Football, Fall or 'Friendly Welcome?'

      Today as I sit on my couch watching my beloved Texas Aggies whip some Owl behind, not to aliente any readers- I actually attended A&M's rival school University of Texas. You may have noticed I did not call it THE University of Texas, it's an Aggie thing. My enrollment at UT was solely based on housing and financial reasons. I have been an Aggie at heart since I could walk. It is also a bit of a conundrum for me because I taught at Rice University, home of The Owls, before my current position. So as I remain loyal and root for my Ags, I am also thinking of projects to do this week.  My current class is graduating on Tuesday and I will be getting a fresh batch of children that are 1.5  years old to just barely 2. This new undertaking it will have to be a bit more simplistic than we have been doing with our current advanced artists.

    

    I have done some football themed projects before and may have to search my tome of past projects if we go with that theme. I have a hard time justifying doing back to school and fall themed art because our school is year round so they are not technically 'back' to school and it will not feel like fall here until December probably. I may just do a "Welcome to Our New Class" theme. We shall see this week what the final decision will be. I guess to put it in football terms, it will be a game time decision. In the meantime......... 

Whoooooooop!

(If that sounds crazy to you, google A&M "Whooooop.")

Me, Myself and I

     I downloaded a new app on my computer and have been learning the ropes of it.
I made a gazillion collages of my boys so I decided to have a moment of vanity and make one of myself. Here's a peek into my life.

Barefoot at the Beach

     

 This week we made more summer themed art. I still have a looooong time to come up with summer projects since winter doesn't occur until around January down here in Texas. For those of you that don't know, we only have two temperatures, warm and hot. We named this one "Barefoot at the Beach." Another good title would be "Footprints in the Sand."

     

       We started by folding a standard sized (9x12) piece of construction paper in half. You may need to use a larger size, depending on what size your kids feet are. I used an off-white color but I am curious to see how a true white sheet would look. I still have a few kids left to do so I may try the white paper. I used a little piece of masking tape to keep the paper folded to make sure the kids didn't unfold it and turn it over to paint the back of the paper. I gave them a small container (more on that later) with blue paint in it. Next, I gave them another small container with white paint in it. I am also curious to see how blue paint only would look, I will probably try that next week as well.  

Update: 

      I tried doing the scene on plain white paper and it did not look as good as the off-white color. I also had the kids use just blue paint and it also didn't come out as well. I guess first instincts are always the best.

      

      Next, I mixed some glue, water and sand in a container. I got the sand right out of the sandbox on our playground by sifting it with a fine colander, the children even helped. I used enough water to make the mixture a little thicker than tempera paint alone, but somewhat thinner than glue. They painted

the other side of the paper with the sand mixture.

Close up of the painted on sand mixture

      

      I let the papers dry overnight. Next came the fun part, for the kids at least. I painted each one of their feet with red paint. You can use any color you prefer, I just thought red would show up nicely. The children always love getting their hands and feet painted, most of them anyway. There's always that one kid that never wants to do it. It's up to you whether or not to used a "forgery" foot. I usually do. I wouldn't want to deprive a parent from receiving one of these works of art and most of the kids in my class don't really talk yet so they can't rat me out. I did both feet, one foot at a time of course, onto the sand side of the paper with the toes facing the crease of the fold. I had the children sit in a chair and put the paper on a clipboard and pressed the foot up against it. If your children are older, you can have them step directly onto the paper placed on the floor.  

This particular girl has one toe that is always wedged above the big toe and third toe and never 

shows up. The funny thing is, she has a twin sister who's foot does exactly the same thing.

After the kids had done the footprint I did touch it up a little with a small paint brush

(especially those of the 4 toed twins) to define the toes and edges.

I always have a basin with some soapy water, a nail brush and a towel waiting nearby

 when I paint hands, or especially feet, to clean the paint off.

   

      After the footprints had dried I flipped the paper over back over to the blue (water) side. 

                      I let the kids choose some ocean themed stickers to stick on.

