yesterday, we taught the kids how to play red rover. pretty entertaining since they got scared any time someone would run towards them. instead of hold hands tightly so the other child barreling towards them would get stopped, they would jump out of the way squealing and laughing. at least they were having fun. but finally they got the hang of it! until it had got down to the very end and there were only two teachers left on one team and the entire 4yr olds class on the other. team teachers called one of the older boys over (he turned 5 a few months ago and is probably going to be taller than me in about 2 and 1/2 months). instead of trying to break through their arms which he probably could have easily done, he opted for the hurdling approach. didnt work out so well...he didnt quite jump high enough and ended up flipping/falling over their arms onto the ground. at least he didnt get hurt. or the teachers for that matter.
so today, we go onto the playground, and a group of kids already starts up a game of red rover. although they seemed to forget everything we taught them and had started making up their own rules. there were about 7 kids on one team and one on the other side. and it was always his turn to run into the other teams arms which was comprised of all girls....of course. every time the girls would call him over, they would start stomping their feet and giggling and squealing as he got closer. but when he got there....they would scatter. and giggle. and squeal. and run around in circles. and then line up and do it all again. they did evenutally start doing other variations of the game....two girls running at the same time, or 3, but most the time alllllll the girls would run over to the boy's side and chase him all over the playground.
now we are back inside and i am unfortunately up at the front desk answering phones and talking to parents. and looking busy. the kids are in the classroom that i can see through the glass doors from here. we made a mix cd of songs that would be appropriate for them and not too terribly painful for us. so right now they are learning the macarena. its pretty hilarious to watch. they really have no idea whats going on, but are trying really hard to follow along.........theyre just cute. we also threw the veggie tales theme song on their for them since they love to watch it so much. they were all shouting along with it; which was cute except for the fact that our classroom is gaint + has rediculously high ceilings which = ECHOOOOOOOO!!!!!
.........................we get headaches pretty frequently.
and that was thursday.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Decomposing Swedish Fish
Yesterday, a couple of girls i work with and i got to work early so we could make the blue jello and swedish fish snacks. we had never done it before, so none of us were really sure how they were going to come out. we had made 2 batches of blue jello (to be the ocean), but ran out and so we had to use red jello (which we were going to try and pass off as the Red Sea...or the red tide). after mixing it, we poured it into clear plastic cups and let it sit for an hour so that we could come back and put the fish in before it totally solidified. but we didnt realize that because the jello was in smaller portions it would get jello-y faster. so we ended up just laying them on top....or having them diving into the water. it wasnt exactly what we were hoping for, but i'm sure the kids wouldve eaten it anyways.
so today, we went into the kitchen to get the jello for todays snack. ...but the fish didnt make it. we werent really sure what happened, but the fish has become discolored and slimy and had split open down the middle as if they had been gutted. GROSS. the jello was still ok...but i guess swedish fish are also prone to swine disease. we ended up just having trail mix.
katie the spider is still MIA, but the girls found another little unsuspecting spider to play with. this one was gray and a little larger that katie, but it hopped which the girls thought was just the coolest thing they had ever seen. this spider was also a little smarter than katie (no offense to her), because it stayed high up a monkey bar where they couldnt reach and would hop around on its perch watching them try to coax it down. the girls eventually got bored and moved on to "painting" each others faces and apendages with big pieces of mulch. they had taken a giant plastic lego block, turned it upside down, and filled the holes with little pieces of mulch and sand to be the various paint colors.
these are outdoor lego blocks they play with. theyre huge. we often have problems with the boys throwing them at each other and pretending like theyre bombs or canon balls....or just actual blocks. lucky for everyone else theyre hollow. they also make excellent sleds for sliding down slides - which result in the kids flying off the end, cupcake pans, ice cream holders, stones to walk on when crossing alligator infested water, dog dishes, blasters, skateboards, ramps, and when put together can form a stage for singing (shouting) whatever song they can think of.
as soon as we had gotten out onto the playground today, two of the girls came running up to me.
"ms lauren! i'm going to be at church tonight so i'm going to see you! but shes not." she pointed at her friend who looked very upset.
"what! yes i am...."
"no, my mom told me you have swim lessons because she talked to patricia! so you wont be there!"(i changed the name)
"well im going! and please stop youre going to make me cry!"
