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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!
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!”
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!
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?”
Have you ever thought of the funny things parents say to their kids? Here’s a little laughter for your day…
One of our newest 2 year olds in the freshman class is taking following the rules very seriously. When we walk to the playground it’s walking and no running. Trips to the school library mean walking feet and no running. The same is true for strolling around the classroom or passing the butterfly garden. Wherever you go it’s walking and no running. This little girl knows that rules are rules so when she looked out her car window and saw a jogger going down the street she yelled, “Hey no running!” Somewhere right now her teacher is very proud.
If I say Bob & Larry and you think of a singing tomato and cucumber don’t worry. You’re not crazy. But for those of you who don’t get the connection our school often uses the Veggie Tales video series to teach our students about the Bible. On October 9th, 10th and 11th the Veggie Tales live stage show will be in Lakeland and Orlando. For more info click here: Live Stage Show. To let your kids listen to songs live from your computer click here: Veggie Radio.
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We are always searching for that perfect combination of healthy lunch foods but with convenience and kid sized portions. With the latest wave of “green” shopping pressures we can add a new dilemma to the mix. How can we also be environmentally friendly in our lunch choices to minimize garbage in landfills? The Japanese have had the answer for years. Japanese Bento boxes have gotten a makeover and are now in stores with other cute names like “Laptop Lunchboxes.” The containers allow you to pack lots of different foods to get those cut up fruits and veggies into your little one’s hands. Since they are re-usable you can pat yourself on the back as the local hero for saving money on sandwich baggies and saving the earth at the same time.
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Kids First Blog
While working in the school office I overheard a teacher talking with one of the students about his behavior and going to a special activity. She told him if he wanted to participate, then he would have to act better. He quickly responded, “I do feel better. My nose is not running anymore.”
What happens when you do school photo projects and you have to work with siblings? You have twice as much fun of course. Here’s my top pick from a recent photo project at school.
This week I was preparing a display for our Spring Break Adventure Camp that begins March 30th. One of our four year old students was listening intently and overhead me asking a teacher for some props. I asked her to set the bathing suit and towel on my desk. The little girl took one quick look at me and said, “You take showers here?” Maybe I’ll start.
We were recently upgrading our phone systems. One of our teachers and a a few students were carrying the old phones to the church office. One student asked why they were doing this and a little girl quickly replied, “Pastors need phones more than we do. They have a lot of people to call.”
Our four and five year olds were learning a Bible lesson about people long ago who made a cow statue out of gold and they prayed to it. The lesson in this story is that many people have things in their lives that they give more time to and see more value in than God. One very wise five year old interpreted that lesson in his own way and told his mother, “You should not pray to a cow God.”
What says I love you better than candy and cards? It’s bouncy hearts on your head.
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One of our two year olds hurt his finger today. Like always he walked over to me and wanted me to pray for him. I held his finger, closed my eyes and asked God to make his boo-boo feel all better. Suddenly another student came over holding his arm so I prayed for him too. The next thing I knew I looked up and there was a boo-boo line formed. We prayed for eyes, noses and I think a few imaginary injuries. It’s amazing what a little prayer can do. The best part is when our students begin to understand that they don’t need me to talk to God. They can pray too. My goal was achieved later in the day when I overheard one of our students praying for our toy rocking horse. That’s progress.
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