Mark Your Calendar for October 20!

Man, being gone for a day really messes with my sense of time. For most of the day, I thought it was Wednesday, so I was so surprised when the Tuesday/Thursday 3 year-olds showed up. I'm thankful that all of my trainings are over until November!

Missy said yesterday went really well! It's always fun to hear the kids talk about what they did with Mrs. Joynt (or Keely's mom or Missy or whatever they choose to refer to her as).

Today, we had art projects and investigations all over the place. During interest areas, we worked on making some murals. I suggested to the kids that they paint pictures of some of the things they have learned about balls. We brainstormed some ideas, and they got to work. Of course, as par for the course with preschoolers, they eventually turned to just enjoying the painting experience! Either way, it was a blast for them.

We investigated which balls bounce the highest today. We used an animal measuring stick (yard stick with animal pictures taped every few inches) to measure how high the balls bounced and then charted our findings on some big paper. Turns out basketballs, golf balls, and bouncy balls tend to bounce the highest. Pom-poms and stuffed balls are the lowest bouncers.

Pastor Jordon came and read to us again today. The kids had a great time listening to him read and simply enjoying having another adult in the room!

Tomorrow, we're cooking with Jodie again! I'm excited to see what she has in store for us, and I'm sure the kids will enjoy it.

Now, on to the October event I have been referring to the last couple of posts. On October 20, we are going to be having a Read-a-thon at SON Shine! We're going to run it as a fundraiser for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. The kids will collect pledges from whoever they choose on a per book basis. That night, we'll start out with a family supper and then move into the reading portion of the night. You'll be invited to come as a family and learn some tips about how you can read together. There will be guest readers, family reading, and  fun activities. At the end of the night, we'll tally up the number of books your child reads and see how much money we can raise for St. Jude's!

The event will start with the family supper at 5:00 and we'll start the Read-a-thon at 5:30. We'll be reading until 7:30. I know that is a big chunk of time for many of your super busy families, so please feel free to come and go as you please.

I'm so excited to be able, first of all, to teach you some strategies you can use at home to help enhance your child's reading abilities and, secondly, to help support an awesome cause!

I hope to send home a flyer and pledge form with each child by the end of next week, so you can start collecting those pledges. Please let me know if you have any questions at all!

Exciting Change!

Alright - I'm a couple of days late with this post, but I've been waiting for a couple of things to fall into place before I posted. I apologize for the wait.

First off, a fairly significant (and awesome, in my opinion) change happened on Friday. I have been wanting to move the cubbies out of the classroom for quite some time now, and help was finally arranged to make this happen. When you get to school on Monday (or Tuesday depending on your schedule), this is what you'll see when you walk through the door:

I am super excited for this change! It opens up a new wall for us to use in the classroom (the new wall looks kind of messy right now, but we're working on plugging the screw holes and getting some paint), and it'll be easier for the kids during the winter months. Everyone will have his/her own cubby; each cubby houses a morning student and an afternoon student. When you arrive on Monday, put bags and coats in the cubbies and come on into the classroom.

Secondly, we're heading into the home stretch of our ball study, I think. The kids are starting to show signs of wanting to move on, so we'll go one more week, have our celebration, and then move onto something new. On Thursday, we learned about soccer. Many of the kids have been doing soccer through Parks and Rec, so they had many skills to share with me. It was fun to watch them show their stuff.

The kids also spent a lot of time building marble tube towers. It is amazing to me how long they can spend trying to get that marble to move through the tubes just how they want it to. Some of the kids spent the entire time (about 45 minutes!) experimenting with them.

Finally, I wanted to let you know about an exciting event coming up in October on Friday, but I wasn't able to make all of the contacts I wanted to make first. Hopefully, I will have those contacts made by Tuesday so I can share it with you.

I will not be at SON Shine on Monday. I have a training to attend in Clear Lake, so Missy Joynt will be subbing for me again. Make sure to say thank you when you see her. She makes being gone much easier, because I know the kids are in wonderful hands! Thanks Missy!

See you all on Tuesday!

How Full is Your Bucket?

Wow! What a crazy, busy week it has been! I apologize, once again, for a late first post for the week.

We started the week off by learning about what it means to be a Bucket-Filler. I read the kiddos a story called How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids. The book is based on a theory that we all have invisible buckets over our heads; throughout the day those buckets have varying levels of full-ness. When your bucket is full, you feel great. When your bucket is empty, you feel bad. People you meet and events that happen in a day can either fill your bucket or dip from your bucket. We have spent time each day this week talking about how we can be a Bucket-Filler and how we can avoid being Bucket-Dippers. It is the neatest thing to hear the kids say things like, "Hey! You just filled my bucket!" and "Thank you for putting another drop water in my bucket!"

