First Full Week

Our first full week of school is done! The children loved getting to meet the Letter People and did a wonderful job finishing their work for the week.

 

Next week Mr. H is going to come talk to us about having a caring heart. I have a few cute art projects planned and with post pictures as they are completed.

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day weekend and I look forward to seeing the children on Tuesday.

Finished Job

Here is a picture of all the children's finished job. For this job the children had a blast decorating the letter that their name begins with. I love how different they are from one another.

Mural

The back to shcool mural is DONE!!! It came out SOOO CUTE!!.

I talked about it HERE.

 

Rearrange

I rearranged the room the other day. I decided that 4 tables for 18 children was not enough. Therefore I took the table from the writing center and moved it in the middle of the room for the children to sit at and still use for a center. So far it is going well. Here are some pictures.

Fall Farm Festival

I am SO ready for fall because it's my favorite time of the year. Things around my house are started to get ready for our Annual Fall Farm Festival. For those of you who don't know my husband operates Maple Grove Farm located on 17 beautiful acres in Collierville. We have a summer camp, children's parties, weddings, banquets, and more.

 

On Saturday, October 20 from 11am-3pm we will host our Annual Fall Farm Festival. The festival is to benefit the Paul A. McDaniel Foundation for stroke and organ donations. 100% of the proceeds go directly to the foundation. We will have many activities for the children to do. There will be a hayride, petting farm, moon bounce, zip line, playground, face painting, pumpkin patch, games/prizes, and concessions.

 

The foundation was started in 2008 after Paul McDaniel, only 22, passed away due to several massive strokes in both hemispheres of his brain. My husband and his older brother, Ben, wanted to create this foundation to raise awareness about strokes and organ donations.

 

I remember that September 14th like it was yesterday. Tim and I had received a phone call saying that Paul was found unresponsive and being taken to the Med. After sitting in the ICU waiting room for hours the doctors took us into a small nice room in the hospital. Here they told us that Paul's brain had hemorrhages and he was on life support and there was nothing they could do for him. Of course as his family we were not happy with and had another doctor come in. This doctor told us that Paul had a massive stroke in both hemisphere of his brain and that their was nothing that they could do for him. We then called everyone who knew Paul and told them what had happen and that they needed to to come to the hospital and say their goodbyes. That night two wonderful women from Mid South Transplant came and talked to us about donates Paul's organs. We all thought that this was the perfect way for his legacy to continue. The next day they took Paul off life support and harvest his organs and tissues. Through the donations he passed on the gift of life through vital organ and tissue donations. He saved 4 lives and gave up to 80 people a chance for a higher quality of life. We actually have the pleasure of meeting Paul's heart recipient two years ago. It was such a great felling.

 

As if this was not enough for my family to go through, on August 18, 2010 a sheriff's car was at our gate with horrible news. Tim's older brother, Ben, had went cave diving in Vortex Springs and was missing. We then jumped in the car with a 6 week year old baby and headed to Florida. This was a horrible nightmare for us. We sat there at the springs as diver after diver went down in search for him but no luck. A little more than two years later we have no answers to what happen. I sometimes feel that one day I will just wake up and there will be Ben.

 

This family has gone through so much tragedy but we all make it through a day in certain ways. For my in laws it is getting to spend time with Calen. For Tim it's Calen and Maple Grove Farm. For me it Calen and work. I believe that God knew exactly what he was doing when he blessed us with Calen.

 

SO sorry for going on this huge detail of everything. My point of this post was to inform everyone of the fun to come. So please come out with your children, support a great cause, and have fun!

Paul

Ben

 

Back to School Mural

Our back to school mural has started to come to life today! Last week Ms. Roxanne's class and my class completed an All About Me glyph. (I LOVE glyphs and try to do one at less every month.) For this one the children had to answer three questions. The first question was are you a boy or girl. If they are a girl then they have a bow in their hair. The second question was do you like pizza or hot dogs. If they liked pizza better then their shirt has polka dots on it. If they liked hot dogs better then their shirt has strips on it. The third question was how many sibling do you have. If they have 0 their pants are red. If they have 2 then they are green. If they have 3 their pants are orange and if they have 4 or more they are yellow.

I can't wait to see the whole thing put together. Ms. Roxanne's aid, Ms. Cathy, has been busy making the background and it look too cute. Here is a sneak peek....

I will post pictures when it is all done.

Jobs

This week we are Meeting the Letter People. The children enjoyed getting to meet Ms. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C.

This week our jobs are mostly about letters. Below are a few pictures of them.

For one job the children sorted colors.

