Dinosaurs !

We have had a fabulous day!  I decided to be a rebel this weekend and pull out a theme box that I have not used in a long time.  DINOSAURS!  In early education we are taught it is preferable to teach kids about things that are relevant to them.  A great example would be in south Arkansas I knew  a teacher that did a unit on deer during hunting season.   Why teach kids about the ocean if they’ve never experienced it ?   The train of thought is that if we teach them through things they are already familiar with they can begin to connect the dots a little easier.  Kids in Arkansas might not know much about an ocean but they can tell you a lot about the river or a creek.   Would it be a great idea to teach kids that live in Hawaii about snow ? Sure , you can expose them to the ideas but it is more important to teach them about things that are in their world, their neighborhood, their home.

So back to me being a rebel.  I decided that the kids needed something different than what was planned .  At the beginning of the year I made a curriculum map and planned out our year.   But if you also remember one of my goals was going to be extend my hand of teaching to the boys – to find a way to reach them.  Well, I would just like to say, if they knew their letter sounds as well as they know the complicated names of these dinosaurs we would all be sitting great.  Anyway, Yes ! We are talking about dinosaurs all week and the kids LOVE it.  Just so you know, my goal is not to teach them the dinosaurs names or what they ate or where they lived.  My goal is to use this unit as a vehicle to teach them the letter D sound, the concepts of big, bigger and biggest and broaden our vocabulary with words like extinct and massive.

I was a rebel in many ways today.

We watched a scholastic book video called ” How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight ?” It was only about 6 minutes long but they loved it. AND after lunch we did a COLORING SHEET.  I think I figured if we were already doing things that I don’t normally do, we should just do them all in one day to get it over with.  While I am on my wild streak I might go to Walmart and walk IN the EXIT.  🙂

This one one of our favorite songs today.

Other important new is about our helper Bethany.  When I hired Bethany about 10 weeks ago I told her that there was a strong chance my daughter Danielle would be moving home and need a job and insurance and if so, I would need to do that for her.  As it turns out, Danielle did move home.  She may go to cosmetology school at night to get licensed so she can do pageant hair and makeup.  ( She was a pageant girl. ) Danielle is 23 and has been married for 3 years.  She has lived in Hawaii where her husband Justin was stationed in the Navy.  Danielle has a little over one year of college and 18 years of experience in watching me in our home preschool.  I have no doubt that Danielle will do a great job.  We have enjoyed getting to know Bethany.  I feel like everyone in our life walks in for a reason.  I can’t wait to see what lies in Bethany’s future.  Perhaps she will come back and sub for us some ! So please take time this week to tell Bethany how much you appreciated her taking care and helping to teach your little ones the past three months.  Danielle will start Monday.