I have worked to create a cohesive group.
We have our things in common, things that other kids in the school can see. They are a little envious and my kids are, well, a little smug. I'm not trying to make them that way, but it does make me happy. They like being with me. They know I like them and enjoy hanging out with them.
But there are things in my program that they really enjoy. Stuff that doesn't happen during school days.
Every spring we tie dye t shirts. We have an official 'wear your dye day' and everyone wears their shirts.
In the afternoons, when school gets out, kids walk past our room in the hallway and peek in through the blocked open door or the windows.
Artemus is also part of the package.
He has a costume for almost every occasion, but we realized today that he doesn't have one for Thanksgiving.
So Hayden helped me turn Artemus into a turkey this afternoon.
We have our things in common, things that other kids in the school can see. They are a little envious and my kids are, well, a little smug. I'm not trying to make them that way, but it does make me happy. They like being with me. They know I like them and enjoy hanging out with them.
But there are things in my program that they really enjoy. Stuff that doesn't happen during school days.
Every spring we tie dye t shirts. We have an official 'wear your dye day' and everyone wears their shirts.
In the afternoons, when school gets out, kids walk past our room in the hallway and peek in through the blocked open door or the windows.
Artemus is also part of the package.
He has a costume for almost every occasion, but we realized today that he doesn't have one for Thanksgiving.
So Hayden helped me turn Artemus into a turkey this afternoon.
He called the snood (that's the red thing on a turkey that so many people mistakenly refer to as a wattle) the 'dinker doinker'. Which made me smile.
I drew and cut out the pieces, he colored them. He was really excited to be part of it. I try to make sure the kids are invested in the things we do. Not all the kids like art projects, but they do participate in quite a few other activities together.
The downside of all that togetherness is that they begin behaving like siblings. They're quite comfortable arguing with each other and making each other angry. They do it on purpose.
But most of the time, we have a good time in our program.
Artemus seems to enjoy himself. Always grinning.
Artemus Snood. Sounds like a character out of "A Christmas Carol". I can understand the mixup between wattle & snood too. The wattle is what turkeys (and a few of we humans) have dangling off our necks. One can only hope we don't figure out how to grow our own snoods. Would a handle bar mustache count?
ReplyDeleteI don't want to discuss my hangy-downed neck, thank you. :-D
DeleteMy brother, the mighty hunter, has a plaque he had done at a taxidermist, it's a photo of him with his two boys and the beard and some feathers and I'm not sure what from the turkey they hunted about 20 years ago. My mom has given it a place of honor in her hallway. Sort of appalling.But I bet my kids would like to see it. Haha.
Well, Artemus is rather.....dashing in that outfit. What a fun activity, dressing him up for the seasons. Does he always "hang out" in the space you have for the kids?
ReplyDeleteHe's out every day when we're there. The room is a multi purpose room, used all day long with different grade levels meeting to plan events, teachers who work on the lower level eating their lunches, this and that. So I put the program away every morning and every evening, Artemus included. I have colored tri-fold boards with different things on them, one for the sign in and out table, that one has our day care license, snack menu, activity plan etc, there's one for the homework table, one with our reading board (we put on a big sticker every day we read for 20 minutes) and various rugs and toys to stow. It sounds like a lot, but it's really only about 20 minutes to get it all out and 10 or so to put it away.
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