Sharing and Service

The kids are so wonderful and naturally inclined to help each other, that sharing and service seems simple to teach. Here is an example of Ethan serving Elise. She was having a little bit of trouble with a puzzle and started to ask for my help, but Ethan ran over and said "I'll help!". As you can see, he was really focused on doing a good job. It was very sweet and fit right in with our theme. The kids all got to draw a picture for someone else. At first I thought that sounded a little silly when I first read the lesson, but the kids loved it! They really had a lot of joy giving the picture to the person they made it for and from receiving the picture from the person who made it for them. I wish I could have captured that, but this will have to suffice. They are showing the picture that was made for them. Ches was very thorough and decisive on what his picture would look like. Mark was mostly excited by the service chart and couldn't wait to get started. Elise is always a good helper, especially in making sure the boys are following the rules! We made cookies for the doorman of the apartment building and the kids were happy to give them to him, but they also asked the moment the cookies were handed over, "Can we go back and play now?" Well, we can't expect perfection, they are only 3!

We can make others happy!

This week's lessons were mostly centered on relationships and communicating. We read lots of books on sharing and caring and how our actions can make others happy or sad. It is truly amazing to see these kids growing up before my eyes. They really are internalizing these messages and are such sweet little individuals. I love "Joy"school because it really is teaching them to be joyful in their lives.
Joy boy came to visit on the first day about 10 minutes before noon. Usually by this time the kids are bouncing off the walls and need some individual book time or a little free play time. As soon as I pulled out Joy boy, they all sat up and were so excited and yet calm. They listened to what he had to say and it was amazing to see the love on their faces. They sang with him and then all insisted on hugging him before I put him away. On Tuesday they had the chance to be the puppets themselves. Ches was the only one to understand he needed to hide under the bench but they all really enjoyed it. (Isaac did too as he blocked more than half of my pictures of the group)

They really are all great kids and I'm so glad that they are wonderful friends to not only each other, but to the younger babies in each home.

Talk Talk Talk

This week, I had the chance to end a unit and start a new one. On Thursday we had lots of fun summing up the Honesty unit, including puppet shows, puppet making, and pigs in a blanket! During free play time I had the joy school cd playing and when the witch song came on Ches yelled, "It's the witch song. Elise! Run and hide!!" I think we all know about Elise's original trauma to the witch song. It cracked me up. Then of course, during "song review time" when I asked if the kids wanted to sing a halloween song, they all wanted the witch song. Then, during snack time on Tuesday, they all spontaneously broke out into the witch song. So cute.

We started our unit and talked about talking! We talked about how dogs show their feelings (barking, wagging, etc.), and how people tell their feelings ("I'm happy, I'm sad," etc.). When I asked why dogs don't TELL us how they feel, Ethan kept shouting out random answers until Mark rolled his eyes and said, "Because animals can't talk!!" It just made me laugh, because he was trying to give the other kids a chance to answer right, but in the end he just couldn't hold it in


We talked about how it is nice to have friends to talk to, and I asked them all who their friends were. It was very sweet because all of them mentioned their family. Then when I asked who their friends were besides their family, they all mentioned eachother's names. It took a little more prodding for them to remember they had even MORE friends. Then we made paper talking friends. I told them to tell me which one was them, and who was they other friend so could write their name. I thought it was very sweet that Ethan was the first to shout out that his friend was his mommy. Then he kept switching back and forth between mommy and Isaac. I don't remember who said it first, but Elise and Mark both picked eachother. They were pretty excited about that. Ches cycled through all of the JS friends but then picked Annika.

I must note, that before free play time I reminded them that we can talk to eachother a lot to work things out and be friends, just like the song "talk talk talk". This was probably the most peaceful free play time we have ever had. They were so good about talking to eachother and working things out. It was great.


Oh, and they loved playing musical spots. Definitely have to do that again.

Halloween Party

JoySchool was great fun last week because we got to have a little Halloween party. Ethan arrived exclaiming, "I'm wearing my dinosaur pants!" Ches arrived in his costume and wanted me to call him "Buzz." : ) Mark and Elise were just excited to get on with the partying!

Tiana's pictures of the kids turned out better than mine - I love this picture because they look so happy!

We had a short lesson about the different feelings we have and that it is okay to feel frustrated or scared sometimes. We read "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst which was about being frustrated / grumpy and "Let's Go Home, Little Bear," by Martin Waddell & Barbara Firth which was about feeling a little scared.

I took a couple pics of our Halloween decorations and treats. I completely forgot about roasting the pumpkin seeds from Gina's lesson. The kids scooped it all out themselves and everything - (sigh) sorry! But I did make orange jello with plastic spiders and snakes suspended in it, boiled eggs & veggies. Sarah is wonderful and donated candy, sugar cookies and sprinkles. She frosted and decorated some really cute ones. (I don't know if you can see the pumpkin and bat cookies below...)

