Senior Pictures

So if anyone is familiar with this blog, you know that I am a mom that has much difficulty actually acknowledging that my children are pretty much adults.  This is my baby.... yes... my baby and I had a major melt down when the packet pictured above arrived in my mailbox.... SENIOR PROOFS!  When did this all happen?  I tell all of my preschool families that you never really imagine your child any bigger than preschool age... but then this happens.  So here I am reminding you to enjoy every moment with your child... even if it is a cup of spilt milk... these days go so much faster than you know.  Emerson, pictured below, is at the beginning of his senior cross country season.  All of the road trips and hot days are almost over.  I'm probably the only person in the world with tears over a hot day on a running course... but it's how I roll. Give your child a kiss and enjoy whatever it is they want to do this day... because before you know it... you will be in my shoes!

Day 3!!!! On the Stars!!

Our behavior board is a simple way to keep check on how we are doing during our day.  Everyone starts on green.... "ready to learn" and as our day progresses we can move up or down.  Either way we are learning about the choices that we make.  And moving down is not a sentence to a time out or total loss for the day, it means we slow down and think about the choices we are making and after figuring out how to fix it.... we move back to green.  You know this kind of stuff isn't easy for grown ups so we try our best to help our students learn early that we can work things out if we can talk it out.  That being said... on our third day of school, we ALL made it to the STARS!!!  The children have already figured out that it goes like this "purple, polka dots and stars" all based on the choices we make.

And how do we move our names up.... you see it in this picture... "self control."  For us that means keeping our hands to our self and sitting quietly... even when the entire class might be loud and busy.  We will soon begin learning about the "Fruits Of The Spirit" and self control is one of our fruits.  You can see this friend showing his super self control after lunch.  He is waiting quietly while his classmates are putting away lunch boxes and preparing for afternoon dismissal.  And boy can I tell you that is a busy, busy time in our room so it is really hard to keep your self control.  (Soon to come will be love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and we are already learning about self control.)

And finally.... we all got our first 10 punches on our cards!!!! These cards are just a second layer of our behavior program and provide even more immediate feedback on the choices we are making.  Standing quietly in line when the entire four year old program is going crazy in the bathroom line certainly gets a number punched and cleaning up a mess you didn't make... that gets a number punched also....it keeps us smiling and moving in the right direction.  It is like a pat on the back that you reminds you that you are doing a great job.  So those 10 punches earned our first trip to the treasure box.... and wouldn't you know I didn't get a picture of it.  (stay tuned.) It was a wonderful day in our classroom and an awesome first week!    These handprint puzzles are all so different but the same.... God gave us each hands that pretty much look alike but if you look at these sweet puzzles the five fingers are completely unique....just like we are!  Thanks be to God for all the amazing ways He blesses us!!! And especially thank you for these boys and girls!

 Happy Friday from our sweet boys showing us their best silly faces!!!! We love to goof around at the end our day!  Keep smiling and letting your lights shine!

Smiles At School

 Here we are on day number 2!!! And we are off to a great start!  We are playing in centers and making new friends.  We have our check in manipulatives ready to help us begin understanding our how to begin our day.

 It must have been a great day because we were relaxed on the rug listening to Mrs. Jenn read us a story.  If I had to give this a "#"  it might say "#preschoollifeisthebest."

A Fabulous First Day

 Mrs. Jenn & I were ready for this exciting day!!!! And our boys and girls came prepared with new lunch boxes, personalized book bags AND awesome school shoes!!!!

 It was so busy I didn't get many pictures... but these smiling faces are preview of what's to come.  We were so happy to be in our classroom - making new friends, exploring the new things around us and learning while having fun.  Happy Preschool 2018!!!!

Home Away From Home

 This is it... our home away from home.  Mrs. Jenn and I worked really hard to prepare our classroom and know that it will probably never be this organized again.  We have centers, lots of manipulatives and toys, work tables, crayons, markers …. even instructions to help us with our day.  (yes... restroom rules are even explained.)  It is our job to help our children feel safe in our school, so the beginning of the year requires a time to practice classroom operations.  The owl rugs are waiting for our first line leader and caboose of the year and our calendar will be opened up with a blank slate of September when the boys and girls return tomorrow. Our adventure begins with nervous excitement.... stay tuned for pictures of our class family as we grow together in God's love during our preschool year.  

Welcome Back!

 Here we are.... back at my favorite time of year.  We are 1 day away from our first day of the 2018-2019 school year.  The anticipation of making new friends and learning so many amazing things about God's amazing creation almost makes your heart burst.  We cannot wait for these boys and girls to come together for an awesome  year together.

Rewind Please!

So I have almost come full circle.  Here we are pictured with the best, most awesome, fabulous, amazing, preschool teacher EVER.... Mrs. Maro Rogers of the famous Little Red School House. (Can you tell how much I LOVE her?)  She opened her preschool in Lexington and taught my older sister and closed the year that Marshall graduated.  (in between teaching my older brother, myself and my younger brother)  She walked on the balance beam, crossed the monkey bars, grew tomatoes, and pulled her piano outside for singing with butterflies in the sunshine.   She also had see-saws!!!!  Sadly it was a different time... (and I honestly never thought I would be never be able to use that phrase) but most of her graduating classes remained together as a class until high school graduation.  That means  we started kindergarten together and travelled through each grade as pretty much one group - amazing and special.

This picture was taken many, many years ago as Marshall was graduating from this tiny little preschool and beginning kindergarten at Lexington Elementary School.  You can see my little Emerson, who was only 2 at the time of the photo.  Well fast forward... here we are in 2018 and he is officially a senior at River Bluff High School.  I have no idea how we got here so fast!  This summer is a special one as we will be preparing for this sweet boy to start college the following year.  Please take the time to enjoy your children every day.... they really do grow up in the blink of an eye.