Happy 4th of July

I say it all the time, {and I always mean it}…

Today was a great day! We had a blast in school today. How lucky am I!!!

Deegan could hardly handle the anticipation of letting everyone know what him and Spark had been up to over the last few days. He even asked if we could talk about it before everyone was at school. Isn’t that just so adorable?

• Played Cowboys together.
• Jumped on the trampoline.
• Slept together every night.
• Went to the doctor with him and mom, he even got a Band-Aid on his paw.
• Spark warmed Deeg up after he played at the Splash Park.
• Let Ava play with him.
• Spark, Kayden and Deegan watched Lonesome Dove together.

I wish I could have been with you two on all your amazing adventures! Thanks for taking good care of him, and sharing it with us.

Today we reviewed the letters M & N. Look at these busy little bees at work…

 

Today we did “Patriotic Pinwheels” for our craft… but, they ended up not being so patriotic! Laughing… they sure turned out adorable though. See the work in progress…

     

and now the finished products…

     

Ahead of time I made these cute little firework hats for the kiddos. I just thought they were so adorable. They are all spunky little firecrackers, so they are very fitting to each personality.

I do truly feel blessed to have each of these kids be a part of my life. They have put a footprint on my heart that will never go away. I truly love them to pieces.

     

During snack we talked about why we celebrate the 4th of July. I expressed to them how thankful we should be that we have our freedom. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance again. We also sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” I explained that the country we live in is the United States of America, the state is Idaho, and we live in 2 different cities- Driggs and Victor.

After reviewing our site words: of, the, it, he, you, in, I, to, I decided it would be a great time to introduce addition.

I took cups, and introduced the concept with them. The above picture we were obviously doing 3+4= 7.  It was a fun and exciting way to teach them. They stayed very interested the whole time they were learning it.

Just a reminder there is no school on Monday the 4th. I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July.

{Preschool Special}

Please spread the word to anyone who might benefit from this! Coupon expires July 10, 2011. You must be registered before then to use it. I am going to try and close my registration on July 15, 2011. This is so I have enough time to prep and get everything ready for September 6, 2011-our first day of school! Remember space is limited, so enroll your little one today!

L is for Lion

Today was the review of the letters K and L. I feel like I am leaving a letter out when I only focus on one of them, laughing... but what do you do when you have a short summer program and 26 letters to conquer! After going over the days of the week, the months of the year, and the Pledge of Allegiance I re-introduced K and L.

Today…

L is for LION

Today we started with our site words. I was introducing 8 new words. So meet the site words; of, the, it, he, you, in, I, to.

These kiddos love to take turns writing on the white board. We draw names (written on popsicle sticks) as to who gets to go first. They just love it, and all scream “pick me,” as they anticipate who gets to go. I also really enjoy this because it give me the perfect chance to critic, and teach, proper technique. There all doing so well, I am so proud of them.

    

I have this cute little book that turns each letter of the alphabet into an animal shaped like the letter they start with. So today it was an L made into a LION! Just too cute.

     

After we created our lions, I had each of the kiddos pick out a book. We read lots of little books about animals. Deegan picked out an “Eye Spy” book. They had fun with that (Look at all those little fingers pointing to the answer). 

You can’t study Lions without going on an African Safari.  We watched this You Tube video, and learned this cute little song.

“Where going on a Lion Hunt…”

After we learned it, what better to do then GO ON A LION HUNT…

 

Look at that Lion hiding in the trees!!! What a great adventure.

What a great class. We missed Emma today, and can’t wait to see her on Thursday!

Addi had the opportunity to play with Mr. Spark…

 

• Addi didn’t let Spark leave her site much during the few days she had him.
• They Danced and Danced and Danced together.
• They even watched “Zaboomafoo” and learned about other animals..
• They cuddled a lot, and were good company to each other.
• He slept with her every night.
• and they played together a lot. It was a great deal of fun!!!

Can’t wait to hear all about Spark and Deegan’s great adventures!!!

I’s & J’s

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things.”

Today, it was the little things that made the kids so incredibly happy! It was a good day. A really good day. I say it a lot, but I just love these little munchkins. They truly and honestly make my heart happy. It is so rewarding to watch them learn, excel, explore, overcome the "I can’t” and develop. THANKS for giving me this opportunity to ignite a spark within them. It really does mean the world to me. Without them I couldn’t do what I do!!!

First off, WE REALLY MISSED YOU DEEGAN!!! Hope you have a great day with your Grandma.

Today we reviewed the letters I, and J. The theme of the day was INSECTS!!! Gross right? Usually I would think the same thing, but not today, it was all about cute, furry and unique insects.  See…

 

Before we could create our insects, we had to put pen to paper, and review…review…review!

    

After they wrote the letters in front of the classroom, it was on to the worksheet. This allows them to practice a little more. The repetition on doing it over and over again is such a great learning resource. 

We then played a little guessing game. I wrote a letter on the board, and they yelled out what it was. I can say with confidence that they all know the letters A-I with great ease. Yippee!!!!

They were all getting a little anxious, so it was on to arts and crafts. I just displayed my little spider, and told them to use their imaginations and create something amazing! I think they all did just that.

Look at those cute little critters! Love them so much! Here are the insects they created…

Cason made this cute spider, and even did a spider web for him…

 

Emma did a darling little spider, and a sweet little caterpillar…

  

Bridger also did a spider, and decided he would make a snowman as well…

 

I wish every spider looked as cute at Addisyn’s little spider. She also made a caterpillar.

Gracie made a spiky spider, and thee most adorable looking caterpillar with 12 legs!

After we cleaned up our messes, we did one more little worksheet. We did a consonant  review of b,c,d,f and g. There were 12 pictures on this page, and they had to identify what letter the picture started with. Balloon, B, Fish, F etc. They did awesome! I am so proud of them.

Then it was upstairs for snack, and site words! Today we continued to learn or, her, there, this, some. We also did a review of all the words we have learned so far. There are a few of them that they get confused on, like “at” and “that.” They are really learning them well though. I will continue to review all of them at each class, but it will just be a fast review. Here are the words we have learned so far. By, him, be, look, word, at, all, one, from, up, or, her, there, this, some.

Today I also showed them that these words we are learning help us to read books. Together we read a little book called “The Gifts.”

“Look at the gifts.”

“This one is for her. It is a ball.”

“The bat is for him.”

“Up there by the box is some tape or glue.”

“I can write the words from all of us.”

“This will be fun.”

That is the book! Cute huh!!! Almost all of the words are site words. If it isn’t a site word, then there is a picture for site identification of the word. With a little encouragement, and direction, your little read a book today!!! 

Bridger had spark this last few days…

Here is some of what they did together-

• Watched “Good Luck Charlie.”
• Played the Wii.
• Jumped on the Trampoline
• Played on the swings and slide together.
• Slept together every night.
• Went to Rexburg together to Meet his new baby cousin Hudson.
• Went for a bike ride.
• Sang George Strait together.

What a great time they had together. Thanks for taking such good care of our cute little monkey.

Today was a great day. I hope it is a fantastic weekend. Can’t wait to see you on Monday.