a name song

When they learn they are going to be parents, one of the first things people often do is come up with a list of names for their soon-to-be little one. They carefully consider that list, hemming and hawing over the possibilities; trying them in different contexts; and finally narrowing it down to one perfect choice, dreaming of what that name might sound like as that child grows. With all that thought and care that goes into naming a child, it is no wonder that one's name becomes one of the most important words in a person's life.

Because of that, I always encourage parents to teach a child's name early and to make it the anchor and link to other words and letters. When something is so personal, it is easy to use it to make connections to other new learning. In fact, when a child comes into my Kindergarten classroom not knowing any letters, I don't start by teaching him A, and then B, and C and so on. Instead, I start by teaching him his name in many contexts and make the first letter of his name the first letter that he learns.

Choi Boy has his name written in his room in a few places: two sets of alphabet blocks spell it out and it is also incorporated into the art above his bed. From the time he was about 2, he knew that "his" letter was C and could "recognize" his name around his room. That recognition grew, andCB began recognizing his name consistently in different places and written in different fonts. When that started to happen, I decided he was able to start learning how to spell his name. Though CB knew all of his (uppercase) letters and could consistently recognize his name, he didn't yet know the order of the letters in his name and how to properly spell it.

Enter my favorite mnemonic device: a song! For years I had been teaching my Kindergartners silly songs that taught them how to spell words like apple or pumpkin or color words. After an aha! moment (or duh! moment...you pick ;) ), I realized I could make up a song to teach Choi Boy his name. And it worked! And he loves to sing it (all.the.time.)!

CB has six letters in his name, so I used the first two lines of This Old Man (This old man, he played one. He played knick knack on my thumb!) to make up his name song (and I changed the last two notes to go down instead of up so it sounded like the song ended instead of continuing). Here's how it goes:

C-A-R-S-O-N
That is how you spell my name!

Easy peasy, right? After singing this song for a couple weeks, CB was playing with the magnetic letters on our dishwasher. He was singing his name song and looked up at me and said, "Mommy, where is the 'A'?" I looked down and this is what he had done:

I was so excited that without any prompting, CB had made the connection to actually spell his name with letters by singing his song! And then it drove me crazy that there was no 'A' and that the letters were all uppercase, so I brought out my lowercase magnetic letters and have been practicing with CB like this:

Though he's a long way off from having the dexterity in his fine motor skills to form those lowercase letters properly, I am excited that he's one step closer to getting there! (Sidenote: I don't plan on teaching CB to write his name using capital letters even though they are easier to form. I've noticed that it becomes a reeeeally bad habit for kids to break and it is easier to teach a 5 year-old to write his name without him knowing how to spell it than it is to unteach a child to write his name in uppercase letters!)

Since we've had a lot of fun with CB's name song, I thought I'd share some ideas to help you make up songs using the letters of your child's name. These are all to the tune of simple children's songs, so hopefully they will be easy to figure out without me having to post videos of me singing...haha. :)

For 3 or 4-letter names, to the tune of Frere Jacques (first 4 lines):
K-A-T-E
K-A-T-E
I can spell Kate!
I can spell Kate!

For 5-letter names, to the tune of Bingo:
I have a name and it is Olive
Here is how you spell it!
O-L-I-V-E!
O-L-I-V-E!
O-L-I-V-E!
And that is how you spell it!

For 6-letter names, to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell:
J-O-S-H-U-A
J-O-S-H-U-A
Joshua is my name,
J-O-S-H-U-A

also, see above for CB's name song!

For 7-letter names, to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:
C-H-A-R-L-I-E
That is how you spell Charlie!

You can also try it to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic:
C-H-A-R-L-I-E
Is how you spell Charlie!

For 8 letter names, use  Frere Jacques again:

N-I-C-H-O-L-A-S

I can spell Nicholas,

I can spell Nicholas!

If your LO's name is longer than 8 letters, you'll have to be extra creative and find your own tune, and if you do, please share it below!

