First Day

I will actually have two first days this week because I have some Tues/Thursday students and some Mon/Wed/Friday students. On Tues/Thursday, there are four students and on Mon/Wed/Friday, there are five students. Preschool runs from 9 AM to 12 AM. Our basic schedule at the beginning of the year is:

8:45 to 9 AM Arrival/Greet/Put shoes away/Read books quietly/Explore the seasonal shelf
9:00 to 9:15 AM Journals (The students draw/write in a sketch book. I date stamp it and label it for them.)
9:15 to 9:40 Line Time (calendar/pledge/weather/finger plays & songs)
9:40 to 9:50 Story Time
9:50 to 10:30 Work Time/Snack Time
10:30 to 10:40 Lesson Time
10:40 to 11:10 Work Time
11:15 to 11:40 Lunch
11:40 to Noon Outside/Pick Up

Today we had two old friends (one is 3 1/2 and one is 4) and Super, who went to preschool last year too, and one new friend (3 1/2). It was a good first day. The more experienced students helped the new student and there wasn't even any crying from the new student on the first day, which I think might be a first in my 5+ years of teaching. The three year olds still have difficulty sitting for the whole time at line time (especially Super) but by the end of the year, they will be much better. I did have to remind myself of that a couple of times though.

Two of the students were working on the block tower and they went to put it away and one of the students turned to me and said "The heaviest one goes back on the shelf first, Mrs. F." It was the first time that a child had noticed the weight difference instead of just the size.

I am still serving the snack, but in a few weeks, they will be serving it to themselves/each other. Today we had stick pretzels. Not very exciting, but everyone enjoyed it!

I plan on showing more pictures of the materials and the children working, but I was so busy today that I didn't get a chance to take any. I may get some pictures tonight of our classroom.

On Tuesdays, Flower has "Tuesday school". She goes over to a homeschooled friend's house and they do their schoolwork over there. They are using different curriculums, but it is nice for them to do schoolwork with someone their age once a week. On Tuesday afternoons, her friends' mother takes them to homeschool choir. Flower is so excited that she gets to be in the choir this year. She loves to sing and she has a very nice voice.

In a separate post, I'll post Flower's schedule for the year. Flower has been back to homeschooling for two weeks now, and I'll try and write about some of the things that she has been working on too.

Hopefully tomorrow will go as well as today.

-Mrs. F