Schooldayswithabbyandemma's Blog

So Long, Farwell…

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:34:16 +0000

The last week of the 4-Year-Old-Class has come and gone. In typical NNS tradition, the teachers had a wonderful last week planned that was both fun, exciting as well as special. This was a 3-day week due to Memorial Day and it couldn’t have been any better. Tuesday was the girl’s last music class and sharing day. They enjoyed the day and also brought swim suits to play in wading pools to keep cool in the warm temps. Wednesday was Diner Day. All the parents were invited to come and be taken care of. The children wore aprons and hats and took our orders at the NNS diner. We had 3 choices of ice cream flavors as well as sprinkles- ice cream just isn’t the same without it you know! The children looked precious and took their roles very seriously. After each parent was served, the children could have some ice cream and join their family. It was super cute. And at last Thursday came. This was a day I was so excited for, yet wanted to wait for all at the same time. I have been beyond thrilled with their nursery school and am sad to no longer be a part of it. It is a little easier knowing that Benjamin will go there in a few years though. The girls picked out matching dresses to wear, we had their teacher gifts packaged and ready and took the mandatory front-door pictures, and away they went. The day was an extra-special one as they were having a tour of their new school, Marion Cross. They got to see the 3 kindergarten classrooms, the gym, art room, computer lab, library, etc. The afternoon ended with the Summer Birthdays Celebration. There are 7 children that have birthdays in the summer so they were celebrated. We had pizza and popsicles for them, and an extra playtime on the playground. At 3:00 when the bell was rung, the children sang, The More We Get Together and shared hugs and smiles, as the mommies shared smiles with happy tears. These children are so well prepared for kindergarten and we are forever grateful to NNS and the wonderful teachers there.

Closer to the end…

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:54:12 +0000

Last week was the girl’s 2nd to last week of school, and boy did it put those teachers to the test. The weather was unpredictable and just when the weatherman talked of good weather, it would rain. So those amazing teachers pulled some fun out of their hats and made the week really special. One day they made an ant playground from various items around the classroom such as uncooked noodles, coffee stirs, paper, etc. Another day they read a book about a box and then had to take a square piece of paper and turn it into something. They also made fireflies with gold paint and pipe cleaners. Such fun crafts and activities there. Thursday was especially fun as two children in NNS had a birthday that day, as did Benjamin so the day was full of celebration. One week to go…such bittersweet feelings for all.

Teddy Bear Picnic

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:11:57 +0000

Tradition is very special at Norwich Nursery School. They have enjoyed some activities and special events each and every year, for many years. Some even as old as when I was there…. and that is old. Thursday was one of those special traditions, the teddy bear picnic. All week long the children talked about teddy bears and read books that included teddy bears, made dancing teddy bears with construction paper, as well as special woven placemats for the big picnic. Sadly, the weather has not cooperated at all this week as we have had daily rain, but that didn’t stop the spirit at NNS. Thursday all the children brought their favorite bears to school for the picnic. The children enjoyed the picnic indoors with a blanket set out on the floor, their newly made placemats and the guests of honor, the bears. At the end of the picnic, each bear received an award. Emma’s bear got “best dressed” and Abby’s was “best accessorized!” They both brought their favorite bears both named New Bear. They were given to the girls by our wonderful family friends who were our neighbors when we grew up here in Norwich. It was another really special week and sadly, there are only 2 left.

Please and Thank You

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Sun, 15 May 2011 19:19:02 +0000

Please and thank you are the words we work so hard on teaching our children, so what could be a more appropriate theme to have this week? They celebrated the end of the week with a fancy banquet where they used their manners and kindness they had been working on all week. Lucky us, we had snack that day. We brought in strawberry shortcake as well as cheese and crackers. All the kiddos dressed in their nice clothes and had the fancy banquet at snack. Most of the girls wore fancy dresses and some boys even wore sport coats- too cute! Each child received a certificate of proper manners and had a super day. Wednesday, the town sponsored an event for little ones called, touch a truck. They were able to see firetrucks, police cars, a bulldozer and a dump truck. We all ventured over as soon as all the children got to school and had a ball. The girls thought it was pretty cool to see where the “bad guys” sat in a police car. The highlight for many of the boys was finding the horn on both the dump truck and the bulldozer. I have attached 2 pics below from the fun. As these last few weeks come to an end, we are reminded day how special this school is, all the fun the children have, and all the love the teacher give. We are sure going to miss the Norwich Nursery School… can’t wait for Benny to go!

Mother’s Day

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Sat, 14 May 2011 14:23:31 +0000

As you can see I have gotten a bit behind again. The week of May 2nd was all about mothers. The girls worked on top-secret projects that they could not talk about and joked they were learning about snow again instead…. those stinkers are already telling fibs! They thought they were very clever coming up with that idea. Thursday we were given a special gift bag to take home and both Abby and Emma made me promise not to open it until Mother’s Day. The day came and inside and out was a real treat. They each decorated a small planter with stickers, filled it with stones, and make a decorative flower pen that stood inside. They were super cute. But the best part was the card. The teachers printed out sentences about the moms and the girls had to complete them, here are my answers:

