One of the wonderful things about online networking in early childhood education is the chance to participate in unique activities like a leaf exchange…

I hadn’t really thought about how not every state has a true fall season like we do here in Indiana. The leaf exchange is designed to share leaves that are common in your home state with others from other states.

A common leaf that can be found in the state of Indiana is the Maple Leaf.  We have Red Leaf Maples and Sugar Maples all around my community.

As you can see from the photos above, the maple leaves turn brilliant red, yellow, and red depending on the amount of sunlight and rain we get in the Fall. If the season is too dry, the leaves will turn brown much too quickly but given the right combination of sun, rain, and temperatures – the leaves make a beautiful fall backdrop to our community.

For the leaf exchange, organized by Little Wonders Preschool, I was sent a list of 20 other schools to send out one or two leaves. The instructions were to…

“Please send each preschool 1 or 2 laminated leaves. Label the leaves with what type of tree (If you know) and city & state.”

I gathered the leaves (shown above) and then printed out this little tag for each school…

I placed the tag and three leaves into a laminating pouch and ran the pouch through my very old, but reliable, laminator!

The laminated finish wasn’t perfect but it should keep the leaves in good condition for the mail…

I made 20 of these to send out and now all I have to do is write out all of those addresses and drop them in the mail!  The teachers from each school will then be able to share the leaves from all different states with their students…

The states participating in the leaf exchange include…

• California (we have many from different parts of California)
• Omaha
• Colorado
• Massachusetts
• Georgia
• Maryland
• Florida
• Wisconsin
• New Jersey
• Connecticut
• Texas
• Indiana (that’s me)

I would encourage you to get involved in the online early childhood education community. As you can see here, it is a great way to find new opportunities and ideas for your class as well as meet other dedicated early childhood educators!

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I have recently moved my studio into a room of our house. This is where I “think preschool!”

I love to make the room look “preschoolish.” The room is way off to itself so my husband doesn’t care what I do in here.

I have most of the furniture I will need in my studio but I need some paintings on the wall. I thought I would experiment with doing some of my favorite kind of art. You know, preschool art!

I started out with a small canvas, some tempera paint, and a couple of sponge rollers. I thought for my first fine piece of preschool artwork I would do some roller painting. Then I will move on to far more complex types of art like marble painting, string painting, swatter painting, car painting, and so on…

I put a little paint on the rollers and then just went for it. I painted freely and wildly and….

Actually – I just rolled the paint back and forth across the canvas.

Once I covered the canvas with my paint, I boldly ventured on and added a few yellow spots. I am not so sure that I like the spots but it is too late now!

So here is my final piece – it is still wet. Tomorrow I will pick a place to hang it on my wall.

>I am rediscovering how fun it is to paint and I am reminded how nice it is to paint….

• without someone leaning over me making me worry that I might be doing something wrong or silly;
• without someone telling me I shouldn’t do this or I should do that;
• without someone telling me what color I have to use;
• without worrying how much paint might drip on my really nice carpet!  (I do plan to buy a drop cloth:)

And when the painting dries, I put it up on the wall and then I will decide for myself if it stays or goes but it sure was fun in the process.

Have you tried painting lately? Give it a try!

Now see this work of art from two incredibly talented artists!

A few months ago, I had a young friend that I met on Facebook, Kara Morris, ask me to help her write a poem for her graduation announcements.  I wrote the initial draft and Kara tweaked the words to work for her. In the end, we came up with this darling poem that I would now like to borrow from Kara and share with you all for my own graduation announcement.

Just beyond my reach

Are the children I plan to teach.

And as graduation draws near,

Their faces become more clear.

He has a lopsided grin

With juice stains on his chin.

And her bow is falling down as she spins ’round and ’round.

I am filled with anticipation

As I prepare for the celebration.

For the children I plan to teach,

Are just within my reach.

I actually wrapped up my Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education a few months ago but today was the ceremony.

Now it is time for me to start the Doctoral…  well maybe I will take a little time off first!

Congratulations to Kara (the young one)

and Me (the old one)

for our accomplishments in the field of

Early Childhood Education!

]]> http://www.teachpreschool.org/2010/06/graduation-da/feed/ 20 http://www.teachpreschool.org/2010/05/my-teacher-appreciation-gift-for-you/ http://www.teachpreschool.org/2010/05/my-teacher-appreciation-gift-for-you/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 04:31:43 +0000 Deborah J. Stewart http://deborahjstewart.com/?p=1856

A simple gift for all of you who educate, care for, and entertain young children from Teach Preschool!

Click on the bookmark above to view and print! (BW and Color)

Thank you for all you do for our youngest learners…

You always inspire me!

April 11 – 17th is the Week of the Young Child. This week is a chance to honor young children and to thank teachers who dedicate their time to the field of early childhood education.

I have been asked for ideas quite often on my Facebook page but haven’t had a great deal of success finding ideas online. I thought I would share this idea for thanking teachers.

Apple of my Eye

Make copies of this little award and hand it out to parents and staff. Tell the parents and staff when they see a teacher doing something exceptional or great, to surprise them by filling out an apple form and then placing the apple award on a designated bulletin board. Create an Apple of my Eye display where everyone can see it!

To learn more about this special week, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has published this informational pdf titled, “Week of the young child: Early Years are Learning Years”.

If you have ideas to share, I would love to hear them!!