Joy of Obedience & Decisions - Day Three

Today the kids were in high-gear with energy level, which can make things extra fun, but also took more managing. To burn energy, we'd transition from place to place in the house doing different parts of the schedule, then choose a way to get to a different area with a new body movement(ie, swimming in the air, tip-toeing, making a train, etc). The transitions were always great because the kids could make decisions and everyone enjoyed doing them. I don't know if it was because it was the 3rd time at our place. It seemed each one had trouble focusing today at some point, with, of course, the boys feeding off of each other. We had a few time outs and I had to use my stern schoolteacher voice I used in Junior High for the first time today. It's no fun having to be stern; I hope they could all still have fun when I was disciplining. Despite all of that, hopefully your cuties still came away having learned some important things and had a good time today. I'd love to hear their feedback -- please let me know their comments, good or bad!

Today we reviewed RULES/LAWS and DECISIONS by playing the Question Game. By saying it was a game made it more fun to answer questions. We sang the Rule Song again with a new activity, and learned the words to the song "Decisions" we listened to last time. It seems that each of the friends have a good grasp on what these concepts are. We talked about the FEELINGS associated with decisions, how we feel good when we make good choices and repent. We discussed how we sometimes make bad decisions. We also talked more about repentance today, in that we can make up for doing something wrong by saying sorry, doing our best to fix it, and trying not to make the bad decision again. We had a few opportunities come up for friends to "repent", and it demonstrated the concept nicely.

We did the letter M today in their notebooks -- they did fantastic. We talked about how we carry around the letters "L" and "M" on our hands with us, wherever we go (can create with our fingers).

We practiced following rules and making decisions in everything we did today:

* Reading Time at the very beginning -- each of the friends read books when they first arrive for a little while. I've gotten new books from the library each time. They all did a fantastic job -- the cutest part was Isabel reading the "No No Yes Yes" book from Day One to Joseph. They were engrossed. They wanted to finish the book before coming to sit down for Circle Time. She was a great little teacher :)



* Circle Time

* Music Time -- singing the Rule Song, Decisions, and we played "Simon Says". All of the friends could take a turn being the leader. They all became really good at this game! And very creative. :)

* Finishing our picture frame craft -- we had to share the different colors of glitter glue as a rule, but could make decisions what to glue onto the frame. We had a lot of options to choose from, but most friends only wanted a few things on their frames. Most of the friends wanted to hurry and finish so they could go out to the sandbox. Grant was the trooper who stayed at the table until the end to carefully place his stickers. How did your cuties like making their frames? We'll get a good picture of the kids and put it inside! Maybe one outside the theatre on Thursday?

* Storytime & Snack were combined -- see below!


We made cake mix cookies and followed the recipe exactly. Each friend put in an ingredient or helped mix. Each put their own cookie dough scoop on the sheet. They all did a fantastic job helping each other and taking turns. The friends are all very good following the procedures of each block in Joy School -- they've got it down!



While the cookies were baking, we read the Berenstein Bear's book "The Bear Scouts" which talks about how the little cub scouts :) were following the guidebook. Papa Bear wanted to be their guide but did everything his own way. It never turned out well for him, while the cubs always were successful because they followed the rules of the book. We returned to the kitchen and talked about how we just did what the bear scouts did -- we followed the recipe/rules and we'll taste the results & see how they turned out. The friends all guessed they would taste very yummy.

Before we could taste the cookies, we had to try making a batch the way Papa Bear did -- do everything our own way and not follow the recipe/rules. A few of the friends knew from the start that the end result would not be as good. Each one could choose an ingredient from a bunch of options to add to our cake mix cookies. Evie added about 1/3 cup salt. Kai chose to add about 2 Tbs. Lowry's season salt, which the friends thought looked like sand. Emily wanted to add 5 eggs, and Joseph helped. Isabel chose to add about 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Grant added about 2 cups oil. Joseph really wanted to mix.

They chose to bake it for however long it took to read the last story, called "Franklin Gets Lost" (actually suggested in module). It was a good book to demonstrate following rules, how not doing so makes people worried or sad and it's dangerous, and how we can repent from bad choices. The kids then ate each kind of cookie with a clear favorite. They decided it's always best to follow the rules because we get good results when we do. They also chose which kind of Cheerios to eat (Honey Nut, Fruitie, or Multi-Grain).

The friends each brought one cookie from each batch home to share -- I'd love to hear how they described them.

We didn't have the chance to get to a few other neat things planned for the lesson and playtime/interest centers, but the good thing is that I think each of the friends understands the concepts well.

Looking forward to Thursday's play about decisions!

Joy of Obedience & Decisions - DAY TWO

Today was another great day. We received RULES & LAWS from last time with a visit from Joy Boy. Joy Boy asked the hard question, "Is there a rule/law for everything?" Some said yes, others no. We talked about different examples and how there isn't a rule for everything. The big word of the day: DECISION. We get to choose, or make a decision, when there is no rule or law helping us know what to do.

We practiced making decisions the entire time. Some examples:
* Joy School Rule Song -- each friend took turns choosing a rule to lead the group in singing. Some had ahard time choosing one, and JS friends were encouraging in positive ways. It was great to see.

* Dancing Partners -- at the beginning we had music on to get our wiggles out. The friends could dance using whatever moves they'd like (early practice making decisions). Jumping, gliding, twirling, stepping, etc. Emily & Isabel asked how girls dance in partners. I showed them holding out their skirt with their left hand, and raising their right hand. I showed that their partner holds their raised hand & puts the other hand lightly on their side. Kai dances at home a lot & asked to try, and Emily volunteered. Then Isabel & Eve wanted to join in, & persuaded the other boys. We stopped the song a couple of times & made a decision to switch partners. They could choose. I have a short video of it -- they all had a blast. We danced to the song "Decisions" on the JS CD. We heard this song probably 8 times throughout the day, so they should be very familiar. :)

* Decision Pizzas -- for snack, we made honey wheat bagel pizzas by making decisions what to put on them. The options: homemade marinara sauce, mozarella cheese, parmaseam cheese, cheddar cheese, broccoli, mushrooms, sliced honey ham, and pineapple. The kids all had different creations with all kinds of combinations. Joseph ate 3 bites before we got it in the oven. :) Kai and Grant both had big pieces of broccoli on top. Isabel liked the ham. Emily loved pineapple. Eve stacked her pizza with everything.
* Strega Nona -- while the pizzas were cooking, we read the book "Strega Nona" by Tomie dePaola. They were all captivated by it. We'd stop every so often and talk about the decisions being made. At the end, they didn't know what Strega Nona would do, but Evie was spot-on in guessing.

* Interest Centers -- This is why we were running late at the end. :) The kids LOVED this time, so I extended it. There were three centers where they could make a decision what they wanted to do. They could be in the sandbox outside, at the table with play-doh or puzzles, or in the toy room with trains or the pirate ship. It was quiet and everyone played SO well together during this time. We didn't have any yellow cards until the end, when a couple of the boys were tired and ancy. It was magical!


* Picture Frame craft -- the kids are making picture frames to use as they wish, but also to maybe have a Joy School friends picture to put in. We just did painting today--they were very creative in deciding which colors to use, and where to paint on their frames. Next time we will decorate by gluing things on top. I have a wooden letter for each friend to put on representing their name, as well as other small decor. We invited each friend to bring a small item from home to glue on their frame next time (decision practice).


Lots of fun! Looking forward to next time and we'll be on-time. :)

Joy of Obedience & Decisions - Day One

We missed Evie today! Right at the beginning during Circle Time, the kids were asking where Eve was. There were comments: "I miss Evie!" and "I'm so sad she's sick." They all decided to make a special note for her and signed their names.

It was an awesome day! All of the kids played so well together. This was my first time having them since the very first week, and I was very impressed at how well they know the procedures for Joy School. They're becoming so seasoned. :)

We focused today on equating RULES and LAWS. Joy School has RULES/LAWS, as do our families, the community we live in, school, etc. I asked what some of the rules are at their homes, and received some good answers. We read the book "No No Yes Yes" by Leslie Patricelli. It goes over "No No"s and "Yes Yes"s. We talked about what the rule was in each one. We also did the story in the Joy School module called "A School Without Rules". At first, I asked if anyone would like to be in a school with no rules. All of the boys said they liked that idea. There were many pictures that went along with the story, so the kids put those on the board as we went along. It was clear that having no rules made things messy, dangerous, and takes away all of the fun. It also makes for a stern teacher. :) I asked again if they wanted to go to a school like this, and it was a clear "No!" We talked about how rules are very good -- they help us stay safe and keep us all happy.

