PLA Academy 21-22

For 22 years I've been teaching (and learning) early childhood education. I once thought product art (the cute cookie cutter art that the teacher did 90% of the work, but the parents loved it) was what kids needed to be doing. I once thought every child's art should look the same. I once thought flashcards and work sheets were important and necessary for children to learn how to write and learn their letters.  My first job was an assistant teacher in a church preschool. One time the lead teacher gave me a week to be in charge. I planned cereal rainbows as our activity. I thought a great sorting activity, a great matching activity, a great color recognition activity... and it was for my 5 year olds. They did awesome at it and every arch had the right color... my 3 and 4 year olds struggled. You know what happened the teachers did all of the work. But... one little boy didn't want his rainbow like that. He wanted it to look different. This was the first time I was challenged ...

We learned about Spring this week! We read books about spring, talked about the 4 seasons, and what kind of weather we usually have in each one. We painted flowers with forks, did drip water color art, painted flowers for the bulletin board, did a black glue border painting, and "planted" flowers in kinetic sand. Our VIP shared her poster, some of her favorite things, and her adventures with Norman. We celebrated a Birthday and welcomed a new friend!