A whole lotta' letters and a whole lotta' fun!

"Be careful what you teach, it might get in the way of what they are learning...Magda Gerber"

The above quote from Magda Gerber is definitely what we have been experiencing around here lately.  There are times when, as a homeschool momma, a pre-k teacher, and an all around servant of small children (I wear that proudly!!) that I have to take a step back and see what's working and what isn't.  As our little group grows and changes from season to season and our old routines become...well...old...I am posed to put my thinking cap on and determine what our best, next course is. 

During the winter months the children have been content with arts and crafts, letters and numbers, playdough and cooking, parties and paints, but as the temperature's rise, so does their longing for the outdoors.  Their natural inclination for the undiscovered and yet to be touched.  They need...NEED...to own their time, their activity, their autonomy.  Part of this is the age of the children, moving from 1's and 2's to 2's and 3's, this is a natural progression of development.  Autonomy, the ability to choose, to think, to reason, to be under no "man's" or "preschool teacher's" clock.  Ms. Melissa and I have discussed how rowdy our storytime's have become, how they just want to PLAY!  We still fit in our storytime, but it has morphed more into group-story-making-up.  Their recognition of the world around them, their own creativity, and how they can imagine a story is much more exciting now than sitting around listening to a book.  So, group-story-making-up it is...  This happens indepently of me some of the time, as an extension of their peer to peer play, and at other times, I have learned to utilize it as a means of teaching the days lessons. 

Not a day goes by with these children that I am not their student.  They teach me far more than a classroom, more than a mentor, more than a book ever could or ever has.  All they ask is that I listen with my heart rather than my ears to what they are wanting to learn, to what they need.  And...on the days that I remember this, we have grand success.  On the days that I allow "what I am teaching to interfere with what they are learning" even though we may have measurable academic advancement, I have not touched their heart with learning.  When I do, what they learn becomes so ingrained in them, that they will never forget it.  They may forget the subject matter or the situation, but they will never forget the kindness, the love, the life lessons of friendship, sharing, caring for one another, or the ease of childhood that they experienced while under my watchful eye.

This will be a LONG blog post.  I am going to attempt to catch everyone up on all the activities we have engaged in over the past several weeks.  And, I hope, you will see between the lines of the A,b,c,'s and 1,2,3's and see the joy, the looks, the excitement for learning.  THIS is my #1 goal as a "student" and "teacher" of and to these sweet children; a love for learning...

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"Today I shall behave as though this is the day I shall be remembered." Dr. Suess

Click on the picture above and it will take you to an article on the importance of play. We focus each day on social/emotional skill building. One of the best ways to teach is through play. Any game that involves holding hands, patty cake, high fives, is ripe for teaching a young child the value that others bring to the group. This is where team building begins. This is also a sad realization that so many preschools feel that they have to enforce "no touching" in order for safety to be ensured. Children, especially young children, MUST have touch. They need to hug and be hugged, hold hands, pats on the backs, it's how they develop empathy. The skill of empathy allows children to realize that others are important and so are they...

Children LOVE dirt. So when it was time to study the letter "R", the book "Planting a Rainbow!" was a natural choice. We dug and dug, sowed and sowed, watered and watered...only now, many weeks and a snow later are we getting sprouts!

Even our little babes enjoy "planting" seeds!

A few more seeds and then we will be done...

We paint and paint and paint...it doesn't matter how old or young, they LOVE the opportunity to learn!

Thankful for beautiful days and the opportunity to paint our rainbows outside!

No rainbow week would be complete without the Fruitloop rainbow!!! We categorize, add, subtract, talk about colors, and then...of course, eat them up!

A rainbow here...a rainbow there...

This one isn't nervous AT ALL...the more the better!!!

More "P" is for pig...we made little happy/sad piggy puppets and talked about why piggy might feel this way and what we could do to help!

Their favorite part of making piggy puppets was wrapping the pipe cleaner around their little fingers to make piggy tails!

An oldie but a goodie! Our favorite "barnyard" book.

Our completed barns and silos. We talked about the habitats of the pig and how the farmer feeds them. We learned what a "silo" is.

Celebrations...

We love parties! We have them for every holiday, going away, and birthday. This gives each child an opportunity to be celebrate and to celebrate others. We have had many of these over the past few weeks. We decorate, make cupcakes, cards, give gifts and SING!

More sweets and sweeties to celebrate!

One of my favorite cutie pie pix...I think this was one of the first times she had ever had icing!

We studied rainbows for the letter "R." During this time we were experiencing a lot of rain and thunderstorms. Talking about rainbows, learning the colors and our special rainbow song, helped ease their fears to look forward to the rainbow at the end of the rain...

Our favorite book while learning about rainbows.

Here we are, planting our own rainbow!!

We made rainbow crayons by breaking up our old ones, spraying the pan with Pam, and baking them at 175 for about 20 mins.

Different ages and stages of the painting process. Pictured above is one of our little 2's engaged in painting a rainbow. He mixes his colors and paints with short and long strokes. Here, one of our 5's makes the rainbow in the arch form and keeps her colors separated. Each stage of development is equally important and appropriate. Clicking on either picture will take you to a link that discusses the stages of drawing development.

This is how the group paint started...

Group painting rainbow colors...

More rainbow art. We cut up foam pieces in many colors with the help of the children, then we gave them a "rainbow" shaped space to make it in.

During our rainbow study we were also making our Mother's Day rainbow handprint heart bags...she was a bit nervous about having all that paint on her hands. She likes to keep her hands clean!!

P is for Pigs...which was more of a study about farm life...

During our "P" is for pig week, we made red barns and silos out of recycled milk boxes and paper towel rolls. We painted EVERYTHING red and learned the color of red. I love this pic...soooo sweet!!! If you give a babe a trumpet!!!

We also built barn yards for our pigs with blocks.

Pig tails!

Puzzles aren't a "special day" in our world...they are an everyday occurrence. Here, this little fella' used his "match the legs to the farm animal" puzzle to make a circle. With the right tools learning happens all around...

All of our little ones loved this farm puzzle!

I take a lot of pictures...I know! But this is why, sometimes I am able to capture the heart of what I do and why I love it. The quality of this picture isn't there...but the heart is. These sweet girls aren't sisters but you wouldn't know it. This is learning, this is caring for others... Here one of our little 5's is reading (new reader) to one of our little 1's. This gives each child an opportunity to practice their skills. For the 5 year old its reading, turning the pages in order, caring for others. For the one year old it's listening, engaging in the story and enjoying the moment of friendship and togetherness.

Sweet little birthday girl enjoying her icecream cone cupcakes...

Party YUMMIES!

During the past several weeks we have welcomed new friends and said "Best Wishes!" to old.  We have celebrated birthdays and holidays and have learned about rainbows, farms, seeds, rain, and the weather.

But more importantly, we have enjoyed the sun and rain, jumped in puddles, made messes, cooked and baked, been together during fun and fits, and had a all around wonderful time.  We have endured lots of illness with the spring allergy season, but are SO glad for the warm weather. 

As always...we wish you well...LaDonna