A Holiday Reflection

Goodness! It seems crazy to me that Christmas has come and gone already. I hope you are all enjoying the break!

Something struck me this holiday season that inspired me to post today. During the various family celebrations the last couple of days, I received many, many gifts to use at SON Shine. This isn't unusual, necessarily. Ever since I made the decision to attend college to major in education, I have received gifts for my future (and now, current) classroom for birthdays, Christmases, and even for my wedding. The difference between receiving those things then and receiving them now is that now I know exactly how those things are going to impact the educational journey of the 21 specific children who attend SON Shine.

It makes my heart melt to know that there are people all over the state who are investing in the future of my students. There are people all over who know how much your children mean to me and are thinking of them this Christmas.

I have a passion for what I do, and I am willing to put in whatever time it takes to help the kiddos succeed. Though, like anything, when you put so much of yourself into something, it can be super easy to burn out. I entered the holiday season feeling burnt out. Don't get me wrong, I still looked forward to going to school every morning. I just needed some time to be me - time to step out of "Mrs. Hansen's" shoes and to wear high heels, curl my hair, and wear dresses without worrying about ruining them with paint.

So, I did just that. I went to Christmas Eve church feeling like a put-together young adult instead of a preschool teacher. Then, after enjoying a service without thinking about what lesson plans I did and didn't have ready for school the next day, I came home to open presents from my family. That's when I found my passion again. Knowing that my family members think about how they can help the children and put time into picking out gifts they will like and learn from inspires me to get back in there and continue to do everything I can.

I have been enjoying this time off and the opportunities I've been having to think like myself instead of like a preschool teacher, but I'd be lying if I said I don't think about the students every day. They are truly the greatest gifts I have received this year, and I want to thank all of you for allowing me to be a part of their lives!

I hope you all have had a very merry Christmas! Enjoy the rest of your break! I'll see you on January 3rd!

The Truth About Preschool (Sometimes)

Today, I feel the need to be honest with you all. Here's the deal: preschool is not always sunshine and rainbows. These last couple of days have been an example of that. The children are starting to get very excited about Christmas, and I certainly don't blame them - I'm excited too! This just makes it hard for us to get things accomplished. We've spent lots of time this week doing different relaxation techniques (e.g. deep breathing, taking short rests, practicing quiet vs. loud), and they have helped some. I've also been trying really hard to point out the children who are following directions. If your child has been coming home covered in stickers, that is why. Accentuating those positive behaviors helps the children who might be struggling to see exactly what behavior is expected.

I've been trying to take my cues from them. If they're not interested in something, I try not to force it on them. That's why I made a complete change in lesson plans this week. Instead of learning about Kwanzaa (I tried to get them interested in it, and those attempts, unfortunately, didn't work.), we've just been focusing on Christmas.

I created a couple of Christmas-themed games for the kiddos to play when they first arrive at school. The main focus for this week was letter recognition, but we also worked on some problem-solving skills and fine motor skills.

We talked, again, about the different traditions people have as they celebrate Christmas. One of the traditions we talked about was writing a letter to Santa. About half of the students were able to email Santa this week. If you'd like to check out how we did that, check out http://emailsanta.com . It was so much fun helping them type their letters and watch the video in which Santa reads their email and responds to it!

Since we've been stuck inside much of the last few weeks, we've been playing a ton of gross motor games inside. The children's favorite is definitely Color Monster, but they also enjoy Red Light, Green Light and What Time is it Mr. Fox?.

The afternoon class did a fabulous job singing for WELCA today! There were many laughs from the crowd as the children danced and sang! I was very proud of them! (Of course, I forgot to bring my camera down, so I don't have any pictures...I'm sorry about that.)

I know next week is probably going to be just as challenging as this week, but I love to watch the kids get so excited about the upcoming holidays. We'll get through the last three school days together, and then spend some much needed time with our families!

Just a note about winter weather: We follow the Lake Mills Community School's decisions. If they cancel, we cancel. If they are delayed, our morning class will be canceled, but our afternoon class will be normal. If they get out early for bad weather, we will get out early as well (I'll give you a call if this happens).

In order to keep our floors as dry as possible, I would like it if each child has a spare pair of shoes (could be slippers, tennis shoes, or whatever you else you might have) they can change into when they arrive. (Of course, right now, it doesn't matter so much, because all of our snow is gone - what a weird December!) It works best if the pair of shoes can stay at school. Let me know if you need any help finding an extra pair for your child! If you could bring a spare pair of shoes for your child before Christmas break, I would appreciate it.

Have a great weekend!

From Pinatas to St. Lucia Day Hats

These last two days have felt like the most hectic days so far. I’m sure that’s just because I’m tired though. (Christmas break is only a week away!)

We talked more about Las Posadas yesterday. I’m hoping we can make a piñata one of the days this week. The kids love hearing about the different traditions in Mexico.

In the sand and water area, I put out some boxes and all the supplies the kiddos needed to wrap some presents. They were very excited about this! It’s fun to watch their different approaches to wrapping the present. I had some kids cut the wrapping paper into tiny pieces and then tape each piece onto the box until it was completely wrapped. I had some kids who set a tiny box in the center of a giant piece of wrapping paper and they just squished and taped until it was all covered and stuck. Then, of course, there were a few who must have had some experience watching their moms and dads wrap presents, because their packages were near perfect! Anyway they chose to wrap was an excellent exercise for those small muscles in their hands and fingers. 

Today was St. Lucia Day! We started the day by watching a video of a Swedish choir dressed in traditional clothing and singing the St. Lucia Day carol and by learning a bit about how they celebrate.

