Five for Friday...late into Saturday!

It is Saturday (in fact it will officially be Sunday before I complete this post) but nonetheless, I have decided to join the Five for Friday.  I have a good great excuse for being late. I am recovering from my first week in kindergarten.  Keep in mind, this is not just my first week of the school year, it is my FIRST back to school week in kindergarten EVER!!!  

It has been an adjustment, but I am here to say, I think I am loving it! It is reassuring that the chaos will subside (maybe later than sooner) and eventually I will not be so exhausted by dinner time, and maybe I will not feel so anxious during dismissal time! But, other than that, I have really enjoyed them. I am excited for a great year!

That being said, I have given myself this weekend to rest and allow my body time to rejuvinete in preparation for the second week (and first 5 day week) of the school year!

Now, on to my Five for Friday...

1) First Day of Kindergarten...X2

Tuesday was the first day of Senior Kindergarten for myself and for my son. Needless to say, we both had the 1st day jitters, but we both survived and had a good day. In fact, as I pulled the car in my driveway, he was yelling and waving, "My 1st day as a senior was awesome!" Bless his heart, I love that little guy of mine! 

2) No child lost!

My biggest fear, coming into kindergarten was losing a child. I mean, we all know, not every child is going to come to the door first day wanting to be there. My little guy loves school, yet "grandma" says that he still put the brakes on as the approached his entry door, reluctant to go in!  With nearly 100 kindergarten kidlets registered at our school, we came up with a plan to help us ensure that they all ended up where they belong. This was especially important on Thursday, when our brand-new JKs began. We colour-coded our rooms, linked each room with a symbol and created kindergarten star tags. 

These "Kindergarten Tags" were put on at recess
and one of the little guys in the blue room wears his
so proudly; coming back in to get it, even after the routine was established

3) Hi, my name is Jackie and I am a Melonheadz Hoarder!

I am proud to say that I love, love, love Melonheadz Illustrating and am thrilled to become friends with Nikki. She says she laughed aloud when I told her she was like a celebrity, but how many of you would agree?

What do you think? Is it true? Take a look through my blog posts for confirmation! :)

4) Appreciation and Special Relationships

I am very happy that my little man has such a special bond with his teacher (and also that he was able to be in her class for a second year). She is so kind, so dedicated, so knowledgeable and an all-around-amazing-woman!

This week, I received this note from her!

 5) Moving Date...postponed!
I have been wanted to go see The Butler! I think Forest Whitaker is a phenomenal actor and think it will be a powerful movie! So, the plan, to celebrate "Surviving Week 1 of Kindergarten" was to go see the movie with my good friend, and teaching partner. I was worried I would be too tired by Friday, but we made it out, after all! Unfortunately, after chatting over dinner I looked at my phone and realized, there was no way we would make it to the theater on the other side of town to see the final showing of "The Butler" in time. And so we wait...the good news is, I already have plans to celebrate "Surviving Week 2 of Kindergarten!" ;)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend...what is left of it! Don't forget to check out others week at Doodle Bugs Five for Friday!

Beginning the Year with Chaos

Hello friends! I hope all of you are settled in nicely at school or feeling put together enough for the beginning of the year! Not so much for me! The kindergarten rooms are still under construction and school starts Tuesday! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

This is how my room looked earlier this week.
Picture it the same way, but instead of cabinets on the floor
(they are installed) the middle of the room is full of books!

I have tried not to be panicky but the closer to the day it feels the more my anxiety rises! The good news is that I have some fantastic friends and coworkers to lean on and I know we are going to be fine! We have sat down together to prepared the first couple of days and laid out the first couple of weeks. I just wanted to share a couple of books that we are going to be using. I love, love, love picture books but both of this are new to be and I am excited to get my own copies to add to my collection! 

First of all, the veteran kindy-teachers rotate back and forth between using "The Kissing Hand" and "Owen" for the start up. Last year they started with "The Kissing Hand" so this year, we will be starting our first day with the juniors with "Owen" (that will be Thursday because the juniors start two days after the seniors). 

Click on the cover picture to go to Amazon to purchase your own,
or other Kevin Henkes favourites like "Wemberly Worried." 

Owen is a sweet story about a little mouse, named Owen who loves his fuzzy yellow blanket and takes it everywhere. On the first day of school, Owen's mom has an idea to get Owen to school without dragging his blanket along, and she cuts it into a small, manageable square, that he can keep in his pocket! 

After reading this story, the little kidlets will all receive a square of fuzzy blanket to help make them feel safe on their first year of school. One of my colleagues, said some of her little kidlets brought it every day last year. 

The second story that we will be using the second week back, is a new one for all of us, but is something that fits nicely with something I now many teachers do, and that is the hunt around the school for the gingerbread man. 

So, this year, we have a variety of activities planned to go with this great book!

Click on the cover picture above to go to Amazon and purchase your own.
You can also find "The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Firetruck."

We have a whole week of activities to go with this story, but I will go into further detail next week. This week we will be sharing lots of other favourites with the kindies, including these fun stories:

What are some of your favourite reads to kick off the school year?