One of my favorite three-year-olds (I know, I love them all the same, blah blah blah) recently had to leave our preschool program. Last week, before this child's departure, the little boy that would take her spot and his mom and dad came to visit the school. When they dropped by my classroom I didn't have a class going on, so I got the opportunity to talk to him a little. He was very shy and a little intimidated by his surroundings, so to try and get him excited about coming to school I told him all about our upcoming Christmas program and how everyone in his class, including him, was going to get to be a shepherd. He just stared at me with trepidation and retreated further back to the shelter of his parents. Our Preschool Director continued to tell him about the program and all the songs that he would get to sing, and ended with "Would you like that?"

He paused for a minute and then replied, "I don't wanna be a shepherd."

Okay. That's fine. It didn't phase me much because most of my students already said they'd rather be Optimus Prime or a princess. So the family continued their tour and I went on about my day.

The next morning at carpool our director approached me to discuss the family's visit from the previous day. She had tried to talk to the boy one more time about how fun it would be to be a shepherd in the Christmas Program. And finally he told her why he wasn't interested:

"I don't want to take care of the sheep."

Fair warning

After three months of running up and down the stairs at Mauldin United Methodist Church, I finally read the signs posted in every stairwell:

Ribbons and Buttons and Bows, Oh My!

We've been busily making costumes for the youngn's at school, as this is the first time in, like, 20 years that they've done a new Christmas Program. We were having a hard time coming by gold poster board (angel wings) and since I live in Simpsonville, the preschool director suggested that I try Wilson's, which is in Simpsonville and right on my way home. I had seen the store before, but didn't think much of it. In fact, I kind of associated it with Wilson's the leather store, even though the two have nothing to do with each other.

The minute I stepped through the door my jaw hit the floor. Imagine a store like Fogler's or Ben Franklin. Now take all the stuff out of the store and multiply it by 10. Then fit all back into the same store. I felt a little awkward about taking as many pictures as I really wanted to, but I did manage to steal a couple of their ribbon aisle:

The first side...

...and the other side

They also had some on an endcap. They had EVERYTHING at that store in great supply: streamers, Christmas decorations, cards, gift wrap, toys, picture frames, crafts, balloons, school supplies, knick knacks, stickers, household items, candles, candy, puzzles, games, Halloween costumes...

They did not, however, have gold poster board.

I Give Up

I've tried to be sensitive about telling teacher stories. I realize that those of you who do not spend your days with rooms full of children could probably care less...but here's the reality: kids are just funny. As much as I want to entertain you all with some random bizarre tale, the truth is that a lot of the crack-ups in my life these days come from the classroom. So, here's a couple to take with you:

November (at least the first part of it) is tempo month in music class. We've all been experiencing fast and slow music in all sorts of different ways. The four and five year olds have even been learning some tempo vocab - Adagio (slow) and Allegro (fast). And because they are only four and five, we spend the first few minutes of each class reviewing those new words and what they mean. My last class went a little something like this:

Mrs. Palmer: "Who remembers what kinds of sounds we were talking about last time?"

Child with raised hand: "Fast and slow!"

Mrs. Palmer: "That's right! And who remembers our new really big words? Which one means very slowly?"

(Silence)

Mrs. Palmer: "A - da....."

All at the top of their lungs: "Adagio!"

Mrs. Palmer: "Yes! Very good! And which one means really fast?"

(Silence)

Mrs. Palmer: "Al - le..."

One Kid: "An Egg Roll!!!!"



This week, we've just started learning our songs for the Christmas Programs in all the classes. The story of our Christmas Program is about the Littlest Christmas Tree. Without going into all the details of the story, it's basically about the Littlest Pine Tree in the forest, and how it was so small that it couldn't hear or see any of the excitement going on (the baby Jesus being born). So the angels chose the little tree to be their gift bearer to the baby Jesus and that's how the Christmas tree got all it's decorations.

So, I was telling this story to the three year olds, in much greater and more animated detail, and I got to the part where the angels "scooped up the little tree from the forest, and set their gifts in her branches one by one, and then carried the little tree to the manger and gently set it down by the baby Jesus..." at which point one three year old boy interrupted.

"So she could pet Him!"

Ode to Beeker

Okay, this is a two-part crack-up. Let me preface crack-up number two with crack-up number one, Beeker (the Muppet) performing "Ode to Joy:"



I've seen this umpteen times and still laugh out loud at all the subtle details; the way he sets up each camera like in a real home movie, the way he's increasingly alarmed by the timpani playing...hysterical!

So, part two is (dum, da-dum, dum) a teacher story...I'm sorry! I know how annoying it can be to listen to people go on about their students, especially if you're not a teacher, but since this is kind of a piggyback on part one, I'll allow myself a teacher tale.

So I used this today in my four-year-old classes. We have been studying "high" and "low," and today's lesson was about direction of pitch. And since the melodic line to "Ode to Joy" is pretty simple and very linear, it's an easy tune for the kids to follow the direction of the melody. Therefore, part of today's lesson included us singing with Beeker (after having already watched it once to get the giggles out) and using our hands to show the direction of the melody.

A good sign that the kids liked the lesson is that when their classroom teacher comes to pick them up, they chatter to her about all the cool things they did in music. And usually they all talk at once, so you only hear bits and pieces of what they're talking about. Today however, it was very clear what their favorite music activity was, because all the way up the stairs the entire class serenaded their teacher (in miscellaneous keys) "mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee....."

Their teacher, I'm sure, had no clue...

Monkey HEAR, monkey do

When we moved here, I expected that everyone around me would be speaking with some sort of southern drawl and I'd be the odd ball. I thought that people would make remarks about my speech the same way I'd comment on someone's southern drawl in Illinois ("Oh, so where are you from? You don't sound like you're from around here...").

To my surprise, quite a few people speak "normally," that is, without the drawl, as this area seems to have attracted a lot of transplants from places like Florida, Ohio, New England (there's a dialect of a different color) and various other states east of Illinois. In fact, of everyone working in Josh's office, there's only one person who did NOT come from out of state. So, I have become pretty comfortable with the idea that my mid-western dialect has not stuck out too badly, as the locals here are pretty used to hearing a variety.

I was humbled today, however, in one of my Kindergarten classes. (Yes, it's a teacher story, but stick with me...) Today we played a new game which required the use of a large mat. I rolled out the mat, explained the rules, and then had the children find their places on the mat. In directing them to find their places, I told them to "go all the way around the mat." And I stressed "around," just a little, using my finger to follow the direction in which I wanted them to walk. I'm sure I was being animated, but I swear I wasn't trying to be funny. But as soon as I said "arouuunnnd," I had about three kids in unison mimic me:

"araaaaaaaaaound!" Like, all nasally and mid-western.

Thanks, guys.

I know they weren't making fun of me, because the only time they do that is when they think I'm being purposely silly. And apparently I naturally sound silly to them. So there ya' go. And I was worried that South Carolina would change the way I talk...

Bathroom Humor

I saw this bumper sticker on a truck the other day and about died. Since I was driving, I couldn't get a picture (I couldn't get close enough. Oh yeah...and that's just not safe...) so I googled the bumper sticker. The picture was copyrighted, so I cheated a little to get it, but if you want this bumper sticker, go to www.zazzle.com. (There. A free plug should get me out of trouble.)