The ANGRY MONSTER

We all get bit by it ever once in a while dont we ? The angry monster comes up and bites us on the hiney and we start to yell... and yell ... and cry and kick. No, I didnt explain anger to the children like that . This blog is for YOU... so I put it in terms you can enjoy. Have you ever been bitten on the hiney before and spewed anger before you even realized it ?

Today we talked about anger and read the book " When Sophie Gets Angry, Really Really Angry. " Sophie's little sister took away her toy and her mom let her do it. " It IS her TURN!" ( Just so you know.. that is called Hi-jacking. When a child is playing with something you can encourage them to share but allowing someone else to take something or YOU taking it away is like you driving down the road and someone jumping in your car and saying.. " GET OUT, you have been driving this car long enough. " Have you ever looked at it like that ? Ok, on with the story. Sophie was so angry she ran and ran until she was exhausted. Today, I introduced our method for controlling anger here. MINE..if you watch me on facebook OR just notice my size would be DORITOS. :) Yep. If I get angry just give me some carbs and I will self medicate. For the kids we teach them the calm down steps.

!. Take 2 deep breaths.

2. Count to 5.

3. Say " Calm down, Calm down."

I promise you I still have parents say the kids use this at home from two years ago. Try it ! At home if your child gets angry, remind them of our calm down steps.

We even have a song from Al's Pals that goes with out steps.

Mr. Randy is in charge of science projects. Today he tried the first one. Fail.. or so he thought. I am not sure what he was trying to do. Maybe get the packet he placed inside the water bottle to get pulled down to the bottom ? Anyway, the kids still loved it and there was still a LOT of learning going on. I could hear their questions and their problem solving as they tried to make it work. In my book, that means the science experience was a success.

We tried a new recipe today - Homemade Pizza Cups. If you cant see it below just let me know and I will print it for you. The kids loved it and it was so easy.

Many have asked how the mud kitchen is going . GREAT! !! Each day we are learning more ways to make it more fun but with less clothing clean up at the end.

Last night at 11 pm we got a call that Randy's uncle had passed away. Thankfully we just saw him a couple weeks ago and enjoyed a great conversation. They have requested Randy sing at the funeral so Thursday evening or early Friday morning Randy and I will be leaving for Mississippi . Bethany and Beth will be here working. Beth has two more weeks before her program opens so we are thankful she can still sub in when needed. Things are still a little hectic with all the new routines. If any parents would like to come in from 9-12:30 to volunteer I am sure it would be appreciated. Extra hands are always welcome.

Puddle Jumpers

Today our lesson plans said " Feelings and Emotions," but several of the kids came in all wound up about the thunderstorm that was happening when they arrived at school. A couple of them were expressing very STRONG emotions about something. I cant help but think that it had something to do with the weather - they were two veterans. When it is storming ( this is the Debbie's opinion version ) it is our job to worry and protect our children. If you are visibly shaken- they will be also. I feel our kids are too young to understand the complications of weather patterns and the consequences of weather so why worry them with it? Sure teach them to be safe - but at 3 and 4 it is our job ( again ) to keep them safe. Just call me Mary Poppins but I dont like to see kids stressed out . SURE! We know what to do incase of an emergency but even that is done with routine and lack of drama. ( ALSO, NOT assuming that this was what was wrong with these kids this morning and you are a drama mama ( HA) Just found this as an opportunity to teach.)

Ok. Moving on...

Today I introduced the kids to Al. Al teachers us that we should be nice to our friends. So far, he only talks to Ms Debbie ( weird huh ?).

The kids LOVE this song by Laurie Berkner. We have the book and she sings the words. We are lucky enough to have Mr Randy and his guitar and we can do it all by ourself. Aveary really loves this song, She asked me this morning if I would do it again before we even started circle time. That made me smile.

But before that we read stories about rain and puddles and then we went outside to explore.

We jumped the puddles. We saw our reflection in the puddle.

We looked to see if we saw anything living in the puddle.

We even JUMPED OVER the puddles !

The boys telling us what they know about puddles. I love watching these videos . I mean, they all walked off at the end. Like seriously Ms Debbie, this is NOT interesting right now, stop quizzing us for the camera and let us be kids.

It was a good day.

Not even a mouse...

Our first nap time of this year just started and so far so good.... We have had no screamers or runners. As the norm we started the " I gotta go potty one more time" parade. This early in the year you hate to say "no" even if they just went.

This is the way our day started out . Kat is the youngest and has found a way with her sweet voice to wrap each one of us around her little finger.

I spent the day Saturday in a training called TIPS. This is a great parenting tool I will be able to offer you . I have information on a wide range of topics and as the need arises we will use them. I am excited about the possibilities with these four little boxes.

Today we started talking about our feelings and our emotions. What did a " what we know " chart and these guys know a LOT about emotions. One of the biggest things we can do to help children learn how to deal with life is teaching them to recognize their emotions and giving them a name. For instance if a child hits another child we say " Look at your friends face. Does he look happy or sad? ( Wait for answer) How does it make you feel to you made your friend feel sad. When you hit someone they feel this way." Learning to read OTHER peoples feelings also is a learned skill. Dont we all know people that have no filter or no knowledge of others feelings? The book below is about many emotions that this little boy goes through. As we read we made the same face or emotion he was making.

