Everyday I'm puzzlin'...

Hehe! Do your kiddos love puzzles as much as mine do? A new puzzle is always an exciting thing at free choice centers... why not bring that excitement into things they have to do?

I've been wanting to make a sight word puzzle like Melissa's at Chasing Cheerios. I always make a Target run after payday... don't you? I grabbed a few puzzles for this project.

Now Spongebob and Patrick will help us practice our first 30 sight words during our Daily 5 stations!

I took the same idea to make a number recognition puzzle, too. I had envisioned numbering every piece to 100, but I chickened out. I wasn't sure if having the pieces in a 12 x 9 array, instead of a 10 x 10, would be confusing. Not to mention time consuming.

So I numbered 30 pieces instead, but then that presented another problem. How would they know how to take it apart during cleanup without ripping up the glued pieces? To differentiate between pieces that are glued and pieces that are numbered I used yellow puff paint. A large dot on the numbered pieces may remind them to take those pieces off for cleanup and leave the others alone. We'll see how it goes.

Thankful for Sundays and quick projects! :)

When all else fails...

go to Target!

Source: erstwhiledear.wordpress.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Dare I say I was BORED on a Sunday? I couldn't get anyone to come with me, but I did end up seeing a couple friends there! I scored a new batch of erasers:

So I made some patterning cards inspired by the Color Pattern Cards (scroll to the bottom) made by

(PS: She teamed up with Jack Hartman to give blog readers 20% off at his website. Here's the post about it.)

So after quite a bit of finagling with the images I came up with these! (I omitted the lips erasers because I just wasn't feeling 'em).

Spring Eraser Patterns



There's still time! Go to Target and grab some erasers! And don't forget the 20% off sale at http://www.jackhartmann.com/ thanks to PreKinders!

Boo!

Did I scare you???

I mean, I haven't been around much lately... you would've thought I was a GHOST!

Well, I'm glad you found me today! I whipped up some quick patterns cards to mimic the great ones I found at PreKinders here (scroll down to the bottom).

So get out your Halloween erasers from Target to extend these patterns!

Saturday Shoppin'

I went in for ONE thing... No matter, I was SO pleased to find these ice cube trays in PERFECT 10 Frames at Dollar Tree!

I also grabbed some mini word wands and teeny forks at Target for who knows what... I couldn't pass them up!

Dollar Tree also had fun erasers for math stations.

HOW do you go in a store and NOT start planning? :)

Hands On!

My district bought the Handwriting Without Tears program this year and I had to leave my class to get a quick introduction to it yesterday (the day did NOT go well afterwards...ugh). We're still waiting on teacher manuals to get started but I remembered the Write Out of the Box training I went to over the summer. My kids need fine motor practice daily, and NOW.

So with what feels like the cold that's being passed around I ventured out to grab some items I could use for fine motor development.

I needed one more pack of water squirters from the Dollar Tree to imitate an activity called Squishy Fish. It apparently develops the arch in the palm to facilitate better grip. The kids will think puffing a pom-pom around is hilariously fun!

I grabbed modeling clay from the Dollar Tree, too. I love the small amounts of each color and the resistance it provides will surely develop little hands.

Dr. Gibbs from Write Out of the Box recommends using pillows for the resting fingers to facilitate the tripod grasp needed for writing. I think I will use the ice cube trays I found at Target below as a pickup activity with pillows.

Students can place a pillow under their resting fingers while they pick up beads to play in each section.

I'm not as clever as some my blogging friends are by giving their kiddos plenty of scissors practice early in the year. We attempted to cut rectangles out for a calendar-making activity and it was utter chaos! Now I know what kind of skills my kiddos have but a booklet like this would be excellent practice for them and documentation for me.

I envision modeling a variety of activities throughout the year and putting them in tubs for each table. I hate the idea of handwriting worksheets in the morning and these tubs could be a great alternative for morning work!

I'm Back!

Whew, my trip to California with my mom was so much fun, but catching up in blogland is a lot of work! A big HELLO to my new followers, postdating some entries while I was gone really worked!

