In the beginning of the year, we talk alot about rules and how we treat our friends. We come up with classroom rules together. The last one on our list this year, number 6, is "No whining". This is hard for all of us at times, but particularly hard for five and six year olds. One day, as one little girl was whining about something, a little boy shouted out, "Number six! No whining!" I didn't have to say a word :)
Another thing we do at the start of the school year is draw our families and talk about them. One particular boy was coloring and as I sat at his table, he said "my momma don't love me". I laughed and told him that of course his mom loves him. He shook his head and continued without even looking up, "Uh-Uh. She whips me". Knowing this particular mother, I explained that she wanted to teach him right and wrong and that shows that she loves him. Still coloring, he responded: "Well...you should see the belt. Umph!" and issued a loud grunt :)
During learning center time, one of my sweet girls came to me for help. Her center involved looking at a picture of something that is spelled with 3 letters. Her job is to spell the word. She held up a picture of a bathtub and asked me, "Is this how you spell 'bath?" On her paper: B A F.
Lately, we've been learning about different sounds like SH, CH, WH and PH. When I asked the kids to name some words that start with 'WH', one little friend eagerly raised his hand. "Whooping! My momma says that I need one of those." Let me tell you- his momma is right. This same little friend then thought it would be fun to act out a whooping by slapping ME on the backside. I'm not sure who it was more disturbing for- me or him.
We do calendar books each morning. On one page of the book, we make a tally mark. At the bottom of the page, there are several hands to count the days also. After we make a tally mark, we color in a finger. (I'm sure some of you can guess where this one's going.) Today when we colored in the middle finger, I heard one or two snickers. (Sad but true- some of them already associate that finger with something bad.) One of my little boys called out, "That's not your LOVE GOD finger".
Yesterday, as we walked down the hallway to leave, one of my little ones told me that he liked my hair. I thanked him and another little boy (the same one who knows all about his different fingers) told me "Mrs. Cranford, I love your body". Dang- I could get used to this. My husband could learn a thing or two from these boys :)
One of my very favorite things about kindergarten is their level of excitement. Having taught second grade for many years, it's a very different experience. Second graders have been there, done that. To kindergarten students, everything is new. For many of them, it's the first time they have walked in line, seen a smartboard, or listened to a firefighter talk about his job. We ran out of tissues one day and I said to a small group, "Let's get a new box of tissues out!" as I grabbed a colorful box. I kid you not: each child grinned and shouted "yeah!" I think I even got a fist-pump out of one little boy :)
At the end of each day, we line up before we are dismissed over the intercom. I am usually wiped out, so I'll sit on the table and chat with them while they are in line. Almost every day, one or two will come over and hug me. When their friends catch on, they join in too. After a few seconds, I am literally smushed by about 10 kids. What a blessing!
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