Gingerbread Men

Joan and I looked around during activity time and saw kids playing so nicely, including each other, even holding hands with one another as they transitioned from one room to another.   Some of the kids were working with gears, others were coloring and using stickers, others were playing with the kitchen and the dolls, still others were using letter blocks to make words.  Wow, have the kids grown since the beginning of the year.  Their attention span is longer, they've formed connections with one another, and they are becoming more independent as they work!  Maria Montisorri once said, "the greatest sign of success for a teacher is if the children are now working as if I didn't even exist!"  It's a great feeling when that starts developing in the classroom, and it is!!

We've been talking about Gingerbread this week.  On Tuesday we read the original Gingerbread Boy and today we read Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.  We had fun talking about the similarities and differences betweent the two books.  The kids noticed that the fox was the same in both books but in one book the fox ate the gingerbread boy and in the other book the gingerbread boy was saved by Matti in a gingerbread house.  Of course we had to make gingerbread men during art time!  

We also celebrated Emma's 4th birthday on Tuesday.  She brought in jello that we made together in class and we set it outside in the snow to jell!!  It wasn't quite finished when it was snack time so we ate it today instead and it was delicious!!  It was made with cran-apple juice and bovine powder.  We also had cupcakes yesterday and Emma even brought in red and orange peppers to have with ranch dressing!  Thanks Emma for the wonderful treats!!  Happy Birthday!!