my team and i decided to be birds for school today, as we’ve been teaching our kinders about birds and trees and all things natural. j1’s flamingo was darling, j2’s robin was so cute, and my cardinal – well, very colorful, but good thing they told me just before the parade that i was wearing it backwards and was proudly strutting around showing off quite a bit of human tail.
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I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch. – Gilda Radner
loved our leaf man project. read the book to the kindergarten, they then created their own leaf art. we found out 2nd grade also read the book and created their own version of leaf art. the kinders created all kinds of cute pieces: cows, butterflies, and leaf men. after, we took a trip across the school to see what the 2nd grade had done. all kinds of cute pieces once again: leaf babies, leaf fairies, and then there was one – done by a little boy who had his own idea of what art is.
cute kinder projects
cute 2nd grade projects
and then of course, you have the scarlet johanson leaf project
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If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.
in full-day kindergarten, every day is truly a treasure trove of wonder. in the morning, we talk about the sound that the letter F makes. children offer their own examples, things they are familiar with in their own lives: flower, frog, fruit. then, out of the crowd, a lone voice says above the rest, ‘funk.’ what was that? ‘i said, ‘funk. funk starts with f!’ it does indeed, thank you so much for bringing a smile to your teachers’ faces and for bringing the funk back into our lives with so much enthusiasm. you never know where you’ll find the letter F, it could be just the beginning of such an exciting word, funk.
after a day filled with activity and learning and music, and most importantly, our afternoon nap, we set out on a hike through the woods and trails on campus. we took the binoculars we’d made out of empty toilet paper rolls and string, for a chance to see one of many birds we’d been talking about in the last couple of weeks. along the way, we saw geese, swans, wrens, and jays.
suddenly, once again, a voice rang above the crowd. ‘ i saw jesus!!’. what? where? who is jesus? the class had all sorts of questions, as they are a patchwork of cultures, religions, and backgrounds. ‘in the bushes! i saw jesus!’ wow, hmmmmm…… maybe that’s why i never could be a part of organized religion. was i not seeing things clearly? i think not. but i guess some toilet paper roll binoculars are higher power than others. it was a day of funk and jesus.
To: Beth
Good Morning!
Unfortunately _____ does not have his bag with him today. His sister vomited in the car on the way to school. His bag was one of the lucky ones that got hit. I’m sure he told you. My mom will be picking him up today at the bus stop. Thanks so much!
Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. – Nido Qubein
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2 kinders cross paths at the doorway of our little classroom bathroom – one coming in, one exiting. the one exiting has pants down and is walking out like nothing is unusual and is on a sunday stroll in the park. one coming in yells out, ‘cover that up! no one needs to see your _____ (anatomically correct body part)!!’ – like a very bad day at the park. well said, little one.
I have as much privacy as a goldfish in a bowl.
first parent note of the year – love it. school is in, bring it kindergarten!
Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare.
Ed Asner
stop crying, you are hurting my ‘ear-plums!’ – m
first week back feelings
joy and tears rule kinder’s day
look to year ahead
another walk down the hall with my kindergarten class.
another answer to a question much bigger than i ever imagined.
‘hey z, what does that key around your neck open?’
‘it opens everything in the world,’ says z.
it was camping day today and when the children checked out the cool bear cub our room, i was reminded of the different approaches that boys and girls each have to life. as the girls went up to it, they gently petted it and commented, ‘it’s so soft!’ as the boys approached it, they all bent their heads down to look under its legs and asked, ‘does it have a penis?’ and herein lies the difference –
‘god can run faster than a dolphin.’
(helped clear up an unanswered question i had about the universe)
I didn't have my glasses on.... 