Gingerbread Houses!

One of the best things about my new job is that everything is brand new to the children. This is their first experience with school and so everything that we do in class is new and exciting! They are so excited to learn and while I think I am teaching them, they truly are teaching me every day! We made gingerbread houses this year, before we went on Winter recess! The children loved it! Many of the children had never made one before! They were so excited. One friend told me over and over "I just love this day!" Another friend was shocked that they got to take their gingerbread houses home. It was so fun to see these children so excited and create a great memory!

New Job...New World

I started a new job August 2011. I am continuing to work in Early Childhood Education, which I have found is my passion. I am now a lead teacher with Salt Lake Community Action Program; specifically with the Head Start program. Head Start is a preschool that is geared towards low income and disadvantaged children. I give these children a "head start" on their education. I also help their parents, but teaching them how to best help their children. I teach in a double session classroom, I have two classes one in the AM and one the PM. I have 32 children that I teach and watch grow each day. It is not only very rewarding to work with these children, but daily I am humbled. I will try to post more frequently, for anyone who is following my blog.

Koolaid Playdough! - Koolaid isn't just for drinking!

This is the best play dough ever!! It's easy to make and it smells delicious! The color and scent depend on the koolaid you choose! You can also add extra smells or glitter to the playdough. It doesn't have a lot of salt so you don't feel like you just swam in the ocean after you play with it and it lasts for a long time. Check it out, you should try to make some today!

Recipe

Ingredients

2 packs Koolaid (you choose the flavor)

3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup salt

2 cups boiling water

2 1/2 cups flour

Mix koolaid and oil together and stir. Add salt. Stir until a paste forms. Add water to koolaid mixture, stir until salt dissolves. Pour Koolaid mixture over flour. Mix with spoon (caution - the dough will be hot, use spoon until you can knead it). Knead it on a hard surface until smooth. You may need a little more flour to get the right consistency. Place in a plastic ziplock bag to store.

Little friends love playing with play dough! Playdough improves hand strength, dexterity, and fine motor skills. Recent research also shows that using your fingers and hands actually stimulates your brain and increases the number of neural connections it makes. So when your child digs into play dough, he's not only building little figures and shapes, he's building his brain! So make some Koolaid Playdough today and start creating!

This Little Light of Mine

This week I have been talking with my class about our inner love lights. I created a love light symbol, something concrete for a child to express who they are - being filled with love and light. Children have so much to give and adults frequently forget this, I however get to see it on a daily basis.

I used a round yellow circle attached to a red string (making a necklace) that the child can place around their neck. We then listened to the song "This Little Light of Mine".

youtube.com/thislittlelightofmine.watch

We talked about how our love light will grow when we are nice to friends and teachers, nice to our parents and families and when we give of ourselves in service. We also talked about ways our love light will dim; the children came up with all sorts of ideas, my favorites were:

"My love light will dim if I put on a frown."

"My love light will dim if I call my friend a name."

"My love light will go out if I hit my friends."

"My love light will be black if I don't listen to my mom."

"My love light will turn black if I let it, I want it to shine like the sun."

I love that I can teach children from a very early age the importance of love lights and that everyone has a love light. It's up to us (adults and children) to make our love lights shine and to not put anyone one else's love light out!

We all Scream for Ice Cream!

You scream, I scream, we all scream for Ice Cream!! We made homemade ice cream in class this week! Since July is national ice cream month, we made chocolate ice cream as a class. We talked about measurements and following a recipe to make sure things turn out correctly! All the children were able to add an ingredient to the canister. I have an ice cream maker that we poured the ingredients into, when it was plugged in it made a humming noise. The children frequently came back to watch it and smell it. Then we waited and watched for our ice cream to turn from a liquid to a solid! We patiently waited....waited...waited... and then it happened (about an hour later); we successfully made homemade ice cream! We all tried some and honestly it was delicious!

Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe

2/3 cup chocolate syrup

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

• 2 cups heavy cream

Feelin' Groovy!

I wanted to do a group project that the children could have always to remember their time in Ms. Cheryl's class. I decided to do tie dyed t-shirts! Every child brought a shirt from home. I used rubber bands to tie the shirts into different patterns and then the children were able to choose what colors they wanted their shirt to be. I let the children wear rubber gloves and they could help squirt the dye onto their shirt. It was very exciting and they loved making their very own shirt! After each child dyed their own shirt, I placed it into an individual plastic bag, sealed it and let it soak for 24 hours. After 24 hours I washed/dried the shirts and had the shirts ready the following day to pass them out to my class! When I passed them out the children were so excited they wanted to wear them that very day! Our whole class put them on and we were "feelin' groovy" all day long!!

Apples, Apples, Apples!

This week my class and I went to North America. We learned that apples are popular in the U.S.A. I decided to have the kids make caramel apples. Every child had a chance to turn the crank on my apple peeler, slicer and corer. It was a fascinating moment to watch as this tool - powered by a child's hand, turned an apple into an edible slinky within seconds! They thought they were all chefs by the end! We then made caramel apple dip and enjoyed! I drizzled some caramel on top of the apple slices so you can see how delicious they turned out!

Caramel Recipe

1 (14 oz) package caramels, unwrapped

2 Tbsp. half n half or milk

Microwave caramels and half n half for 2 minutes. Dip apples into caramel or pour on top.

Father's Day Presents - 'Thinking of you' Cubes

For Father's Day this year I had my friends make "thinking of you" cubes for their dads! I cut and shaped the cubes, my friends then used sandpaper to sand the cubes down so they were ready to paint! It was fun to see them work hard and so carefully on their cubes, a lot of love went into these projects!!

My friends were very creative while painting their cubes, mixing colors and blending! I wrote #1 dad on the cubes and put their hand print on one side. They were able to paint a heart on one side with a stencil and write their name on the other side.

What is a "thinking of you" cube, you might be asking yourself? Well I had the idea, that most dads have a place where they do their best thinking; whether it's at work or home. They can place this cube by their computer, or wherever they do most of their "thinking". Whenever a dad sees it or holds it, he will think of his child!

I also hosted a "dads and donuts" celebration today! We said a poem and sang a song (see below) for our dads. Then the children served their dads donuts and chocolate milk and had a special snack with them. The children practiced very loudly for a couple weeks, but during the performance all their voices were very quiet, I think all the dads might have intimidated them slightly!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, I hope you know your children are "thinking of you!"

My Dad

My dad is very special
My dad is very smart
My dad is very funny
I love him with all my heart

Thank you for the smiles
and for adventures too
Thank you for being my hero
I'm very thankful to have you!

Happy Father's Day!


I'm so glad

I'm so glad when daddy comes home
Glad as I can be!
Clap my hands and shout for joy
then climb upon his knee.
Put my arms around his neck
Hug him tight like this.
Pat his cheeks and give him what?!

A great big kiss! Muah!

A trip around the world!

This summer I will be taking my friends on a trip around the world!

Today we started by making our own suitcases and passports. I weighed, measured and took their pictures! I made sure they weren't looking directly at the camera, so they were "real" passport pictures!

We also discussed modes of transportation that would help us get around the world; boats, cars, planes, trains, buses, and an ice cream truck!

I laughed when a friend suggested an ice cream truck, but then told me that you won't know for sure what foods are in other worlds, and I like ice cream! I thought to myself, he is correct, and added ice cream truck to the list!