I have a dream

I have a dream.
* Martin Luther King said these powerful words, “I have a dream.” I too have a dream. I dream of the day when teachers will be acknowledge, honored, and respected for the key roles they play in building the future. I dream of the day when parents will look at you who work with children and realize how important your work and your influence are in the lives of their children. They will respect you and want to work together as a team on behalf of their children.I dream of the day when lawmakers will respect you, the work you do and the difference you make in the lives of children, and hear your collective voice before making decisions that influence your lives and the lives of children. I dream of the day when the corporate world will acknowledge you for the key role you play in preparing their future employees.I dream of the day when you will walk inside a room filled with people and when someone says, “What do you do,” you respond, “I’m a teacher,” and they will applaud you and thank you for the important work you do. I dream of the day when students will come into your schools and classrooms with newfound respect passed on from their families and salute you as a huge difference-maker in their lives.Thank you Martin Luther King. Your words inspired us to dream, too. You inspired us to dream about the future as we build a better world for children.Have a great day and a wonderful week.* I have sent this message several years in a row. I pray for the day that this dream comes true.Maryln

copied from Maryln and More Blog, Applebaum training institute January 18, 2010

One more week!

It's very difficult to believe that there is only one week left to our first semester! These 4 months have sped by! We had a wonderful winter concert last week. The children performed beautifully and even the papparazzi (parents with cameras) didn't scare them! Thank you to all the parents that helped with setup, cleanup, and donating goodies for after the concert!

The 3's class had a visit from Santa last week! They were awestruck! It was so nice of Santa to take some time out of his busy schedule to visit with our three year olds! Thanks Santa!

With the new year quickly approaching, I want to thank all of our current families and former families for devoting so much time to Coop and their children! Coop is such a wonderful place for children and the parents involved make the teacher's jobs easier! Thank you!

Welcome December!

Wow, it's December already! This is the time of year that makes preschool life sometimes difficult! It's best for parents and teachers/caregivers to remember that keeping to normal routines as much as possible is vital for children! It can be difficult. Whenever possible limit holiday excitement. I know this can be difficult. Does anyone watch TV? Holidays are all over the television world. There are parties, concerts, shopping, gifts, so much to do and so little time! Take the time for your children, it's so important!

The four's classroom is busy this month learning about rhyming through nursery rhymes and related activities. Each day a new rhyme is introduced and the activities that day center around the nursery rhyme. At circle time we identify the words that rhyme and we find other words that rhyme with the common rhyming word introduced. The kids are having a lot of fun doing this. It's OK if the word they rhyme is a nonsense word. The focus is on the rhyming sound and identifying it.

Today we did Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick. They identified all kinds of words that rhyme with quick and stick. We practiced jumping over a candle stick and other ways of getting over and around the candle stick. For art we made candles by painting a toilet paper tube white and sprinkling it with gold glitter. We glued the tube to a small paper plate and put in a red tissue paper flame. The candles turned out beautiful and can even be a great holiday decoration!

November Happenings!

November is flying by! Since my last post we've had a visit/demo from a local Tae Kwan Do studio. The kids loved it! It amazes me how they listen so well to the instructor during this enrichment activity. I also like how the instructor talks with them about stranger awareness. You can never talk to little about that topic with young children.

We also had an enrichment activity from the U of I's Vet med's wildlife department. They brought two owls and a hawk. The kids were very interested in them, but then one of them "pooped" and you should have seen the excitement. Come to find out that it wasn't "poop" at all but urine. Very interesting!

Our fundrasing event at a local department store was another great success! Thanks to our parents that pitched in and worked in the store and selling the coupon books! Coop couldn't be such a success without the parents!

Thanksgiving art:

Take a clear latex glove, fill the fingers with different colored tissue paper, fill the thumb with red tissue paper, fill the body of the glove with rice or sand and voila, you have a turkey!

Love this community!

Our school is very lucky to have a large, prestigious University in our community. Last week the four year olds visited the University's poultry barns. They had a great time learning about chickens, their eggs, and playing with baby chicks. The two educators, a husband and wife team, were extremely knowledgable about the chickens, and they were wonderful about educating at the children's level. A wonderful time was had by all!

The school's Halloween party was a great success! Lots of food, games, prizes, and costumes were enjoyed! It's always nice to see our student's entire families having a great time too!

We went to the zoo,zoo,zoo! How about you?

Wow! It's been such a busy October at Coop! The three's and four's classes went to visit the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington this past Monday. We all had such a great time! The day began with gray, windy, and cool weather but it warmed up and became sunny as the morning went on. The sea lion and otter feeding was fun to watch! We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park before heading back to C-U! Thanks to all the parents that helped on this trip! We always appreciate the extra help!

This week we'll be celebrating Halloween! It's hard to believe that we're almost two months gone for this school year! The Fall season always flies by!

A Zoo Book:
Though there are lots of great zoo books my 4's really enjoyed:

"The Zoo" by Suzy Lee

Zoo Song:

One Elephant went out to play,
on a spider's web one day.

He had such enormous fun,
that he called for another elephant to come!

Begin this with one child who walks around the inside of the circle of children, acting like an elephant is fun, he selects another child, who selects another child, and so on and so on and so on.

An easy Zoo craft:

Lion mask - Paint a paper plate brown, curl strips of yellow construction paper around a pencil, glue around the plate to make the lion's mane. When paint is dry draw on nose and mouth. Cut holes for eyes and attach to a tongue depressor. Very cute!

October

We've been learning about Fire Safety this week. I am always amazed at how quickly 3 and 4 year olds acquire and keep the knowledge of fire and its dangers. It is important to keep reminding them to not hide from fire but rather make their presence known (if they can't get outside) by standing near a window and yelling as loud as they can so that help can find them. They have a fun time practicing "Stop, Drop, and Roll". Our 3 and 4 year old classes went to a local fire department's puppet show and activities. They have such a fun time and really learn. The fire department does great job relating to the kids! Way to go Urbana, IL Fire Department!

A cute song to sing that helps kids learn about Stop, Drop, and Roll:

To the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

What do you do when your clothes catch fire?
Three simple steps to put out the fire.
STOP where you are,
Don't run,
DROP to the ground, and ROLL all around.
What do you do when your clothes catch fire?
Three simple steps to put out the fire.

An art activity: Fire Painting

Paint yellow, orange, red, and black on a piece of paper, use globs of paint, cover the paper with wax paper and rub. Remove the wax paper and see the fire!

A good book:

Barn on Fire written by Heather Amery and illustrated by Stephen Cartwright
Look for the little yellow duck hiding on each page!