September 13, 2012

Today was a great day!

The kids continue to forge forward in skills.  One thing I've been teaching to the Zesty Wombats and reviewing with the Screaming Mustaches is soft c and soft g.  I made up a story about "bully vowels" who like to follow around c and g and scare them. 

In the story, when g is scared, he says "/j/!" and when c is scared he says "/s/!"  G is slightly smarter than c in that he's sort of confused by the i - the kids say it's because i is a cyclops.  G doesn't always say /j/ when followed by i, so the kids have to think harder about gi than any other letter.

In social skills today the kids learned about overreacting.  They were able to give many examples of when people overreact, and had a great time sharing.  Then, we switched from overreacting to appropriate responses.  We categorized happenings into "big deals", "pretty big deals", and "not big deals."  We're using a thermometer to show the difference.

Things they categorized as a big deal were things that would require emergency personnel or are super dangerous, like:
-Fire
-Throwing rocks and sticks
-Running away
-Stealing
-Hurting someone on purpose

Things that are a pretty big deal are dangerous or destructive and may require a call home to a trip to Ted, but not the police, like:
-Bringing peanut butter to school
-Getting hurt
-Not sharing
-Running in the hall

-Using bad language

-Destroying property

Things that aren't a big deal are annoying and bothersome, but don't hurt anyone, like:

-Cutting in line

-Someone not following the rules in a game

-Getting a warning

-Someone else getting a star when you don't

-Someone sitting in someone else's chair

-Being in someone else's space

-Someone not going when the line moves

An important thing we also talked about is that even though it's not a big deal when someone else does it, the kids should still try not to, because the behaviors annoy their friends.

The next step to our thermometer is to illustrate some of these things and hang them around it as a reminder.  This is language we're going to use throughout the year to help kids keep things in perspective.  Hopefully, when we keep them from overreacting, their peers will continue to appreciate how awesome each child really is.

At the end of the day Jonny, the farm teacher from Holly Hill Farm, came to work with the class in the garden.  He introduced himself to them and asked each child what they wanted to plant.  We got answers that ranged from watermelon and all kinds of berries to sweet potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes.  When we went outside to plant, the kids weeded the bed and turned some soil.  Then they planted some arugula.  Arugula is a delicious, spicy green that's great in salads.  I can't wait for it to grow so we can eat it!

It was a busy day today, and everyone learned a lot and worked hard.