My biggest goal with the bucket theory is to give the kids the words and vocabulary to describe how they are feeling. By being able to verbalize that someone dipped from or filled their buckets, the kids have the power to better deal with their emotions.

This week, we also did some investigating on what people do with balls. We watched a video of a kiddo who was talented at dribbling and shooting, and then we practiced those skills on our own.

We also prepared ourselves for the football field by running sprints, practicing weaving in and out of "oncoming opponents" (playground equipment), and throwing and catching.

Another question the kids asked was what makes a ball bounce. In order for us to find out what makes them bounce, we had to separate the balls that bounce with the ones that don't. We especially loved seeing if the bowling ball bounced! (Of course, we didn't drop that one from eye-level like the others!)

This morning, we had our very first Cooking with Jodie session! Jodie, the fantastic cook for Salem's Wednesday night dinners, offered to cook with the children on Wednesdays, and, especially after today, I am really looking forward to this opportunity. We made Ants on a Log today. My young friends had a blast spreading their own peanut butter, adding their raisins, and trying something new. 

On Tuesday night, the Parent Advisory Board met. We have many exciting things planned for the upcoming months, and I am excited to tell you all about them. I'm hoping I'll be able to tell you about a special event coming up in October on Friday, so stay tuned!

Field Trips!

Phew! We survived our field trip on Thursday, and most of us were exhausted by the end of the day! Let me tell you how it went!

Our original goal was the watch the elementary kids at recess to see what they do with balls...Unfortunately, for the morning class, we got a late start and no one was out for recess when we got there. That's okay, though. We were able to see some big kids on our walk back to school. Man! Can they bounce their four-square balls high! The afternoon class did get to watch the big kids at recess. We saw all kinds of cool things to do with balls. We made sure to take some notes about what we saw.

 The favorite ball activity for the kids to watch was the group of big kids who tied a jump rope around a ball and hung it from the jungle gym. How creative!

Next, We walked over to the skate park. Here, we raced our balls down the ramps to see which ones rolled the fastest and which ones rolled the farthest. We made sure to try out all of the ramps before we were finished.

Since the morning class wasn't able to take notes about what the big kids do with balls at recess, they took notes on their experiments at the skate park.

We ended our trip at Oakwood Park where we did some more experimenting. We sent the balls down the slide, down the stairs, over the bridge, and through the spirals. Some balls definitely worked better than others. We also had a little bit of time to just play at the park. There are so many ways to build gross motor skills by climbing, pulling, balancing, and running at the park!

It was a great day full of excellent learning experiences! Hopefully, the kids had as much fun as I had!

The Beginning of our Ball Study

I feel like it's been a while since I updated you all on the happenings here at SON Shine. I meant to blog last night, but life got in the way. Sorry about that. This week we have started our study of balls. It has been fun too! Thank you to all of you who brought in some balls for us to explore. Please feel free to send more if you think they might help us out.

We started by doing some simple experiments and observations. We looked at all the colors we had. We experimented with how easy they were to throw, kick, and catch. We tested their bouncy-ness. We talked about what they felt like and the different sizes they came in. While the kids were testing them all out, I wrote down what I heard them saying.

 (Sorry about the bad picture quality here - silly sun!)

We also spent a lot of time just playing with the balls. We played basketball. We used ramps to see how fast they would roll. We raced the balls. We also sent many, many balls down our slides.

Next week, we'll start our investigations. The students will think up some questions they might have about balls, and we'll put the balls to the test.

On Thursday, we're going to walk over to the elementary school to watch the big kids playing at recess. We're going to see what kinds of balls they use and how they use them. Then, we're going to head to the park to do some experimenting with our balls on the bigger playgrounds.

We did many other things that were not related to our study Monday and Tuesday too. Since we're still learning the routines, we spent a lot of time practicing things like sitting for circle time, lining up, and properly joining our friends in play.

We also discovered last week that our play dough was pretty dry, so we made some of our own this week. The nice thing about our homemade play dough is it smells really good! What's the secret? Kool-Aid! The kiddos had a blast making and playing with the new play dough.

Pastor Jordon read to the afternoon class for the first time on Tuesday. The children loved having a guest reader! It's always fun to hear someone other than me read aloud.

I'll be back on Friday to let you know how the rest of the week goes! I'm excited!

Crazy Outfits, Shells, and Puzzles - What could be more fun?

