Peek-A-Boo

 Middle Man brings BIG smiles to the classroom!

It never gets old! ~PEACE MM

Oh Where Does the Time Go?

 Fruit leather from Little One to his friends~

 Our classroom tree.

 Beautiful baby Colin, my friend Robyn's Christmas gift.

And Me and my best friend Diana the huntress of felt finger puppets.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a happy New Year! PEACE~ MM

Classroom Advent Calendar

This year we made a felt evergreen tree for our classroom advent calendar.  A count down to our school holiday break.  Each day the leader for the day turns an ornament around to reveal the face of a classmate, teacher, pet or small group photo (like the one at the top of the tree pictured of two friends hugging).  As you can see the kiddos decorated the numbers using watercolor paper and then cut them out. I printed photos on to paper and glued them to the back of the number circles.  The ornaments are attached to the felt with paper clips. Happy Holidays to all!
In PEACE,
Jennifer

If you want grateful children, be grateful

If you want grateful children, be grateful

Chalica

Something new for UUs:  Chalica

Overview: Chalica is seven days long and runs from the first Monday in December through to Sunday. Each day represents a different Unitarian Principle, a chalice is lit each day and gift(s) are given and received. Gifts can be made, bought, verbal, written, acts, shared/personal celebrations. One can have seven different chalices or one common chalice.

Theme: Chalica - Celebration of the Flame

Materials: Varies, please see the Detailed Description

Details: The days are as follows:

Monday: We light our chalice for the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
- Give gift(s) to honour those you do not understand / agree with / like. Examples:
- a thank-you card celebrating differences
- words of forgiveness / apology
- a peace offering such as inviting someone to diner
- help someone in need

Tuesday: We light our chalice for justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
- Give gift(s) to honour those in your local community that are less fortunate.
Examples:
- spend time in a soup kitchen
- donate clothes to a worthy organization
- display kindness and care to those around you
- take part in a political demonstration at city hall

Wednesday: We light our chalice foracceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
- Give gift(s) to honour fellow Unitarians and their spiritual journey.
Examples:
- a chalice / book / hymnal
- extend words of peace or forgiveness to a fellow Unitarian with whom you may have hurt / not understood in the past
- offer / take part in an event at your church / with your congregation
- church potluck

Thursday: We light our chalice for a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
- Give gift(s) to honour another tradition, to honour education
Examples:
- offer / take part in an event that celebrates another religion / tradition
- teach someone something you know and love
- learn something new from someone else
- give a book / read a book

Friday: We light our chalice for the right of conscious and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
- Give gift(s) to honour democracy
Examples:
- help a political party
- write your government
- help a committee at church
- host a dinner / party to celebrate democracy

Saturday: We light our chalice for the goal of world peace, liberty and justice for all.
- Give gift(s) to honour our global community
Examples:
- volunteer with an organization that has global influence
- write a letter for amnesty international
- help your social justice committee hold a fundraiser
- donate to a cause such as UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, etc.

Sunday: We light our chalice for respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
- Give gift(s) to our earth and/or its creatures
Examples:
- start a compost
- recycle bottles and cans and donate the money to an environmental / animal aid society
- rescue an animal from a shelter
- hold an outdoor worship service (dress warm/bonfire)

The Importance of Art Education

Ladybug Love

Peerbackers

I'm not sure this is going to work but I've just got to keep trying.  I feel like the little engine that could....
"I think I can,, I think I can"

Visit my book company at peerbackers to see what all the fuss is about. 

Thanks for reading my neglected blog.  Now you know where all my time is spent.  :)
I think we have something great, zodireaders are a beginner reader book series that have familiar characters, colorful illustrations and funny stories.  With felt objects, word cards AND finger puppets...I mean these are books your kids can play with. 
See for yourself and let me know what you think.  I'm new at this, maybe I'm missing some detail that would make them even better?  Please share your thoughts, FEEDBACK desired.
PEACE
Jennifer

Making Their Mark

A child's first introduction to writing letters often starts with the child's name. If your child is showing an interest in writing letters, try this lesson on learning how to write your name.

Indirect Aim: Writing.

Direct Aim: To make the child aware that sounds have symbols.

Age: 3 to 4 years.

Materials: Sandpaper letter(s), pencil, paper.

Example of child's name: Sarah

1. "Today we are going to write your name." (Or you can just write the first letter of the child's name: "Today we are going to write the first letter in your name.") "What is the first letter in your name?" If the child gives the name for the letter 's' (es) you say, "Its name is 's' (es) but it says the sound ‘sss’ like snake.

If the child has a blend, like 'ch' for Charlie, 

say "The letters 'C' (see) and 'h' (ay-chu) make the sound 'ch' like chair. 'ch' is the first sound in the name Charlie.

2. Take any kind of paper (or chalkboard) and a normal size pencil (or white chalk), and start with first letter in child’s name. Use a capital letter. Trace the capital letter 'S' with two fingers (use pointing finger and middle finger and always top to bottom, left to write) then write it. Do a whole line of the letter 'S', if the child can wait. Or, at some point, ask the child to have a turn to trace the letter 'S' and write it. Trace it first, then write it, trace it again, then write it again, repeat this pattern of tracing and writing, tracing and writing.

3. "Now we are going to write the second letter in your name." (Or you can write the second letter another day.) "The second letter in your name is -------" (for our example, Sarah, it would be 'a').

4. Use a lower case letter 'a'. Trace the lower case letter 'a' with two fingers (use pointing finger and middle finger and always top to bottom, left to write) then write it. Do a whole line of the letter 'a', if the child can wait. Or, at some point, ask the child to have a turn to trace the letter 'a' and write it. Trace it first, then write it, trace it again, then write it again, repeat this pattern of tracing and writing, tracing and writing.

Continue with the next letter in the child's name, or wait until another day.

You can also have the child's name written out on a piece of paper or cardstock, and place it near the pencils and paper for her to go and get when ever she wants to write her name. Later, she will want to write her sibling's or her friend's name, have that child's name written out on a piece of paper or cardstock, and place it near the pencils and paper for her to go and get when ever she wants to write it.

Optional: You can use dots to write the letter(s) and have the child trace over the dots.

The adult writes the name in yellow marker and the child traces the name in a darker color.

In our classroom we have a cornmeal tray.  This is a shallow tray with a thin layer of cornmeal.  The children trace the letters they know in the cornmeal.  This is great fun and is used by all the children. 

Markers: allow the child to decorate her paper with markers after she has practiced writing her name in pencil HOWEVER, for children who have difficultly writing (or may be hard to motivate) allow them to use markers to practice writing their name.  Our goal is leaving the activity with a feeling of success!

Encourage the child to always write her name on her artwork.:)

Ugly Pie

If you've been itchin' for some Ugly Pie, today is your lucky day! Here's Ol' Bear's recipe, handed down from bear to bear for generations.
Ugly Crust:
2 & 1/2 cups flour
1 cup shortening (we used butter)
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 to 8 tablespoons icy cold water

Ugly Filling
6 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples (we used apples given to us by a family from their apple tree)
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a large bowl, toss apple slices with lemon juice. Then mix in molasses until apples are completely coated with ugly brown goo. Set aside.
5 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the dry ingredients listed above. Add to the ugly apple mixture until everything is nice 'n' moist.
3/4 cup red raisins or cran-raisins
1/4 walnuts chopped fine (we left out the nuts)

Toss raisins and walnuts into apple mixture. Make sure all ingredients are well coated. Place into pie crust. Your pie should look fairly ugly by now.
Top with second pie crust and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Cover pie with an aluminum-foil tent to prevent over browning. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes.
When your pie is done, you will have the most delicious, most beautiful UGLY PIE you ever did see!
Enjoy~