This blog is more about an idea that I came up with and became really excited on how well it turned out. So, for any of you E.C.Es' out there get stuck on not knowing what to do with the kidlets - this may help! I wish had taken a picture of it all, but if you've done Puff Painting before, than you get the just. If not, it's shaving cream and food colouring.
So, this week we started a "Food" unit and after learning about the four food groups, today the three year olds got specific - learning about flavour and aromas. Because they're three, the concept had to appeal to them from a "I love sugary treats!" standpoint.. rather than the four year olds who are more "it's a sugary treat.. but probably bad for you" standpoint. At circle time, I decided to make a tray of various flavours and aromas - bread, lemons, grapefruit, red onion, and of course, popcorn. After discussing which ones everyone enjoyed more/less, I continued the experience with an introductary to some Puff Painting.
(Now before I continue, I do have to say this - I literally came up with this concept 7:30am this morning. I had no idea what I was going to do, how to carry out the learning theme of today. So, for a quick idea, prayers to the sky that we had what I needed for it, and an ounce of optimism - I lucked out.)
With the paint, I figured doing ice cream on cones would be best as ice cream itself can be very flavourful and depending on the flavour, it may hold a strong smell such as mint or chocolate. Now, typically to do Puff Paint, you use shaving cream and whatever food colouring colour. You mix the two, and viola. The result is fun..the experience is fun; I have yet to come across a kid who hates the idea. Anyways, because it was going to be ice cream and I didn't want to do the standard mixture, I decided to do some experimenting. To make vanilla ice cream, I used Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding mix and a couple drops of yellow food colouring; No Name Instant Chocolate Pudding for chocolate ice cream (turned brown all on it's own!), and mint ice cream using green food colouring and peppermint extract. They all smelled amazing and exactly how you would expect them to if it was ice cream!
I think the best part of this is that over time, the "chocolate" actually looked like mousse.. and had some kids convinced they were painting with ice cream itself! And to the point of "I'm going to lick the brush of chocolate, Ms. Jenn!"
This is probably not meaning much as I'm sure a gazillion people have done this already.. getting specific with 'ice cream flavours'. But I feel it ended up as a great experience/resource to share with fellow field members.. Considering it didn't come from a standard Mailbox resource book.
..And, I am definately glad I got my Dad's gene of creativity.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Officals and Valentine's Day showers!
Once again, I had a week of frustration - wait no, irritation. BUT, at the same time.. I got smothered by love all at the same time. An interesting balance.
Irritation..
Like any licensed childcare program, twice a year a licensing officer will make a couple of inspections. One announced, one unannouced. I'm on very good terms with our officer so when she visits, there really is never a problem. Yesterday, she came for our annouced. I stayed at work late the day before - making sure everything was ready "appearence-wise", I took paperwork home so everything was completed, and we spent our lunch "setting up". Never to say we are never ever any of those things. We are. I just like to go the extra step to continue having that good reputation.
So, she arrives on time and after some small chit-chat, she begins her inspection. Right away its the paperwork aspect and eventually followed by observations. After about an hour, it's time to go over everything and how the visit went overall. When to make a long story short, everything is great EXCEPT we get to non compliances for the stupidest mistakes and I'm furious. I won't go into detail on what exactly they were, but both were out of my hands and I think because they were things that should be expected to be cared for by others, it wasn't. I know it doesn't reflect me personally or the classroom, but I still feel responsible and still feel irriated. They are stupid, stupid, silly mistakes that should have never been mistakes to begin with and end as 'non-compliances'.
Both issues are being dealt with now. But after this experience, it made me think about to a situation a former boss of mine was in a few years ago. At a daycare I use to work at, it was a similar scene: licensing visit, on good terms, everything looked great and was great, anndddd we get two non compliances for staff not signing themselves in and some other small issue that I can't recall right now. After she (the licensing officer) left, our boss wasn't mad but irriatated to the grill because they were mistakes that should have never happened. She kept saying how irritating it was to mess up on something so minor and no one seemed to understand why she was feeling the way she was. To us, it didn't feel like it was a huge deal. When really, it was as it reflected on who took more pride in their workplace and placed immense amount of hours into prepartion and losing it all in a matter of 30 seconds. Years later and being in the same predictament, I know exactly why she felt the way she did.
