Kinder quote of the day

Student (as he pushes a friend on the tire swing): Look, Mrs. Anderson! I'm pushing him like he's in a tomato storm!

Mrs. Anderson: A tomato storm? Yummy, I love tomatoes! But, he will be all red, won't he?

Student (stomping his foot): No! A tomato storm. You know... like those things that go around and around?!

Happy birthday, Mrs. Anderson!

With the beginning of the school year, I have been very busy -- but I promise to update my blog more soon! I have a wonderful class of 24 little learners... and I can already tell this year is going to be a fun one! For some reason, my kiddos this year have turned me into a "big softie." I've always loved my students, but all of a sudden this year, I'm pushing little ones on the swings, giving more hugs than usual, and playing an occasional game of tag on the playground. I think my class has me wrapped around their fingers...

Today, we celebrated my birthday -- and Mr. Anderson brought us cookies! Every year on my birthday, I ask the students to guess how old I am. I love recording their answers because it demonstrates their lack of understanding of age (which is a blessing!) Here are the guesses (in order!):

14 - 20 - 16 - 15 - 17 - 81 - 18 - 84 - 86 - 87 - 14 - 17 - 11 - 4 - 16 - 17 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 13 - 88 - 19
Too funny!

P.S. -- I'm 25... tomorrow!

More fun than homework

I'm not going to lie to you... I mainly did this because I wanted to procrastinate doing homework. But, I'm so glad I did! It turned out so darn cute and I can't wait to show it to my kinders in August. They will love playing with the cars and other toys on it. And what a great way to encourage language while playing! I can't wait to see the stories they come up with. 
A view of the whole "Kinder Town"

Every town needs a few of these...

and these... 

and a farm, of course! (Named after my dog...)

My favorite part of the mat is the baseball field.
I have lots of leftover felt (probably twice as much as I needed), so I'm already planning on making an "animal mat." It will be a great way for the kids to apply our science unit on animals -- and a fun activity before we go on our field trip to the zoo!
Thanks to this blog -- Girl and a Glue Gun  -- for the great idea!

A time for goodbyes

Here are a few of my favorite "goodbye" letters:



I will miss my class so much! They were wonderful!

A goodbye from the heart

Translation for those of you who don't read kinder-writing for a living :)




"I love kindergarten and Mrs. Anderson's class. I will miss you very, very much. I promise that I will visit you every year and I will see your new kindergarteners and how much you teach them like us. I hope that you have fun!"

Fire safety

Student: "I can stay safe from fire by not playing with mattresses."

Me: "Do you mean matches?"

Student: "Oh yeah!"

Playing pretend

I just overheard the most hilarious "pretend" game... 

Girl: "Mr. Anderson! Where is Frankie?" 
Boy: "Oh no, don't tell me he ran off again..." 
Girl #2: "Maybe he went to school!" 

Tyson and I have officially become characters in their game -- oh my! :) Too cute!