Sunday Funday; Fabulous Weekend Adventure

Linking up with Molly at Lucky to be in First and Deirdre at A Burst of First for Sunday Funday, where we fight the Sunday Blues by sharing some of the fun we had over the weekend!

My weekend began with attending a training on Friday!  It was inspiring and ended before it was over due to being called to pick up my baby girl (not so baby anymore) who had a fever!  Ugh.  So I left early, but not before getting credit and that all important certificate, Thank Goodness!  We had a really great presenter after our lunch break (which is always a tough spot to fill because attention has left the building) and she made me want to learn more about the program called Boys Town.  If you haven't heard of it, take some time to check it out.  It helps teach our kiddos of today the skills that we take for granted.  It explicitly teaches things like how to follow directions.  The example was so simple it instantly made me want to take the training.  It is especially great for working with those kiddos who LOVE to push the boundaries and make you want to pull all your hair out.

Example:  Today we are going to practice the skill of following directions.
Create a chart with cute pics/illustrations/ or photographs for each step.  
1.  Look the person in the eye
2.  Say OK
3.  And do it right away!

Let's Practice!  And she went through modeling each step with a helper and celebrating when someone followed the exact procedure.  Simple and brilliant all at the same time!  This woman was such a wealth of knowledge and had a beautiful heart for our students who are often overlooked and have the most difficulties not only in school but in life.  She is part of a beautiful program in our district called HOPE, that focuses on catching the kiddos young and giving them the social skills to survive not only in general education classes but out in the real world as well.  Enough school chat and onto more fun!

It was a beautiful day, despite the unexplained fever...and there were no other symptoms, so despite wishing I could spend the weekend caring for her, she had to be cared for on the road, because we had a trip to Houston scheduled that could not be rescheduled.  It's crazy what the third child has to live through compared to the first...but I promise I did everything I could to make sure she was well cared for...(I really think it's all allergy related because she felt fine as long as I control her temp).  

My eldest little lady was to be a surprise guest at her bestie's birthday bash!  They were heart broken when we moved, so us mamas worked it out so that they could be together for this special occassion!  The party was a "glam"ping party and it was a blast!  They by no means roughed it even a little bit.  The princesses set up a tent inside and had a ball doing make-overs, having over-the-top treats and dancing like crazy.  I'm not sure they slept much...but who needs sleep when you haven't seen your bestie in 6 mos!  So precious are friends...It really warms my heart to see my girls truly forming real and deep friendships with others that stand the test of time and distance!

Anywho, on to other adventures.  Speaking of friends that stand the test of time, while my daughter was living it up with her "bestie", I got to spend some long overdue time with dear friends of my own!  I put my other 2 tagalongs to bed and we had a slumber party of our own, talking, laughing, and just catching up on all that has happened since we last visited.  It is so good to share in the seasons of your friends lives.  I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life.

I also got to catch up with our family back home and attend my niece's track meet!  It was great to see them and sneak into their busy weekend schedules for some hugs and love before they were off to their next event.

Then after a relaxing afternoon of lunch with family and friend we packed it all up and headed back home. It was a fast and furious trip (our stay was not even 24 hours).  On our trek back we finally did something we have said we were going to do since we moved to Texas!  We finally stopped and visited the Sam Houston statue!

 And that was my fun! (in case you were worried, my gut was right and my little one's fever was nothing to worry about...love that mother's intuition!)  Hoping you had a terrific weekend as well!  Link up with Molly at Lucky to be in First and Deirdre at A Burst of First for Sunday Funday and share your adventures to brighten our day!!

                                                       

Linking up with Doodle Bugs for the Five for Friday Weekly Linky Party.

Valentines and Volcanoes!  

What could be more fun for four year olds!!  I had set out a bunch of old Valentine cards that I had collected over the years (you know, the 4 or 5 that you always have left over...or the extra box or two that you bought "just in case" one of your students forgot).  Wow!  that Valentine station was packed during choice time all week long!  Which is a big deal in a boy heavy class!!  Little did they realize how much fine motor and writing practice they were getting in!!

Science with a Splash of Fun!

Did I say Volcano?  Yes I did!  To celebrate our letter V, we created a volcano and then made it explode!!  What a fun science experiement that was!  I recorded some great videos of the scientific process in action.  The kids made some pretty entertaining predictions and had a lot of fun observing the experiment.  So much fun that we had to do it about 10 or 12 times!!  We went throught a whole BOX of baking soda.  Lots of smiles, memories, and as I like to say "wrinkles in the brain" were made with one simple activity.

Furry Friends

We adopted a new 4 legged family member!!  Her name is Bonnie and she is now sister to older brother Buckeye.  She is a very sweet heeler mix whom we found at the Collin County Animal Shelter.  Our first Dog, Buckeye has had a hard time with our move (which is now 6 mos ago!!)  He has been anxiously chewing away at his paw and everytime we get it healed....he goes right back to it!!  Well after some research we decided to try and add a "pack" member so that he might now feel so lonely during the day....we will see how this goes.  I really don't want to resort to "medicating" our dog so that he will quite trying to chew his foot off!  If you all have suggestions, PLEASE share because I feel like we have tried just about everything!  Comment Below!!

Super Star Students and Bucket Filling....  

I am sure that your school has some form of either or both of these programs.  Because I am pressed for time due to the length of my preschool day,  I have chosen to combine the two during the 2nd half of the year.  Each student gets their own special week of course, but at the end they get to take home a special book of bucket filling notes from each of their friends as a momento!  Now, in my classroom I do most of the writing and the kiddos get to do the pics, but this can go a long way in any classroom.  In my opinion, teaching kids to see the good in EVERYONE is a life lesson that needs to be practiced over and over and over again.

The Superstar Week goes as such:  

Tuesday: 

present poster--great oral language development for both class and student.  

Families have a blast getting involved in creating something to share with the class.

Wednesday:  

Show and Tell Mystery Item--student gives the class 3 clues and students get 3 guesses.  

Afterwhich the star reveals the item, speaks about it, and gets to pass it around.

Thursday: 

 Star Interview (great language development by learning to ask and answer questions!) 

and Bucket filler journal pages are assembled into a book for the superstar to bring home!

Just a bit ago our school hosted its very FIRST art show.  It was an amazing collection of unique and individual art projects created by our kiddos aged 18mos to kindergarten!  We showcased their work gallery style and held a special night to honor them. Everyone had a blast and we all had such a great time creating and admiring their hard work.  Hats off to the Arts and all they offer our kids to developing skills and self-esteem!! We had a blast showcasing the kids and setting up a "gallery" for the parents to come and enjoy!  The best was typing up the "art blurbs" about each budding artist.

Wishing YOU a Happy Friday!!