Election Day in Pre-K

Tomorrow is ELECTION DAY here in the U.S.! Politicians will be campaigning, citizens will be voting. The children will have the day off, as most of the schools in our area are voting precincts. By Wednesday, we will know who will lead our country for the next four years. I've already voted, as I planned to be at NAEYC and away from my voting precinct. I wanted my vote to be counted. I won't tell you who I voted for---that's personal, and quirky as it may be, I don't even share that with my husband or children. It's serious business, much too serious for kids. Or is it? While many of the political issues may be WAY over their heads, many will stand at their parents' side as ballots are cast. Children are curious about what is going on. 

Today, we had a discussion about politics. We talked about the reason we vote, and how that is our chance as a citizen to let our voice be heard. I related it to the children's jobs at school, and how different people might do a job differently, using simple terms in a way they might understand. We vote on a variety of things in preschool, so they got the basic idea. Eventually, one of the kids said, "My dad's voting for so-and-so." Then, "well, my mom is voting for them, too!" During the informal conversation, it seemed that most of the kids thought Romney would be the winner.

Just for fun, we set up a voting booth so the children could vote on who they thought would win the election. 

We converted our puppet theater, using shoe boxes, pictures of the candidates, and index cards with a big sticker for the ballot. (No hanging chads here! ;) 

The children went into the booth, away from where the other waiting children could see, and "cast their ballot". 

After voting, they even received a sticker to show they had voted!

When all the ballots were cast, we counted and re-counted the votes together, which made for a fantastic little math lesson. 

Interesting~ when we discussed the candidates early on, the definitely leaned toward Romney, but the finally tally showed Obama a clear winner! Now, we'll see how accurate their predictions are when the final count is in tomorrow!

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My American Privilege Day 5 of 22 Days of Thankfulness

I am thankful that I have both fulfilled my American duty and taught my students a little about the process! I'm thankful I was able to vote early, as I'm headed off to Atlanta to the 2012 NAEYC Annual Conference, and I wanted to make sure my vote was cast. (You knew I'd have to work that in there, didn't you?) Our class talked a little about the democratic process and participated in a little vote of our own. 
What are you thankful for in your school or blogging life?

I'd love to start a trend! If you'd like to join in the fun and share your "Days of Thankfulness", be sure to leave a link here so others can be inspired! 


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Drama Camp Production

Most of what I post here are things I do with my preschool class. Today, I'm posting as a mom and sharing some of my daughter's summer adventures.


 One of our local high schools has a phenomenal drama program. A few years ago, they started a week long drama camp called "Next Stop Broadway" for kids in first through ninth grade. In this week long camp, the high school kids teach the campers all aspects of the theater, from acting to props to make up to planning and putting on a finale production. My daughter has been going for years and this is her last year as a camper. Next year, she'll be eligible to be a counselor. Every year, I am in awe at the director/drama teacher, Mr. Steve Hansen's ability to round up this group of kids and help them put on a production from the ground up, in just a week. 


This year, they put on a production of Disney's "Cinderella Kids". I'm hoping video of that will be posted soon. Here's the music video they made to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe". I think they did a fantastic job and it looks like everyone was having a lot of fun!

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Jump Rope For Heart in PRE-K!!!!

As readers here know, February was filled with fundraising activities for American Heart Month. In addition to participating in the heart project here, my class participated in our First Annual Jump Rope For Heart Event, Pre-K Edition. We collected and raised funds all month for this event. On "Leap Day", February 29th, we held our event. Our company has 3 schools with 5 Georgia Pre-K classes and 1 private Pre-K class, about 120 students in all. We invited all the classes to our school for this wonderful day of fitness and fun.

Just  because the majority of our kids are not yet jumping rope, we didn't let that stop us from making this a great heart healthy event. We managed to come up with 12 activity stations that involved a jump rope in one way or another. For some activities, we simply used a jump rope as the finish line.


Tug o' War
Even the teachers got in on the act! 

 


Jump Over The X!
We crossed two jump ropes to form an "X" and placed cards with the numbers 1,2,3,4 in each section. The teacher called numbers in a sequence and the kids had to jump back and forth between spots.

Limbo!
We had a Limbo station set up with Limbo music. This was definitely one of the favorite stations!

 




High Jump Limbo
 Sort of a reverse-limbo. The kids took turns jumping over the rope as it gradually raised higher and higher. 

 


Hula Hoop Obstacle Course

                          

 


Exercise Station
We used a Shawn Brown Exercise Drill to direct the kids in a mini cardio workout!

  

 

Bean Bag Throw
The kids tossed the bean bag as far as they could throw it. We marked the length with a jump rope. Everybody took turns trying to throw farther than the rope.

                           

 


Long Leap
How far can you jump? 

                          

                        




Potato Sack Race
Since the point of the day was to have fun while getting a little exercise, it was perfectly okay for teachers to help out a little. We had several friends in the different classes with physical disabilities,  activities were easily adaptable for everyone!

                                     

 

3 Legged Race
Team work!!!

                                

                            

 


We had two stations that were inside, the Estimation Station and the Refreshment Station.


The Estimation Station
In the Estimation Station, kids guessed how many friends would fit inside a jump rope, then two jump ropes  formed into a closed circle. The kids then tried to see how many kids actually fit inside and then compared their numbers.

The Refreshment Station
Definitely a favorite station, but instead of being "heart healthy" this station made the friends "heart happy"! Nothing is better than a day of fun that includes popsicles! 

                                

There were no losers --- everyone went home a winner! The point of the stations was to give each activity a try and have fun with our sister schools. I forgot to mention that it was also "Wacky Wednesday" of Dr. Seuss Week, so many of our participants were wearing their "wackiest wear"! The crazy outfits just added to the fun of the day! It was a lot of fun, and we successfully raised quite a bit of money for a very worthy cause. 


I'm linking this post up to two wonderful linkys on outdoor play. Be sure to check them out~ you'll find lots of ideas on outdoor play! 


Be sure to check out the "LEAPing In! Encouraging Children to Be Active!" post by Amy Ahola from Child Central Station on the group blog, PreK+K Sharing. You'll find wonderful posts and ideas like Amy's post there! I'm proud to be a monthly contributor on this wonderful collaboration of ECE bloggers! 

Also, be sure to check out "Outdoor Play Link-Up - Risky Business" by my friend Kierna over at Learning For Life. I'm linking this to the OUTDOOR PLAY linky by: 

 MAMA PEA POD

GREENING SAM AND AVERY

LEARNING FOR LIFE

THE GOLDEN GLEAM

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