Kids say the darndest things!

It's been said that young children are the most honest creatures in the world ... well, they're also some of the funniest! There's no possible way to remember everything they say, but Mrs. Connie and I do try to keep up with some of the doozies. Here's a peek at some of the things your kiddos have said to us, or to their classmates.

• While looking for a toy: "Mrs. LeeAnne, we have a case ... the case of the missing toy I want."
• "I'm building a fine gadget."
• For each letter of the week we study, we like to ask the students to name words that begin with that particular letter. During letter D week, one boy offered the following D word: "DUH."
• "Mrs. LeeAnne, I want to watch Curious George. The one with the tadpoles. Because tadpole starts with I!"
• "A butterfly landed on my hiney!" 
• "Are you mad at me?" -no- "Then are you happy at me?"
• We are learning about the first Thanksgiving, and we tell the story in a simple format that the K3's can understand. We asked them what the first thing that happened was (answer: The pilgrims sailed to America.) Instead, one little one shouted "JESUS!" When all else fails, Jesus is a great answer, LOL! Later in the story, we asked what the pilgrims did when they got here. "They gave an offering!" Somebody's been spending lots of time in church ... we love it! 
• Finally, today Mrs. Connie and I were given a nice boost of confidence when one of our precious boys serenaded us with "Girl, you're beautiful" over and over. He's good for our self-esteem!

To sleep ... perchance to dream

Here's a confession: For Mrs. Connie and Mrs. LeeAnne, nap time can sometimes be the best time of day. ;~)  After our fun (but exhausting) days of singing, dancing, playing, and learning, we look forward to this quiet time, when soft music drifts through our room and we can get a little planning done.

But many times, we'd rather observe these sweet kiddos as they sleep. They're sometimes hilarious and sometimes peaceful, but always precious.

Some days, you just chill out ...

... and some days, you face plant.

Some days, a thumb is all you need ...

... Some days you need a little more help falling asleep.

And some days you just want to hide from the world!

Aren't they priceless? Even though a preschool teacher's job can be messy and exhausting, these pictures prove that it's one of the best jobs in the world! 

Magic seeds

Earlier in October, while studying the life cycle of the pumpkin, we planted some magic seeds. We lined up along the playground fence and tossed them over our backs.

We couldn't wait until the next day to see what grew!

After coming back inside, we made some predictions about what might grow. Most of our students thought we'd grow sunflowers, pumpkins, or a giant beanstalk, although we did have one vote for a Ninja Turtle! The next day, we raced outside to see what the results were ...

The children were delighted to see that small pumpkins had grown overnight! 

We carried them inside and painted them ... what fun!

We hope you enjoyed your child's pumpkin as much as we did ... it will make a pretty Thanksgiving decoration too!

Ghosts and Goblins

Last week we had a super fun Halloween party! It was a lot of fun seeing what the children were dressed as! We ate special treats and went trick-or-treating through the school offices and a handful of classrooms. What a fun day! Here are some pictures ...

As if the children hadn't had enough sugar that day, some of them also got to attend an ice cream party after lunch! This was a reward for having a certain number of sales during the recent school fundraiser. 

A visit from the fire truck

Last week we had a very special treat--a visit from our neighborhood firefighters ... and their big truck! We met the firefighters from Station 8, and we learned about fire safety. Your children were supposed to come home and show you their stop-drop-and-roll and discuss a family meeting place in the event of a fire ... did they remember? ;~)

Capt. Jackson talks with the students about fire safety.

They were all ears; we've never seen them this still or this quiet!

One of the most important things this visit does for the children is that it allows them to see a firefighter in his "costume" as they called it. In real emergencies, some children are afraid of firefighters when they're dressed this way, and instead of running toward him as a helper they run away out of fear. We don't want that to happen to our babies! Our students learned why the firefighter wears a special costume, and they even got to hear him breathe through his mask with the oxygen turned on. They learned that if there's ever a fire in their home or school, even though the firefighter might look silly in his or her costume, they're there to help, and the children should run to them.

No one was scared here -- high 5's for everyone!

Finally, we actually got to go inside the fire truck! Some students were nervous and some were super excited, but everyone was really brave and took a peek. 

Do we love firefighters? YES WE DO!