Startin' smart

Turkey for me, Turkey for you

2009-01-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Once a month, I go to teach a little cooking activity with SBs class. This is what we did for our Thanksgiving cooking activity. The kids loved it and GOBBLED them right up. For an easy How-to look here.

This is a picture of some of the little cookies that I brought to W's Thanksgiving Feast. They are so cute. For the recipe look here.

Eating Crayons?!!

2008-09-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I just saw this idea and couldn't resist posting it. Check it out.

I totally know what I am giving our teachers next year for the beginning of school.

Visit from the Magic School Bus

2008-08-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

I am a big believer in creating everyday traditions in your family. A few years ago, I read a couple of books by Meg Cox that sort of started me on this way of thinking, and ever since I have been looking for neat ways to celebrate special days within our family.

So, a couple of weeks ago I started investigating what I might be able to do to commemorate the beginning of the school year for the kiddos. (This is a big day for our family because our oldest will be starting kindergarten.) And I found some neat ideas out there, but the one that I thought was the most promising was a visit from the Magic School Bus. Both of my kiddos have enjoyed the TV show on PBS and the books this summer and so I thought it would be perfect for them.

This afternoon, after a LOOOONG Sunday School Kick Off meetingat church, I took our large lunch bag over to a neighbors house and asked their teenager if she wouldn't mind coming over in about 10 minutes and dropping off the lunch bag, ringing the doorbell and bolting away undetected. She was more than willing and so the kids were surprised a few minutes later when the doorbell rang and a big lunch bag was sitting on the front porch. I read them the note and they were very excited to open the bag quickly. They found all sorts of goodies inside - a couple of those character folders and pens that are always desired by the kids but not so much by the teachers, a couple of books to read at bedtime, a small package of gummy bears, some magic school bus coloring pages, a bite size brownie cake I picked up from the grocery store (I was planning on making school bus shaped sugar cookies for the kids to decorate - but I couldn't quite get it tackled) and some other odds and ends. Oh my goodness they were so excited! Sarah Beth couldn't believe that she missed seeing the Magic School Bus, but she was so amazed.

Ahh! The wonder of childhood. It was so much fun to see the look on their faces. I definitely think this is something we will continue to do every year on the day before school starts.

Teacher Survival Kit

2008-08-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

School is starting soon and I have been busy creating our beginning of school gifts for our teachers. This is what we are giving our teachers this year. . .

These are the items within the survival kit:

Sponge: To soak up the overflow when your brain is full.

Kleenex: So you can dry the tears of wounded children.

Eraser: To remind you that everyone makes mistakes. And that is okay - we learn from our errors.

Glue stick: To remind us that we can all stick together and help each other.

Jolly Rancher: For when you need a little happiness.

Animal Crackers: For when your classroom seems like a zoo.

Battery: To help you keep going and going and going!

Calculator: To remind you to count your blessings every day.

Cleaning Glove: For when you need a helping hand

Rubber Band: To remind you to have resiliency and spring back.

Clothes pin: To help you "Hang in There."

Paper Clip: To help you hold it all together even when everything seems to be falling apart.

Peppermint: To remind you that you are worth a mint to us.

Tea Bag: To remind you to take time to relax daily and go over that list of blessings.

Sand Paper: For when things get a little rough.

Mounds Bar: For the mounds of information you teach us.

Millionaire Bar: So you will be reminded that you are worth far more than what you are actually paid.

Penny: To remind you that you are a pricelss part of my child's life.

Extra Gum: For all the extra things you do.

Reading Glasses: To help you see each child with new eyes.

Got any other ideas? Add a comment.

Call me crazy - but I love this. . .

2008-08-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

Fun With Books - Watermelon Day

2008-07-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

National Watermelon Day is August 3rd, so I thought I might share a couple of ideas that might be fun for your littles.