The big emphasis was that if we KEEP/OBEY a rule/law, we are happy and safe. If we BREAK/DISOBEY a rule/law, we are not safe, we or others can get hurt, and we're sad. We used the example of a stoplight -- what happens if we follow it, or if we don't follow it. We spent quite a bit of time talking about different scenarios, and the kids really seemed to get it. We played "Musical Squares" with our JS mats and music to demonstrate & practice following the rules.

We then introduced the awesome behavior color system Jen made. It went right along with the concept of a stoplight. We want green because then we can go and do many different things. We don't want red, because we are stopped and removed from doing what we want. Yellow means slow down and watch ourselves, so on the behavior system, yellow meant getting a time out. All the boys had a yellow at some point, but I was proud of them for each quickly making it back to green. The girls were angels as usual. :) We also talked about the concept of repentance, by drawing with pencil and using our eraser. When we do something wrong, it makes us and others feel sad and sometimes hurt. We can repent by saying sorry and giving a hug, and not doing it again. Like erasing, repentance helps take the sad away. We made stoplights for our craft with mini-pictures of the JS rules on the back, reminding us to stay "green" and follow the rules.

You can talk more about and reemphasize your House/Family Rules before next time if you'd like!

The letter today was "L". We saw a quick Sesame Street clip about Bert & Ernie singing about L and other L words. The kids did an amazing job writing Ls in their notebooks. They learned that they always have an L on their left hand with their thumb & pointer finger. Whoever had green on the behavior system at the end of Joy School received a Lollypop to take home. For snack, we had Lemonade and "ants on a Log" with celery, peanut butter, and Craisins. The kids each made their own, which was fun to see. They each took turns stirring and mixing the lemonade. They were all well-mannered today and Joseph even said, "What great manners!"

To get from one activity to another, we rode the "train" together by putting hands on shoulders and walking in a line. There were new leaders each time. That worked really well in transitioning them. It was a great day!

K is for Krispy Kreme

Can't think of a better way to wrap up our unit of goal striving and order than at Krispy Kreme! It was a long trek to get there, but I think we'd all agree that it was well worth the drive to catch one of those hot, fresh doughnuts right off the conveyer belt! We lucked out with the nicest manager who really spoiled the kids with a great presentation on how they make donuts at Krispy Kreme. The only thing he wouldn't do was give us the secret recipe! ;) We missed Jen, Cheyenne and Kai!

The various stages of doughnuts from yeast and flour all the way to a hot, frosted donut!

Waiting for the rising donuts to plop into the hot oil...

They fry on one side and then the machine flips them over to fry the other side. Emily cracked us all up after she saw the donuts get flipped and she exclaimed, "Well, I didn't see that coming!"

Mmmm... the waterfall of frosting...

Everyone enjoying their donuts and milk!

The Joy of Order and Goal Striving Day 3

Even though we worked our goals again today and awarded some more stickers on our goal charts for practicing over the weekend, our focus for today was "order". So we read lots of great stories about messy rooms, talked about what order is versus messy and how order makes us much more happier. I shared the "secret" with them and that is "things will always stay in order if you only take one thing to play with at a time and then put it back in it's place before you take out another toy". We agreed to make a group goal to keep order at Joy School by using "the secret". Next, we had the special privilege of going upstairs just this once to take a look at Grant's room to see if it was all in order. Everything was in it's place... phew! For music time, we sang "Going on a Bear Hunt" which the kids absolutely LOVED!

For snack, we had rainbow jigglers so that I could show them the order of the rainbow...

Next, we went outdoors for awhile to play red light, green light.

We also practiced the letter K today and talked about the much anticipated field trip to Krispy Kreme to see the order of making donuts. Eve, Emily, Kai and Isabel were rewarded their gold stars on their goal charts after demonstrating that they had achieved their goals. Grant and Joesph are going to work hard and keep practicing writing their names... they will get there! We ended the day with our craft where we talked about how sometimes it's okay to make a mess as long as we clean up afterwards. So, the kids drew faces on their snowmen and we used glue and snowglitter to finish our winter scenes. Everyone helped clean up the glitter off the table and floor when we were finished.