These foam stickers are very good for developing fine motor skills. They are individual (not all on one sheet of backing) and on the smaller side. The children have to peel the backing off a relatively small backing to stick them onto paper.

      We had these really cool tiny shells in the art closet. I put a handful of shells into THE container. Here's where we get to another one of my recycled items that is possibly as useful as glue dots. At my preschool we have children as young as six months. Apparently an easy lunch for parents to throw together is Gerber Graduates. These blue containers have proven to be very useful for many things. When one of my kids brings a gallon sized container of spaghetti for lunch, I give them a small amount of it at a time in one of these containers to prevent the majority of it from being hurled onto the floor. I also use them to transport paint, glue, beads, sequins, etc. from the art closed to the classroom rather than take the entire supply and have to remember to return it later, which in my case is much later. I have a bad habit of putting materials in my cabinet and forget about them until one of my biannually cabinet cleanings. When the kids get markers or paint on the table I give them one of these little gems with some soap (we have the foamy kind in a dispenser in the bathroom) with a nail brush to scrub it off. And, I use them for this purpose, to give the kids a small amount of materials for the project we are working on. Another useful container is the small plastic bowl that fruit cups are in.

Behold the wonder that is the Gerber Graduate Blue Bowl. If you are familiar with the size of the bowl then you can tell how tiny the shells are.

      Next we finally unfolded the paper exposing both sides. Now we had a sandy beach with 

an ocean full of sea animals. I usually prefer to have the kids paint glue on for projects, but I knew 

it was going to take a good amount of glue to keep the shells in place, so I drizzled in on. The children

 put the shells onto the glue. I did go back and put more glue over the top to secure the shells on better. 

Tiny shells glued onto the beach.

     

       After the glue holding the seashells on had dried, I used foam letter stickers to spell out, "Barefoot at the Beach" and the child's name. When I took these pictures I hadn't put the year on it yet, but I always date every project the kids take home. That allows the parents show off the masterpieces, created by their Little Picassos at the tender age of 2, to all to all of their family and friends.

      You can see where the masking tape held the paper together. I will touch that up and add the date before sending the project home. This project was fun as well as educational. We talked about oceans and the animals that live in them. We also talked about the colors of the different animal stickers. The children that can talk some, told us about their trips to the beach. One child shared with us about Shamu and his trip to Sea World. I read books about ocean animals. We also did matching work of language cards which I made from clip art of an ocean animal depicted on them and the corresponding figure(again Dollar Store plastic animals.) We sang songs about fish and other animals in the ocean.

     Noah's scene in the picture below was made before I found my other ocean stickers in my previously mentioned black hole closet. I could only find stickers of dolphins and whales in the school's art closet. I had to improvise and cut the gold fish, shovel and pail out of foam sheets. I also did this one with the paper in a landscape direction.  Like all of my projects, it's all trial and error.

      

Am I A Horrible Mom?

 

      It is finally upon us, the day we have been looking forward to for over 18 years. Next week H1 leaves for college. All the years of pushing him towards scholastic excellence, classes for SAT preparedness and studying (yeah right) are behind my husband and I. It is now solely H1's responsibility.

      While I have been busy buying supplies and dorm essentials one thought has been plaguing me. Am I really going to miss him? This is the child, now adult, that I begin every morning screaming at to get his a$$ out of bed. (Oh, I start out nice and gentle, the first 96 times I go into his room. When it is 8 minutes before the tardy bell rings, and he is still nestled in his bed, I have become Cruella De Ville.) This is the child that I stay up nights worrying about until I hear the garage door open when he has gone out with his friends. This is the child that I have driven to countless little league games and practices and sat in the sweltering Texas sun watching him play. This is the child that triples the amount of laundry and dirty dishes I do. This is the child that I am constantly butting heads with. (They say it is because you are too much alike but I don't think that's the case.) This is the child that I have watched grow from baby to man.

