"I made this for you!"

Oftentimes in the Adamah classroom, we find children making different art projects to bring home for Mom, Dad, siblings and other family members.  Today, we thought we'd try something different.  When the children arrived in the classroom, they found art materials and a bowl full of small slips of paper, each with the name of another child in the classroom.  As they came to the art table, the children pulled a classmate's name out of the bowl, and made a picture for that person -- with markers, crayons, hole-punchers and stickers.  We're collecting the pictures until each person has one, then we'll mail them to each friend. 

The children were thoughtful about the art projects, too.  Hayley thought about which color paper Graham would like before she selected blue.  Samantha asked Hayley, (who was sitting right with her!) what color paper she'd like.  Hayley said, "Pink!"  And the girls continued the conversation, about what Hayley might like Samantha to draw, until Samantha finished the whole picture for her friend.

Olivia was excited to pull Sally's name, and chose purple marker on purple paper, because she decided that Sally would really like that.

Taking care of others!

Hayley was so kind and friendly to Alex on the playground today!  She saw Alex go over to the swing and asked him if she could push him.  Once Alex was in the swing Hayley was so happy to push Alex!  When Alex was finished with his turn on the swing he walked over to the curly climbing structure.  It was a busy place as the children had to wait in line to climb.  While Alex was waiting for his turn, Hayley kneeled down on the ground and asked Alex if he would like a turn to climb?  Alex nodded his head up and down.  When a space was available, Hayley helped a teacher spot Alex as he climbed.

We want to recognize Hayley's helpful, friendly,and kind behavior!  Thank you Hayley for reaching out to Alex today to give him a friendly helping hand!

"Lily do you want to build with me?"

Often Ben invites his friends and classmates to play.  When he finishes his lunch Ben puts his trash in the garbage, his lunchbox in his backpack and then he will ask a friend/ classmate to play with him. "Samantha do you want to play with the magnitiles when you are done with lunch?"  Inviting someone to play is not as easy as it looks.  Every time Ben invites someone to play he looks them in the eyes and asks him/her if they want to play.  This is a social skill that takes time and practice to master.  Ben gets a lot of practice as he is so warm and friendly to all the children in the Adamah classroom!

Today Ben walked right up to Lily and said, "Lily do you want to play with the magnitiles?  We can build a house?"  Lily loved the idea ,walked over to the rug with Ben and started to build.

More bucket filling!

At lunch bunch today, Hayley said, "Graham let me use me this baby -- that really filled my bucket!"  The concept of being friendly and making others feel good in the Adamah classroom has really caught on!

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Carol McCloud is the author of Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  "This is a heartwarming book that encourages positive behavior as children see how very easy and rewarding it is to express kindness, appreciation, and love on a daily basis."

This book is written to teach young children to be bucket fillers..."All day long, everyone in the whole wide world walks around carrying an invisible bucket. Carol goes on to say, you can't see it, but it's there.  Your bucket has one purpose only, to hold your good thoughts and good feelings about yourself.  When you feel happy your bucket is full, and you feel sad when your bucket is empty."

The book explains to kids that when you do or say something nice for someone else you, " fill their bucket"  and if you do something that is not friendly or kind you, "dip into their bucket".  We use the bucket filling imagery to create a concrete way for the children to understand friendly behavior.  We encourage you to use this language at home within your families, as well.

During the course of the week we have read Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  in both large and small groups.  Some of the children are already picking up the concept of "filling and dipping" into someone's bucket.  This morning another child said something that was not so friendly and Sally said,

" Hey she went into your bucket Lauri"!   At our morning meeting the teachers pointed out how Sally "filled" Eva's bucket when she helped her move the bike she was riding when the wheel got stuck on another bike.

Hayley said her Grandmother  " fills her bucket"  when she hugs her.  Isabella said her Mom "fills her bucket" when she kisses her and reads her 5 stories before she goes to bed.

Carol McCloud 's book  Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  is a must have for your library at home!

The whole family will simply fall in love with the language in the book!

Always Room For Two

Friendship Inspired Learning

Some Kochavim friends were working on coloring their hopes and dreams strips that their parents wrote for them. I read Adam's strip to him which included a phrase on how his parents are hoping that he finds, "joy in his friendships." Adam immediately drew a picture of Molly and then asked me to write her name. I knew that Adam knew the letter "M" because it is in his name. So he made the "M" first. Then he made a circle for the "O," which was something he knew how to do. After that he got stumped and wanted me to write the rest of her name. I then pointed out to him that Molly was sitting next to him and that she could help him with the other letters! He watched her name them and then wrote them on his own strip. He was so proud when her whole name was written! Now not only can he write Molly in the Kochavim's class' name but he can write Molly his babysitter's name as well! Wow! Then he needed to write Charlotte and he went up to Charlotte and asked her to write her name on his strip.  It was neat to see so much literacy develop in our creative process. All the Kochavim kids were working hard to relate their pictures to their families and friends at school and though that connection they each practiced a lot of writing! Also friends were helping each other with the writing process and using each other as a resource! They now know enough that they can ask each other for help rather than always asking an adult. I am so excited to watch how their learning and friendships continue to grow. Way to go Kochavim!

Friendly kind behavior!

All summer long Noah has reached out to Alex. He seemed to take a liking to him right away. Often Noah asked Alex if he could push him on the swing, or to go on the monkey bars with him. Noah can do the monkey bars independently and Alex needs help. Noah asked me lots of questions about Alex throughout the summer like..."Does Alex like the beach? " "How did Alex learn to ride a scooter?" Noah offered to get Alex a drink of water many times. When Noah noticed Alex was waiting for a turn on a swing, Noah would get off the swing to give Alex a turn without being asked.

Noah thanks for being such a good role model and reaching out to Alex with such friendly behavior. We appreciate you!

Look what I found!

As the Kahol children were cleaning up this morning they found an interesting little creature crawling on the table. We all observed for a while then placed it in a cup, and walked it out onto the playground.

Hannah and Alex helped place the little critter in the cup. Grace made it clear she wanted a turn to "hold it" before we let it go! So Grace asked Hannah for a tun to hold the bug...After a few minutes Hannah was ready to give Grace a turn. Then we all took a walk and let the bug go free!