"ok fine youre going."
her friend had already stomped off in tears to the jungle gym, so she ran up to her and gave her a hug. cuuuuute!
anyways, now i'm sitting at the front desk away from the action...like every afternoon at this time. there are more blue jello plans for tomorrow, but the fish will not be thrown in until the end! and we're going to try and stay away from the red tide as well. although i have to admit, the fish laying on top of the red jello was a little funny :)
and that was wednesday.
so today, we went into the kitchen to get the jello for todays snack. ...but the fish didnt make it. we werent really sure what happened, but the fish has become discolored and slimy and had split open down the middle as if they had been gutted. GROSS. the jello was still ok...but i guess swedish fish are also prone to swine disease. we ended up just having trail mix.
katie the spider is still MIA, but the girls found another little unsuspecting spider to play with. this one was gray and a little larger that katie, but it hopped which the girls thought was just the coolest thing they had ever seen. this spider was also a little smarter than katie (no offense to her), because it stayed high up a monkey bar where they couldnt reach and would hop around on its perch watching them try to coax it down. the girls eventually got bored and moved on to "painting" each others faces and apendages with big pieces of mulch. they had taken a giant plastic lego block, turned it upside down, and filled the holes with little pieces of mulch and sand to be the various paint colors.
these are outdoor lego blocks they play with. theyre huge. we often have problems with the boys throwing them at each other and pretending like theyre bombs or canon balls....or just actual blocks. lucky for everyone else theyre hollow. they also make excellent sleds for sliding down slides - which result in the kids flying off the end, cupcake pans, ice cream holders, stones to walk on when crossing alligator infested water, dog dishes, blasters, skateboards, ramps, and when put together can form a stage for singing (shouting) whatever song they can think of.
as soon as we had gotten out onto the playground today, two of the girls came running up to me.
"ms lauren! i'm going to be at church tonight so i'm going to see you! but shes not." she pointed at her friend who looked very upset.
"what! yes i am...."
"no, my mom told me you have swim lessons because she talked to patricia! so you wont be there!"(i changed the name)
"well im going! and please stop youre going to make me cry!"
"ok fine youre going."
her friend had already stomped off in tears to the jungle gym, so she ran up to her and gave her a hug. cuuuuute!
anyways, now i'm sitting at the front desk away from the action...like every afternoon at this time. there are more blue jello plans for tomorrow, but the fish will not be thrown in until the end! and we're going to try and stay away from the red tide as well. although i have to admit, the fish laying on top of the red jello was a little funny :)
and that was wednesday.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Ariel would be jealous...
the theme right now for the preschool is ocean life. so for the past week and a half we have done nothing but ocean crafts like, water coloring dolpins and making fish out of paper plates. we even made blue jello for todays snack with submerged swedish fish :) all of this ocean life talk of course leads to new and fun things to play while we are out on the playground! today i was sitting on a step of a jungle gym while watching the kids; and tanning my legs while i was at it. i should have a pretty awesome farmers tan come summer break. but i was soon interrupted by two little girls.
"ms. lauren! did you know i am a mermaid?"
"no i did not!"
"yeah. i am."
"wow. that must be fun!"
"ms. lauren, i havent always been a mermaid." (she said it as though she were about to disclose a very important secret in her life. she looked at me very seriously and her voice became very quiet and intent. it's like she was about to tell me how horrible her life was before going to rehab for a serious drinking problem.)
"oh really? how did that happen?"
"it was a long time ago before i turned five. i was only 4. and i went to the beach and this mermaid came up to me and was like, 'do you want to be a mermaid?' and i was like yeah. and then she said 'ok', and gave me a beautiful tail and a crown and now i'm a mermaid."
"wow that's pretty awesome. how's that going for you?"
"it's good...i like swimming at the beach the best. and my tail's invisible. and i can make go away so i can walk on the land and go to school and stuff."
"well that sounds like a pretty sweet mermaid tail! what does it look like?"
"it's pink and it has sparkles all over it."
the other little girl had just been standing there smiling the whole time and hadn't said one word besides 'uh huh' and 'yeah' and high pitched giggles. but finally she looked at me and said in a wistful voice, "yeah and mines...with sparkling." i don't know what that means, but it sounded like a good time. i was about to ask her to please explain what that all entails, when i was interrupted by the pink sparkley tailed mermaid.
"oh and ms lauren i can talk to dolpins!"
"really."
"yeah. i can call them to me. watch. eeeee! eeee! aaahheeee! EEEEEEE!!!! only they wont come right now because we're not at the beach."
"wow that's amazing. i didn't know you were so talented! well i'm sure they heard you anyways."
