Tuesday, October 6, 2009

P is pushing my limit

Everyone is excited today as they prepare for class by hanging their backpacks up. They work on getting out their folders, Me books, and Show and Tell. Preston is very proud of his new school bag. He walks right over to the hallway with a sense of purpose in his steps. He is quick to say "I can do it," as I try to help him with his bag. He acts as if he has been coming to our preschool for months. I am excited that he is excited. All three of them are chattering away and I stand back to watch. Just having one "outside" student has made a difference for them socially. Both of my girls compete for Preston's attention. He is talking away to both of them, and it is as if I am not even there. As I watch Amy and Alex hang their bags, I know that feeling ridiculous for making them put them on their backs when coming and going from preschool is not necessary. Even if they only have their bags on for 1 minute, the transition from home to school does take place in their minds. They are ready to go, and I take notice, with great pleasure, their smiling faces and bright, eager eyes all watching me to start our day. I will admit here that I do feel pretty nervous everytime I start. I wonder how I am going to hold their attention for three hours, but they continue to give me the confidence I need. I have a new respect for elementary teachers - it is mind boggling to me how they can get them all to stay still, but I also know the secret is a very well-planned lesson that keeps them interested, and judging by the hours it take me, I see how much time it really takes for a good teacher to plan his/her day. Kids have so much energy, and as a parent of a very energetic boy (as most boys are) I know it takes a classroom environment that constantly fuels that energy and creativity. I am getting off topic here, but Preston reminds me of C.J. at that age, and it brings a smile.
Our weather today is cloudy and rainy so part of my lesson plan, which is to take place at a playground, will have to wait until next week. The month has changed to October now so I read (P as in Pooh)Pooh and the Falling Leaves. We discuss what happens to the trees in Fall. Alex is well aware that Halloween will happen the end of this month. She shares with Preston that her costume will be a "buzzing bee, Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!" She looks a little manic when she says this and I can't help but laugh, we all are laughing now. She surprises me with her question, "Teacher, what are you going to be for Halloween?" Uh oh. I will have to give this some more thought I assure her.
Show and Tell is quite fun today. P is for pink and purple colors, and they have been assigned to bring in something or wear something with one of those colors. Preston goes first today without any shyness present as on his first day. He takes the teacher chair and shows us his purple car, pointing out other colors on the car as well.Alex and Amy have chosen to wear pink dresses for the occasion. Teacher has brought a (P as in Piglet) pink puppet. I try and mimic Piglet's voice, shaking the puppet body and putting the puppet hands to Piglet's face... "I'm so scared. I am scared of everything," I repeat over and over. The kids are laughing hysterically at this

After our scarecrows exercise (which is a lot of fun as they work hard scaring those crows by blinking their eyes and jumping up and down), We continue jumping right into the rest of our day, by singing the alphabet song and working on handwriting. I am very happy to report that Preston does two P's on his own. Alex is writing A's and P's every chance she gets at home. While out at a restaurant the next day, instead of coloring, both girls are writing letters. Allen and I are astonished to see that even Amy is writing a very good P. I marvel at how easy all of this is for them if adults would just take the time to show them. Those little minds are really little Einsteins learning every second of the day if we would only let them. The sing-song I have made up with our letter of the week, "Start at the top, go down, back up to the top, and around," is everything. I hear them repeating it on their own while they write.