Have fun making up name songs and let me know how it goes!

*feel free to pin this idea or share it with others, but please be nice and link back to here -- thank you! :)

"you are not special."

Back in June, a high school commencement speech given at Wellesley High School by teacher David McCullough, Jr. (yes, son of that David McCullough, Sr.) went viral. Though he later said that his “ intention was a little hyperbolic drollness to get their attention,” educators and adults everywhere were applauding McCullough’s blunt parting words to the graduating class.

The central message of the speech was that regardless of what you have been told and led to believe, you are not special.

Here are some of my favorite excerpts:

Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You’ve been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. Yes, you have…
…But do not get the idea you’re anything special. Because you’re not.

and:

So think about this: even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you.

and:

You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.

Can I confess to you that as I was reading this I was pumping my fist in the air and cheering? Because I totally was. My colleagues and I joked about slipping the transcript of the speech into our students’ report cards. Because I feel like this is a message that is so important, even to 5 and 6 year-olds, and more importantly, to their parents.

I just completed my tenth year of teaching. And in that decade, I’ve literally taught hundreds of students and interacted with hundreds of parents. That doesn’t make me an expert by any means, but it does give me a glimpse into the culture of parenting as it has shifted and changed even over the last ten years.

If I’m going to take a cue from David McCullough, Jr. and be blunt, I’ll say this: generally speaking, with every year, I’ve noticed that kids are becoming brattier and feeling more entitled (oh, the stories I could tell…) because parents, generally speaking, have come to coddle them more and more. And present company (I’m talking about me!) is definitely *not* excluded.

It’s almost as if the first of the “everybody gets a trophy” generation is now raising kids and the philosophy has changed to “yes, everybody gets a trophy, but my child gets the biggest trophy!” Of course, I’m exaggerating quite a bit and this is a gross generalization, but it’s been really interesting to see the reactions I have gotten from parents when approaching them about different subjects regarding their children.

When I was little, if I *ever* came home with a note from the teacher that suggested even a hint at not being perfectly well behaved, or heaven forbid, had a teacher ever called my parents at work, you can bet your bottom dollar I would have been in deeeeeep doodoo. And it was pretty much the same for all of my friends and their parents.

Nowadays, it’s almost as though any time a child is told he is less than perfect, his parents come rushing up ready to share any number of excuses to point fingers at anyone or anywhere else but back at their child. Again, I’m exaggerating, and I’m not saying that a teacher’s word (or anyone else’s, for that matter) regarding your child should be the end all be all. But it just seems that much more so than when we were kids, a child’s behavior or attitude is excused away or given into, no matter how bad it is. On top of that, it seems that children are also rewarded more than ever. Not only do we reward them for improving, or for effort, but we reward them just for showing up! Or for being nice! Or, even worse, we bribe them with rewards to do basic tasks! (Seriously, the stories I could share…) And, not to mention all of the goodness modern inventions and technology bring us in helping cater to our children’s interests, almost to the point of making everything! fun! all! the! time! for our little ones.

As I said, our little rodeo of a family is hardly excluded from this kind of parenting. I’d like to say we are able to take a more objective point of view, but the truth is, if an incident arises between Choi Boy and another child or if he does something less than desirable all on his own, I certainly make him apologize, but inwardly, I’m often rationalizing his actions or thinking of excuses as to why he did what he did. And though we try reeeeeally hard not to give extrinsic rewards and instead try to play up intrinsic rewards, if I’m totally honest, we’ve certainly fallen into our share of bribes here and there. (Not our proudest parenting moments. Nope.) And, gosh darn it, I love a good project or activity that I can center around CB!

At the end of the day, in so many ways, our children are the centers of our universe. They are, in addition to our SOs, the most precious and important people in our lives.

But I can’t help but think that making excuses for them or rewarding them for little things or making them feel as though they are the center of the universe is creating the culture of “special-ness” that McCullough warns against. In fact, one of my biggest worries in raising CB is that he will grow up thinking he is THE MAN (The grandparents are not helping play this down. For reals, yo.) and that he may be perceived by others as a brat.