Afterwards, the kids made their own St. Lucia hats. The hats they made are traditionally worn by the boys in the procession. I had a few crowns (minus the candles, of course) for the kids to experiment with as well. 

 The afternoon class has been working hard to get ready to sing on Thursday for WELCA. (The morning class has been learning the same songs, so they’re definitely not being left out!) We’ve been working on a few Christmas carols to sing, and we’re even using instruments this time. The kiddos are super excited, and I can’t wait for everyone to see! We’ll be singing at 2:45 if you are interested in seeing it for yourself.

For the next couple of days, we’ll be finishing up our Las Posadas celebration and diving into Kwanzaa! It’s been a really fun study so far!

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I Made It Out of Air......Wait, Air?

What a great way to spend a week! We've been learning about different holidays people from around the world celebrate in December.

We started out by talking about what our families do to celebrate in December. All of the families at SON Shine celebrate Christmas, so the children excitedly told me about decorating Christmas trees, putting up lights, baking cookies, visiting Santa, and opening presents.We decorated our own Christmas trees, which will be hanging in the alley entrance way. I can't wait for you to see them! The kids were very creative, especially in the colors of paint they chose to paint their trees in.

 

 First, they painted their trees.

  

 Then they made their ornaments. This was a great chance for them to practice their cutting skills.

 

Glitter is our forever friend. We're still finding glitter everywhere in the room, and we haven't had it out since!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we learned about Hanukkah. It's amazing to me how much the children remember about how people celebrate Hanukkah after hearing just one story. Their favorite part is that the Jewish people eat doughnuts in celebration of the holiday! 

We made dreidels on Tuesday and played the traditional dreidel game. The kids had a blast with it! I was impressed with their sportsmanship too. If they spun the letter that meant they didn't get any of the "pot" of candy, they just waited patiently until it was their turn again. The earlier children learn life skills like this, the better off they'll be when they have to handle competitive situations in real life. While we were playing the game, I played some Hanukkah music for the children. That's where the title of this post comes from. In one song, the lyrics talked about making dreidels out of different materials, like mud, sand, and air. The kids laughed and laughed when the singer sang about making a dreidel out of air. What a ridiculous thought!

We started learning about the nights of Las Posadas, which is celebrated in Mexico, on Thursday. We'll continue on Monday, and I'm hoping to have a full blown Mexican celebration! 

The children handled the classroom rearrangement beautifully! I feel this change is an incredibly beneficial one; I've already noticed a change in how they are playing. Here's my favorite example:

The children generally avoided the block area in the past. For the last two days, there has constantly been at least one kiddo in the block area. The play that comes out of that is fabulous too! Check this out: I walked over to the block center on Thursday to check out what a rather large group of children were up to. They had lined up our wooden buildings so the doors matched and they were attempting to roll a marble from one side to the other. I was blown away by their creativity! It was the neatest thing! (I apologize that the pictures are sideways. My camera was not cooperating with me...)

 This is what the whole thing looked like.

Here's a different perspective. (P.S. I love this picture!)

Also, just for fun. Here's what happens when the kiddos catch me watching them read:

They make me love my job! 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! I'll see you all on Monday (or Tuesday).

Classroom Changes

Ok, I apologize the lameness of this post. I will post about what we have been up to at the end of the week. (It has been a fantastic week too! We've been learning about all kinds of cool holiday traditions, and I definitely look forward to sharing them with you!)

Today, I want to give you a heads-up about some major changes the board and I made to the classroom today. As we're getting closer and closer to our Department of Education verification visit in February, I've been working harder and harder to make sure we're demonstrating our implementation of the standards. As a result, I needed to change the room around to make sure the students were able to play in every interest area every day. So, when you come tomorrow, you'll see this in the north room:

and this in the south room:

It'll be interesting to see how the children respond to these changes, but I feel like we have more opportunities this way.

If you could do me a favor and prepare your children for these changes, that might help me out a little bit. Sometimes with young children too much change can unnerve them a bit, so letting them know the classroom is going to look a little different might help them adjust easier.

See you tomorrow!

Holiday Celebrations Around the World and a Whole Bunch of Singing!

Wow! This week went by super fast! I realized yesterday that we only have two and a half school weeks until Christmas break! How did that happen?

We spent a lot of time this week trying to get back into our routines. Coming off of long breaks can be a challenge for preschoolers, but luckily we didn't have any problems! We also spent a lot of time preparing for Sunday! I cannot wait for you all to see the hard work the kiddos have been putting into our little program! I think you'll enjoy it. :)

We have been working on transitioning from our Lake Mills study into a study of holiday traditions around the world. In the next two weeks, we'll be learning about various celebrations families around the world celebrate, like St. Lucia Day (Sweden), Los Posadas (Mexico), Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. To start this study I added a few celebration artifacts to the classroom and let the children explore. They:

 made bouquets out of artificial poinsettias and

decorated a Christmas tree.

A few of the kiddos made and decorated trees out of play dough and a few painted some trees too!

Outside of those beginning exploration activities for this new study, we also: 

 played doctor and patient in our clinic,

played many new math games where we practiced counting, patterning, and number recognition, and

played with endless amounts of play dough.

Next week, we'll really start to delve into the different celebrations, and I'm incredibly excited about it!

I'm also excited to see you this Sunday! Remember to have your child in the classroom wearing a yellow SON Shine shirt by 10:00 so we can be ready to go by 10:30! I know there are a few kiddos who don't have a shirt yet, but I'll have one for them to borrow on Sunday and I'll be ordering a few more so that you can have one to keep. See you then!