Two inspections ? Really ?

What a day. It started out SO wonderful. There was a nice breeze blowing and the kids were all in our " happy place." Then..... I look at the door and there is my ABC ( Arkansas Better Chance ) coordinator. He is such a laid back nice guy but he is here to pick apart my weakness - paperwork. Why can't I just do what I am good at and forget the rest ? I know... it all works together and someone has to tend to the business end but if you really... really understood how much of it I have, you would feel my pain. Yes, I am off most holidays, off at 3 pm and all summer. Ok.. that does make up for it, I will stop whining.

Luckily I had Jodie come in today to work with me so that Randy could finish painting the upstairs bathroom. As it turned out, he helped Jodie while I shuffled paper and answered questions.

For the most part I am very pro child- centered teaching. I am not a "worksheet teacher" and feel kids learn the best hands on. But.. ever once in a while a child or combination of children seem to miss what I am trying to teach and to be totally honest, it is usually boys. They are so into wrestling, cars and trucks and more aggressive forms of play, that they dont slow down long enough to play a counting game I have provided . I decided this week that I need to be a little more proactive with teaching my boys that are headed to kindergarten. I do still want to do this in a way that they will enjoy it and be engaged. So, one thing we are doing is these letter mats that have a road on them. Thanks to a kindergarten teachers reminder about the www.makinglearningfun.com website and these road alphabets ; today we met in the middle. They drove their cars on the A's. We wore cool glasses while we had fun writing an A.

HA! I am not sure when this picture was take or what they are doing, but it cracks me up.

We played a math game today with the dice.

In celebration of veterans day we have patriotic stuff everywhere!

In the midst of the chaos we even had a wedding.

And just when I thought it couldnt get any better another inspector showed up with the USDA food program to make sure I was feeding the little munchkins right and .... the paperwork.

All in days work.

I need a cheeseburger.

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

One of our parents gave us two cases of apples and oranges. Now.. we eat a LOT of fresh fruit but even we would have a hard time getting through that much before it spoils. So, we are getting creative. Today, the kids got a lesson on where we get orange juice from. Many thought the grocery store. They made orange juice for snack this afternoon !

After squeezing Randy put all the orange half on the tray and we estimated how many oranges the kids thought were there. It was really a good math lesson. I explained how two halves make a whole.

It took 33 oranges to make that pitcher of juice !

Another math lesson today when we patterned . We made a flag ! This type of activity is always done in small groups of 3 or 4 children.

One of my favorite " sneak a peaks" today was when I found a group of kids playing doctor. Audrey and Geneviette were the doctor and Cohen and Malia were the patients. I was told that Cohen had strep throat and Malia had a belly ache. Audrey and Geneviette had papers and squiggly lines and letters were drawn on it. They said this was their list of names to call when it is their turn. It is so fun to see those literacy skills developing and kids using their imagination. ( Audrey was most likely the instigator of this game. Yesterday afternoon she became a BIG SISTER. Sylar Dash was born. He weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce. Mom and baby are doing well. Audrey was so excited to bring in pictures of Sylar to show off this morning. )

I pledge Allegiance to the Flag

As the kids came in this morning they found this number two hanging from the ceiling. Many asked what it was and why it was there. Even more asked - is there candy in that ?

Today in small groups we talked about the number 2. I had a weekly reader that was about "pairs" so that went well. We found all the pairs on our body. There are tons ! When your child gets home help him find them !

Kids love to learn.. the thrive on it. The pieces of wood are from Handwriting Without Tears but one of our friends decided to use them differently and sort.

The children seemed very engaged today.

In one center they found a new calculator. This is a perfect way to learn number recognition !

In circle time we talked about veterans day. Sometimes concepts like this are hard for kids to understand so you have to talk to them in a different way. Here is how I explained who President Obama is :

Where do we live ? ( Siloam Springs ) Siloam Springs is part of Arkansas, but Arkansas is a very small part of our country. The United States is HUGE and includes many different states like Texas and California. Who is the leader in our school? ( Ms Debbie and Mr Randy ) Who is the leader at home ? ( Mom and Dad ) President Obama is the leader of our country. We talked about he has to make rules for us all to be safe and that veterans are the people that help to keep our country safe. In the older group we discussed that Geneviette's dad was in the Army and that was his job and in the younger group Cohen explained that his dad ( in the Navy) " fights bad guys " We looked at a picture book about Obama and saw his LARGE WHITE house and his family. We were excited to find out that he has a daughter named Malia just like our friend at school.

We also started learning to recite the pledge of allegiance. Today we did this part:

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

This will be a fun week. I normally miss out on the 4th of July festivities so I am excited to have this week about veterans to teach our preschoolers to be proud citizens of the US.

And it was MUFFIN TIN MONDAY!

And let the Christmas crafts begin!

I am not a big fan of teacher directed art but sometimes it is ok, fun and a great way to do assessments. I drew lines on the green sheets of paper and the kids were cutting on the lines to make a tree. I did this in small groups so I could see the child's " cutting form" and help instruct the correct way. Look at the two pics side by side. Can you see the difference in the development of the child's fine motor skills? They all get there.... this just tells me I need to make sure I encourage more scissor- cutting in the art center. See.. it is my job to see what I need to do to my room or say.. in conversation to the kids to encourage certain skills. ( This activity also taught sequencing from largest to smallest. )

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas.... Tuesday the kids painted the paper plate circles and yesterday they added the berries!

Random: Geneviette was in the art center for quite a while today. When she came out she had this large piece of paper with drawings on it. She said it was her map. ( To treasure?) No, to an island. She got on her horse and rode away. Cute. Did you know her daddy lives on an island? Honolulu. So.. this pretend play was even more precious to me and was a clear sign that she missed her daddy.. my little boy. :)

More random. " Look Ms Debbie , it is Obama. We cheer for him! " Pride in our country whether we agree with the decisions or not can start this young.

Today the kids made the most beautiful Christmas tree ornaments from pinecones. I actually bought the pine cones already dipped in bright breen glitter at a thrift store. The kids added glue and beads. SOOO pretty. Keepsakes...

You know teaching moments also happen when you least expect it. For instance, look at the picture with the shadow and the sparkles. The sun hit the glitter and made sparkles on the table and a shadow.