We try really hard to balance the love and affection we shower CB with along with consistent discipline so he learns to be respectful and understand that he cannot and will not always get what he wants, and that the world will not make exceptions for him . We also want him to know that he will not always be the best and that it’s okay to fail as long as you learn from that failure. We want him to not always be looking out for number 1, but to be caring and kind and willing and wanting to serve others. But we also want him to be confident and have a healthy dose of self-esteem and live up to his potential, whatever it may be.

In short, we want CB to know and do exactly what McCullough encourages at the end of his speech:

Exercise free will and creative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you, but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion-and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special.

Because everyone is.

Ain’t that the truth? So, I guess my question is what does raising a child to do and understanding that truth look like in practicality? How does one raise a child to be selfless and compassionate while also helping him feel loved and, well, special? How do you balance developing a healthy self-esteem without over inflating your child and giving him a sense of entitlement?

How do you help your child understand that he is not special, when in your eyes, in so many ways, he really is?

unsolicited advice...

...on helping your child develop of a love of literacy!

i know, i know, no one likes unsolicited advice. it's so annoying! (especially when given by nagging mommas!) but, i just finished up a series over at Hellobee about helping little ones develop a lifelong love of literacy. and since i could talk about this subject for hours upon hours, i thought i'd share the links to the posts here in case anyone was interested in checking them out:

i. cultivating young readers: library visits

ii. cultivating young readers: creating a literate environment

iii. cultivating young readers: reading to your child

iv. cultivating young readers: genuine opportunities to read and write

if you have any other tips or ideas, please share away! and you can consider it solicited! :)

i love my little reader!

changes.

I'm a working mom. And I love being a working mom. I love teaching and interacting with and learning from my colleagues as I grow as a teacher and as a learner...I love all that in addition to all that I love about being a mommy.

But, I'm not gonna lie. It's stinkin'  H-A-R-D to try and manage everything at work and everything at home.

When Choi Boy first came home, after a 3-month break to help with his and our adjustment, I went back to work half-time. Every weekday, I dropped CB off at daycare and was at school by 7:45am. Then I was out the door again between 11:30 and 11:45, just in time to pick CB up after lunch and head home for nap time. The schedule worked wonderfully for us -- I was able to get a lot of household chores done, including cooking dinner, and still have some "me" time before CB awoke from his nap. And once he was up, we were off to have some afternoon adventures, whether it was out of the house or at home. Plus, the mornings at daycare were wonderful for CB -- he learned a lot and had lots of fun, too.

Last summer, the hubs went through a career change. He took a big pay cut and had less flexibility with his schedule, but was a lot happier. To help make up for the reduced income, I went back to work full time for the 2011-2012 school year. In addition to the extra income, I felt ready to head back to work full time and was excited for the new school year. So it seemed it was a win-win situation.

Fast forward to the end of the school year and I am exhausted and feel beaten and battered. It can be argued that I usually feel that way at the end of a school year, but this year, more than ever, I am spent. Like, stick-a-fork-in-me and don't-expect-me-to-get-out-of-my-pajamas-for-the-first-week-of-break done. And the sad part is, I felt like that for most of the year.

For the last six years (with the exception of last year's half-time stint), I've held two different positions at school. I worked in the mornings in my Kindergarten classroom teaching Reading and Writing, and in the afternoons, I worked in first grade as a Reading Recovery teacher. Technically, it's two half-time positions, but most of the time, it felt like two full-time positions because I was juggling both positions and all the responsibilities that go along with each. And though I'm supposed to be able to finish all of my responsibilities during my 8-hours/day contract time, there is rarely a day when I don't bring work home with me. (sonotgettingintoteacherpoliticsrightnow. ha!)