MAN!
You really do need to check and do everything yourself nowadays. Some of you may say it's a bad attitude to have, but when you get stuck in the same boat, you'll know what I'm talking about.
"Will you be my Valentine Ms. Jenn?"
Of course (and moving on to a more positive story) I have to mention Valentine's Day this week. As much as I like to complain how commercialized V-Day is, I love it. I love how it shines light on something that can go unnoticed for months on end. From a teacher's perspective, it's also one of the most fun educational experiences to plan for. For example, my preschoolers discussed the concept of love and shared who and why we love who we do. I told them if they couldn't figure out why they loved someone, that it was okay to say, "just because". A handful used that answer and all genuinely meant it. Hell, I love certain people and can't even give you a reason why. I just do. So, if feel that way, I'm sure a four year old does too. We also learned about the point of Valentine giving and why some people do it. Also, during these special days, I like to throw out the title of the holiday/special day and ask what they think of first when they hear it. So, that was done with Valentine's Day and wow, the response was mind-blowing. Hearts, baking Valentine cookies, cinnamon, pink and red stuffies, were just some of the answers.
And of course, each class had a V-Day party where they brought Valentines and treats for their friends.
By the end of each class, I was showered with Spiderman, My Little Pony, Cars, Tinkerbell, Disney Princesses, and Curious George valentines and even though they will be just recycled, the appreciation of getting the "Teacher" card is there. But some Valentine gifts truly stood out for me in addition to the Hershey kisses and Lindt red-foiled hearts. The ones that do get mention, were homemade - the best kind of gift anyone could receive, young and old. I whole-heartedly love them because not only did they remind me as to why I do my job, but also how much I feel appreciated.
Irritation..
Like any licensed childcare program, twice a year a licensing officer will make a couple of inspections. One announced, one unannouced. I'm on very good terms with our officer so when she visits, there really is never a problem. Yesterday, she came for our annouced. I stayed at work late the day before - making sure everything was ready "appearence-wise", I took paperwork home so everything was completed, and we spent our lunch "setting up". Never to say we are never ever any of those things. We are. I just like to go the extra step to continue having that good reputation.
So, she arrives on time and after some small chit-chat, she begins her inspection. Right away its the paperwork aspect and eventually followed by observations. After about an hour, it's time to go over everything and how the visit went overall. When to make a long story short, everything is great EXCEPT we get to non compliances for the stupidest mistakes and I'm furious. I won't go into detail on what exactly they were, but both were out of my hands and I think because they were things that should be expected to be cared for by others, it wasn't. I know it doesn't reflect me personally or the classroom, but I still feel responsible and still feel irriated. They are stupid, stupid, silly mistakes that should have never been mistakes to begin with and end as 'non-compliances'.
Both issues are being dealt with now. But after this experience, it made me think about to a situation a former boss of mine was in a few years ago. At a daycare I use to work at, it was a similar scene: licensing visit, on good terms, everything looked great and was great, anndddd we get two non compliances for staff not signing themselves in and some other small issue that I can't recall right now. After she (the licensing officer) left, our boss wasn't mad but irriatated to the grill because they were mistakes that should have never happened. She kept saying how irritating it was to mess up on something so minor and no one seemed to understand why she was feeling the way she was. To us, it didn't feel like it was a huge deal. When really, it was as it reflected on who took more pride in their workplace and placed immense amount of hours into prepartion and losing it all in a matter of 30 seconds. Years later and being in the same predictament, I know exactly why she felt the way she did.
MAN!
You really do need to check and do everything yourself nowadays. Some of you may say it's a bad attitude to have, but when you get stuck in the same boat, you'll know what I'm talking about.
