, these are some of the most important there are.

I will not be blogging every day this summer but I will periodicially as I clean, purge and remodel our playrooms over the summer. I have never had this much time at home at one time. Randy and I are not traveling as much doing concerts this summer so I have a summer bucket list a mile long.

Thanks ... for letting us love your child.

This is why I do it !

Caught Kayla revisiting a book we read earlier in the week. This video is why I do what I do. This is how I know it is working.

Kindergarten readiness indicators ( Off the Arkansas DHS Website)

In this one activity Kayla is showing proficiency in numbers :

1, 3, 4, 11 and 18. And besides that - she is just stinking cute " reading " a book !

Kindergarten Readiness Indicator Checklist

1. Speaks in complete sentences.
2. Follows directions with at least two steps.
3. Understands words such as "top" and "bottom" and "big" and "little".
4. Makes simple predictions and comments about a story being read.
5. Matches two pictures that are alike.
6. Looks at groups of objects and says which are the same shape, color or size.
7. Tells things that together, for example a spoon and fork are for eating and a fish and a boat go in the water.
8. Repeats a pattern you start; for example, step, step, jump-step, step, jump.
9. Puts 3 pictures in order; for example 1. Planting flower seeds 2. Flowers growing. 3. Picking flowers.
10. Says or sings familiar songs and nursery rhymes.
11. Retells a simple story such as The Three Little Pigs after listening to it while looking at the pictures in the book.
12. Works puzzles.
13. Recognizes and names at least 5 colors.
14. Recognizes his or her own first name in print.
15. Recognizes letters in his or her own first name.
16. Begins to write some of the letters in his or her own first name.
17. Recognizes words or signs he or she sees often; for example, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, the name of the local grocery store where the family shops, or stop signs and exit signs.
18. Holds and looks at books correctly; for example holds the book right side up and turns the pages one at a time from front to back.
19. Recognizes rhyming words such as cat and hat.
20. Recognizes and names at least 10 letters of the alphabet.
21. Matches a letter with the beginning sound of a word; for example matches the letter "b" with a picture of a banana.
22. Expresses ideas through pictures he or she draws; for example a child draws a picture of 3 family members and says who each one is.
23. Counts at least 5 objects such as 3 bananas and 5 forks.
24. Sees the written numeral "3" and understands this means 3 objects such as 3 bears.
25. Adds and subtracts familiar objects such as cookies.
26. Puts written numerals in order from 1 to 5; 1,2,3,4,5.
27. Recognizes and names 3 shapes: circle, square and triangle.
28. Counts from 1 to 10 in correct order.
29. Uses the words "more" and "less" correctly.
30. Tells if he or she is a boy or girl.
31. Tells first and last name.
32. Tells first and last name of parent(s).
33. Tells how old he or she is.
34. Takes care of own needs such as toileting, washing hands and dressing.
35. Adjust to new situations without parents being there.
36. Uses pencils, crayons and markers for drawing and writing and cuts with scissors.
37. Draws a line, circle, X and +.
38. Runs, jumps, hops, throws, catches, and bounces a ball.

Reflecting

Watching the kids bargain and listening to the words they use makes me confident they can go to kindergarten and communicate their needs.

Guess who's mommy just had a baby ?

Baby Mataya came in the classroom to visit this morning. ( Man, it looks like a train wreck behind them. Somebody is slacking on the cleaning this week. )

We have two days of school left after today. It seems like this year has flown by. Today at lunch the kids and I were talking about our year. I asked them what things they liked the best. Overwhelmingly the kids answered " the science night." That was a fun night. They also gave me answers like " when Randy built the ramps" , " the leprechaun hunt" and " The day Randy wore the gorilla suit" One child said 'watching movies." REALLY?!!! I replied " How many movies have we watched this whole year?" Audrey said " ONE!" I was flattered with that answer and she isnt too far off. We have watched one WHOLE movie ( The Polar Express we did as an all day activity as a special event.) and maybe parts of movies three other days. Out of 178 days and MUCH of it with days we had to be inside all day - I'll take that number and run with it. There are so many options to fill a child's day besides TV. I challenge you this summer to set a limit on TV watching at home for your child. If you want some tip on how to do this you can click HERE. There is even a printable chart for you to keep up with it.

Also , as I looked back at our records we have visited over 24 different places in our community this year without once getting on a bus or spending a dime on field trip fees. We have had a blast learning about all the things in our little world of Siloam. Why talk about a fire station when you can visit one ?

We have had five large parent involvement events such as the mother / daughter tea or the dad and me pumpkin decorating and hayride.

We have had six visitors in our classroom to show us things. Rosanna's mom taught us how to make homemade tortillas and even let us make our own. The lady from the dentist office talked about taking care of our teeth and the policeman was fun too !

We have had two new baby sisters born this year that we have celebrated at the hospital and in our classroom. We also had a baby brother born !

We have had cats, rabbits, dogs, gerbils , caterpillars ( waiting on her wings to break open the chrysalis now !) and snakes visit out classroom to teach us how to love , care and be responsible for animals.

We have cooked and cooked and cooked some more. I am not talking a mini Rachel Ray show where I cook and the kids watch and then eat a little of it. The kids here measure, mix, and pour ! We have made green eggs and ham, purple cows, buses from twinkies, trail mix and so much more. Cooking teaches so many things and is one of our favorite activities.

We didnt send home very many craft projects ( that's not what we do). But lots of free art went home since we paint and color and create whenever we want to and with what we want to. We didnt learn a lot of little songs that have cute lyrics that are a little too long for us to remember , but we worked ( played ) to Classical music, boogied to blues and danced to everything from country music to rag time.

And yes, most of our older kids know their alphabet letters and sounds. They know their numbers ( not just COUNTING to 100 but being able to hand me 10 - 20 objects ). They know lots of positional words and their vocabularies have grown immensely. They have all that handwashing business down to almost perfect . They work out their own peer conflicts and make choices about their day. They are able to sit at circle time and small groups and interact and add to the groups discussion.

These things are all IMPORTANT.. but what means the most to me is:

We made memories.

We taught in a way that four and five year olds learn.

We enjoyed the age we are at now.. without pushing . They grow up too fast anyway.

We learned to be part of a group.

We learned self discipline and self control.

We loved.

I have had quite a year. There have been times I felt discouraged . There was even a time I was told by one " I am disappointed with your program." For a while, I let that get me down. Then I remember -I am not doing this for the parents. I am doing this for the kids and while I am not perfect I strive to be. I work late and dream and plan all the time for what I want to do next. If you can honestly reflect on our year and be disappointed , it makes me wonder what is expected.

When I reflect, I feel wonderful about our life and the kids we have spent the year with. I am blessed and honestly, I think they are too.

Farmers Market

This morning I loved walking in the quiet room and the boys are there writing on the chalk table without any prompting. YAY! BOYS!

A few of the toys on the morning tables.

For small groups today we did sticker stories. I put all our stickers out on the table and explain to the kids that we are going to use the stickers to tell a story. I started out with one myself. The kids loved going through the stickers. Not only is this a great literacy activity but also fine motor as they try to get those stickers off the backer sheets. This was a lot of fun. Some of the kids stories were really great !

What was also exciting was they way I saw them use them later in the day. The girls here set up another reading area and "read their stories to each other. "

I had to brag. I found this one the floor. I first posted it on FB and I didnt know who's it was. After we all got together as a group , I asked the kids. Geneviette said she did . I asked her how she knew how to spell spring and she said " well, I found a piece of paper with the word spring on it and I copied it. " NEVER.. under estimate the power of a child centered classroom that refuses to use worksheets or flashcards to teach. These kids can and do excell !

We also went to the Farmers Market today to see how some farmers sell their " goods." We met a bee farmer and he showed us a bee house and how they harvest the bees. We got to taste a spoon full of honey. We saw flowers and vegetables and even got to taste some cookies. For lunch we had a salad made from the greens we bought there.

Going back home....

A good day.

Kindergarten Tour

Today was the day that we go to tour the kindergarten where the older kids will go in the fall. I have six that will be moving up.

First thing this morning we were greeted by Emeri's pet !

Mr. D met us outside, he is the counselor.

We went in the library !

The computer room !

We peeked into Mrs. Fox's room.

We met the music teacher.

The gym is awesome. It has a climbing wall.

We met the art teacher !

We sat in Mrs. Freking's room . They were acting out a story that we know called " The Little Old Lady Who Wasnt Afraid of Anything. "

In Mrs. Freking's room the kids sat on balls. I plan to email her and ask her opinion of how she feels this works.

Mrs. Braun met us in the lunchroom .

After getting back home we stayed outside to practice our program for Friday night. We had to take a break to watch the tree limb truck come by and pick up some large limbs. I love this picture of all my little farm hands peering over the fence. While I was gone Beth ( Cohens mom ) and Mary ( Williams mom ) played outside. The kids said they had fun playing with the parachute. Thanks girls !

To little cow pokes....

This is a good example of how I teach letters.

P is for Pig

Randy and I were out in a worksampling training all day. Worksampling is an online assessment tool. But.. I do know what your kiddos did today!

Today the kids were read " If you give a pig a pancake" while they ate pancakes marked with a P on the top in red. The also got to chose a topping - pineapple, peanut butter, pecans , pears, peaches or powdered sugar. Do you see a trend here ? PPPPPPPPP!!!!!!! They also got cook whip but ... well, that was just for looks and taste.

