Every year it happens...

Every year around January, I start to panic about the children who will 

leave us for Kindergarten in the Fall. 

Where did the time go? Did I do enough?

Are they ready? Am I ready?

Do they know enough letters? Can they write their name?

Do they express their feelings? Are they too shy?

Am I just being overprotective?

Will they adjust to a larger group?

How will the group change without them?

Every April and May they grow up!
 Suddenly, like somebody has flipped a switch. 

They are too big for preschool.

Are they bored?  Are they anxious about Kindergarten?

They are wild. They are independent.

They are READY!

Their last week comes...

They are ready. We are ready. It's time.

Their last day comes....

They are ready.

I am not ready.

The last hug comes...

The door closes...

Tears come...

I am thankful that they don't all leave me at once, like many preschool programs. 

I am so thankful to live in a small community where it is nearly impossible to 

lose touch with these children. 

I am thankful for Facebook that helps me see their First Day of School photos year after year. 

I am thankful for families that want to bring them by to visit. 

I am thankful for being part of their lives.

Most of all I am thankful that they are part of mine.

Happy Valentine's Day

Playdough: Hearts, Gems and Jewels 

Heart Necklaces

Valentine Making Station

Opening our Valentine's

Showing off our gnome heart necklaces.

Our Love Gnomes :)

Fruit and Fondue

Happy Hanukkah

Our Hanukkah Sensory Bin

Although none of the children in my preschool program this year are Jewish, someday they may be in a classroom with a child who is. When the teacher is pulling out the Christmas activities and a Jewish child in the class speaks up and says they celebrate Hanukkah, I want that to spark a memory for my preschoolers. I want my preschoolers to be the ones who raise their hand and say “I know about Hanukkah! We learned about that in preschool.”  I want them to be the ones to create a feeling of acceptance for their peers. I want them to stand up with that child and help their traditions be recognized.
It is very important for children to learn that there are other cultures and traditions in the world other than those that they celebrate at home. Hanukkah is a great way to expand this knowledge because it usually coincides closely with Christmas.  During the “holiday” season children can become very wrapped up in themselves. This is a great opportunity to open their eyes to the many different ways people celebrate.



The main character in The Only One Club, written by Jane Naliboff, realizes that she is the “Only One” in her class who celebrates Hanukkah. She is so proud that she starts a club, but many children who experience this may feel sad. 

A close friend of mine,  remembers her teacher as a child, centering the classroom around Christmas and making her feel very left out of the celebrations.  In many public schools, the teachers avoid holidays all together, some bring many cultures into the classroom, and some still focus solely on Christmas.

Hebrew Letters Shin, Nun, Hay, and Gimel can be found on dreidels;
which teaches the children that not all letters look like A B C

Potato Latkes are a traditional food served during Hanukkah.
Shredded potato that is fried in oil
and served with applesauce

Focusing on the number 8 and counting 1-8.

Sammy Spider lives in the home of the Shapiro family. Although Sammy is not Jewish,
he learns all about the holiday by watching from up above on the ceiling. There are
also more Sammy Spider books for the other Jewish celebrations.

From the book "The Story of Hanukkah"

Playing Dreidel is a great way to practice using those fine motor skills.
Children feel a huge sense of accomplishment when their practice pays off.

The Letter Z

This week was the start of Letter of the Week. We are going backwards!

Zooooommm Painting with Cars

Zoo Stamping

Pompom Magnets: Letter Z

Inspired by "Sew Fantastic" (see link below)

Rainbows and Socks

I love it when I do a project and it completely exceeds my expectations! I didn't realize how much this project was going to focus on spatial relations until I was in the middle of it. It was interesting to see how the different age groups had a different idea of where they were supposed paint. Some painted in between the lines filling all the space or just a single line and some thought they were supposed to paint directly on the lines. As I was explaining to them what they were "supposed" to do, I found myself using a lot of directional words.

  Either way, every single one of them were BEAUTIFUL!

R is for Rainbow

We started off Thursdays activity by reading "A Pair of Socks" by Stuart J. Murphy, which is about a lonely sock who can't find its match. The children were quite surprised when I dumped an entire laundry bag full of real socks that needed to find their matches.  Matching is a very important concept in beginning math and this was a fun way to put it into real life learning.   Several of the younger kids were confused about the meaning of "Match" and "Pair." 

 Lots of great conversation during this activity.

S is for Socks

But they all match! Right?!?!