    This is the child that would die of embarrassment if he knew I posted these pictures

     H1 has always made good (sometimes great, sometimes just decent) grades without ever opening a book. I have not seen him do a project, report, or research paper since elementary school. Somehow he has always sailed through each school year without any real effort. I have to wonder..... can this be a good thing? Is he even prepared for the rigorous curriculum of college? Will he fail or succeed? Is he going to be able to do his own laundry, folding all of his shirts Gap style the way he likes them?

Better question- will he even be able to wake up to get to class?

H1's first grade teacher told me he could retake this school picture. Why? He had just lost his first tooth and was dang proud of it!

     What worries me personally, is am I going to miss him? Being 18 with a busy social life, he is rarely home at all anymore. When he is home he is either sleeping, showering, asking me for money, asking me what I am going to make for dinner (even though I know for a fact he has just eaten while out with friends) or arguing with me over a variety of topics. Will I miss this?

     Can he be ready? My head tells me 'no' but my gut is telling me 'yes.' I have done my job to the best of my abilities. I guess it's the little voice inside my head that has questioned every decision I have made in his upbringing. When I see all of my friends having their children later than I did, I often think about all of the things I would have done differently. I guess hindsight really is 20/20. From what other adults tell me he is a great person. That's hard to believe when I see him act the way he does at home, but these are people I trust telling me.

     Maybe my greatest worry is that he is ready to survive without me. 

 I guess like every other aspect of parenting, this is one of those experiences where I will have to

 'wing it.' I am sure next Friday when we drop him off I will be overcome with some emotion. Will it be sadness or relief?

But the question on my mind most is, does he know how proud of him I am?

   

It's A Bug's Life

     Lately the kids in my classroom have been bug crazy. We decided this week we made some bugs to decorate our door. We started with toilet paper rolls, empty ones of course. I had each child paint their roll with bright colors. This helps the paint show up on the brown rolls. I cut wings for various types of bugs and the children applied glitter to them. While the wings were drying, I made faces with googley eyes and tiny pom-poms for noses. We used thin strips of construction paper make antennas. Once the wings were dry I stapled them onto the toilet paper rolls and used glue dots to mount the faces (I really love those things!) The kids also painted some flowers to hang with the bugs. They glued jewel shapes onto the flowers to really jazz them up.

     All of the kids loved making their favorite bugs.  We talked about different types of bugs during circle time. I also did an object matching lesson with plastic bugs, most of which came from the dollar stores. Just make sure you get two sets of bugs that are the same. Matching exercises are a perfect activity for young children, you would be amazed at how well they can find the corresponding bugs.

Summertime Bulletin Board

     This is our current bulletin board displayed in my classroom. We went with a 

sailboat theme. 

     Summertime, Funtime- but not for all teachers.  I am one of those teachers that work at a year-round preschool. That means an extra three months of trying to come up with art that two-year-olds can manage. I cannot stress enough how important it is to me that the work be as much the child's as possible. It drives me crazy when I see art that is more teacher created than child created. The kids have a sense of pride when their parents ooh and aah over the beautiful art they bring home.

    
      For the foundation of the board I had the kids paint a sky and water background. This was mainly out of necessity since we were out of large roll light blue paper for a sky and it served the dual purpose of it being created more by the children. We used popsicle sticks that I had the children paint for the masts. They also painted paper that I cut for the sails. I folded the boats and then had the children apply stickers to them, we used ocean animal ones. Stickers serve a dual purpose for 2 year olds. They love to do them and it is a good fine motor exercise. I peel the backing off of the stickers to make it easier for them to pull them off. I hot glued the masts into the boats and we set them sail on the sea created by the class.

Dads Deserve Good Gifts Too!

     I'm going back to June, since I didn't have this blog yet when it was Father's Day. I ran across this photo, and no this cutie isn't someone who answered the phone on 'The Ring'-If you saw the movie you'll get it. I was doing my archiving and wanted to post it before I sent it to the external hard drive. I blurred his face to conceal how completely adorable he is.
     