The first week of school has been full of wonderful learning experiences for all! We spent most of the week learning about the rules and routines at SON Shine. We learned about how to stay safe inside and outside and just what to expect everyday. Since many of the kiddos are experiencing school for the first time, this process is a huge adjustment. The preschoolers from last year have been patient and taken an important role in helping the new preschoolers learn everything. They have become excellent role models, and the new kiddos have been picking everything up quickly!

So far, I have introduced Blocks, Dramatic Play, Sand & Water, Discovery, Library, Art, and Toys and Games. Here are some pictures of all the things the kiddos have explored this week:

 They dressed up in all kinds of crazy outfits.

 They relaxed in the library while reading some great books.

 They sorted, scooped, collected, and analyzed shells and rocks.

 They put together many, many puzzles.

We studied the story of creation during our Faith Time this week. I made some felt board pieces for the kids to use to retell the story. Most of them can tell exactly how the world was created! It’s very exciting to see!

On to some news – I’ll be sending folders home every Thursday (Wednesday for my friends who don’t come on Thursday). Please check them as there will likely be important papers in them. This week, I sent home some information about Parks and Recreation activities, a book order, and a note about our first unit of study. I will be sending home bi-weekly newsletters with a review of what we have been up to and information about important dates and events. These newsletters will be in your child’s folder as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I’m looking forward to a full week next week! We’ll be continuing to work on learning rules and routines and starting a study on Balls!

Our First Day of School

Phew! We made it through our first day together! What a fun time we had! It was great to see the returning preschoolers meeting and becoming instant friends with the new preschoolers. We started off the day with a story, Mouse's First Day of School, and we talked about what to expect during the short three hours we had together. Then, the real fun began.

We headed into the north room where we learned how to use the Block area and the Dramatic Play area. The children had a blast exploring and creating using the materials.

 Ellie and Carter built a nice farm for all of the farm animals in the block center.

 Keaton used all the pockets in his pants as a carpenter's belt to carry his tools over to his block structure.

 Emma found a cozy place to hide so she could "text" her friends. (Hopefully that's something she doesn't take with her to middle and high school :P )

After we thoroughly enjoyed the two interest areas, we headed off for snack. Today we had animal crackers and milk. The kids took turns trying to guess which animals their crackers were supposed to be. 

Then we were off to the outside! We talked about our playground rules and discussed how to stay safe on the playground, and then the kids were free to explore. I was amazed at the strong teamwork and cooperation the morning kiddos have already. After playing for quite some time, they realized/remembered that our scooters can all be attached. Together, they created a scooter train. Check it out: 

 Eli and Ellie started it off. Maddie added a few more. Then Carter added some more to make....

 Mega Scooter! Isn't that the coolest thing? They did it all with very little help from me too! 

Today was a blast, and I'm sure it's just a sign of things to come! I can't wait for tomorrow's adventures!

Tomorrow!!!! So Exciting!

Tomorrow is the first day of school!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited to start learning with everyone! After visiting you all in your homes, I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of all of your wonderful families. We're going to have a great year!

When you come tomorrow, help your child drop his/her backpack off in the cubby. We'll be starting every morning in the other classroom at the tables, so you can head there as soon as the backpacks are taken care of. 

If you are bringing school supplies tomorrow, I have special tubs for them in the room with my desk. Bring them in and your child can sort them into the tubs.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to give me a call at SON Shine (592-4075). 

I'll see you tomorrow! I can't wait!

Open House Scavenger Hunt!

We had a blast at Open House last night! 

Here's what happened:

 I greeted all the families at the door, and told them about a special open house scavenger hunt. The children were going to search for all of the special places in the room in order to see the classroom and learn about what we might do throughout the year.

 They started by picking out their name card. They used the cards to collect all of the stickers they found after following the clues. Once they had their cards...

 the hunt began! They searched for their cubbies, the bathroom, their job for the week, their special places on our bulletin boards, and all of the interest areas. When they had collected all of their stickers,

 

 they showed them to me and sat down to enjoy a tasty cookie and some refreshing lemonade! Some of my friends brought their supplies with them, so after they ate their cookies they...

 

 sorted all of their supplies into our supply totes. They're all set for a new school year!

There was also a lot of hanging out, playing, and talking with new and old SON Shine families and friends.

Thank you to everyone who came! I'm so excited for this year to start! I have so many new friends and a lot of old friends returning for another year, and I'm looking forward to all the learning, playing, and fun we are going to have. 

Can't wait to see you all on September 6 (or September 7 depending on your schedule)!!!!