Day 9 - A Few Observations and Photos After Our First Couple of Days - Mrs. Hoyt - Pine Glen Kindergarten

This post first appeared on Mrs. Hoyt's Blog

The start of the school year can be very busy, tiring and a bit overwhelming. Everyone is doing quite well.  That said, we would like to share a couple of observations and thoughts to help the positive energy continue.

1- Eat a big breakfast.  It may be difficult but we do encourage you to get a good meal into your children in the morning.Even after our morning snack, some students say they are hungry. PLEASE BE SURE TO PACK YOUR CHILD"S SNACK IN A SEPARATE BAG and PLEASE SEND IN A WATER BOTTLE.  
We eat lunch at 11:00 am.  They are all quite hungry again by the time we go to the cafeteria. Please be sure to send plenty to eat at lunch time!

2- Pack an extra water.  There is a water fountain down the hall from our classroom but it is not conveniently located for a quick drink.  At times we are quite thirsty.  If students had a water bottle from home in their back pack they could have a quick sip at the ready.

3- Rest, rest, rest - We are quite busy the entire time we are at school.  The children have done well thus far but we are noticing that many are tired (especially during the last hour).  Tuesday we had a couple friends ready to put their heads down for a little rest!  The second half of the week will be a little more challenging for all in terms of stamina and staying focused for a school day.  If possible, we recommend tucking everyone into bed a little earlier the next few nights.

Note:  All these recommendations apply to the teachers as well.  We are trying to eat a healthy breakfast to give us the energy to work through the morning.  We are packing lots of water bottles to have on hand and we are certainly trying to get to bed early!

Friends have to work together to make the friendship machine work!  Pine Glen's substitute teachers, Ms. Tully and Ms. DeMarzo are some of our new friends.  They joined us during morning meeting!

Faces lit up when the energy of their connections made the friendship machine light up!

We made connections while making connections!!

Friends were eager to get busy making puppets so we can recreate the story of the Three Little Pigs!

Many also enjoyed the flexible seating option of the standing table when they worked on illustrating the nursery rhyme about Peter, Peter.