As always, how can you go on a vacation without thinking about the classroom... even just a little? In my souvenir shopping I found some really neat things:

I am SUPER excited about the 2 decks of mini playing cards I bought at the San Diego Zoo for under $6. Every face has a different zoo animal on it... I'm thinking math stations... matching to dominos, ten frames, whathaveyou, greater/less than, memory games... the possibilities are endless!

My mom also found me this great book the Muir Woods giftshop and was sweet enough to buy it for me:

I absolutely love it!

You'll also notice the "Great Work!" stickers on the upper left... yes, I dragged my mom to Target. I don't know what I was hoping for- it carried all the same stuff as the ones in Texas. We learned a new rule traveling, "never pass a bathroom." Well, the teacher's rule should be, "never pass a Target!"

Target Gift Card Giveaway!

Uh, oh... it's happening. I'm using my blog to enter a giveaway! It's official now! You have until Saturday, July 23rd to enter for the first prize!  A $20 TARGET GIFT CARD! 

Teaching Heart ( www.teachingheart.net ) is hosting their annual back to school party on July 24th till July 30th.  Each Day a new prize!  Gift cards, Books, Teaching Heart Products, and more!!!  Plus a free printable will be posted during the week.  You need to visit the blog at http://teachingheartmom.blogspot.com/ daily to check out the prizes each day and enter for the ones you want to win!!!

And I have 7 followers now! I so appreciate you! I would LOVE to have a give away of my own someday... :)

How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation!

Ok! So many thanks to Clutter Free Classroom for starting up an easy week-long linky party, not to mention for giving me the ooomf to launch The Kinder Kid! What a welcoming way to enter the blogging world!

I have yet to introduce myself elsewhere, so hello! I'm Nicole from Texas and I'm eagerly awaiting my second year teaching kindergarten. This time last year I was shakin' in my boots but now I can hardly wait for my new batch! I've been following quite a few blogs all summer and I can't get enough of the latest Target Dollar Spot steals, details from conferences, and newly minted activities to start the year. 

So let's talk summer! I'll work backwards:

5. Target!

I finally made it to Target! Part of my summer has been spending time with my cousins (ages 5 and 9) and when my aunt said she needed to go to Target for belts I was ALL OVER IT. I found all the great items you bloggers have been talking about and I even had helpful little hands to find the buried treasures! SO HAPPY!

My favorite scores are the alphabet and number stamps, the number magnets, and the "Great Work!" stickers. 

4. Conscious Discipline

A large part of my summer was dedicated to reading this book and writhing in regret as well as bursting with enthusiasm to implement the strategies within. Don't worry, one of the commitments I made in the early chapters was to forgive myself! Reading Conscious Discipline was truly a reflective experience and getting to go to a training in my district with her consultant Jill Molli was ten times better! She is an entertaining presenter and includes such poignant examples of Dr. Bailey's work in action from her own life. I am so excited that my principal wants my team to be leaders for this program for our campus. My favorite part of the training was learning about the brain states. I could go on and on about this piece but I'll save that for another time. 

3. Texas Kinder Conference

A few people gave me crazy looks when I announced I would be going to this conference by myself with my own money. All I can say is that it was TOTALLY worth it. I got to see Jack Hartman! I also learned about interactive writing, reader's workshop, math stations and more!

2. PLC, Debbie Diller, and Capturing Kids Hearts

Luckily, I didn't have to pay for these trainings, and I am incredibly thankful my principal thought of me when she registered our teachers to go! These opportunities launched my reflection and growth this summer in June. Again, so much to say, but this is only my first blog entry! :)

1. Family and Friends

I've been all around Texas since June for the above trainings and to visit the people I love. I have family in Round Rock, friends in San Marcos and Austin, teacher friends in Victoria, and my family and boyfriend in San Antonio, to boot! Wherever I go I receive hugs, news, and food! It's worth all the driving!

So that brings me up to the present! I have relaxing poolside, a trip to California with my mom, and some more blog reading to do before my last training (have you been keeping track?... 6 all together!). Not to mention setting up my classroom... and we moved our campus to a new building... eesh! 

So, again, thanks to Clutter Free Classroom and...

hello, blogging world! :)