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!

How Do Pumpkins Grow?

Today has been a fun day. We got back into our routine and EVEN WENT OUTSIDE! YAY!

We did our weekly reader today. Not all of the Weekly Readers are appropriate for the age group so I filter what I use in them. I also sometimes use it in an entirely different way. And even further, sometimes I do it with the older group of kiddos and not the younger group. I have to look at each child individually to see where they are and what is the "BEST" way I can teach them. Today the weekly reader was about pumpkins and how they grow. When you have this at home and go over it with your child , can I give you a hint? Pointing out the 1, 2, 3, and 4 were more important to me than the actual pumpkin life cycle! :) Make a game out of it. Point to 4. Point to 2.

Today one of the kids broke a new crayon. She said " Ms Debbie, I broke this crayon." I smiled and said " It is ok, it happens." She looked a little puzzled for a moment and then she shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Acceptance.... leads to confidence. We don't brush everything under the carpet but somethings just arent worth it.... :)

Yesterday we had Tuna Noodle Casserole for lunch. It was NOT a favorite. I overheard one of the girls say " What what food I like at school? ALL OF IT.... Except yesterday, that was GROSS!" :) Gotta love kids honesty.

I am planning a night for scrapbooking and conferences to look over the DIAL 3 I did at the beginning of the year AND I HOPE to plan a dad and me pumpkin painting night like we did last year. I am a little .. um.... over whelmed with a few commitments right now but as soon as I get time to breath ( or take my suitcase out of the truck from Hot Springs, find my camera or get some furniture in the livingroom) I will work on that! :)

I hope you have had as great a day as your child has!

Red or Green?

Today has been a normal day. Some of the fun we had:

Randy put together a floor puzzle with some of the kids.

We stamped red CIRCLES ( apples ) on a sheet of paper with big A's and little a's on.

I also included another picture of one of our table games. The apple with little worms sticking out is one of their favorite games this week. The worms fit down into the apple and the go up and down. The tips of the worms are different colors. The kids try to pull out " matching" worms.

We also did another graph. We ate red and green apple slices and graphed which we liked the best. THis is a great way to talk about most and least, which most.... of the kids missed on the assessments I just did. A plus that I did not expect was this: Let's put your apples on TOP of the other apple.

YAY for recognizing teachable moments!