*Read Watermelon Day

It is a great book about summer fun with family and watermelons. But it is also a good story to use to discuss WAITING. Waiting is hard for everyone, but this is something my kids have a difficult time with. (especially as soon as I pick up a telephone call) A good thing to have them talk about is a time when they felt like they had to wait for something for a long time - like a birthday - and what happened after all of the waiting.

*Brainstorm words that begin with "W" and with a permanent marker write them on a real watermelon.

*Slice open your watermelon and talk about all of the seeds you see. Have your kids take a guess on how many seeds they think are in once slice of watermelon. Then, I will give them each a hundreds chart and one slice of watermelon. It will be their job to try to take all of the seeds out of their slice and place one seed on each number (in sequence) on the hundreds chart. Once they finish with the seeds in one slice we will talk about their predictions.

*Game Time: Draw a large circle on green construction paper, draw a smaller circle on red construction paper. Have your kiddos cut out the circles and glue them together red on top of green to look like a watermelon. Then give each of your littles 20 seeds (or small counters) and a die. They get to take turns rolling the die and placing that number of seeds on their watermelon. First one to put all of their seeds on their watermelon wins.

HAVE FUN!!!!

Fun with Books: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

2008-07-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a classroom coconut tree that I thought was cool. I might use this as future reference if I ever go back to teaching, but I would probably never attempt something like this at home.

But I would try. . .
* Filling a sand bucket with sand and plastic magnetic letters and letting my kids take turns pulling out the letters until there are none left. Let's count and make sure, there should be 26. Let's put them in order from a to z.
* Reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
* Make a Chicka Chicka snack with a celery stick covered with peanut butter and have the kids add AlphaBits cereal.

Mister Rogers

2008-06-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight when I put William (who has been running a fever all day) to bed, he asked me if I ever had fevers when I was little - to which I obviously answered in the affirmative and assured him that even grown ups get a fever every once in a while. There is something about the connection of shared experiences that my children are drawn to. They love asking me about when I was a little girl and I love telling them about it too. Here is a quote from Mister Rogers that I thought appropriate . . .

Have you noticed how delighted young children are to hear their parents tell stories of things they did when they were little? Part of that delight comes from shared moments of closeness with a person you love, and part of it comes from hearing that someone you love had the same kinds of feelings you now have, did some of the same things, got dirty, got in trouble, laughed and cried and felt afraid. I’ve heard children say, “Grandpa got mad at Daddy just the way Daddy gets mad at me sometimes.”
Stories of our childhoods tell our children something else: They let our children know, without our even having to put it in words, that being little and vulnerable doesn’t last forever. Just as we grew from babies to children to who we are today, so will they.—Mister Rogers

My Background

2008-06-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

I graduated from Baylor University with a BS in Education and a specialization in Early Childhood learning and have always enjoyed learning with little ones. I taught 1st grade for 7 years and it was a true joy. During my teaching experience, I started work on my masters and went through Reading Recovery training and became very focused on early literacy. Over the past 6 years, I have found that even better than being a school teacher, has been getting to witness the growth, development and discovery of my own little munchkinbugs, Sarah Beth and William.

I was teaching preschool VBS last week and I asked a little girl what she wanted to be when she grew up, to which she replied, "A mommy!" What a great asperation! Being a mom and being able to be my kids first teacher is one of my life's greatest treasures. I thank God every day for the blessing of my kids and what they teach me. I feel so fortunate to be able to be with them every day as they learn and experience new and exciting things. Pretty soon my little Sarah Beth will begin Kindergarten and I won't always get to see the light in her eyes as she discovers something for the first time, but I will cherish every minute that I have been able to do just that.

I am starting this blog to hopefully share some great ideas of how you might be able to bring a joy of learning to your little one at home as well. I am just beginning to realize how quickly time passes, so take advantage of every possible moment.

My one caveat is to say that - different children learn in many different ways - use this blog as a launching pad to do what works best for you and your little learner. A child can learn just as much from sitting down and doing a craft as he can from exploring the doodlebugs under a rock. So take what works and leave all the rest.