More friends playing dress up.

Everyone likes to feel important - like a star ! Today we decorated a star with each child's picture on it.

We also acted out with figures the nursery rhyme of Little Miss Muffet.

Little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider, who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

It is important that children learn that letters make words that can be read back , like in a book. One way we do that is I dictate a LOT . Today we dictated ten things that make us happy.

Today was our first MUFFIN TIN MONDAY ! Mondays is almost always finger food and served in a muffin tin. Muffin Tin Monday is a great way to serve a new food or even make a themed lunch such as all one color. The kids love it. Today Aveary said " Ms. Debbie, are these trees good?"

And then we all fell asleep - exhausted.

Kat will be a big sister this week ! Randy was holding her and read her a book. She retold the story to him. His heart melted and he asked me to video. I thought her mom might like a video of her baby... before the new baby comes home. Both are obviously very lucky kiddos to have a mommy that finds reading important.

Can we have " class " outside ?

Learning takes place everywhere. The way that we learn here is not worksheet based so we can do it anywhere! Did I have lesson plans ? Yes! Did I still go by them ? YES! We were still talking about feelings and emotions today. One of the best ways to learn about a child is to observe those feelings and emotions in an unstructured natural environment. I saw ALL of the emotions today. When you see a child having extreme reactions it is a great time to point it out, so they learn what it is that they are feeling . You might look at them and say " I see by your face that you are angry . Can you tell me what happened ?" Or you might say " Look at your friends face, she looks very sad. Do you know what might have caused this ? What can we do to make her feel better ?" Being able to control our emotions starts at recognizing the differences.

One of the games we played outside was FREEZE ! I would count to 3 and the kids would start to run and dance. Then I would yell EXCITED FREEZE and they would freeze with an excited look on their face. Or I would yell SAD FREEZE and they would freeze with a sad expression. You get the idea. The LOVED this game.

We even sat on the front porch steps and read our book.

What a great day. We enjoyed the fall weather and spent all morning outside playing and learning. After lunch we tried an activity called "what's bugging you ?" This concept , even after I explained it, was hard for the kids. They are not ready for terms like this - it confuses them. I got answers like spiders, flys.... :)

After moving on from that failure... we read a book called " When Sophie Gets Angry." We were able to refocus on what makes us angry and then center in on a solution. We practiced the Al's Pal's technique of calming down.

1. Take three deep breaths.

2. Count to five.

3. Then say to yourself " calm down, calm down"

We have a song that goes with this technique. I challenge you at home to remind your child when you see then start spiraling out of control to get their way or express anger in an inappropriate way to try this.. do it with them.

Who's Al ?

Dress up play is so important . Do you remember playing dress up when you were a small child ? Randy is 58 and still talks about the day he put on a cape and thought he really could fly.

There is so much to learn in the dress up room. Here is an excerpt from SMART START The Parents' Guide To Preschool Education by Marian Edelman Borden, Published by Facts On File.

Dramatic Play

The housekeeping/dress-up corner should be stocked with play items and props that encourage young children to play make-believe. Look for pots and pans, stuffed animals, dolls (soft, unbreakable, washable, and multiethnic), toy telephones, hats, purses and tote bags, unbreakable tea sets, doll beds and carriages.

What's Learned Playing make-believe lets a child bring the complicated grown-up world down to size. Research demonstrates that children who are active in pretend play are usually more joyful and cooperative, more willing to share and take turns, and have larger vocabularies than children who are less imaginative.

Imaginative play helps youngsters to concentrate, to be attentive, and to use self-control. Think about how a child develops a game of supermarket. He must first set up the counter, put out the pretend cans of food, invite friends to shop, use the "cash register," and bag the groceries. All of these actions help a child to learn about sequential acts. He also has a story or script in mind that helps him to perform each of these steps in a logical and orderly way.

When children pretend they also learn to be flexible, substituting objects for those they do not have. For example, a child will use an empty paper towel roll for a telescope.

Through imaginative play, children learn empathy for others. Children will often act out a whole range of emotions when playing pretend, offering sympathy for a stuffed "doggie" that is hurt or for a doll that fell off a chair. We watch them scold a puppet for being naughty or tell a doll how proud they are because she used the potty.

Dramatic play encourages children to think abstractly, which is an important prereading skill. Children come to understand that words represent ideas.

And... can I just say that I learn about the children's home life a lot in that room... :)

Some other things we did today!

In your child's cubby is a

n index print of your child's new friends. It is a great idea to talk about your child's day and include names. It tends to bridge the gap between home and school. Orrin is not on this index print. I had to do his picture seperate - sorry Orrin !

We took name plates with our names printed on them and made puzzles ! Please practice this at home and talk about the letters in your child's name.

We took pictures and made puzzles !

We had a visitor today from the Health Department. This is Sarah. She stops by from time to time to visit. Today she brought WIC and immunization pamphlets. ( Just between you and me - I think we are an excuse to get out of the office ! : ) ( pss... Sarah reads my blog too .)

And lastly, today I introduced Al to the kids. Last year we had Allie who helped me teach a social emotional curriculum to the kids. I think some of the lessons were pretty good so I am tackling a few at the beginning of the year so we can reap the benefits. Today we talked about being a friend. Watch for some important self control techniques coming up !