Missing My Classroom!

Tonight, I was thinking about some of my previous students and I remembered how much I miss having a classroom. I loved exploring new and fun activities with my students. I miss having those amazing days where a student learns a new skill and their entire life completely changes. Nothing will ever compare to the day a child learns how to write their name for the first time, tie their shoe by themselves, or even zip their own coat. It is crazy to think that some of my preschool students that I had while I was going to college are now in 6th and 7th grade! I have been lucky enough to keep in touch with several students and they still bring so much joy to my life. I hope someday in the future I am in a position where I am able to return to the classroom and rekindle my passion of preschool teaching. 

May Day 2012

Happy May Day!
You do know what May Day is right? Apparently, many people now days do not know about the Spring Celebration! I grew up making May Day Baskets and filled them with sweet smelling flowers, treats, and other homemade goodies. My Mother and I would stuff the baskets and bring them to neighbors or friends, then I would hang the basket on the door, ring the bell, and run from whomever answered the door. If the person caught you, they were supposed to kiss you!

Today, I decided to make May Day Baskets with the little guy! His parents had never heard of May Day, or any of the cute ways to celebrate, so we made his Mom a basket and brought it to her work, as she was on call tonight. We weaved the baskets, the little guy colored a cards, then we went and picked fresh lilacs to fill each basket. They were so cute!

I was a little disappointed to find out that nobody in our local neighborhood celebrates May Day anymore, but then I came home to find a little something! My thoughtful husband gave me my own May Day Basket, filled with some sweet treats, an itunes gift card, and some delicious bath soaps. I am so very lucky to have such a sweet husband!

Fine Motor Skills

As a preschool teacher I had to change my sensory table out weekly, which was good because the children never really had the chance to get bored with the activities!  Now that I don't have to change the items out as often I try to put more skillful items in the sensory table that the little one can practice. We do not have the need for the school size sensory table, so we just use his water table as a sensory table now during the winter months.

For Feburary, we used uncooked noodles and pipe cleaners in the sensory table! He loves practicing his fine motor skills by placing the noodles on the pipe cleaners! The pipe cleaners are so much easier at his age then string, he is able to grip them firmly and they are so much more sturdy. I love watching him focus! Such determination in his eyes! What a little angel!

Homemade Valentines

Today, we made some homemade Valentines for our friends at ECFE class. We decided to go with the universal sign for "love" since many of our friends in class speak the language. We traced the little mans hand and while I cut the hands out, the little one was gluing and snickering a card for Mom and Dad!

 When we were ready I had the little guy put the glue on the hearts...

Then we pasted them on the hand print, pressed down the two fingers, and he carefully placed on a heart shaped sticker on top...

I helped him by writing "I <3 you" and printing his name on his cards...

They are super sweet! I think they are way more cute then store bought too!

 (Not to mention much cheaper!)

And then... we did more stickers... and got a little silly with them!!!

Family Board

 

I made this family board for the little one to learn the names, faces, and sign language for each of his family members. He loves being able to find his cousins, and pull off the pictures off of the board. I took it to office max and had it laminated and each one has Velcro on so that they easily pull off and stick back on. We pull this board out whenever he is going to see some family members so that he practices their names and recognizes their faces. It works great!

October Love...

 These are some cute pumpkins that I have made with little ones using hand prints. It is so much easier to do with infants and toddlers rather then carving pumpkins.

Below are three different hand print decorations for spiders, ghosts and pumpkins. Just paint the palm for a pumpkin, whole hand for a ghost, and everything besides the thumb for the spiders! They are super cute and easy for kids to do! However, every time I do an art project that is more structured (hand prints in certain places) I always make sure to offer free paint after so the kids can get out their creativity!

In the fall we are so busy going to the pumpkin patch, the apple orchard, and enjoying the outdoors that it gets to be overwhelming! I always try to remember to bring my camera, and slow down whenever possible! Also, after we finish an activity I always try to take the time to talk about what we learned or make a bulletin board for the kids play room or bedroom of their recent activities. It really seems to help kids place a feeling or memory with learning activities.

 These photos are from my Halloween party with my preschool class. Above each of the kids used a plastic serving glove and filled it with a party mix/chex mix mixture along with some candy corns in each of the fingers for the finger nails. The kids loved having these snack filled gloves to take home! Also, we made a kiddie party punch bowl and to keep it cold we made an ice ring inside of a bundt pan and froze some gummy worms in there for some extra spooky decorations!

In the picture below we had a table filled with all kinds of sprinkles, light colored orange and purple frosting, and sweets and treats so that each child could decorate their own cookie at the party. I always think that having some sort of craft or activity at any birthday/holiday celebrations makes the time fly by for both the children and adults!

Teaching...

After some consideration I decided to post some of my teaching adventures and projects! I have been teaching children for many years in all kinds of environments and continue to enjoy teaching on a daily basis. Over the years, I have accumulated quite the collection of ideas, books, and teaching supplies. I love teaching children of all ages- with a variety of different tools. Teaching a student isn't just pen and paper, it is imagination, art, movement, exposure, song, books, and it is love. One of my all time favorite quotes is, "A teacher never knows where their influence ends." So under my teaching category on my blog I will share books, art projects, skill building activities, and teaching tools. I hope that you enjoy! 

Stuff the Turkey

I made this Turkey last year with my preschool class, and this year I made it with my new little friend. It is a fun craft, and also a fun sensory item for Thanksgiving!
You can make it too...
You will need:
*1 Gallon Milk Jug
*Brown and Orange Tissue Paper ( I was all out so we just used Gold )
*Glue and or Tape
*1 bag of stuffing

Cut a hole in the top of the milk jug and cover the entire jug with brown paper. Next make the turkey legs, by bunching orange tissue paper in the shape of a drummie. Cover the drummie with brown paper and leave just a little orange coming out the top of the leg. Attach the legs to the milk carton with tape or glue. Next, let your little ones stuff the turkey with real stuffing!  It is a blast for the entire family!