Teachers and Garbage Collectors

On Day 8 we were learning all about Teachers.  I kept trying to start the lesson Teaching Respect but Lachlan was pretty busy playing.  He built a fort and I figure why not?  We can have a discussion while he is in the fort.  It was actually pretty funny.  The idea of Teaching Respect was to introduce our new Gosling for our Friendship Nest Poster.  This month we are learning about respect.  First they had us ask the kids, if they were teachers, what rules would they have in their classroom.  I was so excited to see what he had to say.

So here he sat in his fort as he told me all the rules for his class.  I got out a pen and paper and wrote his list down.

Peter later ripped it up, so it is a little hard to see.  But you can probably get the idea.  There are a lot of rules about no jumping on things.  It makes me laugh when I read this.  So funny.  Apparently, Mommy tells them not to jump on things an awful lot. So if you ever want to hear how your house rules are translated in their minds, just ask this question, I dare you.  At the end you are suppose to ask why they think the teacher has all these rules.  You can see his answer at the bottom.  Then we tell them the teacher has rules to keep everyone safe and happy and define the word respect.  Lachlan wasn't really listening to that part and quickly came up with his own lesson. 

I have to say, I am proud of myself, looking back at the moment.  I went with it, with no hesitation.  Sometimes I can kind of get set on what we are suppose to do and not want to stray.  I try to reign this in and do pretty well, but have to give myself a pat on the back when I am successful.

Lachlan wanted to write his own list because he needed to go shopping.  He grabbed the pad of paper and pen, which I was using, and asked what he needed to put on list.  I quickly thought, hmm, I bet I could get him to write some letters. 

So I told him to write B for bananas.  We really need some more bananas.  I drew a B in the air but he still needed some clarification.  So I sent him to the alphabet chart and told him the B had a Bee and a Butterfly on it.  He found it and wrote it out.  Next I told him we needed milk, could he please write down M for milk.  Again I directed him to the alphabet chart with a few clues.  We added E for eggs and an A for apples and our list was complete.

Next he is going grocery shopping for me!  I think I've got this parenting thing down.

At some point through out that day and the next we did the other lessons from Teacher Day.  But I mostly remember the discussion questions.  For the lesson What Can You Be? Mother Goose Time provided each child with a little book, titled the same as the lesson.  It talks about all the different things they could be when they grow up and at the back has a blank page for them to draw a picture of what they want to be.  I read the story to the boys and asked them the discussion question.  What do you want to be when you grow up?

Lachlan said he wanted to be a firefighter.  But later in the day he still had the idea and the conversation in his mind.  As he was playing he stopped to tell me that he wanted to be an explorer, he wanted to explore jungles and cities.  I was so pleased to hear about this new idea and so happy that the topic was still in his mind hours later. 

Peter said "I want to be a man like Daddy when I grow up."  Commence heart melting.  Oh my, I am so blessed.  When my son says he wants to be like Daddy, I see that as a great accomplishment. 

I just want to share a couple photos from Day 9, Garbage Collector.  We are actually still finishing up this day.  But so far we got to sort trash, play with the Pattern Guide and cards and we read the Rebus Reader.  We sorted trash during the Opening Rhyme.  We had 4 cans, paper, plastic, compost and trash.  Then a bunch of garbage pieces to sort.  It was a great way to introduce the subject.

You can see we did the garbage sorting up on Daddy's ugly orange chair.  It's still up there as we work on the pattern.

I had never heard of a Rebus Reader before Mother Goose Time.  But the other day I was waiting in line next to this spinning children's book rack and saw one marked as a Rebus Reader.  Not only was it a Rebus Reader but it was a Skippy Jon Jones book.  So I had to grab it.  The boys love that they can participate in the reading of the book because a Rebus Reader replaces some of the words with pictures. 

I was about to crop this picture when I realized that's my baby belly from Baby Boy #3 saying hi.  It's officially starting to get in the way.  But I don't mind.

 Here is the first page of the Rebus Reader provided by MGT.  The Garbage Collector makes stops at different places and asks if they have any trash.  The person asks the Garbage Collector if what they have is trash.  If it is not then he tells them to recycle it, if it is, then he tells them to put it in his truck. 

The boys were happy to read along and it always seems to get them more invested in the story.