The following picture is of the kids singing their cute songs about carving a pumpkin and a mean old witch with a hat! All the kids all sang really well, and did all the motions. I was totally out of sync with the music but Mark led the group in giving a great, big "boo!" right on cue!

Thanks everyone, this was a fun party and a great start to our Halloween celebrations!

Pumpkin Growing and Pumpkin Carving

We got to learn so much this time at Joyschool. The kids go to make happy, sad, mad, etc., faces on pumpkins and talk about feelings. Ches was most enthusiastic for a mean face! I guess I did this a little backwards, but the first picture is of our finished pumpkin. The kids were all great at being curious and helping design the pumpkin. I thought it would turn out more messy, but they were surprisingly clean! We turned out the lights and put in a candle and the kids all thought that was the best! Mark loved to dig in and get his hands dirty!

Elise was a little more methodical and probably got the most seeds out of the pumpkin!

Ches would rather dictate how to make the face. The actual digging out of the pumpkin was a little too icky for him.

Ethan at first was a little hesitant, but he made sure he used the scooper to avoid really touching the pumpkin. He actually was quite skilled.

The kids were very proud of their growing pumpkin vines!

Taking Care of Nature and Pets

There were so many memorable moments from these two lessons that it makes me smile just to think of them. Thursday morning we had visits from Jerry the Gerbil (Christopher was very gracious to share him with us) who the kids could not seem to pet enough. Gina explained all about him and the kids we so excited to be able to feel his whiskers and pet his soft fur. Then Jacky showed us their new Beta fish named Nemo. Again the kids were enthralled and it was wonderful to see their little smiling faces. Thanks Jacky and Gina for sharing with us and being so patient with all the little hands so excited to touch the pets. The kids learned a lot about taking care of animals and being kind to nature. We made bird feeders out of pine cones and they were all a little grosed out by the feel of peanut butter on their hands and seeds sticking to them. On Tuesday we learned about taking care of the Earth. They laughed histerically as we dropped "trash" on the floor and sang a song about littering. Elise smirked at me when I had them each draw a picture of nature and then told them to glue pieces of trash onto it like someone had littered. It was fun to watch how excited they were to clean up the field we walked to. We actually needed bigger bags which really surprised me! I hope you're all seeing these lessons internalized in their lives as I am. Tuesday afternoon we were at the park and Ethan ran up to me with trash in his hand, so excited to show me that someone had littered and he was picking it up. They really are all great kids!

The Roly Poly Bug & the Earth

Serendipitously, while we were waiting for everyone to show up for JoySchool, Mark discovered a Roly Poly bug on the sidewalk! It was suggested in the lesson and despite my hunting the day before, I only found 3 ants that suffered disastrous deaths (Elise & Elijah?). I was so grateful to him! We made him a little home but forgot to give it to Mark to take home! We released it back into the wild a few days later and my kids were so sad to see him leave!

During this lesson we made a quick craft: "Nature Viewers" in preparation for the nature walk they kids got to take with Tiana in the next class. These are the books the kids looked at and that we read together: "What the Sea Saw" by Stephanie St. Pierre. "This Year's Garden" by Cynthia Rylant.

"The Rainy Day" by Anna Milbourne and Sarah Gill. "When the Earth wakes up" by Ani Rucki.

We played a "game" of separating items into groups of what things come from the earth and what things are man-made... Some were very tricky such as that water bottle and can of tuna. I'm not quite sure if the kids grasped the man-made idea, but they all had a pretty good idea what things came from the earth.

Enjoying our picnic or PBJ sandwiches, grapes, lemonade and fruit snacks. Luckily Tiana showed up early and helped me dish everything out while I was chasing little ones (Elijah) around the playground.

Capturing spontaneous joy!

More Joy of the Body

These lessons on the body and earth were great! During the playdough session, Ches created a kind of zoo. I thought that was really creative! The others liked it so much they mimicked his creation in their own way.

We had a fun "work out" session to talk about how we can take care of our bodies. I slipped in Aaron's "Earth, Wind, and Fire" ('70's music) and we stretched, did some jumping jacks, windmills, arm circles and a lot of marching in a circle through the kitchen and living room.

Then we got to measure and weigh all the kids! Everyone was just the right size and weight for themselves, (nevermind the fact that I couldn't find my tape measure and so I just drew a line on the wall). It was still fun!

According to my scale, Mark weighed 36.6, Ethan weighed 32.4, Ches weighed 35.6, Elise weighed 29.4 and Elijah weighed 23.2. However, I'm sure your pediatrician measurements are much more accurate!

We strung cheerios to make necklaces for our craft to demonstrate some things our bodies can do as well as an example of something good that we can eat to make our bodies healthy and strong.

Ches enjoyed eating the Cheerios by the handful. I would compliment all the children on their progress, and told Ethan he was super fast.

Mark concentrated intensely and got pretty far. After I told him that he did a good job and that he was fast, Ethan piped up "I'm super fast too, see!"

