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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Friends! Day 4 of 22 Days of Thankfulness

One of the things in my life that I'm most thankful for is friendships.  Over the years, I've come to really value those few true friends. I have one special friend, Becky, that shares my love of preschool teaching. We share thoughts, ideas and great times together. I'm am so thankful that I have someone who gets as excited as I do about teaching early childhood. Whether it is Conscious Discipline, the Twilight Saga (she made me read it ;) or the wonderful, crazy things that go on in our days, we can talk for hours. If it weren't for her, I'd probably drive my husband bonkers! I love her for so many reasons and am so very grateful to have her in my life. 

I am also very fortunate that by the very nature of my job, I get to witness young children's friendships form and flourish. Every year, I have the opportunity and the privilege to help foster these friendships in Pre-K with a new group of "friends". One of the advantages to teaching Pre-K in a child care center is that often, I get to know some of the students and families years before they come to me in Pre-K. There is a very special friendship between two sweet little girls that won't come to Pre-K for a couple of years, yet. I visit them for a few minutes in the morning and get a few hugs and it starts my day off on a great note. I call them my "breakfast club". 

Two of the little girls are the very best of friends. Their families are friends and they've been together forever. They usually arrive within a few minutes of each other. The first to arrive always eagerly awaits the other, often getting special toys out and ready for  them to play together. This special friendship is so amazing to watch, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking of how special their friendship really is. I am so thankful that I get to start my workday almost every day by getting even a small glimpse of this little, but very deep friendship grow!

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! 



Thanks for visiting!  Be sure to leave a little "comment love"---I'd love for you to share your thoughts! 

Check out the little illuminations facebook fan page and see what we're sharing today!

22 Days of Thankfulness

For the last couple of years, my American friends on Facebook have been posting a reason to be thankful each day in November leading up to Thanksgiving. I've decided to play along this year. As I was thinking about the things that I'm thankful for, I thought of so many things that occur in my school day and in my blogging world that I am grateful for. I thought I would share some of those things here, on little illuminations. As it is November 3 today, I'll share Days 1, 2 and 3 in this post. Chances are I'll probably combine some of the days, but hopefully I'll manage to post a new reason each day. 

Day 1, November 1, 2012: 

I am thankful to have discovered blogging. It has helped me to connect with so many wonderful educators. I have really grown as a teacher in the last few years because of it!

 

Day 2, November 2, 2012: 

I am thankful for my wonderful co-teacher/assistant, Mrs. Jenkins. We really work well as a team together. We are very different in our personal lives, but when we come together in the classroom, our minds, actions and words are right on the same page!

Day 3, November 3, 2012: 

I am thankful for my classroom space. I have an amazingly large classroom space that affords me the ability to do just about whatever I want without cramping our learning quarters. When I first visited my school while working at one of our sister schools, I remember thinking that to work in such a fantastic space would be like a teacher's dream come true! I can attest now, that it is!!!

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! 

Fabulous Fall Bulletin Boards

I've had several requests lately to post pictures and ideas of fall bulletin boards. Here are a sample of some of my fall boards (past and present) and boards by other teachers in our school. 

Fall, Leaves, Halloween and Pumpkin Patch Bulletin Boards

From our Infant Room! I wouldn't suggest this for older kids!

Fall Birthday Boards

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Play It Again, Sam! Music In Our Pre-K Class

Most of the teachers at our school know that if they are looking for a song or cd that they can't find, chances are that I will have it. We use music in our classroom activities all day long. I thought I would share with you some of our favorites, so this is by no means a comprehensive list. We enjoy all kinds of music and play quite a variety, from country, to classical, to cultural (like Irish), to rock, to children's favorites. 

Hap Palmer's "Getting To Know Myself" features timeless preschool favorites like "Sammy" and is a must have for every classroom!  You can find it here!

Newbridge Songs For Learning--
     "Holiday Songs" cd is filled with original holiday songs. A teacher's guide gives suggestions and ideas for activities and actions to accompany the songs. You can find it here.
       "Following Directions" cd is filled with action songs that help teach skills needed to follow directions. You can find it here.

"Simple Songs For Preschool" has become one of our favorites! The songs are easy to learn and easy to sing and are topical to children's interests! You can find the cd here on Deborah Stewart's website, Teach Preschool, and listen to a few previews!

Shawn Brown has fabulous rhythms and his music really gets the kids moving! (I've written about him here before: "Super Fun With Shawn Brown". Our two favorites are "Super Fun Show"

And "Super Fun Transitions" which is filled with great songs for transitions, like lining up, cleaning up, coming to the rug and saying goodbye. 

You can find them both here at the Super Fun online store. 

I'm a fan of Jack Hartmann's music and I follow many of the principles of Conscious Discipline, so what could be better than a cd combining the two? This cd is filled with connection making music! Check out "It Starts In The Heart" on the Conscious Discipline website store.

Mr. Al has a ton of great cds and we listen to several. Our absolute favorite of all of Mr. Al's is "Mr. Al: A La Carte"! You can find his website and online store here.

Greg & Steve are very popular and they have tons of cds, as well. You can check out all their great cds in their online store here.
Our two favorites are "Kids In Motion", filled with movement songs and "We All Live Together, Vol. 2" which has great songs for circle time.

I discovered Eric Litwin several years ago at a training, before "Pete the Cat" became wildly popular. I love his versatility--he presents a variety of songs in different musical styles! His music really gets us going. "Smile At Your Neighbor" is great fun to move to, especially the hits "Smile At Your Neighbor", "The Fun Thing" and "The 3 Little Pigs Story Song". We act out the 3 Little Pigs with this song as often as possible! You can click here to find his online store.

I have loved my "Tony Chestnut" cd by The Learning Station  for a long time. We just can't get enough of the great songs on it. We also love "Literacy In Motion" and use it to help make connections to some of the great children's books we read. The Learning Station has tons of great cds, and I'm working on checking them all out. I recently won 2 cds that I didn't have already, so I'm sure they will become fast favorites! I have also discovered that The Learning Station has a FABULOUS youtube channel where you can watch The Learning Station crew performing the great songs and motions! Definitely something to put in your "favorites"!!!

Here's a little "sneak peek" at my class jamming to "Baby Shark" on The Learning Station's youtube channel!

We also use music at naptime. We try to play a variety of soft music, often classical or soothing tunes. We do have two favorite "contemporary" cds that we listen to at nap.

"Bedtime With the Beatles" (blue cover) is an instrumental cd of Beatles hits. You can find it on Amazon here, or at your local record store.

I love Jack Johnson and was thrilled when he did the soundtrack for the "Curious George" movie! The kids love "Sing-A-Longs And Lullabies for the Film Curious George" as much as I do! Look for it on Amazon here or in your local record store.

I'm very excited that I'll have the opportunity to see some of these great names live and in person at the 2012 NAEYC conference next month!!! Look at this snippet of the Conference agenda to see why I'm so excited!

I hope that you have found something here that you will enjoy using in your early childhood setting! Leave a comment about the music your kids enjoy--I'm always on the lookout for new tunes!