P is for Pout

If you are following our alphabet photo album, you can see that this needs no explanation. "Pouting" is a tried and true, child developed, parent behavior modification plan. Who could resist this face? There were lots of other photo choices - but this was the best. (I think we have some budding actresses/actors in our class this year - because this face was produced on request.)

The Calm Before The Storm

If you were anywhere near our classroom today you could tell that something was definitely up with the barometric pressure. (or at least that is what I am telling myself.) It was so loud and crazy. It has been "clinically" proven by my class that we go nuts when the weather is just about to change. (Please know that I use this term loosely.) As we arrived at the playground we could see the storm clouds building - but the weather was just too breezy to ignore. You can see from our pictures that we were loving this last day of February.

The Tooth Fairy

One of our recent "question of the day" questions was ..."have you ever seen the tooth fairy?" Most of us answered no, but a few were quite convincing in their arguments that they really have seen this elusive fairy. Our art project for the week was creating our own picture of this tooth loving friend. They are so cute and all are different. I was told that tooth fairy has names like...Barbara, Laney, Miss Hannah, Richard...etc... I was also told that he/she collects the lost teeth to ...give to her friends, put in her purse and take to her house. These are displayed outside of our door and are worth taking a look at.

Friends

This needs no comment...but I have to say holding hands with a friend is the best. What a perfect picture to end our week?

Just Another Day

It was another gorgeous day. Not one of us in the building could keep our minds inside and counted down the minutes until we could make it to the playground. Even though some of us complained that it was too hot, most of us just enjoyed the perfect weather. Warm "spring" sunshine made it a great day.

P is for Pizza

We are a class that loves to cook!!!! So today, for the letter Pp, we made some small, healthy pizzas. Since we have been talking about dental health & fitness, we made sure our mini-pizzas were healthy with a wheat crust and low-fat cheese. The children were so excited and they tasted great! Did any of these pizzas make it home? Most of us were hoping to eat it as soon as we left school. I had my doubts about those who were talking about sharing with siblings at home, because these little treats were delicious and just the right size.

Our Class Helper

As you probably have seen in our newsletter, we have a special helper in class. She is a student at the High School, who is coming in to help in some of the preschool classes. We are so lucky to have her with us for the next few weeks.

P is for Pastor

We had a special guest stop in for the letter Pp. It was a friend's daddy, who just happens to be a Pastor. Many thanks for taking some time to share your job with us. "Peace" be with you.

We Still Welcome Grandparent Visits

Today we had another grandparent visit. This friend was super excited because her grandparents picked her up and she was going to have a "sleepover." I am quite sure that all of us grown-ups remember that "sleepovers" with grandparents are the best!!!!! Thanks for coming in to say Hi!

Something To Think About

Do your little bit of good where you are;

it’s those little bits of good

put together that

overwhelm the world.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Isn't amazing that God pops up just when you need it? Not really because He is such an awesome God. This quote isn't exactly from God - but it appeared just when I needed to hear it the most. "Little bits of good!!!!" I think I can do that - just "one little thing at a time" is not overwhelming or intimidating. With the scariness of our world, the tragedy in New Zealand, economic woes, etc...we need to focus on something good - so try to share God's love as "a little bit of good" today.

Popsi's Passion

My daddy is a mechanic. Ever since I can remember he has always worked on cars. He loves cars - especially Dodges! Being a daughter - this was not the sort of thing that I embraced, but I just understood that this was his passion. I played in his shop a lot - especially on the creeper and the jacks - never fully understanding why he spent so much time in this smelly building. He made repairs for friends, kept all of us driving and even restored some old trucks. There were lots of late nights that my mom sent me out to the shop to get him to come in for bed. He worked with the music blasting and had no idea what time it ever was. I am posting these pictures because he continues to pursue his passion in life. This is his latest project...a 1948 Dodge Coupe. Marshall & Emerson are helping and I am so jealous that I never took advantage of his time getting greasy and dirty. They are learning how the engine works and how to do the upholstery. How cool is that? I am sharing this with everyone because I learned about "passion" in life from my daddy. He worked as a mechanic and in the car business around the thing that he loved the most - cars. Someone on a commercial said something like this "if you love what you are doing then you will never work a day in your life." As you prepare your children for the life changing event known as "big school" try to start laying the groundwork for a future like my dad's. I am so blessed to feel my passion in life is "sharing God's love through teaching" and pray that I have this opportunity for many years to come. Growing up is hard work and life is not easy - so encourage your children to embrace who they are and inspire them to follow their talents. You are showing them what life is really all about by modeling it every day.

Warm Sunshine

It was one of those days where all we could do was think about playing outside. Our letter this week is Pp and playground was at the top of our list. It was so warm and breezy - can you believe that it is only February? I think the groundhog got it right this year. We totally love these days. We open the windows in our classroom and enjoy God's warm sunshine all day long.

Pinewood Derby

Being the mother of boys requires much more ingenuity. This became painfully obvious to me as my youngest son worked on his car for the Boy Scout Pinewood Derby this weekend. I am crafty but am not this type of crafty. Car design is not my thing. Here is Emerson's very first car and it was cool. The lighting is not the best, but he was very proud of his work. We watched all of the competition from the Tigers up to the Webelos and cheered everyone on - but much to his disappointment, Emerson didn't end up in Victory Lane. This is one of those painful lessons every child must learn. I know all of you parents who are reading this understand what this feels like and I had to fight every urge to try and make this better. It took all of my strength to let this life lesson run it's course and not buy some other type of consolation prize. This was our time to learn how to be a gracious loser. Please understand that when I say this was a very tough decision - it was harder than anything I have done thus far - but it was time. You hate to see your child cry - but this is life. He congratulated his fellow scouts on their victory and we spent some time talking about how he could learn something. He was brave and we are so proud of him. Great job Emerson and better luck next year!!!!

What A Beautiful Day?

The weather is finally starting to agree with us. The sun is warm and the playground is dry. (That almost sounds like lyrics to a song.) As we were coming in from the playground, one of the children said "look that cloud looks like it has angel wings." The sky was just so bright and blue that we had to stop and take a few minutes to enjoy this beautiful art show. Everyone's imagination was working hard looking at these passing "cottony" puffs and sharing what things their eyes saw. Thank You God For Your Creation!!!

Preschool Is Really Hard Work

Sometimes are days are so long. These three couldn't keep their eyes open. (Don't let these innocent smiles fool you - we were learning what it means to "play possum.")

W is for Wings

W is for wings and who knew that something so light could be so heavy? These wings were as big as the boys and girls. Here is one of our little angels with our letter of the week - W.

Z is for ZZZZZZZ

Z is one of those letters that has a sound that says it all. How could we not use this for our picture? Sweet Dreams Everyone.

Y is for Year

If you have been following the progression of our alphabet, we have been catching up on some pictures. As you can see - Y is for year - the New Year 2011. (How far behind am I in posting these pictures?)

Preschool Presidents

In honor of President's Day, we spent some time learning about our forefathers. This isn't such a fun unit, but we thought the past Presidents looked "kinda" funny. George Washington wore a wig and Abraham Lincoln wore a huge hat - we couldn't understand why they looked so different. Here are two of our friends showing off our patriotic hats. One of us is wearing the "tri-corner" and the other is wearing the "stove pipe." Watch your child's bag for a fun book that we wrote titled, "If I Were President..." I would definitely want to be a part of these political campaigns.

Special Guest

Today we had a special guest visitor in our class. She is a sister of one of our classmates and came to teach us about food allergies. This is one of those subjects that is really hard for children to understand. How can a food be an allergy? Our visitor read us a fun book about some cute bugs and their different allergies. It was cute and helped us understand that you can still have fun even if you can't eat certain things. She gave us a sticker and pencil too. Thanks special guest - we appreciate your visit and thanks to our classmate, who shared his sister.

Love Is Family

Thank you so much to the helpers at our class party. It is a time where we are really busy and your help is very appreciated. Thank you to our friend for sharing his mom & grandma with us.

Crayons For Friends!

Part of learning about Valentine's Day is learning how to share love with those around us. It doesn't have to be anything big - just a smile will do. You can open a door for a friend or help at home OR you can make crayons. (Well - this is what you can do at our preschool to show love.) We did a group project in our class for our little friends downstairs. Since we are bigger, we use the small crayons - but these sometimes break so easily. It is a common problem - but what do we do with that huge plastic bin of colorful broken pieces? We clean them up, break them a little more and make new big crayons for little hands. It was a fun project for everyone and the new chunky crayons turned out looking really cool. They are swirly and so easy to use. We delivered them today to the toddler's & two year old students. There are few for each class to share and don't worry - teachers will be supervising in case anyone thinks these crayons are a tasty treat. It was our Valentine to them. (And the best part - we recycled something.)

Is It Valentine's Day? Really?

Are you a valentine? Of course we all are. You can see from these smiling faces that today was a special day. Can you guess what was in the air?

By the looks of the treat buckets it is that one day of the year that we celebrate love! (Not coffee - even though most of us adults would love to have a day to celebrate this most delicious brew.) These buckets were part of our "reuse & re-purpose" class program. (Folgers would be proud to see so many of these red canisters displayed so proudly this Valentine's Day.)
Today was our Valentine's Day Celebration, however, in our class - we celebrate this every day. How? Why? Well - God's love is a daily valentine. We don't have to ask for it or even really think about it much - He just loves us all the time. BUT - It was a perfect time to make treats, share treats and just be full of love. We made cakes for our dads (or as many of us proclaimed for all of us to share) and enjoyed practicing our decorating skills. As you can see from the "chocolatey" mustache some of us even enjoyed tasting the frosting. (Someone had to make sure it tasted yummy!)
These little celebrations are the memories we will treasure the most in our adult life. Classroom parties will become few & far between once you enter the public school setting - so we try to make childhood last just a little bit longer. I know that most of you reading this can recall a fun valentine that you received when you were a child. We had so much fun with our festival of love and hope that everyone at home is enjoying it too. Happy Valentine's Day today and every day because God loves you.

Sharing God's Love

Today was our chapel day and it continued to reinforce everything that we have been learning about love. It is so hard to teach children (really anyone) that God's love is never ending and non-judgmental - but we keep on talking about His awesome gift! With our work this week centering around the valentine's theme, friendship & love are in the air. One of our newest classroom practices is "caught being good." This is just a little thing that we do throughout the course of the day where we "catch a classmate doing something good." It has been fun because sometimes, actually most times, the child has no idea that have done anything different. (You should be proud because this behavior is the result of your parenting - not anything that I have done.) It can be something like sitting quietly on the rug or giving a friend a compliment. It is amazing that these kinds of behaviors are "contagious" because everyone loves to "get caught" doing something that is praise worthy. Here are just a few pictures from today of our friends sharing God's love. To us, sharing God's love, means being a friend and using nice manners. It also means saying things that help our hearts grow stronger. For us grown-ups it these things can be really hard -but right here at Pilgrim Preschool - we share God's love just be coming to school.