ptc

It's the most wonderful time of the school year. parent teacher conferences.

I can remember when I was in school having to attend them or face the facts when my parents arrived home from them. yikes. I think everyone has the mind-set that ptc are just plain not fun.

And here's my soapbox on preschool ptc:

Contrary to popular belief, preschool ptc are not just about whether or not Susie can color in the lines. She's in preschool, of course she can't! And they aren't just about how Jonny pees his pants everyday. He's in preschool, of course he does! Preschool isn't about fun and games, peeing and picking your nose anymore. Sure, that stuff happens, but everything has educational merit. It is grounded in the fact that every moment of your preschool child's day in Miss Becker's room is a learning/growing moment.
When we check the weather in the morning and dress our "Weather Frog" for the day we are working on our observation skills. What do we see when we look outside? Sunny and snow on the ground! It must be cold then, right? Of course. So, let's dress the frog! Well, now we are learning sequence. What article of clothing goes on first? Certainly not the shoes! Pants of course, then the shirt, and so on! Now he's ready. Alright, now let's graph the weather. One square in the sunny column to represent our sunny day. Now, let's count how many sunny days we have total. 7! Look at us, now we are working on one-to-one correspondence and data analysis. We even get technical and pattern the days in each column. Now, we're talking!

So, those of you with that silly misconception in your head that preschool is puppies and rainbows, why don't you come on over to Miss Becker's room and we'll show you that we mean business!
However, sometimes we talk about puppies and rainbows....only to learn and grow as preschoolers though. :)

When my parents walk into my room for their child's conference I can show them, with hard evidence, that their child is learning. Look at how Billy drew circles and lines all over this paper. Those are the foundational pieces his needs to start writing. We can now start working with him on writing letters, which will in turn lead to knowing the sound those letters make, which we all know leads to reading! Hallelujah! Jenny was in the house center today and lined up all of the plates, cups, silverware in colored patterns. She is building a solid foundation in patterning and order which will help her later in finding patterns in numbers and multiplication facts. Preschool is the entryway to your child's educational future. Do NOT underestimate it.

Let me get off this soapbox....

Now when someone talks about going to a conference for their preschool child, you can smile your smug little smile and nod your head up and down because you know just how important those conferences are. And you know the moment you find out you're going to have a child you will start looking for the perfect preschool for them. Don't deny it...you will.

That's all for me tonight. Happy Early Weekend!

i'll take snow days for $800 alex

I suppose I should start off with Happy New Year! 2010!

Looking back over the decade I remember myself graduating from 8th grade in 2000 under a cover of severe storms and tornadoes, graduating from high school in 2004 under a cover of severe storms and tornadoes, graduating from college in 2008 under a cover of pesky rain, taking my first official real world job under the cloudless skies of Des Moines, moving to Omaha in the worst heat my body has ever experienced in America, and then teaching preschool in Council Bluffs in, what seems like endless, snowstorm after snowstorm. What a great 10 years it has been. The weather....well, let's just say it better start listening to my silent weather prayers.

As of right now we have had a total of 6 snow days and they have come in 3's. If we have one more snow day we will be going to school in June, and that is not what I am about. I have never been in school or work in a school where that happened. Now is not the time to start.

We are 11 days in to the New Year and 11 out of 11 of those days I have been sick. Nasty, I know. Happy New Year to me. I suppose I am just putting my time in now. Better to just get it over with I guess.

At the moment I am sitting at my desk at school while my students are resting. Since we haven't had school for 3 days all of my plans were ready to go when I got here this morning, which was nice. So, for once, I actually have time for myself. I know, how incredibly selfish of me. But hey, they are all asleep and if I wasn't on here I would be sleeping too. And here's a nice little something for ya, my sister is visiting Omaha so she is currently at school with me too. I think she is enjoying it, although she is very tired. I know it's been a while since she's seen 6:30am and ran around with preschool kids. But, the kids love her! And it's given me a chance to take some assessment notes and such.

Well, I suppose I should be off. My New Year's resolution should be to blog more often...but, I've never been one to make those. I never know what to abstain from or give up or do...so I just choose not to. Lame, yes. I'll take that.