Sneak Peeks from Me Bags

Here some really cute pictures from "me" bags this week. There will be a class book next week to share all of the fun stuff we learned about each other, but some of these pictures are just too priceless. Your children are great public speakers and haven't been shy about sharing the contents of their "me" bags.And just in case you are wondering, our school bags and lunch boxes are worthy of "showing off." Since we started afternoon carpool in the downstairs hallway, the children love showing off their bags to their friends. I wish I could hear all of the conversations between friends as we wait on parents, but I love to watch them talking with each other and pointing to various things on their bags. The excitement of childhood is infectious, but the huge smiles that appear when they are talking about their family is priceless.

Working Hard

I know it is only our second week of school, but we have some hard workers in our classroom. (Children that have learned to try their best.) "Best" is defined as taking your time and not hurrying just so you can play in a center. This is one of those lessons that only gets better as children grow up, but it is a necessity for a successful public school experience. Now if your child is not in this picture, don't worry. I sometimes forget to grab my camera and snap a picture. Take a few minutes this week to look at your child's papers with them. Talk about what they learned and remember from our week and praise their work.

Mail

Hopefully you received some fun mail from your child...These were postcards that we made at the end of our first week of four year old preschool. To me this a priceless treasure because it is child created art of something they embraced about school. I hope it made you smile and that your child was super proud of their mail.

Our Class Family

Here is our official class picture for the beginning of this preschool year. This is the "say cheese" version. But my personal favorite is always the silly face version #2. This is the picture that shows off our real personalities. Aren't you jealous that you don't get to have this much fun every day? Believe me when I say that childhood is important in our classroom and sometimes you just have to be silly.

School Makes Me Smile

It is the end of our first full week of school and there is a lot to smile about. We are learning the routine and still feeling excited about finally making it upstairs into the four year old class. Our art project today was about smiles...Why does Pilgrim Community Preschool make you smile...well honestly, most of us said..."playing on the playground."

Pride!!!

Have you ever done something you didn't really think you could do? Maybe something you really didn't want to do? Perhaps it was something you didn't even care about doing? Well the resulting feeling in all three cases is pride and self confidence. The case is no different in our class. If you haven't heard by now, our puzzle center is not the desired center for morning arrival. It started this year with a bad reputation as being boring and no fun. So today, two brave little students stuck it out in puzzles and guess what....You guessed it...PRIDE! They worked these puzzles, with little faith that it would mean anything, and voila - they did it and felt so proud of their work. (You can see it in their smiles.) It seems like a "not so big deal" except, everyone in the class got intrigued and had to come try it out. I'll admit that I say a lot of "corny" things - but in my heart I really believe that working puzzles in our class makes your "brain grow." It takes some real problem solving and determination to stick with a puzzle. Great Job!!!

Filling Our Buckets

As a way to teach our class about working together and sharing God's love, we read a book by Carol McCloud called Have You Filled A Bucket Today? The story talks about how we each carry around an invisible bucket and when we use kind words and actions, we become bucket fillers {filling other people’s buckets}. But when we say and do things that aren’t kind and compassionate, we’re bucket dippers…emptying all the good feelings out of everyone else’s buckets.
We had a blast learning to fill each others buckets. We even have a class bucket that will earn a treat for everyone when it is full. Sometimes when we dip into a friend's bucket there are not so many smiles, but God is so good - He forgives us, just like our friends. Then - our bucket gets filled up to the top again. I cannot say enough how much these children let God's light shine through their bright eyes and beautiful smiles. Even with the "bumps" in our day, they manage to fill my bucket to the top. Every year God seems to bless Mrs. Laurie & I with the perfect group of children. Practice being a bucket filler - it will do your heart good.