ABCs & 123s

It's so easy to want to sing the alphabet song and just keep repeating the numbers 1-10 and call it a day, but why not take a few extra steps to make learning FUN?! That is one thing I try to bring to our every day lessons. Smiles and giggles make a hard day so much easier!

Foam floor tiles with numbers on them can be a fun game when placed like hop scotch tiles and as the kids jump on each number they say what number it is. Put them in mixed order to change it up and then just take them all apart and have them around the room, tell the student to jump from tile to tile and say the number they are on. Make it grow with the child by having them jump from one to another and ADD the sum of the 2 numbers!

Take the learning outdoors with jumbo foam letters! Get that case of the ants in your pants outdoors with learning fun. Toss jumbo letters on the ground and have them put them in alphabetical order, spell their name, shout a letter and have them find that one, have them spell spelling words or sight words...the games are endless!! Remember, you can be creative for pennies!!

Clothespins are something that can always be found in my classroom! They are easily transitioned from the laundry room into the school room. In this game I have put the lower case letters on the clip and have them matched up to the upper case letters. This is an easy do, but also keep the kids entertained as they work. Have extra space? Hang rope in the room and make it a laundry line game, the kids will love it so much more, just place the flashcards in a basket and tell them to hang the laundry on the matching clip that is already on the line.

Enjoy every minute my friends!!!

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Classroom Tips!

Happy Thursday & Happy Birthday to my marvelous husband!! This is one of the Molten Lava Cupcakes I baked at 11pm last night, so that I could wish him a happy birthday with one right at Midnight! It was a wonderful time together & I wish him many more years of love and happiness. He is an awesome dad and the best husband a girl could ask for.

Worried about class behavior? Do you have some outspoken students? Try rewarding GOOD behavior instead of giving attention to the bad choices being made. This is a pail in which I put names of students that I catch being good. Whether it's helping out someone else, sitting and working quietly, achieving something awesome...anything at all of the sort. At the end of the 2 weeks I pull a name and that person gets to pick from the treasure box. Our treasure box holds a variety of items (Special eraser & Pencil packs, Art Supplies, new books, craft supplies, games etc.) but the most popular items in the box??? TIME WITH YOU cards! They are simple postcards with fun outings on them, that take place outside of the home with a parent and just the winning child. The kids go MAD for these! It's completely obvious how much they love that one on one time. 

One negative about schooling year-round? The non-stop ringing of our doorbell with different neighborhood children asking my kids to go out and play. After the first week of this, I had the kids make a door hanging sign that will go on the backdoor. Now the kids know when to ring the doorbell and when it's not a good idea. I am slipping this through the laminating machine and then we will be in business for the rest of the Summer!

Looking for ways to display art work or to use as a drying rack? This cafe rod is sold inexpensively in a multipack and just hooked onto the wall using cup hooks. I used curtain clips to hold the art work and it's done! Simple, inexpensive and awesome! It allows for multiple small gallery displays throughout a classroom!

Brave the storm and a rainbow will follow. Enjoy every minute my friends!

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Mother's Day Fun!

With Mother's Day coming right around the corner, I have had my thinking cap on. For myself? No way, for the grandmothers! Isn't it amazing that on Mother's Day, we still can't kick back and enjoy? I think I get a 5 minute celebration but it's hurrrrryyyy uppppp the rest of the day as we rush to Mass and then off in the car for a 1 hour and 30 minute drive to meet Nana and take her to brunch to celebrate, then a hurried phone call to Mexico to wish my grandmother a happy day. Grab the check from brunch and hop in the car for an hour to the cemetery to drop some flowers off to my other grandmother. A full speed drive for another 40 minutes to see my mother-in-law and husband's grandma for dessert before the final 1 hour and 20 minute drive back home, where we arrive exhausted and a bit late for people that must be up early for work and school the next day. Insanity is the true word.

We are keeping the gifts fairly small this year as the budget is tight with property taxes being due! In place of the cards, I made up these cute little newspaper templates for the kids to write personal notes to their grandma & nana!

The Grandma Gazette was done first and I printed them on manila paper to give that aged look. The kids used colored pencils, markers and crayons to brighten the pages and even used real photos on some.

The Nana Gazette was next! I was going to make it the Nana News but the kids just learned the word Gazette and it stuck, they liked saying it and wanted to keep it again! 

Enjoy every minute and try to take at least 10 minutes for yourself!

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