Pre-Vacation Week
What a weather roller coaster we’ve had this week. It was so beautiful on the playground one day that many children removed their jackets, and today everything is covered with snow. During Circle Time we talked about the mixed up weather and decided to call the weather man to tell him we do not want any snow anymore. I used my cell phone, on speaker of course, and made the call. A weather woman answered the phone (no one seemed to notice the weather woman had the same Irish accent as Mrs. Gillis). The weather woman assured us that when we return to school there would not be any snow on our playground. I hope her prediction comes true.
This week we read a smorgasbord of books during Circle Time, from a book about rain, a book about a Mama who zooms because she uses a wheelchair, a book about a boy who wants to get his kite out of a tree and throws everything he sees into the tree to try to get it out, books about springtime, and books about feelings. There are over 1000 books in the MWS library from which teachers may borrow, plus all classrooms are equipped with a large selection of books. Sometimes it’s nice to not be tied into a particular theme allowing books with widely different topics to be read.
The children continued making more spring flowers (tulips and hyacinths) to decorate our bulletin boards. I even took off the cloth that was covering our tree to make both sides of our classroom feel like spring.
Our visitor to Circle Time this week was a donkey. Some children recognized him as Eeyore from the Winnie the Pooh stories. Be sure to ask your child to sing the Hello song the way we sang to the donkey.
I have mentioned before that Circle Time antics are not always predictable. Sometimes I have extra time before the next transition and I make up my entertainment as I go along. The children are all familiar with the props that are always in my bucket next to me during Circle Time. They also know that only Mrs. Levine or one of the other teachers are allowed to touch it. This means that the children only see the props when I pull them out, but they pretty much know what is there from experience. We talk about hygiene and the bathroom often. Young children always enjoy ‘bathroom talk’. This week, some of my props had to use the toilet and wash their hands. As you can see in the photo below, Blue Sophia is sitting on the toilet which is next to the sink. The children sat patiently while Sophia finished peeing, flushed the toilet, and washed her hands in the sink. Of course, Purple Sophia and our other Princess (name unknown) then did the same thing. And if I forgot to have them flush the toilet, there was a chorus of voices to remind me. We couldn’t stop there because the children remember who else is in my bucket. So, one after another, they all sat on the toilet, flushed it, and washed their hands (or feet or fins). And don’t worry, the spider washed all 8 of his hands! Another day of Circle Time fun.