So, when I got home each afternoon, I had just enough (sometimes not even enough) energy to make dinner, get in a little play time with Choi Boy, give him a bath and then tackle our bedtime routine. On days when the hubs came home while I was making dinner, it made things a whole lot easier, but at least two days a week, he was working nights and it was difficult to keep up the energy to manage the evening on my own. On top of that, I felt like I was so depleted that it was difficult to maintain my patience and enjoy the afternoons and evenings without counting down the minutes until bedtime.

When it came down to it, I was just exhausted and felt like I was barely being mediocre in all the roles I was juggling -- wife, momma, teacher, friend, etc, etc... And I hated that.

So we decided something had to change. I still wanted to work, but I wanted more time at home, too. And sadly, cloning myself or adding 5 extra hours on to each day weren't really viable options.

After talking it through and reworking our budget again and again, the hubs and I decided that we could make it work so I could return to a half-time position next year. It was a difficult decision to make, but after going back and forth, we decided that this was the best decision for our family right now.

It was certainly humbling to admit that I just couldn't do it all and that I needed to cut back on something. I felt like I was admitting defeat and that I wasn't good enough to manage everything.

But in the end, it wasn't so much about me as it was about us and what was best for our family. So, as of this September, I will be returning to work half-time.

It will definitely be an adjustment to cut back on things -- we'll have to eat out and go out less and I am trying to learn all I can about couponing...but, we think it will be worth it. Especially because we're hoping it will mean I will get to spend a lot more time with and have loads more energy for our little hipster.

to redshirt or not to redshirt.

hi there. it's me. talking about first world problems. actually, just talking about one particular first world problem that really annoys me. but, one that we have to deal with nonetheless. blech.

around these parts, if you have a boy who was born after june 30th or so, it is almost assumed that you hold him back and "redshirt" him during what would be his true kindergarten year. the actual cut-off for enrolling your child in school is september 30, but most parents have reservations about sending their young, newly-turned or almost 5 year-old boy to kindergarten.

it's not a phenomenon that is unique to our area. in fact, 60 minutes did a very interesting piece on this issue 2 months ago and i thought they did a pretty good job of representing both sides.

as a kindergarten teacher myself, i've always told parents that it is a decision that needs to be made on a case by case basis. that each child is unique with his own needs and own abilities that need to all be carefully considered before making a decision about whether to redshirt a potential kindergartner. i've seen many children on both sides of the coin that either succeeded and did quite well in all aspects of their learning (including social/behavioral) despite being the youngest in the class, and those that could have really benefited from another year of preschool prior to entering kindergarten. and now that kindergarten has really evolved from the days of juice and cookies and naptime to children learning to be young readers, writers, and mathematicians, this decision seems especially weighty.

and the fact that this decision is one that affects us personally is really annoying! choi boy's birthday is at the beginning of september, meaning he would be 4 years-old for the first week or so of kindergarten if we were to send him to school "on time." and though it seems crazy that this is running through my mind now, when he is not yet even 3 years-old, i can't help it because it will affect how many years of preschool he has and when we send him, etc.

i've always been of the mindset to send a child to school on time unless there are some glaring issues that have to do with maturity and nothing else. in fact, my sister and i both have birthdays that were past our district's cut-off of october 31 and my mom pushed to have us tested and admitted to school because she knew we were ready (and she was *that* mom ;) ), and we both did fine in school and with our friends and actually enjoyed being among the youngest in our grades. the hubs was also on the younger end of his class and did fine as well. or so he tells me...;)

but, i'm not a big fan of retention once kids start school, so i'd rather hold cb back from the start than have him retained once he starts school (should he need it), so it's a big decision to make that could potentially affect the rest of his educational life. i know i sound totally melodramatic and that's why i hate thinking about it! and it really is such a privileged people problem. it costs a lot of money to keep a child home for an extra year, whether you end up paying for an extra year of childcare or preschool or a combination of both, so it's a decision that is not feasible for many.

