Fall Fun!

I love this activity! Take a screwdriver & punch some holes in a pumpkin. Then let kids makes silly faces with Mr. Potato Head pieces! Always a hit!

Another great pumpkin activity. Have kids guess what is inside a pumpkin. When each has guessed, open it up & let them feel/scoop around inside. So fun!

Yes, I was a fairy on Costume Day.

Fingerprint pumpkin painting. Great sensory & fine motor!

Why, You Ask?

Many people don't see the point of putting severely disabled children in a 'regular' classroom. I have one such student. She is a quadriplegic, has a seizure disorder and Cerebral Palsy. She can't speak in any way, she is just starting to eat baby food for the first time, she can can't control her head or arm movements or move her legs at all. She requires complete support & help for everything. So why put her in a classroom where she can do nothing?

Because she can do something amazing.

She can teach my kids that people who are different are people too. She can teach them compassion & empathy. She can teach them to be kind, accepting & loving of others, regardless of what they can or can't do.

Still not convinced she's a valuable addition to a classroom?

One of my kids asked her mom if she could bring treats to school for her friends for our party on Friday. Her mom said sure & they went shopping to buy some candy for her classmates. At this point my student (remember, she's not even 4 yet) remembered her friend M can't eat candy because she drinks from a bottle at snacktime. So she asked her mom if they could buy her a toy because she knew she could hold a toy. So they bought her a stuffed pumpkin.

Not ashamed to say I cried on Friday.

That is the value of inclusion.

Technologically Savvy!

So our visual timer broke the other day (well, actually it was broken BY someone, but that's another story). So this afternoon we were desperate for a visual timer so I grabbed my iphone because, there's an app for that!

It worked great and I was about to put my phone away when A (the little guy with the Buzz Lightyear obsession) spotted it.

He put his hand on my arm, looked me in the face and said (clear as day)

"Missa Awr, I pay Angy Birds?"

It was awesome.

A Few Pics

I know you're not supposed to have favourites,

but A stole my heart when he was in my class

last year & I was so excited to be his teacher

again this year! He's showing me his favourite

book here. Every day he tells me the same story,

"Missa Awr! Buzz...Woody...Buzz fall...crash!"

I love these blocks, they have coloured plastic in

the centre of them. It's so fun to watch the kids

discover what happens when you hold them

up to your eyes & look around! A few of them built

this beautiful wall.

Amatuer Paleontologists

Playing at the playground with my class yesterday and one of the little girls tripped over a tree root.

All three little girls from my class crowded around the root together and were staring at it quite intently. I wandered over to see what they were doing.

Girl 1: We found a dinosaur bone!

Me: Cool! I wonder what kind of dinosaur it was.

Girl 2: It was a black dinosaur.

Me: Oh.

Girl 2: Yeah. It killed itself.

Me: *pause* How do you know that?

Girl 2: It fell and dropped its bone and died here! That's why we found the bone.

Seems logical to me.

Sick as a Dog

So once again I'm sick. This is a pretty regular occurrence when you work in Early Ed.

By the afternoon today I sounded & felt totally awful. I could barely talk my nose was so stuffed up & my throat was so sore.

So I'm sitting at the craft table with 4 of my little ones and H looks at me with a funny expression on her face.

H: You sound all snuffawy (snuffly).

Me: I know I do. I have a cold.

H: A cold?! You shouldn't be here!

Amen, sister. Amen.