     It's difficult for me to come up with ideas for presents for dads, something that doesn't involve golf themes or the typical dad stereotyped projects. I was cleaning out H2's room and saw the electric guitar that he begged for but never learned how to play. I had an epiphany of a 'cool dude' themed Father's Day gift. First, I made a frame out of large popsicle sticks. You can glue the ends together with a hot glue gun. I used a different method. If you haven't discovered the miracle of glue dots- you should! You could also have the kids paint the sticks first and put stickers or what ever supplies you choose to use. I bought some aquarium rocks and had the children glue them onto the frame. I did have to go back and drizzle more glue over the top to get the rocks to stay on better. I took photos of all the kids with sunglasses and the guitar. Next I made a caption that said "My Dad Rocks!" and affixed it to the photo. (Dad's aren't typically as quick as moms and may not have understood the theme of the gift.) I glued the photo onto a piece of card stock cut to fit the back of the frame. Then I put each child's hand print on the back of the card with "Happy Father's Day" and the date. I laminated the card to protect it, I wish my kids teachers would have done that. (I have a closet full of faded construction paper gifts.) I used a hot glue gun to put the card onto the frame and glued a soda tab to hang it, and ta-da, a gift that any dad would proudly display in his office!

 Here are some songs that we sing about dads:

Fathers Day

Father's Day - sung to "This Old Man"

Father's Day, Father's Day

Is a very special day.

Here's a great big hug

And lots of kisses too.

Each one says that I love you!

Daddy Daddy 

sung to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Daddy, daddy let me say
I love you in every way

I love you for all you do

I love you for being you

Daddy, Daddy let me say

Have a happy Father's Day!

Thank You, Dad 

sung to "Jingle Bells"

Thank you, Dad

Thank you, Dad

Thanks for loving me.

Hugs and kisses, hugs and kisses,

Comes to you from me.

My Special Friend

sung to "Yankee Doodle"

Daddy is my special friend,
The two of us are buddies.

I always like the things we do,

I'm thankful for my daddy.

Father Dear 

sung to "Jingle Bells"

Father's Day, Father's Day.
It is almost here.

It's the time when we say,

"Thank you, Father dear!"

Father's Day, Father's Day.

It is almost here.

Hugs and kisses to my dad.

I love you, Father dear!

(Becky Valenick)

It's Your Special Day 

sung to "The Muffin Man"

Daddy, it's your special day,
And it's time for me to say,

I'm glad for all the things you do.

Thank you, Daddy. I love you!

(Sue Brown)

Oh, My Daddy

sung to "Clementine"

Oh, my daddy, oh, my daddy,
Oh, my very special dad,

I want to thank you very much

For being my special dad.

(Patricia Coyne)

Special Day

sung to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Daddy, it's your special day.
You're the best in every way.

Thank you for the things you do.

You love me, and I love you.

Daddy, it's you special day.

You're the best in every way.

(Susan Hodges)

    

Early August Artwork

     The inspiration for this art project came straight from my garden. After 3 months of waiting, the sunflower seeds I planted in the spring finally bloomed. I cut some to take to my classroom and the children went crazy for them. We decided it would be fun to make a sunflower they could take home, one that wouldn't wilt.

     Having a background in Montessori, it is imperative to me that all of the projects we do in the classroom be the work of the child as much as possible. It is about process not product. The appearance of the finished project is not important, it is the steps involved in creating the piece and sense of pride that the child feels from having done it by themselves. (Again- as much as possible- I can't have a room full of toddlers wielding scissors and hot glue guns.)

     First I had the children paint a large piece of white construction paper yellow. Keep in mind the children in my classroom are 2-3 years old, so you can imagine how many things in the room ended up adorned with yellow hand prints, including the back of my white pants.

