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Mid-day group was good, they’re practically singing the song before I even start. 

Today was much the same as yesterday. Group was good, they’ve really been liking the song that we have to go with the letter of the week. Lots of the after-school kids have been in and out so we still did the pb & j art because there were still kids who wanted to do it and hadn’t yet.

Mid-day group was just as good. A few kids started connecting it to their parents’ or siblings’ names. In after-school I continued the peanut butter and jelly art. 

I have mid-day group this week. Our new letter is “j.” Jerry Jellyfish says “j, j, j.” None of the kids seem to have a problem pronouncing this sound. In after-school today I thought that since they liked the puffy paint and how it dried, I would try it again and add a little practical life. I made puffy peanut butter and jelly and cut-out paper bread. My plan was for them to use plastic knives to spread the puffy paint. They liked it and some just wanted a peanut butter sandwich or just a jelly sandwich. However, it was interesting to see how many kids weren’t very good at spreading with a knife. 

In my classroom, in particular, our goal of focusing on autonomy is very effective. In another classroom, they don’t encourage parents to let their child(ren) be independent. This then leads to the parents coming in and doing the child’s tasks for them. I’ve noticed that with this being the case, some of the kids are behind where they should be at their age. Encouraging and focusing on autonomy with a child in this age range is very important, it’s paving the way for the rest of their lives. Without my agency’s intervention, I worry that these kids might not be as developed as they are now. 

I just spent some time today shrinking and sealing the shrinky dink hand prints and just finishing them up to give to the parents. 

Today I decided on a training, building strong relationships with families. This directly correlates to my goal #3. It was very interesting. A lot of information, some of which I thought was common knowledge, but, nonetheless, I learned a lot. However, I honestly have mixed thoughts on allowing and welcoming parents into the classroom. At Quesmazon we don’t really allow parents in the classroom in an effort to encourage autonomy. With confidence, I can say that many of our kids would either ask their parents to do everything for them or their parents would just do it of their own accord. I don’t think that that has a negative effect on our relationships with the parents. 

Today for after school I wanted a one-day project. We recently got colored paper plates so I thought to make little plate ladybugs. I prepared all of the supplies. The kids were underwhelmed but liked it nonetheless. They came out very cute. 

In after-school today we continued and finished up the ice cream art and I also had some time to hang up some students’ art and some decorations in my classroom.

Today I had after school. I decided on a puffy paint ice cream cone art. I don’t think it’s something that they’ve tried before so I was hopeful that they would like it. I made the “ice cream” with glue and shaving cream. I also prepared the cones and “chocolate chips.” They really liked it. They got to scoop it like ice cream and put sprinkles on it. I was honestly worried that some of them might actually lick it. Haha