Spontaneous Delight

We really missed Ethan and his bright smile! This time teaching, I lucked out. Basically it was a party with the kids. The lesson tried to instill in them that it's okay to be silly sometimes and to find delight in things. : )

I agree with Sarah, that perhaps I'm the one having the most fun! I really hope the kids had a good time - the time really flew by. The kids even tried to perform a song called "Doodle Caboodle" for their moms. Even though I was the only one singing, I know they know the words to at least the first line because I heard each of them singing it throughout the day!

I am so proud of Ches wanting to go to the potty! Mark was so sweet - he let Ches observe him using the potty but waited until Elise & I were out of sight. Afterward, Ches very excitedly said, "He gets a truck! He gets a truck!" That was funny.

They loved blowing bubbles even though it was really windy. We also played with play dough, pretended we were turtles, shook hands with doorknobs, and read really silly books. They especially loved the three listed below.

This one is called "Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina.

Like Sarah, I am so grateful for the blessing JoySchool has been to me and my family! Elise lives for JoySchool days to see her friends. Today during FHE, Aaron asked Elise, "Who do you love?" The first thing she said (even before Mommy & Daddy & Elijah - which took some prompting : ) was, "Um, my friends!" I feel that I am gaining valuable tools to help me be a better teacher and mother to my own children. I am so grateful for this great bunch of kids, and for you moms. Our lives have been greatly enriched by your kindness & friendship, as well as your children & their love. We love you guys!

The Magic of Discovering

So I must confess that I think I'm enjoying Joyschool more than the kids are- and not just the one-on-one time with Isaac! I loved these 2 lessons. We spent the first day "discovering" new things. We figured out riddles together, finger painted (thank heavens for the big art shirts) and went on a "treasure" hunt, but I think everyone's favorite was the magic tricks. I'm definitely no David Copperfield, but the kids thought I was. Mark spent the whole time watching very intently and trying to figure out the secret. Ches was so cute- he would say "Abakadaba" every time I waved my wand. Elise was the perfect little audience and even ooed a few times which boosted my ego a little I must admit. Ethan missed the tricks while he was at the ear doctor but it warmed my heart to see his excited little face when he walked in and found all his friends there waiting for him. I can't thank you moms enough for doing Joyschool. It has been the most wonderful blessing for our entire family!

First Field Trip

We had our first field trip this Tuesday. Going with our topic of Interest and Curiousity, we went to the library to find books about bees. The trip was a great success. The kids were exceptionally good on the long walk from my apartment to the library.
They held on to the rope and didn't let go until I told them to. Then at the library they were very well behaved and attentive. They listened as I told them how to look up topics on the computer, helped me look for the book, and watched as the librarian tried to help us look. Unfortunately my statement of "if you need help, ask the librarian and she can help you find what you are looking for" turned out to be false, as even she could not find the book that supposedly had 2 copies on the shelf. We still found other books about bees that the kids were fascinated with. It was so cute as they all stamped their books and took turns handing them to the librarian with their library card. I don't know about your kids, but Ches has us reading his bee book to us multipl times a day.

As I said before, this module was Interest and Curiousity. Last Thursday we spent most of the day doing experiments and asking questions. Tuesday we also focused on asking questions, and I really encouraged the kids to ask lots of questions.


Mark came up with some great questions. My favorite was while we were doing our craft. Elise was putting her craft t-shirt dress on and he asks "Why does Elise always wear dresses?" Very observant little kid! It started a lively discussion about what boys and girls wear and ended with Mark saying "I don't wear dresses, I wear boy clothes."

Ethan is so fun to watch during song time. He may not sing the songs, but he does whatever action I do, and remembers it for every time we sing that song. Sarah, if you haven't seen it, play/sing the bee song for him. "Today I heard a buzz" He was also so funny as we were walking to the library. I was asking lots of questions, trying to prompt some from the kids, and everytime I asked a question Ethan would say "I know!" then I would say "What is it?" His reply, "I don't know."

Elise was so well behaved. She was such a good helper, and it seemed to me like she was constantly looking for acts of servic to perform (just like her mommy!) My favorite was when Ches was whining for another muffin, and Elise still had most of hers, she breaks off a piece and offers it to him all on her own. She was also very good at singing the songs.

Last but not least, a big thanks to Jackie for her help with the field trip and taking these pictures. Seriously couldn't have done it without you, especially with Ellie AND Annika.