"Will you be my Valentine Ms. Jenn?"
Of course (and moving on to a more positive story) I have to mention Valentine's Day this week. As much as I like to complain how commercialized V-Day is, I love it. I love how it shines light on something that can go unnoticed for months on end. From a teacher's perspective, it's also one of the most fun educational experiences to plan for. For example, my preschoolers discussed the concept of love and shared who and why we love who we do. I told them if they couldn't figure out why they loved someone, that it was okay to say, "just because". A handful used that answer and all genuinely meant it. Hell, I love certain people and can't even give you a reason why. I just do. So, if feel that way, I'm sure a four year old does too. We also learned about the point of Valentine giving and why some people do it. Also, during these special days, I like to throw out the title of the holiday/special day and ask what they think of first when they hear it. So, that was done with Valentine's Day and wow, the response was mind-blowing. Hearts, baking Valentine cookies, cinnamon, pink and red stuffies, were just some of the answers.
And of course, each class had a V-Day party where they brought Valentines and treats for their friends.
 |
| My Valentine "mailbag" |
Which one gets first place? This one:
 |
How super sweet is this? The student who gave one to me and my assistant worked on this with his mom. It was simply gluing on scraps of tissue paper and putting on a glaze to hold it all together. Mom vouched that he did 95% of the work which is amazing for this kind of final product. What a great idea this would be for a Mother's Day craft?! Here's a closer look of the tissue paper: Runner Up: The Ultimate Homemade Valentine!  The next one is amazing. The concep,t and as I was told by the three year old, that this is a tin full of love. Inside, he put a 'Happy Feet' valentine. Underneath that, he had his Mom write down reasons "why he likes Ms. Jenn" on a heart. The final heart is a note of appreciation from his parents.       <3!! We even had a student (age three) give us (my assistant and I), each a bouquet of flowers with the same statement "You're wonderful!".  After all these years of working with children, I have never been so spoiled on Valentine's Day. They really knew how to warm their preschool teacher's heart this year. And to be honest, I am by no-means bragging. I hope your Valentine's Day was just as memorable and full of love! Now, I know there are those of you out there who bash the day, complain how commericialized it is, and it's an excuse for girls to demand romance from their boyfriends. But, don't tell me this story didn't melt your heart and make you appreciate this "commercial" holiday from a kidlet perspective as you know that when they tell you "I love you", they mean it. And you do too. P.S These were the roses MY forever Valentine gave me. I figured he was worth mentioning ;)  |
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Classroom Pets: Yay or Nay?
As long as I can remember as a student myself, it seemed about every other grade there was a class pet. Granted, this usually reflected the primary grades but I think there was a hamster of some sort around grade six even. As a professional now, class pets are great to have, especially with those youngsters who need some kind of comfort from someone pertaining to the animal kingdom. They're awesome teaching tools - they help with learning to be responsible and being responsible for another living thing. Attending to their needs..such as feeding, giving attention, mainting a healthy environment. It also teaches those life lessons of life and death. Teaching them that yes, everything that lives, must eventually die and even though it may hurt, you don't forget about that particular thing or someone because of the positive moments you learned because of them. Alot of people may see this however, as a con to classroom pets. Dealing with the death itself can be traumatic for some students as they have built huge attachments with the animal. But really, who doesn't ever deal with death and as teachers, we need to make the most of those learning experiences. To help guide them, to help support them, and yes, you may even need to be there when they need a shoulder a cry on because they don't understand why they won't be seeing their best friend anymore.
Another con is the maintence of an animal. Regardless of what species and/or breed, they need more than just attention in order to survive. Food can be costly (and remembering to do it), cleaning out a tank or cage can be time consuming, and if they get sick - well, let`s be honest, vets are not cheap. We know that just with our own personal knowledge of petcare, its responsibilities are huge. Overall, it becomes a major commitment that may sometimes be more than you imagined. You're then stuck with animal that became more work than you expected and you feel bad giving it away because the students got attached. This I know, because my sister ended up taking in a guinea pig from a daycare centre I worked out. The poor thing was too stressed out from the kids, it was either watch him slowly die because of loud noises or let him survive another year or so in solitude majority of the time.