For this job the children had to decorate the letter that their begins with. SOURCE

Here the children had to find the letters in their names and glue them to spell their names.

Days of the Week

Yesterday I found this Days of the Week freebie from Learning and Teaching Preschool Blog. Love it!!! Can't wait to use it with the children tomorrow.

Extra Extra Read All About It!

During Parent Teacher Orientation the parents picked up the children's first take home activity. For the activity we wanted to find out more about each other. The parents were given a sheet of paper that had questions on it to "get the scoop" on their child. The questions were what is your child's favorite color, food, thing to do, book, candy, movie, toy, his/her family members, pets, and what they want to be when they grow up. The parent and child were to decorate a piece of paper to look like a newspaper with the answered questions. Each child presented their newspaper to the class. After we hung them in the hallway for everyone to see.

Classroom Rule Book

All week we have been talking about the rules in the classroom. Today we each made a book about them. Each page in the book was a classroom rule: Listening ears, raised hands, helping hands, quiet mouths, walking feet, and caring hearts. The children did a great job.

Letter Fun

Here is an activity I found HERE to help the children learn the letters in their names. They had to cut out a face and glue to a shirt. Then they had to find the letters in their name and glue on the shirt for buttons.

All About Me

Today the children made these cute people. The paper on the shirts say ____ My name is ______. The children did a great job and had fun!

 

SOURCE

Kissing Hands

The first three days were staggered days for the children. I love this idea because it gives me a chance to meet each child.

Each day we read Kissing Hands and made Chester Raccoon. The children did a great job painting him. He looks SOOOOO cute!

New Stuff

So I'm finally remembered to take a few pictures today of some of the new things in the classroom.

One side of the door.

The other side of the door.SOURCE

My new behavior clip system. SOURCE. I used it a few times today and the children were SO excited to move their clip up.

Look Who Swam In...this is where the children sign in for the day!

We Are Here Poster. SOURCE

First Two Days

The first two staggered days have been great. I have enjoyed getting to meet the children. I can't wait to meet the rest on Monday.

We have been staying busy in the classroom. We read Kissing Hands and painted an adorable raccoon. Of course I forgot to take pictures of them but they turned out so good.

Emily and I sent half of the day today getting some of the crafts ready for next week. It's going to be fun getting to know each other and will post pictures next week of all the cute stuff we are doing. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Palm Tree

I got a fun package in the mail today. YAY!!!! I'm excited that it got here the day before school starts so I can put the net and table skirt up put before the children arrive. I talked about the items I ordered HERE. I blew up the palm tree (which took forever) but I LOVE it. I can't wait for our first day tomorrow and meet some of the children!

Parent Teacher Orienation

Sunday night was Parent Teacher Orientation. I wanted to share some pictures of the stations (I got the idea from HERE) that I made and pictures of the classroom.

Parent Sign In and a Poem

Station 1: Find the folder with your child's name on it. Inside is tons of important info.

Station 2: First Parent/Child Activity

Station 3: Room Mother Sign Up, Dismissal Sheet, Parent Email Sheet

Station4; A small goody for the parents and children.

The view of the room from the door.

Back of the room

Calendar and Carpet Area

The welcome to PreK banner

I LOVE the sand castle that another teacher is letting me borrow.



Banner

I just printed an adorable banner to hang in my room for orientation tonight. I found it HERE. It's free and it has PreK through Second grade. TOO CUTE!!!

Parent Teacher Orientation

Parent Teacher Orientation is tomorrow night. This year I'm doing a few things differently. I have four stations for the parents to go to and pick up certain info. First the parents will come and sign in and take a poem. For Station 1 the parents will pick up a folder that has The ABC's of 4K, Discipline Policy, Calendar, Schedule, Student Information Form, and Bathroom Policy. Station 2 is where the parents will pick up the children's first homework assign. At Station 3 the parents will let me know how their child is going home, give me their email address to give to my room mother(s), and sign up if they want to be my room mother.  For the last station I decided I wanted to make little gift bags for the parents and children. I just finished making them and think they are cute. Here are some pictures:

An apple for the parents

A bag of goodies for the children.

Then I would them in brown paper bags and made labels.

Tomorrow I will take pictures of the room and post the progress.

Room

Today I went and worked in my classroom for a few hours. It's getting closer to be up and running but stills needs work, such as decorating. Here are some pictures of what I was able to do today.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I took down the paper covering my word wall, pulled out my road rug, and assembled my divider.

Listening center

Put up my carpet time stuff but may change it.

I still have to make my box a cabana but here is the back of the room.

Tomorrow In services starts so I will be completed many items off my to do list and will post pictures as i go!