During small group the kids made pigs from playdoh and graphed which topping they liked the best for their pancakes.

Circle time was a reading of " The Three Pigs " and acting out the story. This activity is good. It demands story recall and sequencing.

Another one of our friends became a big sister yesterday. Again, since the hospital was so close Devin and Jodie walked the kids over to help Malia celebrate. I think one of the moms came along to help ! Devin said " the walk went well. Malia was so sweet and proud to show off her new baby. It was so cute. "

Life in a small town is good. Really good.

After nap I think they might have watched a little of Charlotte's Web.

I am thankful for workers that make me feel totally confident that everything will be ok when I need to be away.

Sounds on the Farm

Our schedule got a little topsy turvy today. We were inside for breakfast and then went outside. The weather report said we would get storms all day but THANKFULLY it has been beautiful. We played for a while and then we talked about our program. This years theme is " Down on Grandpas Farm." So, in addition to all the new fun farm activities we are doing we are learning songs for our program. We pretended sitting with our parents watching ourselves on the BIG SCREEN . Each year we make a DVD of our kids so everyone can catch a glimpse of the fun we have during the year. It is so easy to forget all the special visitors, field trips, cooking activities, science projects and special events we have . This year it IS a little LONG.... so we will eat while we view to save time ! :) I tried to narrow it down but had so many good pictures of these precious guys that I couldnt get it down any smaller. At the end of the program each child will receive a DVD to take home and watch. I have heard that kids from the past watch it over and over. After the DVD the kids will take the stage for a short program of nursery rhymes and song and dance. THESE KIDS THIS YEAR LOVE LOVE LOVE TO DANCE! I always have mixed emotions about " programs." For the most part they are not usually age appropriate. But , the parents love to see the little ones on stage. I guess I have taken the stand that as long as the child isnt stressed and it is fun for them - we will do it. You have to remember that we ( Randy and I ) are performers so we sing and dance a lot all the time. It isnt like we are doing flash cards and worksheets all year and then decide to put on a show.

Another fun thing we did today was play the game " Sounds on the Farm." I took a video of the boys playing and noticed some really interesting things.

I had letter tiles out for them to use as BINGO markers. I have never used them for this purpose before but decided this could be one more way to get those letters in front of them. Some of the boys were really ... really stressing out. If the animal sound was a cow- they wanted to cover it with a C. They would miss covering up that spot as they searched the table for a C. Also, to take it a step farther, if you notice some of the boys that were wanting to match the letter sounds placed the tiles with the letter down. The boys that were just playing the game as told had the letter side up. I found his interesting. Do you think it bothered the " letter s0und boys" to SEE the letters that didnt match the animal ? I was intrigued. Some days the kids are so smart they just make me go hmmm...

Purple Cows

Today we made purple cows !!

Uno Moooooo

Two more weeks before school is out. As the girls were washing hands and the boys were hanging out with Randy in the backyard ( never happens since it isn't fenced ) I felt blessed. Blessed to have a job that we love so much . We are going to try to slow down ( if that is possible ) and just enjoy the kids more this week. Here are some precious pictures I took this morning. You can take pictures like the on a school campus or classroom. This just looks like 7 boys hanging out with their grandpa...

This morning I read a wonderful blog entry from Childhood 101. She called it an invitation to read. I tried this and today it didnt work but I didnt introduce it. Sometimes we assume that kids will know what to do. When we got in circle time I did ask did anyone know what the note said and they immediately recognized " Rosanna." I told them what it was for. Maybe next time.

Kayla -" Look Ms Debbie an M!" YAAYAYAYAY~! WAY TO GO KAYLA~

Today we finally opened our new UnoMoo Game. The kids loved it. There is actually a lot of teaching that goes on when playing this game. You can see the kids closing their eyes and trying to be fair. NOT an easy task for a 4 year old.

We were able to use the terms more and less . One of the characters is a farmer. The farmer is the wild card. You can use him to change the color being played to whatever you want. At first the kids were just randomly naming a color. Then, I explained how the idea is to get rid of all your animals and get them back in the barn so the best strategy would be to change the color to the one YOU have the MOST of. They caught on quickly.

There is also a skunk and when played the next player has to draw two animals. LOTS of counting and thinking going on in this game. I give it a thumbs up !

We also read a book called " The Cow That Laid an Egg." The kids loved this book and it really gave us some great opportunity for discussion about cows and chickens . Why would the chickens do this for Marjorie ? Did Marjorie REALLY lay an egg? Why did the chicken Moo?

Here is a librarian reading the book if you would like to hear it !