On the eve of your birthday

Dear Leslie,

Sixteen years ago today. I didn't know your face yet. I hadn't heard your voice. I loved you - yes. But I didn't know the depth of that love yet. How proud I'd be of all of your accomplishments. How protective I'd be of your heart.

Sixteen years ago today. I hoped you'd be beautiful. You are. I hoped you'd be kind. You are. I hoped you'd be smart and confident and brave and artistic. You are all of these things - and more. You hear music that no one else can hear. You see art in the every day. You have empathy for those around you and those you haven't met. You want to please - yet you also want to do things your way.

Sixteen years ago today. I prayed that I would be a good mother. That I'd know how to take care of you. Know how to teach you all I know about this wonderful and sometimes scary world. Know how to fill you up with love, and knowledge, and all of the things inside my heart. Know how to let you go out into the world when it was time.

Sixteen years ago today. The eve of your birth.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Girl. I love you.

Mama

come to my house . . .

We've been talking about our families and where we live. This week we painted our houses and added a photo in the open doorway. Then each of the children dictated a sentence or two about what friends could do if they came over to play. It was an interesting view into what they like to do at home! I loved that one little boy said his friends could come over and play hide and seek with his grandma :)

let the wild rumpus begin!

Where the Wild Things Are. Love this book. And I've never had a class that didn't love it too. It's scary - but not too scary. The language challenges - but it doesn't go over the heads of the audience. The illustrations are amazing. And so . . . year after year, I share this with my littles.

Then I pull out construction paper, markers, stickers, glue, and scissors and we get to work making monster hats. This hat is pretty cool because you wear it on the back of your head and it doesn't block your face or your vision. Seventeen littles in backwards masks make a pretty awesome parade . . . um, or should I say "wild rumpus"!

Thank you Art Project Girl :)

http://pezzettinoart.blogspot.com/2010/09/happy-accidents.html

http://artprojectgirl.blogspot.com/2010/10/bigger-is-better.html

Thank you to Art Project girl for providing the links to the organic shape project!

overwhelmed

Sometimes I am simply overwhelmed by all of the words and images that float on the screen before me as I scroll through blog-world. To be honest, that's why I've been avoiding it lately. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE that so many ideas are right there at my finger tips. No more searching through magazines and books for something to do with the littles. No need to do the same thing each year with every one of my classes. But sometimes and on some days, it is just too much. For one thing, it isn't humanly possible for me to try each and every one of the activities that I find that I like. Secondly, I have a little trouble keeping track of all the ideas I see. I print them off or stick them in idea folders. I jot down notes on a pad that I keep near my laptop. But, invariably, I forget where I found a great idea just when I need it most. Case in point: these triangles. A few weeks ago (I think!), I saw an idea for teaching organic shapes. The littles trace the shape with a sharpie and then color it in with water based markers. Finally, they spray water over the paper so that the colors run. I loved this idea and the littles had a great time with it but I'm sorry that I can't give proper credit to it's originator :( The computer should be making my life easier - why do I feel like it's just making me crazy???

little miss muffet has nothing on us . . .

The littles took turns acting out "Little Miss/Master Muffet" while I snapped photos. Once the photos were developed we glued them on paper and drew spiders.

I attached the following poem to each of their papers:

Little Miss/Master __________ sat on her/his tuffet eating her/his ______________ all day. Along came a spider who sat down beside her/him and frightened Miss/Master _________ away!

The littles had fun telling me what they were eating out of the bowls.

F is for fingerpainting on foil