     After the painted papers were dry I cut out a circle (I traced a bowl) and 10 petals. I tore some black crepe paper into pieces (sized about 1") to use for the center of the flower. I gave the children the yellow paper circle on a tray with a small ramekin of white glue and a paint brush. I always present art work on a tray, this defines each child's personal work space as well as minimizes the mess.....somewhat. I  showed the children how to dip the brush into the ramekin of glue, brush the glue onto the circle and put one piece of black crepe paper on top of the glue. Next, I showed them to brush some glue over the top of the just glued piece of crepe paper to smooth it onto the circle. It is important that the child puts the crepe paper on one piece at a time. If they are grabbing handfuls of crepe paper pieces and smashing them into the glue, the significance of completing the work one step at a time without taking shortcuts in haste, is lost. If this manner of competing tasks is reiterated often in the formative years, this habit will carry over into all aspects of the child's manner of completing tasks. Another important reason for this is because the child is honing their fine motor skills and pincer grasp (using the thumb and index finger) by picking the pieces up one at a time. I allowed each child to glue as many or as few pieces of crepe paper they wanted.

   As you can see, Lane was much more ambitious than Jonah in the quantity department.

     Once the black crepe paper glued circle was dry, I demonstrated how to brush glue onto the edge of each petal and attach it to the back of the circle. I made an X with pencil where it would be a good idea for the children to glue the petal onto the back of the circle. (Sorry, I do not have any pictures of the different stages of the project, I never dreamed I would be creating a blog.)

     After all of the children had completed their flowers we hung them up on the wall. Now our
classroom looks bright and sunny and the children have their own sunflower to take home.

     This is a very age appropriate project for toddlers. They love to paint and glue, and make a mess. After they had finished painting and I had hung up the papers to dry, I gave each child a damp sponge to clean their work space at the table. Once again, this is a task they absolutely love to do. I sprayed each area with water as they scrubbed and wiped all of the paint away. They actually did a really good job! Young children love to clean......teenagers, not so much.

                                  The flowers in the middle photo will long outlive the others!

Blame it on Pinterest

      Once again, Pinterest has sucked me in. I was so proud of myself for the 'College Send Off Basket' I created for my son's BFF that I brilliantly decided to create a pin. Unbeknownst to me there is a limit of 500 characters in the description area. I could not limit my masterpiece to a paltry 500 characters. It simply would not do it justice. I deduced that in order to share the showpiece in all of it's glory I had to create a blog. Now in addition to Pinterest, Craft Gawker, Facebook and TMZ online I have added one more tab to my computer's already overloaded bookmark bar, not to mention my sleep deprivation. So without further ado(not adieu as I thought, thank you Google for letting me avoid that embarrassment.) I present the showstopper known as the College Send Off Basket.

      In my state of excitement over this gem (i.e. running late for the actual send off party)
 I forgot to photograph the actual basket. It was really not a basket but one of those collapsable storage bins. I got it at Lowe's instead of my customary go to store, Dollar Tree. Hey, I wanted this to be classy! Then I began searching for dorm essentials, some of which I put cutesy messages on.

         
      The basis for this gift started by my Googling useful gifts for those real word clueless youths going off to college. There was one suggestion that kept popping up that many parents overlook- a basic set of tools, not that they will know what to do with them. Apparently, even if you live in a dorm, when something breaks you spend valuable partying time waiting for maintenance to arrive. It is a little difficult to find an already put together set of tools with only some essentials, unless you are looking for  one for girls, there are plenty of pink sets. I even asked if they had some for children. I put one together myself consisting of a small tool pouch I found at Home Depot, a small hammer, a multi-tool, super glue, a set of screwdrivers, a small tape measure and some zip ties. The project snowballed from there.

       
       Soon I was hitting up every dollar store in a 20 mile radius. Oh..... by the way, I forgot to mention that I went home from work sick on Friday(occupational hazard) I had procrastinated shopping for this gift all week long, and this weekend was tax-free weekend in Texas- so I was avoiding Walmart like the plague.

       The other often overlooked essential is a good flashlight. I found this really cool rechargeable one at Lowe's that plugs into an outlet, functions as a nightlight, if desired,  and will stay on in a power outage so you can find it. The message on the flashlight reads, "Because you are bright!"

