A real news reporter, the perfect queen, quick and quiet coloring, eating quackers and a biting dog: THURSDAY Q WEEK

Once upon a time there was a 21 year old Ms Kristin who student taught Kindergarten with Sue Gering at Lincoln Elementary. She learned about a queen who lived in Q-ville, was lightning quick, loved quarters, Q-tips and quality silk, never quibbled or quarreled, listened quietly to others and knew which laws to quit.

Find out more about her and our day…

What did the news reporter have with her?

A camera and a tri-pod. KSN news came to our school this morning during their interview with Grandpa Chuck. They are doing a segment of his woodworking projects and came to see some of them in action. We may have some future news reporters…they were quite interested!

What did the X mean on Queen Quartence’s paper?

She was quitting a law or a practice that didn’t benefit all.

While Queen Quartence is a ficticious character, she possesses qualities I wish all leaders had. The children seemed rightly intrigued by the story of her.

Why did you scribble fast in your journal?

When Ms Kristin sang a song loudly, we drew quickly. When she sang the song quietly, we drew slowly. During this we also practiced putting lids on the markers. Ms Kristin counted 20 markers that were used that all had their lids on! Amazing!

Why did we call our goldfish quackers?

We pretended to be Queen Quartence. She likes to eat duck shaped crackers and calls them “quackers” since ducks quack and “quackers” kind of sounds like “crackers.” Thanks to our Helpers of the Day, we had a delicious snack!

Applesauce can be eaten from the pouch or squeezed out with raisins added. Yum!

Having 2 kids be line leaders adds in an element of connection building that I like.

Who brought the dog that can bite without it hurting?

Zander! Our Show and Tell picture is a video so you can hear the cool song that goes along with the dog truck that opens and closes its mouth. We also counted all of Heath’s animals and were amazed that we got to 44! We saw Max’s super powers ring that has no powers, Essie’s spinner she got when visiting Kindergarten, Ella’s doll whose eyes close and the one whose eyes don’t close, Thoedore and Sophie’s unicorns, Carter’s tricks with the little skateboard, Everett’s helicopter and the book that Wilmer can read.

Enjoy more photos and videos from our day:

No water, eating onions, painting quilts, extra snack and new transformers: WEDNESDAY Q WEEK

Today was a very big day with a lot of unusual things so I made a video recap:

Oh! Another thing I remember when looking at photos: there was a bench in front of our gate so we had to go over it, under it or around it!

But in the midst of these things, we had a lot of preschool happen!

How did you get water to drink?

Pouring it from bottles into our cups!

Since the water was off for our neighborhood (this was a surprise, I wasn’t informed ahead of time), we used the bottled water from the Shelter Hallway. To wash hands we used a lot of hand sanitizer. To flush the toilet Mr George brought us buckets of water.

What is growing on the dirt hill again?

The onions!

Henry R discovered that the green onions have sprouted. While we have said that they taste “like soup” for the last couple of years, today’s class also determined they taste like cheeseburgers! I think onion breath on preschoolers is terribly cute.

What colors of paint did you use?

They are going to be absolutely beautiful! As I mentioned in the video recap, we did not take the time to complete the projects today, so they will get extra drying time and come home next time.

What part of snack did we eat outside?

The iced oatmeal cookie bars! They were waiting in the Show and Tell basket. Inside we had a deliciously cheesy snack of Babybel cheese and Cheez-its while we processed our day together. Our schedule board kept adjusting to our changing plans. Way to go, preschoolers and Thank you, Max and Malcolm!

What color are the new transformers?

Green!

A church friend and former preschool dad made these for Children’s Time at church. Since he is on our school board it was easy to find a picture of him to show friends. They are incredible and the children were impressed. Thank you, Mr Ian!

Why are the quilts bumpy?

From the stitches! We determined that the yellow quilt is the bumpiest of all:

We played “I Spy” on one of our Story Quilts.

More photos and videos from our day:

As I shared in the video recap, the workers did get the water on during our preschool morning. We made it!