Today, we do the "I'm a Little Scarecrow" puppet show. I can't help but do this again since it is such a hit. The crows caw and the scarecrow bellows, and I don't have to even say the rhyme, they know it now. This time I have found small scarecrow puppets at Dollar General priced 2 for 75 cents. I am always on the lookout now for cheap teaching items, and it is driving my family nuts when we go into a store. We continue on with a game of Hot Pumpkin, which proves to be just as fun as Hot Potato...
Activity 1 also includes a reading of If You Give a Pig a Pancake and since P is for pigs and pancakes, we make our own. I have ears for each of them to glue to round piggy faces. We discuss circle and triangle shapes. They glue the ears on upside down and to the sides or bottom of the pig faces, but it's all good, as they now must wash their hands before we go mix and bake in the kitchen. Setting the piggies aside for a moment, I take the opportunity to get them in a line. Each student is waiting patiently for their turn at the sink. So talkative they are, and it must take us a good 15 minutes just to do this. They will wash their hands all day if I let them.
Making pancakes is one of the highlights of this day. We are all dressed in aprons. Allen has measured all the ingredients for me so this goes quite smoothly. They are taking a turn at pouring ingredients into the big bowl. I have a very nervous moment though when I decide to let Alex and Preston both pour the milk on their own as they insist, but they do it perfectly with not one drop spilled. Watching them in the kitchen at this moment, I make a mental note to let Amy and Alex help me more, because I see they love it like I do. Preston is causing Allen and I to laugh, as he does not like the smell of pumpkin, and it is no joke either. His eyes are watering and he is coughing, holding his nose. Both Preston and Amy do not like the look of that pumpkin in the can, and decline giving any further help. Alex though grabs the wooden spoon and stirs with all her might - watching her face is priceless. They each pour their own pancakes, and while the cakes cook, the students play at their own kitchen. I didn't really plan this but it is perfect since they really keep busy here. Preston brings me a bowl of plastic chocolate that he states he has made just for me. I tell him jokingly that he already knows the key to any woman's heart. He looks at me like "whatever". The students take turns watching their pancakes cook, they really are amazed at the whole process.
I tell the little cooks that they have done a good job on our snack as we all eat pancakes smothered in maple syrup. P is for pouring today. I decide to let them pour their own syrup, seeing as how good a job they did on the milk. Amy is the only one who overdoes it with about half the bottle on her plate. As they eat, I glue popsicle sticks (which we now have in abundance after one shopping trip to the Dollar General) to their piggies. I then sing a song about five little piggies in the mud:
"One little piggy playing in the mud.
Squish, squash, squish squash,
Oh, it' so much fun!
Oink!
Two little piggies playing in the mud..."
I have 5 piggy puppets so I give Alex and Preston two of them, and Amy gets one. They go behind the puppet frame and as I sing, I tell them to put the correct number of puppets out. It sort of works, but it is really beyond them as they just want to jump them up and down. Who cares how many there are anyway? Not them, that's for sure. We move on to discuss the colors pink and brown as they color pictures of pigs in the mud.
P is for pudding at our craft time. I continue to sing the piggy song as I give them each a plastic pig, a tray, and opened pudding cup. I tell them to put their piggy in the mudpen. I have made my children into neat freaks. I notice this because they both ask for spoons, not wanting to touch their fingers into their mudcups. I show them how to finger paint in the mud. Once they try it, they are in hog heaven, slopping that mud everywhere. Not one of them realizes that the mud is actually chocolate pudding until I tell them to taste it. Alex and Amy hesitate, but Preston dives right into his, even using his pig as a spoon. Allen and I can't stop laughing at them. All of them are a huge mess, and this time washup takes a long time because the "mud" is all over their arms and on their clothes.
After cleaning up, I let them go play. I realize now that I should be giving them a break time for each class. It makes a world of difference when we go back to do workbook pages. But for Activity 2 time today we do a reading exercise instead of workbook. P is for please, so I give them each their own "P" cutout to hold. As I read, I ask them to hold up their P's anytime they hear the word "please" in the stories. Our stories include May I Bring a Friend by Beatrice Schenk De Reginiers which is a favorite story of mine, another Caldecott award winner, this is a classic for this time of year, as the book mentions an Apple Pie day, Halloween, and shows pictures of animals dressed in masks. The other two books are Barney and Snow White. Each book has dialogue between characters using kind words. Afterwards, we talk about how words like "please", "thank you", and "you are welcome" help us to be nice to eachother. Since P is also for party, I ask them if they would like to have their own Please and Thank you Party like the theme in the Barney book.
First we must make presents (P is also for presents, sheesh.). I give them each a pair of scissors to cut one dotted line that will give them two square presents once they cut the paper in half. We talk about the square shape. Preston is an excellent cutter, and I end up giving him two more sheets to cut since he flies through the first. Alex is still challenged by the whole cutting thing. She will not let me help her. She makes it through though. I smile at her determination because even though her present is shredded she cuts that line until the paper is in two mangled halves. I then let them glue some colorful ribbon onto their presents.

Putting the presents aside, they also make their own party hats with stickers. Stickers are very hard for them, and I think this is great for fine motor skills . It takes a lot of finger and eye coordination to try and pry the darn things off the sheet, even for teacher. The party begins with each student taking a turn passing out presents. With one student sitting on the teacher chair, the rest are standing in a line waiting for their turn to ask "please" for a present and "thank you" after receiving one, followed by "you're welcome" from the student at the chair. This party takes the rest of the class time and when I look up, Preston's ride has arrived. We do not have any time to do numbers today, let alone go to a park. So unfortunately, that means P is for postponement, and I must follow up with one more school day using the letter P. I leave you with one little piggy, my favorite picture for today:


























1 comment:

  1. you are doing a wonderful job. class sounds great with all the activities.

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