here's the bottom line: if cb continues on the trajectory that he is on now, i feel that developmentally and academically, he will be ready for kindergarten when he is supposed to enter. we will have to watch his social development and make sure that around the time is slated to enter kindergarten, he can sit and participate in class and interact with his peers as an average pre-kindergartner should. and if he's not, we'll work on those skills and make a final decision the spring or summer before.

however, we are not ones to worry about the fact that choi boy will likely be the smallest in his class (um, we're pretty sure if he continues on the trajectory he's on, he'll always be short!); or that he'll be playing sports against kids that will probably be lots bigger than him (but that won't stop my tiny athlete! and please reference muggsy bogues!)  or the fact that he'll be the last to get his driver's license; or that he'll be 17 when he starts college...for us it boils down solely to his readiness (academic and social) and maturity for kindergarten, not so much to giving him a leg up by having him be the oldest in his class were we to keep him back an extra year.

but, that's us. and i'm not sure there *is* a right or wrong answer.

what are your thoughts? especially fellow mommas and dads of summer birthday boys? i'd love to hear your take on this!

and you know what? regardless of how much i worry about this, i know that in the end, cb will be just fine with whatever we decide to do. (you know, in like 2 years or so!)

after all, he *is* part superhero.


:)

the one where guilt kicks in (again).

thankfully, irene spared us and we are so grateful that there was relatively little damage in our area. we continue to pray for those that were hit harder, especially for their recovery efforts. xoxo.


heigh-ho, heigh-ho! it's back to work i go!

actually, i've been back to work for two weeks working on some school leadership stuff. but today was the first day back for all teachers and today was also the day it all hit me like a ton of bricks.

"it" referring to mommy guilt, of course.

i am back to work full-time this year. and i truly am excited for a new crop of kiddos and all the learning that will happen for them and for me this year. i love, love, LOVE my school and my colleagues and am so proud of our accomplishments from last year and i just know this year is going to be phenomenal, too. i can feel it in my bones!

but, that doesn't mean i'm not feeling super anxious about leaving my baby for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

:(

i know he'll miss me (well, at least i hope he will!), but i also know he enjoys his time with his friends. his extroverted personality does so well with the consistent social interaction with his peers, too. but part (okay, right now, a big part) of me definitely feels lots of guilt about leaving him. there is a nagging feeling that i am missing out on some of the best times of my little guy's life.

i know the guilt is made all the more stronger because we are coming off the heels of an awesome summer and some amazing time together. and rationally, i know that summer is but a season, and often a magical one at that. i know that, come the dark and dreary days of winter, if i were at home with choi boy, we would be fighting to stay entertained and have meaningful time together, because they can't be all fun, special summery kinda days. but part of me wonders if it's those dark and dreary days that would be the most meaningful. because we'd have to fight to make it meaningful.

i also know i'm being a bit melodramatic. (i have that tendency, if you haven't caught on by now. ;) ) we'll still have 5 hours together in the afternoons and evenings. we'll still have weekends and holidays and breaks. and of course, we'll still always have summers.

but, for right now, i'm letting myself be melodramatic and i'm letting myself wallow in self-guilt. just a little. i think i need to get it out of my system for a bit. i'm sure it'll always be an inner-battle for as long as i am a working mom, but it's certainly magnified during these first few days back.

after all, when you get used to seeing this face all day long,

and then suddenly you don't,

man, is it rough.

mommahood vs. teaching

before choi boy made me a mom, a lot of people assumed that the transition to mommahood would come easily because i teach young children and have done so for the past nine years. and there are certainly a lot of similarities between teaching and parenting...namely, neither is for the faint of heart. let's just say poopy pants are not limited to just infants and toddlers. ;)

and while there are similarities, there are also many differences between parenting and teaching. the major difference? with teaching, at the end of the day, no matter what kind of day it was, you get to give the child back.

if you had a rough day with a particular kiddo, when 3 o'clock rolls around, you get to send him/her home. perhaps the child will go home with a note to the parents explaining why the day was so rough and asking for the parents' partnership in dealing with the matter, but for the most part, the child leaves and then you leave. you go home, think about something else and recharge knowing that tomorrow is likely to be better and that there are several hours until then.

with parenting, that's not the case. if you're having a bad day, you're having a bad day. there's no one to give the child back to, no one to write a note to, no one picking them up at 3 o'clock to relieve you of your duties. *you* are it. (well, you and your partner, if you have one -- shout out to the hubs who is being an awesome pops!)

when i tell people i teach five and six year-olds, they assume i have the patience of a saint. and i don't. not at all. the trick is, i know i only have to hold it together for 8 hours. that's it. eight hours. a third of the day. and really, there are very few moments that actually truly try one's patience during the school day, so those 8 hours tend to fly by really quickly.

not so with parenting. there is no "off" switch that allows you to throw off your patience hat and exclaim, "phew! i'm done for today!" you're *always* on. 24-7. and those patience reserves? they have to run reeeeeally deep because you never know when a 1:30am wake-up is going to deplete them.

there are no guaranteed breaks for PE, music, or art. there are no custodians to come and clean the child's mess. there is no school nurse to come take care of the boo-boos. there is no principal to deal with the really hairy behavior issues. it's all *you*.

and boy, can it be exhausting! i've been a momma for a smidge over a month and there are times when i marvel that one single solitary 16 month-old can wear me out more than an entire class of 23 kindergartners. it's crazypants, i tell you!

but you know what the best part of parenting is? at the end of the day, i don't have to give him back.

this might sound creepy, especially since i know there are some parents of former students reading this, but there have been little ones i have taught that i would have loved to take home with me. after spending 10 months together, it is really hard to say goodbye to some kiddos knowing i won't get to seem them regularly again. but with choi boy, i'm not limited to just september to june. he is mine. i am the one that he is given back to, no matter what kind of day he is having. i have the joy and honor of being the one he comes home to. i am the one that has the privilege of being there for not only the bad and the ugly,


but also the good. the very, very good.


and that is just amazing.

as much as i love teaching, i am SO loving being a momma. after all, isn't parenting really about being your child's first teacher? mommahood didn't come totally easily, but it is just so much lovlier than i could have ever imagined.

gotta run now...my sweet boy just woke up from his nap. ;) duty calls!

something only a nerd would be excited about.

{psst...thanks so much for all your insight and wisdom and thoughts on my last post...i truly hope i didn't offend anyone with my comment how easy it would be for us to (theoretically) forget. what i meant was that we wouldn't have to deal with a lot of the nastiness from strangers, but that we didn't ever want to forget or want choi boy to forget how our family was built. i think it'll be something we'll have to continue reassess as we navigate through our life together as a family, finding our balance in how to celebrate our story and how to respect our son's privacy. you know what i mean? i hope that makes sense. feel free to comment or email with other things you feel i need to know or consider. and thanks again for your thoughts -- i so appreciate them!}

and now, moving on to totally trivial matters...

last month, my favorite children's author came to town! that's right folks, MO WILLEMS was pretty much in my backyard.

unfortunately, i wasn't able to get to the book signing because i was busy prepping for this lovely event. however, with some creative tag-teaming with one of my co-workers, i was able to secure an early number for the signing (they were giving out numbers deli-style) and pass my books off to my co-worker so she could get them signed for me along with the books for her kiddos.

i have quite a few of mr. willems' books, but the event only wanted new books to be signed, so i picked up these three beauties while getting my number:

my friend is sad is one of the first elephant and piggie books and one of my absolute favorites. it's hilarious. i never had my own copy, but instead hoarded the school library's copy from september to june. guilty as charged.

knuffle bunny free (the last book in the knuffle bunny trilogy) and we are in a book are mo's newest books and they are fantastic, as are all of his other works. seriously, i cannot talk enough about how awesome he is! he used to be the head writer on sesame street before becoming an author -- hello, dream job! another very cool tidbit about mo is that he deliberately draws his lead characters very simply so they can be copied by the children that enjoy his books. how neat! he has some really great websites (check out both!) that have games and other activities for kiddos and he also has a great blog (be sure to check out his chalkboard wall dining room doodles -- SO cool)!

and, i love him even more for taking the time to sign his books for my boy, complete with doodles of piggie and knuffle bunny:



oh, and an important note -- "knuffle" is pronounced "KUH-nuffle." it's made clearer in knuffle bunny too, and i didn't realize it until i read it. don't make the mistake i did, start saying kuh-nuffle starting with the first book. :) and, if you happen to see the animated version of knuffle bunny on DVD, GET IT. the voices are done by mo and his family, and his daughter, trixie (the inspiration for the book), does an amazing job. you and your littles will LOVE it. cross my heart.

and remember, those book plates i briefly mentioned? here they are:



yup, proudly displaying my love affair with elephants and hippos again. :) wait, that sounds kinda weird. you know what i mean, right?

by the way, mo willems has absolutely no idea who i am (although how cool would *that* be if he did!), i just love his work so much that i feel the need to share it with anyone that's willing to listen. and, i just so happen to have a ready audience whenever i so choose to whip out one of mo's books. and my students ADORE them! so much so that last week, i was invited to a former student's house to watch him and his older sister put on some elephant and piggie plays!

A was in my kindergarten class last year and really took a liking to these books and it really helped him learn about reading with fluency and expression. over the summer, he and his sister decided to read the books as reader's theatre plays and invited me over for a special performance. his two brothers also joined in for some special guest roles. ;)

check out the program they made for me:


it was beyond amazing -- so cute and so well done! i was so honored to be invited to this very special performance just for me. :) (and, p.s. totally not weird to invite a teacher over to your house for things like this, at least in my neck of the woods...in my nine years of teaching, i've been invited over to several families' houses, birthday parties, soccer games, etc and it's always been fun!)

yay! books make me so giddy! :)

i know there's a lot going on in korea right now, and really, it could send me over the edge, but i'm going to put my trust in the Lord and choose to be thankful for all the little things...even children's books...

have a happy happy thanksgiving everyone! i hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!

what'd he say?!

a few weeks ago, one of my friends/colleagues came to me to talk about one of her students. this student moved to the states from korea in late spring and is still in the beginning stages of acquiring english.

my friend came to me because while she was teaching, her student kept saying something in korean and cracking himself up, to the point of distracting his classmates. so, my friend asked me what the word meant in a conversation that went something like this:

her: he keeps saying this word in korean and laughing hysterically!
me: do you know what the word is?
her: i don't know, something like "hong" or "hyong"?
me: hmmmm..."hyung" means older brother, but that's not really funny...
her: okay, that must not be it, i'll find out and come back to you.

a few days later, here's the conversation that unfolded:
her: i remembered!
me: what is it??
her: okay, it's "bong koo." is that something?
me (seriously stifling my own giggles): heehee, "bahng goo"?
her: yes! yes! that's it! what does it mean??
me: FART.

poor kid...he must have been so bored and not understanding anything, therefore resorting to entertaining himself by pretty much repeating the word "fart" over and over to himself. classy. ;)

the best part? my friend had me tell the boy to stop saying that and try to pay attention. then she said to him, "at school, we don't say those words. we say nice words. do you understand?"

he nodded fervently.

then i asked him in korean, "do you understand?"

and he looked at me and shook his head. :)

you gotta love the mind of a 6 year-old!

groovin'.

