Planting a Garden

The theme for July is summer and gardens. I wanted to plant flowers with the children and grow a garden in Shooting Star. I wanted each child to have something to care for, even if it was something as small as a seed. I wanted to teach them that all forms of life are important and when you treat something with respect and love, and provide it with the necessary things it needs to live, it will grow and be beautiful. 

The Sillier Side of Shooting Star

Each kid has a unique personality and so interacting with all of them everyday allows me the chance to play and speak with the kids in different ways. While all the kids are sweet and kind and loving, the boys are much more energetic than the girls, and much much more silly. I grew up with a younger 

brother who has always been my best friend, so playing with the boys in Shooting Star reminds me of how my brother and I were when we were younger.

Playing with Papier-Mâché

I thought it would be fun to try something different with Shooting Star, so one day I let them rip up a ton of newspaper, I mixed up some flour, water and salt and let the kids get creative with papier-mâché.

Watermelon

Each morning this month I have asked the children to sit in a half circle, a watermelon we call it, where they are all facing a calendar on the wall.

I circled my last day of work, and each day I show them what the current date is, and ask them a few questions...

Who wants to feel happy today?

How can you have a happy day?

What are you going to do to help friends in Shooting Star have a happy day?

And everyday since we have started this, has been a good day.

The kids have been so sweet and kind to me as well as to one another, and in the past two weeks, I've seen a really big change in the way they listen and act throughout the day.

Today when we sat down for afternoon circle time I decided that today we would switch it up a bit.

Normally the kids all participate in an activity called, "I love you because..." where they have to pick a friend and explain why they like them.

Today I decided to call each child up individually and tell them a specific reason why I love them.

When I was finished I told them thank you for making me feel so happy today, and that I was so proud to be their teacher. That spending my time with them makes me feel happy all day.

I am going to miss them so much.

It's impossible to explain what this group of kids means to me.

A Life of Play

The best part about working in a preschool?

You get to be weird all the time and the kids love it.

"We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing."