As a Mom of 2 and a full time Preschool Teacher, it has been hard finding to take care of myself, Now this may sound selfish, as children are my life, however its something necessary to keep a healthy balance in your life.
For me, have begun to take kickboxing classes and I absolutely LOVE it! Its an hour of stress release and self focus.
http://www.ilovekickboxing.com
What ways do you take care of yourself while taking care of others? Are you able to find that healthy balance in your daily life?
I'd love to hear some ideas! Please share!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Our Meet the Author Night!
It was great to see families coming together to celebrate their childs first attempt at writing and illustrating his/her own book. The night was short but definitely sweet. This is what the room looked like at set up time. Books we read throughout the month were also displayed with projects we created.
Key terms used throughout the process...repetition, illustrator, author, describing words, conflict/resolution, title, rhyme, setting, character and pictures of the process.
I am so proud of all the hardwork and efforts made by all of these 3-5 year olds. Because of their hard work, they earned not 1 but 2 pajama days!
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| All books displayed on chairs for families to take a look |
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| Eric Carle style creations |
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| Author signatures |
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| Our Spring web of book topic ideas |
I am so proud of all the hardwork and efforts made by all of these 3-5 year olds. Because of their hard work, they earned not 1 but 2 pajama days!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Writing books in Preschool? Who does that? I DO!
At the end of February my class began learning about various styles of books, parts of a book and this week we are bringing it all together and going to write their own books, bind and publish!
This is the sequence I have used to bring this all together...
Week 1: We read The Mitten (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and The Umbrella (Tuesday, Thursday) by: Jan Brett. While reading we discussd the author, titile, beginning, middle and end, characters and setting. Then we picked out similarities and differences between the two stories. After reading The Umbrella, I had the children create their own umbrellas and draw two of the characters on it, they came out great!
Week 2: Dr. Seuss' Birthday week so we explored the concept of Rhyme while reading many Dr. Seuss books. The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Wacky Wednesday, Green Eggs and Ham, Oh the Thinks You Can Think, Fox in Socks. We even watched the movie Horton Hears a Who!
Week 3: We read books by Eric Carle, some written by Bill Martin Jr., focusing on the illustration style of Eric Carle. With the concept of Repetition we also discussed describing words. In Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? the describing words are color words. In Baby Bear, Baby Bear What do you see? the describing words are action words. We read The Very Lonely Firefly and discussed felling describing words. Then we read, Pancakes, Pancakes and talked about the concept of First, Next and Last and how it relates to beginning, middle and end.
Week 4: THIS WEEK!! We will be reading the stories Frog and Toad by: Arnold Lobel, The Wednesday Surprise by: Eve Bunting and Sylvester and teh Magic Pebble by: William Steig while we discuss Conflict/Resolution (Problem Solving)
I will start the week off by retelling the children the topic (Spring) for their books and come up with a web to find out what they know about Spring and what they like to do in the spring.
Next, the younger children (3-4) will be dictating their stories and the older children (those going to K in the fall) will be sounding out the words and using Kid Writing.
Then we will be illustrating like Eric Carle. We will be sketching and creating tissue paper collages (which we have practiced during week 3) to go along with their story.
Their book will consist of a minimum of 3 pages (a beginning, middle and end), it will have a title page and an author page. Finally the children will be binding and publishing their work!
Week 5: We will be wrapping up all our hard work with a Meet the Author Night on Wednesday, March 27th. This will be a chance for the parents to come in the classroom to see their childs work! I am so excited!
I have never done anything like this before.When you think preschool, would you ever think of 3, 4, and 5 year old children writing, illustrating, binding and publishing their own books?
Well believe it! I will post pictures of the whole process from the past few weeks to Meet the Author night next week! Please share with your fellow educators and parents. Let me know what you think!!!
Happy Teaching!
Stephanie
This is the sequence I have used to bring this all together...
Week 1: We read The Mitten (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and The Umbrella (Tuesday, Thursday) by: Jan Brett. While reading we discussd the author, titile, beginning, middle and end, characters and setting. Then we picked out similarities and differences between the two stories. After reading The Umbrella, I had the children create their own umbrellas and draw two of the characters on it, they came out great!
Week 2: Dr. Seuss' Birthday week so we explored the concept of Rhyme while reading many Dr. Seuss books. The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Wacky Wednesday, Green Eggs and Ham, Oh the Thinks You Can Think, Fox in Socks. We even watched the movie Horton Hears a Who!