"yeah. theyre my friends. and when i dont feel like wearing my tail in the water they let me ride on them. oh and i'm friends with the sharks too."
"really? they don't want to eat you?"
"no. theyre nice. i make my brother ride on them because he swims slow."
"oh thats nice of you. do you swim fast?"
"yeah. and he's really slow. i dont want to wait for him."
and then they were off, swimming as fast as they could do the other end of the ocean. the dolphins were calling and they needed to attend to them.
that wasnt the only highlight of the day, a group of girls came over later to show me a teeny tiny gray and orange spider crawling on a twig that they had lovingly named katie. convinced it was with child (or children) and probably very hungry and tired, they decided to build it a home made of leaves and mulch and feed it grass until it felt better. but only 10 minutes later i heard from another girl that the spider was dead; probably from being held too tightly in too many little hands. or maybe katie was just paralyzed in fear from the sheer terror of 7 little girls fighting over whos turn it was to hold her and her twig she was clinging so desperately to. either way i never saw her again, but i wish her all the best.
now i'm sitting at the front desk answering phones and talking to parents and feeling very much like an administrative assistant, except for the fact i'm writing on my blog. a little boy just got picked up and was smelling his hands. according to him, he was checking if they were clean....they were.
and that was tuesday.
"ms. lauren! did you know i am a mermaid?"
"no i did not!"
"yeah. i am."
"wow. that must be fun!"
"ms. lauren, i havent always been a mermaid." (she said it as though she were about to disclose a very important secret in her life. she looked at me very seriously and her voice became very quiet and intent. it's like she was about to tell me how horrible her life was before going to rehab for a serious drinking problem.)
"oh really? how did that happen?"
"it was a long time ago before i turned five. i was only 4. and i went to the beach and this mermaid came up to me and was like, 'do you want to be a mermaid?' and i was like yeah. and then she said 'ok', and gave me a beautiful tail and a crown and now i'm a mermaid."
"wow that's pretty awesome. how's that going for you?"
"it's good...i like swimming at the beach the best. and my tail's invisible. and i can make go away so i can walk on the land and go to school and stuff."
"well that sounds like a pretty sweet mermaid tail! what does it look like?"
"it's pink and it has sparkles all over it."
the other little girl had just been standing there smiling the whole time and hadn't said one word besides 'uh huh' and 'yeah' and high pitched giggles. but finally she looked at me and said in a wistful voice, "yeah and mines...with sparkling." i don't know what that means, but it sounded like a good time. i was about to ask her to please explain what that all entails, when i was interrupted by the pink sparkley tailed mermaid.
"oh and ms lauren i can talk to dolpins!"
"really."
"yeah. i can call them to me. watch. eeeee! eeee! aaahheeee! EEEEEEE!!!! only they wont come right now because we're not at the beach."
"wow that's amazing. i didn't know you were so talented! well i'm sure they heard you anyways."
"yeah. theyre my friends. and when i dont feel like wearing my tail in the water they let me ride on them. oh and i'm friends with the sharks too."
"really? they don't want to eat you?"
"no. theyre nice. i make my brother ride on them because he swims slow."
"oh thats nice of you. do you swim fast?"
"yeah. and he's really slow. i dont want to wait for him."
and then they were off, swimming as fast as they could do the other end of the ocean. the dolphins were calling and they needed to attend to them.
that wasnt the only highlight of the day, a group of girls came over later to show me a teeny tiny gray and orange spider crawling on a twig that they had lovingly named katie. convinced it was with child (or children) and probably very hungry and tired, they decided to build it a home made of leaves and mulch and feed it grass until it felt better. but only 10 minutes later i heard from another girl that the spider was dead; probably from being held too tightly in too many little hands. or maybe katie was just paralyzed in fear from the sheer terror of 7 little girls fighting over whos turn it was to hold her and her twig she was clinging so desperately to. either way i never saw her again, but i wish her all the best.
now i'm sitting at the front desk answering phones and talking to parents and feeling very much like an administrative assistant, except for the fact i'm writing on my blog. a little boy just got picked up and was smelling his hands. according to him, he was checking if they were clean....they were.
and that was tuesday.
Monday, April 27, 2009
hello world
i work at a preschool. i'm not a teacher, i just "teach" the after school program for the 4yr olds. crowd control if you will. anyways, i cant just let the things that happen in a day at the preschool go undocumented. so this blog will be dedicated to all those lovely little children that i get to play with and put in time out every day. starting tomorrow. because right now i'm hungry.
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