Yesterday, I was invited to come to your Mother’s Day celebration at school. Before the celebration, there was another event. When that was over, there was time to play outside. I asked you to pose by the tree since it was so beautiful outside. You agreed, but did not really want to smile.
Then, it was time to head inside. Your classroom was decorated for us when we walked into the room. All of the special guests had seats behind the kids at the table. It was so cute and wonderful. I went up to get us something for a snack and you had fun sharing them with me.
Once all of the guests had arrived, your entire class sang us a Mom Song. I got it on video and will cherish it forever. Then, you got the presents that you made. You were so proud of your creation.
Of course, I have to laugh now. You have taken my gift and claimed what you want to keep in it. Thank you JSL for making yesterday such a fun and special day.
Love,
Mommy
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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.
Growing up, I loved art class. I may not have been the best at drawing, but it was fun and helped me to relax. In elementary school, I would stress over my art work looking like my classmates. Middle school was a blur for a lot of reasons. High school changed things. My freshman Studio Art teacher was an amazing woman. She inspired me to be myself in my art. She told me not to worry about what others thought and enjoy.
Thanks to Ms. W, I continued on with art every year in high school. I took several classes that were on painting and, in my last year of high school, art, pottery, and sculpture filled the end of my day. Art classes were something that was a perk for me. I was lucky to go to a school that had a variety of options in high school. Then, in college, while working on my teaching degree, I took an Art & Learning course. This course was a lot of work, but oh so rewarding.
I remember studying different artists over the years during classes. My bedroom was decorated with Monet’s Water Lilies and I adored it. Art appreciation continues to be part of my life. JSL’s nursery school class recently completed a unit on artists. They studied Seurat (one of my favorites thanks to his dots) and here is JSL’s version of Mondrian:
So my question to you this week is inspired by my love of art:
Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.
It is no secret that my boys love technology. They are not afraid to jump on a computer and they LOVE my iPod. Since I inherited the iPod from my parents, I have been trying to figure out some good educational applications for JSL. At almost four, JSL wants to do things like his big brother, but he needs learning tools that are developmentally appropriate.
Yes, we have games for the kids. My favorite items are still the ones that focus on some area of learning in a fun way where the boys do not realize it is happening. I guess the teacher in me will always be present. As part of the Family Review Network, I was recently I was asked to review Letter Buddies AlphaBooks by Cavallo Media. Here is the video that I previewed that made me know it was something I wanted to try with my preschooler:
Available in the iTunes Store for $2.99. Released March 18, 2011 in the Education category. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and also an iPad version.
What We Thought of Letter Buddies AlphaBooks:
As a certified reading teacher, I was very intrigued with an application for younger children that begins to introduce early reading skills. When I put Letter Buddies AlphaBooks onto the iPod, JSL and I sat down on the couch to check it out together. We decided to try out the letter F first. JSL receives speech therapy, and this is the sound that he is working on. Within seconds the iPod was pulled out of my hand and I sat and watched my three year old son participate in an interactive letter lesson.
We were introduced to Furry F and asked if we knew any words that start with the letter F. JSL sat there and said a few of them without me prompting him. Yes, at three he was responding to the cues of the application. Then I watched as the flashcard like photos and words came onto the screen.
A fan was shown. JSL would say it, move to the next screen where Furry F was with the Fan having his fur blown. The screen said “I like the fan.” JSL repeated this carefully looking at the words and getting his proper sounds out.
This repeated for five more words introduced by Furry F including: flower, feather, fire, fork, and fish.
While waiting for his speech lesson, JSL continued to explore other letters. Just looking at the menu he was starting to recognize his letters. The start sounds and word/letter recognition was amazing. JSL was actively engaged and would have kept going, but it was time for his speech lesson.
Of course, JSL HAD to show his teacher what he was trying. She was intrigued by the application and watched as JSL repeated the Furry F section. We both admired how this could be another great tool to use with JSL to reinforce start sounds with words. Of course, the reading teacher in me also knew he was really homing in on pre-reading skills as well. It was a win-win application.
JSL continues to ask to use Letter Buddies AlphaBooks to this day. He adores “chatting” with the characters and picking different books. I would recommend this to others looking for an interactive early literacy application for the preschool set.
Disclosure: This post was written for Family Review Network, and Cavallo Media who supplied me with a complimentary code for my honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are 100% mine.
Plans come and go, especially as a parent. The boys were supposed to be in school today, and I was going to write a review on a new book for Tuesday Tales. Instead, TechyDad and I will be researching school options for our boys. Over the last year, a lot has changed. Things that had been acceptable are now terribly bad.
For weeks I have wanted to sit down and vent on my blog about the happenings, but knew it was not the right thing to do. Still, I need to write something. I have to come clean that things are not going well.
I actually went to school on Friday and removed my son at 9:30 in the morning. Why? Quite simply we feared for his safety. Our son was punched in the ribs and had bruises after another child attacked him.
I want to say more, but need to save it. This was not the firs incident and we believe that our son was the victim of bullying. There is no acceptance in my world for bullying. People that look the other way and constantly make excuses for the bully will not be tolerated – it’s that simple.
Have you or your child had to deal with bullying at school? If you have I would really like to hear from you. How did your school respond? Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
What had once seemed so clear, is now quite blurry. As a parent, the unknown can be so very difficult – especially if you once believed in something.