And let's not forget about long-weekends, holidays, and summer closures. You will be either bringing it home with you OR sending it with a student's family praying to the skies that it comes back alive and well.
I've heard of some preschools have classpets and they're dogs or cats. I'd love to know how that works..because what if there's students who have allergies? Doesn't that differ parents away from the school itself knowing their child can't attend because of animal?
So, where do I stand in all of this? Well, I strongly believe in having a classroom pet but I play one major factor in that decision before doing anything - what I can tolerate rather than get and hate the animal initally based on what it is. Call me mean, but at the end of the day, if I'm the one looking after it, I'm going to be deciding what I'm willing to take care of. And what do I care for currently? Fish. Not the gross goldfish who die within two weeks and never seem to stop pooping. Just simple tetras and a small catfish. And how successful has it been? Extremely successful.
They not only get fed twice a day because it's a "special helpers' duty to feed them, but they're great to help those kids who have a hard time saying goodbye to Mom and Dad and gets them easily distracted. They've also witnessed the odd fish once and awhile die and be removed, but there's no tears. It's a simple 'maybe he was old' or 'maybe he was sick' and that's it. We've even had a student buy new decor for the fish, just because she wanted to. They know they can't tap on the glass, they also know they will never get to pet them. But one major factor that keeps fish as a favourite, the children enjoy their company and can bring them to a level of a calm. Commonly, you will see a student walk over and just rest their head on the ledge facing the tank and watch the fish swim. It works well as the fish are located in our reading centre which is where most kids will go if they want some quiet or alone time. At the end of the day, not only am I happy with who our class pets are, but the students are as well.
Now, tell me to get a hamster because they're more fun, and I will tell you to go to Hell. That also goes for gerbals, rabbits, mice, snakes, lizzards, birds, and any other animal. None of those are personal favourites when it comes to animals, so let alone of having it in the classroom is not going to be possible or ever happen. And really, if you work with kids, think about the class pets you had to take care of. Was it something you knew you can handle when it came to looking after it? Because if you start asking people, that's exactly what happens. Let's be honest: no one is going to go out and get an animal for the classroom even though they can't stand the thing. It's just not realistic. Unless your coworker plans on taking over in a situation like that, it's only because they can tolerate it.
Just think of your own pets: if you can't stand birds, your first choice in which pet you're going to bring home will NOT be a bird.
As I conclude this, here's some food for thought: if you've never had to take care of animal, do you think you're missing out? Throughout my entire life, I have always had a pet. It's almost like a neccessity. Now that my husband and I are settled in our new house, I'm really hoping one day that we'll get a dog. He's never really had a pet of his own, so he's not feeling like he's missing something as I feel I am. One of the factors is because he doesn't want to deal with the 'final goodbye' as he knows how heart wrenching it was for me when my cat past away a few years ago. He saw how badly it hurt and gosh, as I write this I'm remembering and the eyes whelling up. But, are we able to apply that to our lives in general and every individual we care and love? No, we can't. I love my husband and he loves me. But we both know one day, our times will come. However, that didn't stop us from dating, being engaged, and then married. We would then be missing out if we didn't make the inital commitment. With an animal, sure it brings just as many hardships as it does for happiness. But if no one felt they were missing out on loving another creature, even if it's in a classroom, then no one would have a pet.
So, why do you have a pet? Why do you have one in your classroom? Is it because your promoting love? Love for others? Love for other creatures, especially animals? Because heaven knows, there's not enough for our animal friends and if you are, I think that's an awesome quality hold..and teach.
