Day 2!

Today was a whole lot cooler! 

We read the "Peace Book" by Todd Parr and I introduced our Peace Corner.   I like to think of this cozy spot as a place to have a "time-in" in order to avoid a "time-out".  I taught a simple lesson to teach the kids about their brains and then compared their brains to the engine of a train.  Sometimes kids engines can run too fast and they act "wired, or too slow and they act tired.  Taking breaks can help our "engines" run "just-right" so we can learn and grow happily ever-after.
I also introduced some simple tools to help with high/low engines. These tools help us to "come to our senses".  These are fidget toys for the sense of touch and kaleidoscopes for the sense of sight.  We also have a sound machine that makes the sound of gentle ocean waves or gentle rain. And we take regular movement breaks throughout the day along with long, slow deep breaths.   We learned a simple song to help us think about our engine level during the day so that we can  learn to "self regulate". When a child is self regulating, they are able to learn more!

We also read the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds

This is a sweet, simple story about a little girl that feels she can not draw.  The moral of the story is to simply do your personal best and it will be beautiful!  After reading, the kids painted dots with watercolors in the style of the main character - Vashti.  

We are surely becoming a Kindergarten Family!

Our Kindergarten Family Portrait 

(Yesterdays self portraits)

First Day Fun!

What a sweet group of children!  Despite the oppressive heat we had a marvelous first day together.  Between play times with table toys, on the playground and in indoor free choice centers, we learned some names, some rules and some routines.

We began our day with "Rapp Song" by Red Grammer.  He is a wonderful singer/songwriter for children and has long been one of my very favorites.  You can check his songs out on itunes

We also read a book that teaches how to say hello in many different languages, "Hello World".  The kids got a kick out of hearing them all!

We ended the day by drawing self portraits in the style of the illustrations from the story.

I will leave you with the beautiful hand-heart quilt you helped to create yesterday.  It was a pleasure to meet you all and it is an honor to have the opportunity to teach your children this year. Look  forward to seeing you again at our open house on Thursday September 24th at 6:30

The Peace Corner