When I learned I was pregnant with my eldest child I immediately joined the Dr. Seuss Book Club and began collecting the genius of my favorite children's author. The reading began at birth and continued through 2 other children, the children I babysat and finally into my classroom. I have marveled at Boris Karloff's Grinch and grimaced at Jim Carey's (sp?) portrayals. All these years later I am still amazed at the creativity, humor and ability to catch a child's (and mine) interest with just a few made up words. I'm sure you can guess how I feel about this special week when we celebrate the life and work of Theodore Seuss Geisel.
Today was an introduction about the man Dr. Seuss and why he began writing children's books. He wrote his first book on a dare to use just 50 words children should know. You'll have to ask your child for the title of that book. He also wrote under several names using versions of his name. Again, ask your child.
Although the book of the day was "Red Fish, Blue Fish, One Fish, Two Fish" I changed our book. We will read it later in the week but I particularly want to start with a different book. We read a true Community School book today. "The Sneetches" was new to most of the class but they were able to see that it was just plain mean to claim one kind of sneetch was better than another. They didn't buy into the worth of a star on one's belly and decided all the sneetches were fine just they way they were. See what I mean about a true Community School book?
I pulled out some fun Dr. Seuss themed games today to play. We had "Green Eggs and Ham" Tic-Tac-Toe and character Memory. It's funny how changing the pictures on a game makes it a new game but I don't argue with success! Our color choices for today's theme turned into a graph with pink being the most popular color today. Tomorrow's featured book is "Fox in Socks" and CRAZY socks are encouraged. If only plain socks live at your house, you might allow your child to wear differently colored socks.
Our room is slowly transforming as I prepare to bring in the new art table. It was an old lab style table - minus its drawers - about to be discarded. We hauled it home, cut down the legs, made drawers, removed MULTIPLE layers of paint and added a fresh new, fun color. It was a bit tacky this morning but hopefully it can be delivered tomorrow. The children have already taken ownership and are debating which art items should be in the drawers and which should remain on the shelf. Don't ask me, I just teach in here!
Don't forget the Information Sessions next Tuesday evening. Call ahead to reserve babysitting space if younger siblings will be attending. And don't forget to bring your friends along. We gained several new families last year when a couple of "kinda" interested parents attended.
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