*when i was in college, i sang in an a capella group called, "groove." one of our songs was a medley of all these songs that had the word "groove" in them, my favorite of which was madonna's "get into the groove." as soon as i typed the title of this post, i started humming it. will you sing along with me as you read? :)

two weeks ago, i was seriously whining about the end of summer.

and now, here we are, the first week back to work!

and you know what? i'm loving being back in the groove. :)

i knew i would. (but sometimes, it's fun to whine, no?)

getting up early is going to take some getting used to, for sure.

but, i've always loved the start of a new school year. i usually hate change, but this is one change i embrace and welcome each september. i love starting with a new crop of kiddos, getting to know them and their families, and slowly building our unique community as a new class. plus, i kinda work in the best school with the best staff in the whole world. true story.

this year, things will be a little different with my new position, but i am excited nonetheless.

you know what else is exciting? buying school supplies!!! i'm off to t*rget to buy some sh*rpie pens! (have you tried them? they're awesome!)

*i'm also off to go dust off my "immaculate collection" album!

bittersweet.

tomorrow is the last day of school.

HOORAY!!! it's been a great year, but this teacher always welcomes summer vacation with open arms. :) after i became a teacher, i realized that summer vacation is just as much for the teachers as it is for the students, if not more!

but, it's a bittersweet day, because as excited as i am for summer vacation, i am sad because i'll be leaving the classroom next year. i'll still be working, but i'll be working halftime, doing only reading recovery in the mornings.

while i am so excited about having more time at home to spend with choi boy, being a classroom teacher is such a huge part of me and i know i'll miss it next year.

i'm sure i won't miss it as much by the time choi boy is home and in our arms, but for now it's a little sad. it's probably not permanent, though, so i'll likely be back in the classroom within a few years so at least i know it's a "see ya later" and not a goodbye.

i'm looking forward to continuing to work as a reading recovery teacher and the good thing is, because i'll be working in first grade, i'll get to see my little kinders next year when they're in first grade!

eek! i feel so old...this year's kinders/next year's first graders were born in 2004! whoa!

i love my job.

i love being a teacher. did you know that? i feel like it's what i was called to do and as cheesy as it sounds, i love being a part of the lives of the next generation. cue whitney houston..."i belive the children are the future. teach them well and let them lead the way..."

today was one of my most favorite days of the year in kindergarten. we had our annual family reading tea where the children share stories they have worked hard to edit, revise, and publish. we also sang some songs for the parents, with an adorable grand finale of "do-re-mi" from the "sound of music"! LOVE it! that is what happens when i teach your children. i teach them to read and write and also to love musicals. :)

at the end of the tea, i was thanking the parents for coming and concluding our program. then, one of my room parents stepped forward and said, "actually, grace, we're not done yet -- we have a surprise for you!"

it turns out, my room parents had conspired with the other parents and planned a shower for me. even parents of my students from last year came!

that's when the waterworks started.

actually, they had already started when i read this book to all the kids and their families:

have you read it? unless you're a fan of crying your eyeballs out, DON'T. i looked out at the parents towards the end of the book and i saw two of the moms bawling and i couldn't keep the tears away...

so, i was already a bit teary and when they sprung this surprise on me, it was too much. i was all verklempt!

as five year-olds always insist, it was time to open presents! the parents got me a gift card to babies-r-us (yay!) and they each brought a book to start choi boy's library, and i love me some books! the parents of my former students also got me the bedding set for choi boy's crib! it's so cute. i can't wait to show you!

my favorite, favorite thing was reading the cards and inscriptions from the families.

this card was my favorite:
Dear Mrs. Choi
Cragealashons on the baby. You must be very happy that you have a child. tho that you teach 23 children. But I bet you are happy because you have a child of your own.
Love,
R

at six years-old, her insight is amazing...that card really sums up the last 3 years. :)

here's a pic of me reading an incredible inscription on a book from one of my students and his older sister, whom i also taught.

the inscription read:
Dear Baby Choi,
Your mommy helped teach us both to read!
We hope you will enjoy reading these fun stories with her!
With Love,
A and A

after i read that, i made the ugliest ugly cry face (which my assistant captured on my camera) and cried all over again.

it was the sweetest, most touching gesture from my students and their families...throughout this whole journey, we have been so blessed by all the love and support that has surrounded us. and to have that love and support from 23 five and six year-olds is just too many kinds of awesome to count.