My mommy always says this to me: Abby- I love you, Emma- I love you. My mommy is is happy when: Abby- I draw her a picture, Emma- I clean my room. My mommy makes me laugh when: Abby-she sings silly songs, Emma- she tells funny jokes. This is how old my mommy is: Abby- She never tells me Emma- I forget, she’s older than my dad (WHAT?!) My mommy’s favorite thing to do is: Abby-art, Emma- read books. When I’m at nursery school my mommy: Abby- goes shopping, Emma- goes shopping. My mommy is really good at: Abby- reading books, Emma- writing. My mommy’s job is: Abby- taking care of us, Emma- taking care of me, Abby and Benjamin. My mommy’s favorite food is: Abby- chicken, Emma- chicken. I am proud of my mommy when she: Abby- comes to school, Emma- comes to help at NNS. Mommy and I like to do this together: Abby- play games, Emma- watch TV This is my mother’s day message to my mommy: Abby- Happy Mother’s Day, Emma- Happy Mother’s Day

I have to say, I shed some tears, and had some good laughs, especially with the age one. Here is a pic of my ladies:

Babies!

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Thu, 05 May 2011 13:06:15 +0000

Last week was all about babies. The children at NNS talked about babies and the way babies act, the way they move and things they like. The children sang lullabies, made baby bibs, and even crawled around the classroom. On Thursday they had two guests in their classroom- Benjamin and Gwendolyn, a 6-month old sister to a little girl in the class. Benjamin is 5 months older than Gwendolyn so he was a bit more exciting, plus he is a ham so he loved all the attention. He was supposed to sit on my lap in the circle but he was too interested in visiting all the girls and boys. The children asked questions to the moms and we did our best to answer them. One for us was, “does he eat tubas?” The kiddos got a bit silly but it was cute. Abby and Emma were pretty excited to have their little brother at school and it was hard to remember school rules when your brother was getting all the attention! I was able to capture one picture of Benjamin sitting before he began to harass the other children. As a thank you, the class made Benjamin a bib and gave me a bouquet of daisies. It was a really nice activity that I am glad we could be a part of!

More Spring Fun!

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:59:37 +0000

After a rainy start to the week, spring was in full bloom at the end of the week. The girls again enjoyed indoor recess activities but were thrilled to get back outside and play with all the fun toys in the shed. The kids love when it is nice enough for the teachers to open the shed and out come tractors, cars, scooters, etc. They have such fun with their imaginations and all that fun equipment. The children learned about a different thing you see in the spring each day. Monday they talked about Robins. The girls told us all about the way a mama bird feeds her babies and they thought it was both gross and interesting at the same time. They made adorable robins using several paper plates- this was a 2-day project and they are super cute…. just not sure where to put them at home! Tuesday they talked about pussy willows and made their own on paper using parts of pussy willow plants. Wednesday…. can’t remember that one. But Thursday was the last day before vacation so they each made adorable chick baskets and filled them with Easter grass. Each child got to have a lollypop and chocolate to take home, yum yum. Next week is April vacation. We don’t have any big plans, just being home, hopefully enjoying the weather outside as much as we can and many play dates! Here are pics of the robins and baskets.

Kindergarten Registration

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:45:15 +0000

Today was a big day in the Campfield home. Abby and Emma had Kindergarten Registration! We picked out their clothes last night, took baths and made sure to get a good night’s rest. This morning they were so excited and just wanted it to be time to go to the big school. We arrived at our 10:00 appointment in the kindergarten hallway and met the guidance counselor. Abby and Emma were brought into the classroom next door to do some “fun activities” while the parents had to do “homework.” The girls’ activities comprised of various readiness skills for kindergarten, including shape recognition, color, as well as fine motor skills of hopping and following directions. I am sure they passed with flying colors. These activities were done with the three K teachers… it will be so fun to see which one they end up with next year. Here is a pic of them before we left the house- they are just growing up so quickly. I am so proud to be their mommy!

Springtime!

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:38:23 +0000

The first week of April usually marks springtime… and the children felt it in the classroom last week for sure. Monday started with some rain but it dried out quickly on the playground for the rest of the week. The boys and girls talked about spring, read books on it and did springtime activities. They each came home with a cute picture of ducks waddling across the paper using their fingerprints and various shapes after reading the wonderful book, Make Way For Duckings. They also played Duck Duck Goose in keeping with the theme and staying indoors for recess. The girls were delighted to play with playdough and the sand table indoors as those don’t come out too often. The week ended with outdoor play thankfully and Abby even discovered the first flower blooming in the play area- she was pretty excited! We all can’t wait for spring to officially be here and with that, the warmer temperatures!

ABC’s Week

schooldayswithabbyandemma — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:51:52 +0000

I am behind again… this is getting to be a pattern. I do have an excuse though, I caught a virus over the weekend and was in bed. So, let’s get back to NNS! Last week was all about the alphabet. The children did all sorts of clever activities with letters. I was super excited to sub again on Wednesday. I was asked to come up with a lesson and teach it as well- it was wonderful. I did a lesson on letters in your name. We sang a song called, ‘there was a farmer had a friend’ and we replaced BINGO with the names of the children in the class. I held out papers with each child’s name and we spelled the names- it was a ball. Then the children were each given a cup of alphabet pasta and had to find the letters in their names. The tricky part of this was that the pasta was in all upper case letters so we had to talk about that a bit. The lesson went really well and the teachers complimented me on it- success! The girls came home with potted grass on Thursday and looking carefully, you can see that the grass is growing in the shape of an A and an E- those teachers are ALWAYS thinking.