Hello Yellow Duck Families,
It’s been a long week waiting for all of our Valentine’s Day events to start taking place! We feel like we are prepared and ready to dance, decorate for our party, and exchange our valentines. By the time this blog hits your inbox, we will have enjoyed our dance and witnessed our Ducks’ moves in action.
“Raise the roof!”
Next Thursday is the day of our big party we’ve been planning. We’ve been prepping all things valentines. We’ll play games and enjoy some treats We’ve been counting down the days and the excitement is real!
Next week we will make our trip to the big, blue mailbox around the corner to mail our Valentines. It should show up soon at your house. Thank you all for responding so quickly to our permission request this week. You are the best!
On Thursday, everyone learned how to make a paper heart. Each child got a piece of paper folded in half with a half of a heart drawn on it. Scissors were passed around the circle and they got to work cutting on that line. When they were finished, they proudly held them up for all to see. We revisited the concept of symmetry again with this lesson, and how to patiently and kindly return scissors to their proper home. We’ll use these hearts to make a banner for our party.
Sooo…the beginning of this week was pretty exciting with Valentine themed items around the room. Our vet clinic and ice cream shop are still open as well. By Wednesday, apparently there was a strike by the clean-up workers because we had a lot of things still left out. I observed as many children not only were not cleaning up, but were actually continuing on playing. I explained that they did not have to clean up and that Ms. Carina and I would take care of everything left out and put it away, like as in really away. No one seemed to mind and continued on their merry ways. We moved on to snack, the letter B, and dancing. Then, Ms. Carina and I took some big buckets and gathered all of the items that were left out. Both were full. We explained that they would get those items back on Monday and showed them how many days that was on the calendar. No one said much about it and it was time to dismiss.
All Thursday and Friday those buckets sat there as a reminder of their choice. By clean-up time the strike was over and the room has never been so clean! As the last children were leaving, I found them picking up the scraps of paper from our heart cutting practice.
No one cried during this experience. No one threw a tantrum. This was not a punishment as they all were informed of the outcome beforehand. They all learned a valuable lesson. Children have a choice in most decisions in their lives, even at four and five. And, with choices come consequences, which can be good or bad.
What choices are you letting your child make for themselves? The more practice they have, the better they will become at making the right ones as they grow older. If your child is struggling with something at home, give them some choices, let them choose and then follow through with whatever deal you have made with your preschooler. It’s scary at first but I promise it will get easier!
The buckets of poor choices…😉
REMINDERS
Our annual Valentine Dance will be tonight, Feb. 7 from 6:00-7:30 pm. The fellowship hall will be transformed into a party! People have asked what to wear…dress fancy, dress casual, just come dressed ready to dance!
Valentine’s Celebration - We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Thursday, Feb. 13th. Please send in Valentines with your child on that day and our ducks will deliver them to one another using their decorated bags we’ve made here in the classroom. If you’d like to include a treat with your Valentines, feel free to do so as long as it’s store bought and individually wrapped. Have your child sign their names on their Valentine cards and leave the “to” part and envelope, if there is one, blank. This way they can practice writing their own name and not be overwhelmed by writing all of their friends’ names. We have 14 Ducks in our class.
February 14th & 17th - No school (teacher work day Monday)
March 12 & 13 - Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences, but feel free to plan with a friend to watch each others’ children on the playground during your conferences.
March 25 - CCP Spirit Day/Night at Al’s Burgers!
March 27 - Casual music programs in the fellowship hall. (This is a new event! Shortly after drop-off on this Thursday, your child will sing a few songs with their class & Ms. Vicki for an audience of parents and special loved ones in Ascension Hall. More details to come…
It’s Friday and we hope you put your dancing shoes on to boogie with us tonight!
Peace,
Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina