Rainbow Room...completed 95%......lol

Finally!! There is always some thing left to do.... I just need to get the second coat of paint on the floor. This project took me a lot longer than I anticipated. As I was moving through it I would think.......ohhhhhh I should go ahead and take care of this while everything is torn apart. Unfortunately, I had a lot of those little things pop up. As I near the end I am very happy with the "rainbow room" concept. I really have wanted to do this for a long time but knew it was going to be a lot of work. I got in my head I wanted to FILL all of the wood cracks where I had a 2x4 up against another, etc... I wanted it to look like "1" post (I spoiled myself after getting the ones for the front of the house). I laugh now because it doesn't look that much different but I know what's behind it. I repainted/re-trimmed the chalkboards, added my "information/inspiration" board at the exit door, and hung our beloved thermometer beside it! Just so you know......the blue represents the beautiful "Carolina" blue sky, white is the clouds, and of course the rafters make the rainbow. The kids love it. Today when we were outside finishing our "fall color" book and enjoying the beautiful blue sky day....I mentioned we can always have a beautiful blue sky day with our new rainbow room

Reading Readiness Project - Goodbye Winter...Hello Spring!

We have been working on saying "goodbye" to winter and "hello" to spring by making our first homemade book! They all turned out so well. If you receive your child's book and there are some pages empty it is because they missed school that day. It would be wonderful for you to finish it with them and have them bring it back into school so we can all look it. They are all so proud of them! I've taken quite a few training classes in regards to helping children with reading readiness. The following are some of the things I always emphasize when reading with them and you can do it to......their new book would be a great place to start.

• Always read the title and help them count the words in the title.


• Announce the author (Jack Smith is the author and he wrote this book Jane Smith is the illustrator and she drew the pictures in the book).
  
• Help them with understanding front/back/middle of the book....keep it simple.
• Acknowledge the page numbers.
• Ask them to read to you.....encourage them to look at the picture which will help them describe what is going on in the picture. I know it takes time but it is really advantageous for them to become comfortable doing this on a regular basis. It can be the simplest book and it should be simple.......what confidence it provides them.
• Have fun and READ something everyday!

2010 Winter Olympics - Ice Skating

Today we had a blast! We watched part of the ice skating competition and practiced our moves. It was so cute....each child had a 3x3 mat and had to stay on it while practicing! Also, we watched a little bobsledding! And the boys really liked the speed!!!!!!!

If you do not know all the children at school today........love love vanilla yogurt. They will be coloring a picture of "Quatchi" the second mascot from the Olympics.....he is very large and loves hockey!!!

MIGA 2010 Olympic Mascot / Hockey (Tuesday 2/23)

We discovered that there are 3 mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Today we learned about MIGA! She is part killer whale and bear.....very cool! The children colored a picture of Miga with Felicity after nap.

During class time we watched part of a hockey game! Hockey players are very tough and have lots of padding on thier uniforms. They skate across a large ice rink and the try to score a goal! The goal is to hit a puck with a long stick past the other team into the goal.

What does a groundhog know...

Just finished taking down the "snow" lights......I'm getting ready for spring! I've rearranged a few things around the classroom this weekend. Make sure to take a look at our new bulletin board focusing on our Weekly Readers! And don't look at the empty space beside the TV.......I have plans for it.....just ran out of time! Looking forward to a fun week. We will be talking about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and of course Valentine's....don't forget to send in a showbox by this Wednesday. We will be exchanging Valentine's on Friday. Please try to keep the "exchanges" to small envelopes so they can fit in the slot on top of thier "shoe boxes".