Another con is the maintence of an animal. Regardless of what species and/or breed, they need more than just attention in order to survive. Food can be costly (and remembering to do it), cleaning out a tank or cage can be time consuming, and if they get sick - well, let`s be honest, vets are not cheap. We know that just with our own personal knowledge of petcare, its responsibilities are huge. Overall, it becomes a major commitment that may sometimes be more than you imagined. You're then stuck with animal that became more work than you expected and you feel bad giving it away because the students got attached. This I know, because my sister ended up taking in a guinea pig from a daycare centre I worked out. The poor thing was too stressed out from the kids, it was either watch him slowly die because of loud noises or let him survive another year or so in solitude majority of the time.
And let's not forget about long-weekends, holidays, and summer closures. You will be either bringing it home with you OR sending it with a student's family praying to the skies that it comes back alive and well.
I've heard of some preschools have classpets and they're dogs or cats. I'd love to know how that works..because what if there's students who have allergies? Doesn't that differ parents away from the school itself knowing their child can't attend because of animal?
So, where do I stand in all of this? Well, I strongly believe in having a classroom pet but I play one major factor in that decision before doing anything - what I can tolerate rather than get and hate the animal initally based on what it is. Call me mean, but at the end of the day, if I'm the one looking after it, I'm going to be deciding what I'm willing to take care of. And what do I care for currently? Fish. Not the gross goldfish who die within two weeks and never seem to stop pooping. Just simple tetras and a small catfish. And how successful has it been? Extremely successful.
They not only get fed twice a day because it's a "special helpers' duty to feed them, but they're great to help those kids who have a hard time saying goodbye to Mom and Dad and gets them easily distracted. They've also witnessed the odd fish once and awhile die and be removed, but there's no tears. It's a simple 'maybe he was old' or 'maybe he was sick' and that's it. We've even had a student buy new decor for the fish, just because she wanted to. They know they can't tap on the glass, they also know they will never get to pet them. But one major factor that keeps fish as a favourite, the children enjoy their company and can bring them to a level of a calm. Commonly, you will see a student walk over and just rest their head on the ledge facing the tank and watch the fish swim. It works well as the fish are located in our reading centre which is where most kids will go if they want some quiet or alone time. At the end of the day, not only am I happy with who our class pets are, but the students are as well.
Now, tell me to get a hamster because they're more fun, and I will tell you to go to Hell. That also goes for gerbals, rabbits, mice, snakes, lizzards, birds, and any other animal. None of those are personal favourites when it comes to animals, so let alone of having it in the classroom is not going to be possible or ever happen. And really, if you work with kids, think about the class pets you had to take care of. Was it something you knew you can handle when it came to looking after it? Because if you start asking people, that's exactly what happens. Let's be honest: no one is going to go out and get an animal for the classroom even though they can't stand the thing. It's just not realistic. Unless your coworker plans on taking over in a situation like that, it's only because they can tolerate it.
Just think of your own pets: if you can't stand birds, your first choice in which pet you're going to bring home will NOT be a bird.
As I conclude this, here's some food for thought: if you've never had to take care of animal, do you think you're missing out? Throughout my entire life, I have always had a pet. It's almost like a neccessity. Now that my husband and I are settled in our new house, I'm really hoping one day that we'll get a dog. He's never really had a pet of his own, so he's not feeling like he's missing something as I feel I am. One of the factors is because he doesn't want to deal with the 'final goodbye' as he knows how heart wrenching it was for me when my cat past away a few years ago. He saw how badly it hurt and gosh, as I write this I'm remembering and the eyes whelling up. But, are we able to apply that to our lives in general and every individual we care and love? No, we can't. I love my husband and he loves me. But we both know one day, our times will come. However, that didn't stop us from dating, being engaged, and then married. We would then be missing out if we didn't make the inital commitment. With an animal, sure it brings just as many hardships as it does for happiness. But if no one felt they were missing out on loving another creature, even if it's in a classroom, then no one would have a pet.
So, why do you have a pet? Why do you have one in your classroom? Is it because your promoting love? Love for others? Love for other creatures, especially animals? Because heaven knows, there's not enough for our animal friends and if you are, I think that's an awesome quality hold..and teach.
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