Category Archives: Inspiration

My Edward Hopper House

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Jennie

When the sun goes down in the late afternoon, the light and shadows on the white house across the field remind me of an Edward Hopper painting. I love his art. I love this house along the way.  This coming … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Inspiration, Teaching young children, The Arts, wonder | Tagged , , , | 52 Comments

Boston Dynamics Robots – Update

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Jennie

As many of you know, my preschool children love the robots from Boston Dynamics.  Last year it all started when I accidentally found this video: Children were over the moon.  We watched this video every day, and children began to … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Teaching young children, The Arts, wonder | Tagged , , | 49 Comments

Norway and the Olympics

Posted on February 20, 2022 by Jennie

Norway has dominated the winter Olympics.  Yet, the story behind how their athletes got there is fascinating.  Is it rooted in childhood?  You bet! A recent article by Reuters, “Fun and Friendship Fuel Norway’s Gold Rush” hits the nail on … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Education, Inspiration, self esteem, Teaching young children | Tagged , , , | 47 Comments

A Discovery!

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Jennie

Today was the kindergarten’s “100 Day Museum’”display in the library at school.  When children reach the 100 day milestone, they make a project at home, something that contains 100 objects.  Classes are invited to the ‘museum’.  We even had tickets … Continue reading →

Posted in children's books, Early Education, Inspiration, literacy, museums, School, Teaching young children | 50 Comments

Dolls, Love, and Lucy School

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Jennie

My beloved childhood dolls It started last week.  Dolls.  It is growing in ways teachers hadn’t imagined.  We rotate our dramatic play area frequently, and it’s been a while since it was our traditional housekeeping area with a play kitchen … Continue reading →

Posted in Expressing words and feelings, Family, Gloria, Inspiration, Teaching young children | Tagged , , , , , | 73 Comments

Olympics and Children

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Jennie

Today I showed children Nathan Chen’s Gold Medal Olympic performance.  Children need to be inspired by the Olympic athletes.  Why?  Because they need to see regular people who were just like them, and worked hard.  They need to cheer success.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Expressing words and feelings, Inspiration, self esteem, Teaching young children | Tagged , , , | 48 Comments

India

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Jennie

Whenever my preschool curriculum is focused on a country, it always explodes in the best of ways.  Children are captivated as soon as we open our Big Book Atlas and view our satellite map.  We sing the ‘Days of the … Continue reading →

Posted in children's books, Diversity, Early Education, geography, Inspiration, Learning About the World, picture books, play performances, preschool, self esteem, Teaching young children | Tagged , , , , , , | 70 Comments

Parent Newsletter, Robots, TED Talk

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Jennie

One of the hardest things this school year has been communicating with parents.  That all important face-to-face greeting and conversation, every day at drop-off and pick-up, is limited to distancing in the school lobby while wearing masks.  We Zoom, write … Continue reading →

Posted in Imagination, Inspiration, literacy, picture stories, Teaching young children, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 74 Comments

My Portrait

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Jennie

Can you tell I’m a robot?  Isn’t this the best portrait of me, ever? We’re learning about robots in school this month.  It’s exciting for children.  So far we have built our own giant classroom robot,  played with Snap-Bots and … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Early Education, Inspiration, preschool, Teaching young children, Uncategorized, wonder | Tagged , , , | 63 Comments

When I Became a ‘Real’ Teacher

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Jennie

 ‘TheHundred Little Things’ The hundred little things- that’s what it’s all about, in teaching and in life.  It took me many years as a teacher to figure this out.  Thank goodness I had a ‘lightbulb moment’. As a teacher, I … Continue reading →

Posted in behavior, Early Education, Expressing words and feelings, Inspiration, Love, museums, preschool, School, Teaching young children | Tagged , , , | 125 Comments