Week 3: We read books by Eric Carle, some written by Bill Martin Jr., focusing on the illustration style of Eric Carle. With the concept of Repetition we also discussed describing words. In Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? the describing words are color words. In Baby Bear, Baby Bear What do you see? the describing words are action words. We read The Very Lonely Firefly and discussed felling describing words. Then we read, Pancakes, Pancakes and talked about the concept of First, Next and Last and how it relates to beginning, middle and end.
Week 4: THIS WEEK!! We will be reading the stories Frog and Toad by: Arnold Lobel, The Wednesday Surprise by: Eve Bunting and Sylvester and teh Magic Pebble by: William Steig while we discuss Conflict/Resolution (Problem Solving)
I will start the week off by retelling the children the topic (Spring) for their books and come up with a web to find out what they know about Spring and what they like to do in the spring.
Next, the younger children (3-4) will be dictating their stories and the older children (those going to K in the fall) will be sounding out the words and using Kid Writing.
Then we will be illustrating like Eric Carle. We will be sketching and creating tissue paper collages (which we have practiced during week 3) to go along with their story.
Their book will consist of a minimum of 3 pages (a beginning, middle and end), it will have a title page and an author page. Finally the children will be binding and publishing their work!
Week 5: We will be wrapping up all our hard work with a Meet the Author Night on Wednesday, March 27th. This will be a chance for the parents to come in the classroom to see their childs work! I am so excited!
I have never done anything like this before.When you think preschool, would you ever think of 3, 4, and 5 year old children writing, illustrating, binding and publishing their own books?
Well believe it! I will post pictures of the whole process from the past few weeks to Meet the Author night next week! Please share with your fellow educators and parents. Let me know what you think!!!
Happy Teaching!
Stephanie
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Thinking Spring...
Any child or parent in my class will tell you, I change the classroom around often, from small changes to big changes inorder to capture child interest. I get bored with the same areas in the same places and the same materials.
I often change materials that I have noticed the children have not used in atleast 2 weeks and I change areas around in order to accomodate the number of children I want allowed in a center at the given time or to accomodate the materials chosen for the space.
With all the snow this winter, we are all so ready for spring in RI. So I moved our Science area near a window and decorated it with our classroom tree.
I often change materials that I have noticed the children have not used in atleast 2 weeks and I change areas around in order to accomodate the number of children I want allowed in a center at the given time or to accomodate the materials chosen for the space.
If you look out the window you see the snow falling from yesterdays storm.
Think Spring!
Stephanie
Thursday, March 7, 2013
It's Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I Am!
This week we have been having fun with Dr. Seuss. We have read about the "Cat in the Hat", "Horton Hears a Who" (and watched the movie), had a "Wacky Wednesday" and lots more. As we read, we discussed and came up with rhymes!
Today we read "Green Eggs and Ham" and made our own version for a super yummy snack!
Have a taste and soon you'll see you'll like Green Eggs and Ham just like me!
Vanilla pudding colored with green food coloring, cool whip, vanilla ice cream and a strawberry wafer (ham)!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Children's Clothing continued...
For my son's first birthday party, I ended up making my daughter a "big sister princess dress" to make her feel special for the party.
I bought the fabric and materials from Joann's Fabric.
This was very quick and easy to make and it was all sewn by hand!
I can't wait to make more and I'm goingto try making little boys clothes for Tyler too!
I bought the fabric and materials from Joann's Fabric.
This was very quick and easy to make and it was all sewn by hand!
I can't wait to make more and I'm goingto try making little boys clothes for Tyler too!
Birthday fun!
We just celebrated my little mans 1st birthday!
How do you celebrate your little ones birthday? Do you throw a party in your home or choose a venue?
We had the party in our home.
For my daughters 3rd birthday in November, we chose Kidz Wurld Inc. in Attelboro, MA (http://kidzwurld.com/), it was a good time!
Do you have a family party, a friend party or is it combined?
Ours are usually combined but for my daughters birthday this year, we may do both!
How do you celebrate your little ones birthday? Do you throw a party in your home or choose a venue?
We had the party in our home.
For my daughters 3rd birthday in November, we chose Kidz Wurld Inc. in Attelboro, MA (http://kidzwurld.com/), it was a good time!
Ours are usually combined but for my daughters birthday this year, we may do both!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Childrens' Clothing...
How much do you spend on your child(ren)s clothing each year?
Children grow so fast sometimes its hard to keep up.
I have decided to try to make my children some clothes. Working full time and having 2 small children (3 and 1) at home, theres no real time to sit down and sew. However, I just bought some fabric, measured and pinned a dress for my little girl. I'll keep you posted on how it works out and how long it takes! By the way, I'm going to sew by hand!
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