          After that I was like a woman possessed looking for supplies I could come up with a poignant message for. Pencil sharpeners, erasers, sponges, batteries and more went flying into the basket as fast as I could yank them off the shelves.

          When all was said and done, I had a trunk full of goodies to assemble and arrange and managed to avoid the hordes of shoppers taking advantage of tax-free weekend. Here is a complete list of all of the items and the messages I put on them.

Glade plug ins and refills

Lysol Wipes

Febreeze

a sponge w/a tag "To remember to soak up all the knowledge you can and absorb the experience.

A dustpan and brush w/a tag" Now that you have to clean up after yourself."

A Sewing Kit

A pencil box with scissors, tape and post-its

Aluminum Water Bottle

An Umbrella

Hangers

Power strip

Command Hooks

Previously mentioned cool flashlight w/tag "Because you are bright"

Erasers w/tag " To remind you everyone makes mistakes, start each day on a new page."

Ear Plugs w/tag "In case of a noisy dorm mate"

AAA Batteries w/tag "To remember to recharge your batteries every once in awhile"

Tool Kit with:

     Mini Hammer

     4 Screwdrivers

     Exacto Knife

     Super Glue

     Multi-Tool w/ pliers etc.

     Tape Measure

Duct Tape

Cable Ties w/tag "These are more useful than you could ever imagine"- which is very true!

Rubber band Ball w/tag "To remember to be flexible"

Stapler w/tag "To remember to keep it all together"

Pencil Sharpener w/tag "To remember to stay sharp"

Nail Clippers

Tylenol w/tag "For the inevitable headaches"

Mini First Aid Kit w/tag "For when things get a little rough"

Q-Tips w/tag "To remember to listen and learn"

Hershey's Kisses w/tag "To remember that you are loved"

Life Savers w/tag "For when you feel like you are drowning in information"

Sunglasses w/tag "Because your future is so bright"

Framed 2013 Lucky Penny w/tag "So you will always have enough 'cents' to realize your full potential'

 

      I took a chance and checked out Thing's Remembered's website and found that I could create a key ring online and pick it up in the store. I chose a modern polished gun metal one and had his initials engraved on one side and "Happiness is found in the journey" on the other. The box had tag "Remember you hold the key to your future"

So there you have it! I was pretty proud of myself at the results. Thanks for letting me share,

k

   

I have been told many times by several people that I should start a blog. I was, after all, an English major. I am not sure how all of this works but I'll give anything a shot once, ok... maybe twice.

About me I am:

A Native Texan and damn proud of it. 
Wife- married 20 years to a wonderful, patient man of Cuban/Spanish descent
Mother- 2 boys ages 18 and 16. I will refer to them from this point on as H1 & H2 to protect their privacy(not really, but to protect their precious reputations!)
Montessori Preschool Teacher
Not really politically affiliated, but let's just say the way I tend to lean is not too popular in Texas
U2 obsessed
Dog Lover
Avid Gardener
Paranormally Interested
Amateur Photographer
Thrift Store Junkie
True Crime Curious (don't be spooked but I have a fascination with serial killers. I probably should have been a criminal profiler. Hubby says he doesn't know how I sleep after some of the things I read and watch.)
Possibly a Hoarder (not really, but when you have been teaching for 20+ years you tend to accumulate tons of classroom materials. Even worse, if you are a Montessori teacher you believe you can make materials out of anything you stumble across, God forbid I see an empty toilet paper roll thrown away. Hey, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Speaking of which I am also a.........
Recovering Dumpster Diver 

I am sure there are many more adjectives to describe myself, but ever since Al Gore invented the internet, once it's out there- It's out there FOREEEEEEVER. (typed in my Sandlot voice.) So we will just have to get to know each other, if we don't already, as we go along. But since my mom doesn't have internet, own a computer or even a cell phone, I am not sure anyone else will read this! Now I am off to attempt another first, creating my first "Pin" on Pinterest of a project that, if you're like me, you will pin but never get around to doing.

til next time,
k