Kids First Blog

Be a carpenter and an engineer

Gretchen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:39:32 +0000

This Saturday, November 7th our Moms Club at Kids First will be meeting at the Ulmerton Road Home Depot at 9:30 for the free kids workshop event. Every child gets to make a free craft and gets a free kid sized Home Depot apron. Then we will head over to Largo Central Park to ride the trains. Hope to see you there!

A little piece of Egypt with every sentence

Gretchen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:10:15 +0000

The kindergarten class has been working on the fundamentals of a sentence. Evey sentence begins with a capital letter of course but what comes at the end of a sentence? When we asked one student he said, “At the end of a sentence is a pyramid!”

Makeupwhateveryouwant Day

Gretchen — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:02:55 +0000

Every Friday is “Share Day” where students bring toys, books or games from home to share with the class. On Friday we had our Fall Festival which our students call “Farm Day” since they all dress like farmers. In the spring we have “Flower Planting Day” when we get dirty working in the school butterfly garden. I hadn’t realized this list of days was reinforcing an idea until one of our kindergarten students asked a very serious question. He asked, “Can we bring a dog to school on dog day?” Apparently the students have figured out that we can just invent a day when we want to bring things to school that aren’t allowed on regular days. This got me thinking that I should definitely add a “Bring-the-Director-a-veggie-pizza Day” and a “Bring-your-teacher-a-pound-of-chocolate-day” to the school calendar immediately!

The nearly extinct and elusive carnival bird

Gretchen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:30:59 +0000

Grandmothers are some of the best teachers. One student spends time with her Grandmother in the garden learning the names of butterflies, native flowers and birds. She was pleased to educate her school teacher with all of this knowledge. When the teacher handed out a worksheet with two birds to be colored (one red and one blue) she quickly told the teacher and the class, “That one is a blue jay and that one is a carnival.” When the teacher asked her to repeat the second one she slowly sounded it out for the teacher “Car-ni-val!” Perhaps someone should let the cardinals know about their recent name change.

Hey you’ve got a little sin on your neck

Gretchen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:19:45 +0000

Bible classes are an important part of our school day. Sometimes we tend to use common Bible story phrases so much that we forget how children think of them. One commonly used phrase is “Jesus wipes away our sin.” One of our students noticed that her mom had something on her neck and said “What’s that?” Her mom said, “Oh nothing I will wipe it off.” The little girl quickly replied, “Oh it’s sin!” It’s a toss up whether the point of this story is to use better phrasing when teaching Bible stories or to check your neck for sin.

Simple solution

Gretchen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:52:17 +0000

One of our students in the freshman class headed to the restroom to take care of some business but the toilet wouldn’t flush properly. The teacher likely heaved a sigh knowing the work that would need to be done if there was indeed a problem. The little girl however had a much simpler fix. She said, “This potty needs batteries!” Wouldn’t it be nice if all of life’s problems had such a simple solution?

Smells like Fall

Gretchen — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:59:15 +0000

Who can resist the smell of hot apples and cinnamon in the fall? Here’s an easy way to get the kids in on the fun with some delicious apple turnovers. Let them help you pick out the Granny Smith apples from a fruit market. Let them measure and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar. Help them set the timer. Then watch for big smiles and happy tummies as you make a family memory and enjoy the harvest season.

APPLE TURNOVERS

1 pastry sheet (cut into 4 squares)
2 apples (Granny Smith is a good choice)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
touch of milk

Cut pastry sheet into 4 pieces. Thinly slice the apples. Add sugar and cinnamon. Mix well. Place a small portion into the center of each square and fold one corner over to make a triangle. Brush the edges with milk and press down with a fork to seal. Coat the cookie sheet with cooking spray. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon & sugar on the top and cook in the oven at 400°F degrees until brown.

Kindergarten Shots

Gretchen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:59:02 +0000

Every parent who has a kindergarten age student knows that dreaded office visit for kindergarten shots looms. This year one of our students may have clued us in to a great motivator for getting through this big event. She headed in for her shots and after hearing everyone refer to them as “Kindergarten shots” somehow came to the conclusion that these band aids marking her wounds were her ticket to kindergarten. Her parents and teachers had a good laugh at her insistence on keeping the band aids on so she could get into kindergarten.

Find a way to say “I care.”

Gretchen — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:01:41 +0000

Today a student was working busily in the art station. She came out with a heart that she drew and cut out just for me. Since then I have been pondering our Pastor’s recent sermons about how things just happen. He has reminded us that real life happens and stuff happens, but at the same time faith happens, love happens and hope happens. He reminded us that hope happens when we show that we care. So while I’m finishing a batch of cookies in the kitchen tonight, I have a quick thought to share. In playground terms I “double dare you” to find a way to show someone you care. Whether it’s by baking some bread, sending a homemade card, offering someone a ride home, notes in your child’s lunchbox, an apple for their teacher, or just cutting out a paper heart, show that you care. Ask yourself today, “Do I care?” Then ask, “Does it show?”

Be careful!

Gretchen — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:42:38 +0000

Have you ever thought of the funny things parents say to their kids? Here’s a little laughter for your day…