Happy New Year

It is officially 2015 and I know that it is the time to make all those resolutions that everyone expects.  Last year I wanted to blog more... hah!!  didn't happen!!  I think I have blogged more in the past few days than I did in all of 2014.  I will blog more, but not because of a resolution, but because I have decided that I need it.  I need that diary of what I do because I forget and next year I don't do it ;) I did some great things with the kids, had some awesome bulletin boards (both regular and interactive) and even had some great moments with my co-teacher!! Did I take photo's, you ask?  Some... another thing I have learned, being the lead teacher doesn't give you a whole lot of time to take photos. 

 Ok... here are some that I did take :)

Our TK version of brainstorming

We loved this game... I found it on Pinterest but it didn't lead me to a link, so I just improvised to suit our needs.

Everyone loves a good book... especially when someone else is reading it ;)

We have been using our phonetic skills in learning to write...this little guy wrote "hape" and then his name... we are still working on the spatial awareness of print, but no need to get hung up on that this year :)

We LOVE to use non-standard measuring in TK... we have done apples, blocks, pumpkins (big and small) and even each other.  It is a great skill to play with!!!

 

We love Halloween!!

Each year the other TK teacher creates the Candy Witch at our school. She is a huge hit and gathers all that unwanted candy that we do not want our kids eating from Halloween to New Year's.  She puts her out about a week or so before Halloween and then the families of our school put their candy in, then about a week or so after Halloween we drag her to a local dentist office who PAYS us per pound for the candy.  They then take all that yummy candy and send it to our soldier's who are fighting for our freedom all over the world!!!  What a great thing right!!!

Building, Building, Building



This year's TK group LOVES to build!!!  We build all the time, every day, and with what ever we can find.  The building center is a favorite and causes most of our "patience" & "turn taking" teachable moments!!!

I love animals, so when a family in our school was leaving the country, we decided to get a few pets for the classroom!!  The kids love them and they love the kids, plus all their apples, carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce!!!

I know you have all seen the experiment of microwaving Ivory Soap... well, my co-teacher thought it would be a great and fun experiment to do with the kids.  So, we bought the soap, put it on a plate and away we went...

WOW!!!  We weren't really ready for this!!!  It smelled interesting, and we weren't sure how long to let it grow...

The looks on the faces of the kids were great!!  The Ohhhhs, and Ahhhhs were so cute. There were a lot of the holding of noses, the smell was pretty strong.  Also, we didn't leave it in long enough and their were little rectangles of the soap left... but we showed the kids how the soap began erupting from the INSIDE of the soap and then put the pieces back in and watched them grow some more.  We took it all back to our classroom and put it in the sensory table... 1 tip I have for you... Don't!!!  It made almost all my kids sneeze, cough, and eyes water.  The watery eye's were not from putting soap in their eyes, it was the dust from the soap as it broke back down.  It was interesting.  Our sensory table is near our door and as soon as you walked in, you could taste the dust.  So, it didn't last long in the table.

More building... this little guy made NYC and the subway going through it... see the skyscrapers, he named most of them. I was totally impressed with him and had to find a NYC book to put in the building area.

Ok, I left this photo in on purpose.  I know it is blurry... but we did Frosty the Snowman for our Winter Production, and this guy was an awesome Frosty!!!

Learning about the dreidel. We learned a lot about Holidays Around the World, but I have to say spinning the dreidel was by far a favorite!!  It also caused lots of tears for those who didn't have the motor skills to get it to spin right away.  We worked on it until everyone could spin it to some degree.  We will have them in the classroom when we get back from break and I think it still will be a favorite activity.

That brings us back to today!!  I am working on my Home Office and purging a lot of things that I haven't used in a long time.  It is SOOOOO hard for an Early Childhood teacher to get rid of ANYTHING!!!  We look at just about anything and say... I can use that for SOMETHING!!!  But, I have not had any kind of organization, so when I go back to look for it, yup, you guessed it... I CAN'T FIND IT!!!  Now... I am going to be able to find things (as long as my own children don't move it, which they have a habit of doing too)

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, I hope your resolutions, goals, and dreams come true!! 
My blog won't become my life, but I will be back to keep you updated on my
Journey into TK