So this post is my new favorite and it's dedicated to fantastic schoolhouse mom Arianna.
What we do at the schoolhouse is special. I'm not saying that to toot our own horn. It's the truth. There's a feeling at the schoolhouse that everyone gets when they come. It's a feeling of immediate comfort--the kind that makes you wanna take off your shoes and have a snack and get comfortable and linger when you shoulda been gone 15 minutes ago. As an educator and a mom, the fact that our learning environment is so warm and cozy gives me the warm fuzzies. But there's also a part of me that always wonders if what I'm doing is effective and enough.
For the first time in a long time, I got the confirmation I needed on Tuesday.
Federico, a gifted and opinionated five year-old who comes to the schoolhouse with his little sister twice a week, likes to doodle when he comes in. I like to say that he keeps me on my p's and q's. If I don't fill up the vocabulary chart completely during a lesson, Federico is agitated...not in a negative way, but in a kinda "hey, you're supposed to have that all filled in" kinda way. Checks and balances--we all need 'em.
Anyway, here's Federico's "doodling"from Tuesday...
He replicated what the vocabulary chart I make during each playgroup normally looks like...
and used invented spelling to show what he knows.
This is a kid who didn't know a lick of English in September. His invented spelling is on par with what I used to see from my kindergartners in Texas.
When I realized what he'd done I beamed with excitement and couldn't grab my camera quickly enough, really because this is hard core evidence that learning is occurring at the schoolhouse.
I'd like to give special kudos to Federico's mom Arianna, who hangs my vocabulary charts up in their kitchen and reviews the words we learn with her kids daily. All of your hard work is paying off, girl. Brava!
What we do at the schoolhouse is special. I'm not saying that to toot our own horn. It's the truth. There's a feeling at the schoolhouse that everyone gets when they come. It's a feeling of immediate comfort--the kind that makes you wanna take off your shoes and have a snack and get comfortable and linger when you shoulda been gone 15 minutes ago. As an educator and a mom, the fact that our learning environment is so warm and cozy gives me the warm fuzzies. But there's also a part of me that always wonders if what I'm doing is effective and enough.
For the first time in a long time, I got the confirmation I needed on Tuesday.
Federico, a gifted and opinionated five year-old who comes to the schoolhouse with his little sister twice a week, likes to doodle when he comes in. I like to say that he keeps me on my p's and q's. If I don't fill up the vocabulary chart completely during a lesson, Federico is agitated...not in a negative way, but in a kinda "hey, you're supposed to have that all filled in" kinda way. Checks and balances--we all need 'em.
Anyway, here's Federico's "doodling"from Tuesday...
I'd like to give special kudos to Federico's mom Arianna, who hangs my vocabulary charts up in their kitchen and reviews the words we learn with her kids daily. All of your hard work is paying off, girl. Brava!
No comments:
Post a Comment