Time to catch up!

Sorry I missed a blog on Monday.  We had Parent/Teacher Conferences for the morning class on Monday afternoon and evening and I didn't get time to blog.  I had a parent make a comment today about how we haven't had a regular week of school for a while.  I agreed.  I know how mixed up I can get when the schedule is changed.  I can imagine that the children get a little mixed up too.  I hope we are on track for complete weeks of school!

In case your child hasn't told you, we have changed our schedule a little bit.  We now start with play time and have group time during play time.  Play time is 30 minutes longer to accommodate for that.  The change in the schedule allows us to meet with smaller groups of children which will give us more one on one contact.  So far, it is working well.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Circle Time:  Our A word for today was Aquarium.  We looked a pictures and a book about aquariums.  I found an old fish bowl at home and decided the children might like to have an aquarium at school.  We filled it with rocks and a plant today.  We'll let the water sit for a day and add a fish on Monday.

Art:  The children made their own aquariums with water/soda bottles.  They put sand in the bottom, shells, and a foam fish, starfish and turtle.  They enjoyed shaking the bottles and seeing everything move around.  They will bring the aquariums home tomorrow.

Small group:  We practiced making the letter A with our wet, dry, try boards.

Story:  I Like Your Buttons is the story of a girl who tells her teacher that she likes the buttons on her new blouse.  That makes the teacher feel good and in turn, she tells the janitor that she likes the way the floors shine.  The janitor then tells the teacher in the next room that her children are the tidiest.  This chain of kindness goes on and on until it reaches the child at the beginning of the story once more.
After the story, we had a discussion on how mean words can hurt someone's heart, but kind words can make someone's heart feel good.  We are going to try to say 20 kind things to each other.  For every kind word that a teacher hears, a heart will be put into our kindness jar.  I'm sure that we will fill the jar soon.

Snacks:  The morning class had trail mix and milk brought by Maddie.  The afternoon class had cinnamon bread, peanut butter, and milk brought by Ada.  Thank you!