snow?

Ummm... I can't quite believe it,
but the cold white stuff fell all day here.
{It was 82 degrees F and sunny yesterday, btw.}
All I can say is,

Yee haw!
Keep it coming!

hand washing

In a classroom filled with kids and teachers,
it is imperative that we wash our hands
A LOT.
Usually, it's 30 seconds at the sink
with that orange antibacterial goop,
but every once and awhile it's nice to slow down,
bring out the french-milled soap,
and turn it into an elegant affair. ;)

What you'll need:

• soap (the fancier the better) & a fingernail brush in a dish
• pitcher for warm water (Do you remember what the red line says?)
• hand towel
• mat (to organize materials and to catch any stray splashes of water)
• basin
  
• delicious hand cream

As I observed this child washing her hands,
I realized that she was having a special experience.
Not only did her body relax as she concentrated on her task,
but she took the time admire all the tiny details on her hands.
Taking a moment to care for herself became meditative and intimate.

I can't say exactly how this child felt
as she dried her hands and rubbed cream into her skin,
but I can tell you that after I took my turn,
my fingers were literally tingling with joy...
okay, you're probably thinking
cheesy!
but seriously, people,

it was like a Montessori spa!

busy hands

streeeeeeeeetching
rubber bands around a peg board

transferring beautiful beads
with a spoon

using a corncob holder
to poke out a paper butterfly

putting the final touches
on color mixing II

replacing the cylinders
from 3 different cylinder blocks
{If this doesn't look challenging enough,
try doing it blindfolded!}

2 friends tracing
botany puzzles

the flower
traced in pencil,
painted with watercolors

the alphabet box

Sometimes I think to myself,
How cool is The Alphabet Box?
26 drawers
{one for each letter}
filled with teeny tiny treasures...

the possibilities are endless!

Here are 2 ways we use The Alphabet Box:

The child chooses a letter drawer
and lays out its contents on a felt.
{The card at the top is also in the drawer
-it's the same as the alphabet story, only tiny.}

A small movable alphabet letter is in the drawer, too.
By moving the letter down the column of objects,
the child "tells the whole story"...
/b/bell, /b/bag, /b/baby, /b/banana

For this second activity,
the child chooses 2 letter drawers.
She places the movable alphabet letters
and the alphabet story cards
at the top of the felt.

She mixes up the objects from both drawers...

....and then sorts them into
the correct columns.
By "telling the whole story,"
she is able to check her work.

**I've never made an alphabet box from scratch - the one in the photo was already in my classroom. I'm always on the lookout for tiny objects to add to it, though. Craft stores, garage sales, and thrift stores are good places to get started. Also, Jo over at A bit of this and a bit of that hosts an awesome phonemic object exchange once a year. As for the box, Hubs just informed me, Oh, those? Pretty much every hardware store has them. (duh) ;)

busy hands

using tweezers
to pluck seeds from a sunflower
{we'll toast the seeds and eat them for a snack}

finishing up a bracelet made from
cut straws and a pipe cleaner

play dough!

using gentle hands to admire
fragile objects

reading and writing /ee/ words
{long vowel e}

constructing a tower with
the knobless cylinders
{big to little}

2 friends building short vowel words
with the movable alphabet
{I love this photo}
See those little yellow pouches?
There's one for each vowel
{a, e, i, o, u}
Each pouch has
three ever-changing objects
that share the same middle, short-vowel sound.
I made the blue felt on the right last year...
it's just a rectangle of blue felt
embroidered {ish}
to mimic the lines on
beginning writing paper.
{Let me know if you'd like instructions to make one of your own!}