A broken tray, quilts on the ground, popcorn that smells like fireworks and a big fart: TUESDAY Q WEEK

Once upon a time a teacher bought new muffin tins to use as snack trays. For over 6 years they were used and washed after every preschool day. Today is the first time one of the snack trays broke.

Read on to learn more about this story and more…

1. Why couldn’t we use the broken snack tray?

It was sharp. It seems that after 6 years of use, the seal between one of the muffin cup parts and the tray part came loose. Thank you, snack tray, for your many years of service!

2. Why was part of the quilt bumpy?

From the thread where it was quilted!

We had quilts covering the Circle Time rug today. Sitting on them and under them we could see and feel the stitches. Don’t be surprised if you find your child investigating clothing or blankets to see how many stitches there are. Eyes closed gives an enhanced experience.

One of the quilts that Grandma Bonnie made for Ms Kristin looks a lot like the quilt watercolor paintings we’re making:

3. What smelled like fireworks at Snack Time?

The popcorn! One friend got a partially popped kernel in his popcorn and when he went to eat it he said it smelled like fireworks! We decided that made sense since the kernels had to get hot enough to pop. We also enjoyed 2 kinds of animal crackers (some with eggs and some without) and Kix cereal.

4. Where did we do Show and Tell today?

Outside! Ms Kristin had to rearrange the schedule board at Circle Time so we could get outside right after Snack Time. Here are the differences:

Before we went outside we had friends work on their quilt paintings (they are drying until next time) and Alphabet Project (this could be done today or on Thursday, hence the question mark).

5. Who made the big fart sound at Show and Tell?

Ms Kristin!

Carter brought a whoopie cushion and Ms Kristin demonstrated it. It was a very loud and effective whoopie cushion!

Bonus: The Bathroom Belly Button Boys

These Helpers of the Day were in the bathroom washing their hands before helping get the snack ready. They came out giggling and said that it took a long time because they were looking at their belly buttons. Ms Kristin said it was like it was B week: Bathroom Belly Button Boys!

2 real life quilting friends, a big yellow bag, the middle finger and a lost puppy: MONDAY Q WEEK

Once upon a time there were two ladies who went to Quilt Group together every week. They would take their projects there and show them to all the people there. Sometimes they would help work on each others’ quilt projects. Today they were in our class together!

Read on to learn more about these quilting friends and more!

Who were the quilting friends?

Grandma Bonnie and Grandma Vicki! They worked on a quilt together during preschool while the children had a chance to help or to rest under the quilt like children at a Quilting Bee.

During Circle Time, we got to explore different sizes, shapes and colors of thimbles, putting them on our middle fingers just like Grandma Bonnie and Grandma Vicki!

What happened to the dog in our book today?

We read The Quilt during Story Time today. The child’s stuffed dog fell out of bed while she was dreaming. In her dream she looked for her dog and found it next to a tall cliff wall…but really it was her bed.

These children were so focused on the similarities between the landscape of her dream and the fabric in her quilt. I highly recommend checking this book out!

What did Auden bring for snack today?

Birthday bunnies (who are quick and quiet!) and strawberries. It was a special snack because Auden turned five yesterday! Thank you for the snack and your help today!

Inspired by Story Time, we visited around the snack table several times (!!) answering the following questions: have you ever fallen out of bed, do you ever get out of bed (also known as “sneaking out” by some friends) and is there anything else you’d like to tell us? These snack times remind me of suppers with my own kids when they were little.

What did Lane have in the big yellow bag?

2 monster trucks! We also had 2 sets of pink binoculars, a Nisly garbage collecting box, a Yoto that played Rex’s daddy reading to us, nesting rainbow balls, 2 new princess dolls, a soccer ball and a baggie that held two vehicles: a car and a monster truck with the same name.

Enjoy more pictures and videos from our day:

Bingo winners, peeling oranges, a hiding opossum, a sliding heart and more…MONDAY VALENTINE WEEK.

Once upon a time there was an opossum who we thought was in a dress up box but then was next to the dress up box. This is a mystery we may never solve! Read on to learn more about this and the rest of our day.