My favorite time with the kids was sharing time - it was hilarious! (3 of these pictures were borrowed from the internet.) When Mark came I only saw the one car he was holding in his hand, but during his turn to share, he seriously pulled out 4 more from his pockets, "For Ethan and Ches." It was like Mary Poppins' magic bag! That was so thoughtful of him!

Ethan brought a little teddy bear (Sorry not a picture of the real one!) And said he got it because he "watched Brother Bear on my I-Pod!" That was really cute and I can't help but be amazed at all the technology our kids are accustomed to!

Ches brought Skippyjon Jones. We had to read it together - the kids loved it! Pathetically for me, Ches had to help me out with some of the pronouciations - it was funny! I stink at reading in an accent!

Elise shared a princess blanket that her Gramma Lynette sewed for her. She was all smiles, holding it close.

Exercise and Gingerbread Cookies

This unit has been extra fun and the kids really seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Both days I taught we got to bake or cook something. Everyone especially loved making the gingerbread cookies. Rolling out the dough was almost as much fun as eating it! Elise is much more precise and pays attention to having everything done correctly. It's nice to have a little feminine influence!
We got to run and play games and truly feel the joy of our bodies! You can see the joy on their faces. This unit has been almost as relaxing as going to the park. Everything we did, sing, dance, exercise, use hands and senses for cooking, and crafts, helped them to expend energy in a healthy way. We had a wonderful time!

Here are all of the kids showing off there fantastic bodies and how they can move, exercise, jump, dance, etc. We even were very official with exercise bands. To be honest though, they really only used them for a short time and preferred their bodies au naturale! Elise was quite the mover and shaker. Ches kept moving around and I couldn't get a face shot. He was great at spinning!
Ethan liked to do a kind of jumping jack.
Mark experimented with some creative uses for the band!
What an appropriate name is Joyschool. I can't wait to continue onto the next unit!

The Five Senses

I have to tell you, I'm loving this unit. We spent the first day learning about our 5 senses by experiencing those senses. We listened to popcorn pop, smelled it, felt it, saw it, and then to everyone's joy, we tasted it! It was about the same with the chocolate pudding. At first I announced that we were going to paint with pudding. Mark and Elise seemed particularly excited. Ches gave me a confused look and said "but we're not going to eat it?" He was ecstatic when I said he could.
It has been really neat to see each of their personalities come to life.

Elise was very neat with the pudding and used her fingers to carefully make a picture of a face. I actually think it's amazing. Mark was more scientific about the process. He felt the pudding for a while, squishing it between his fingers and then tried different painting techniques from the tip of his finger to whole fisting it.

Chess spent most of the time dipping his entire hand in the pudding and licking it off and then painting a little. He finally settled on fingertip dots. Ethan was not the least bit interested in eating the chocolate (he's definitely not my son there) but really enjoyed putting both hands into the pudding and smearing it everywhere. He was of course the first to declare he was done and ready to get down!
I love having my time off when you moms are teaching but I really have to admit that I love it when it's my turn to teach. They're so full of life and excitement and it always makes me smile. At one point during free play time, Elise had a toy that Ches wanted and after he had asked nicely and she said no, his reply was "but you need to share. Sharing is caring!" I about fell on the floor.

Joy of the Body

I echo Jackie's thoughts on how bright and fun the kids are this semester. They really grew up over the summer. It was so much fun to see their happy smiling faces, and how eager they were to be at school! It just makes teaching them so much fun!! A little funny thing that happened on our first intro day was after we had just finished singing "5 little ducklings". I think the song is funny because the ducks listen to their daddy immediately. So, after it ended I asked the kids if they always listen to their daddy. Ethan said, "I listen to my mommy and my daddy." Then I asked Mark if he did the same and he said, "Yes." Then I asked Elise if she listened to her mommy and daddy, and very seriously she shook her head and said, "No." I just about died laughing.

This week we started the joy of the body. Ches was so excited when we picked up the "body books" from the library, and couldn't wait until his friends came and he could show them the books. They were a big hit. There were a couple points during the morning that all they wanted to do was sit and read the books. Well, Elise didn't think that was the greatest idea after awhile, but every time she went to get a toy the boys would say, "No toys, Elise, just books!"

We had a lot of fun with all of the songs, activities, looking at x-rays (thank you Dave Harper) and talking about our bones and bodies. The kids were so cute during snack time. I made them body and heart shaped oatmeal cookies, and while they were eating they kept commenting on how they were eating it and the food went down into their bodies, and hands and muscles to make them big and strong. We also did an activity where I would show the kids a letter and they made that shape with their bodies. They did a great job individually, and caught on pretty quick when we started doing group ones on the floor; especially after I would show them the picture I took, so they knew what they looked like.



My favorite part was at the beginning when I introduced the topic of the day and then asked who gave us our bodies, almost in unison, all the kids said, "Heavenly Father!" It was nice to see their excitement at knowing this.