My Heart Goes Out to You

"Look, Mrs. Kemp! It's a heart!"

The students are learning about the miracles of Jesus, and in chapel they heard about the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. (Matt. 14:5-20) To  remember the story, students made bracelets with two foam fish and five macaroni loaves.

I took a picture of the kids modeling their bracelets, and when they saw the photo of all their hands together, they noticed a heart in the center. 

 February is the month for Valentines and for learning about kindness. How fitting that the students would see hearts everywhere. Though it's not always obvious, the children are learning what it means to "love your neighbor as yourself."

The kids sometimes tease, tattle, boss, and complain. (This behavior is typical for their age group, and adults should understand but not tolerate it.) Yet in spite of the occasional squabbling, at the end of the day the students will usually tell me their favorite part of the day was "playing with my friends."   

The students are learning that joy is found when we love one another.

"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.  These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:10-12 ESV) 

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It’s exciting to be a six-year-old. This is a time of tremendous growth, and children this age possess copious amounts of energy and enthusiasm.

Recently I was reviewing a book I’d read several years ago, and a saw this quote:

 “The eagerness, curiosity, imagination, drive, and enthusiasm of the six-year-old are perhaps never again matched in quantity or intensity during the life span.”  Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14. Chip Wood. 2007. Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.

 That’s an apt description of the six-year-olds in the classroom. Six-year-olds are becoming more independent. They are capable of dressing themselves and of learning to tie their shoes. Six-year-olds are curious about the world, and they love to create.

This week the students had lots of questions as we explored the topic of “Space” in our science lessons. They were eager to make craters by dropping balls of varying sizes and mass into the dust (actually hot cocoa mix).

In science lab the students learned about constellations and created their own constellations with star stickers.

Then at centers time the students used toothpicks and marshmallows to create more constellations ---as well as other 2D and 3D shapes.

I’m encouraging students to become more independent in their work and to become responsible for following directions, taking care of classroom materials, and complete assignments. The students are learning to work together in groups. “Stations Time” provides opportunities to practice independence, cooperation, and responsibility. 

 

The early years are critical in brain development. 

I read another interesting quote in an article by Rishi Sriram entitled: “Why Ages 2-7 Matter So Much in Brain Development”

“Children’s brains can uniquely absorb information during this critical phase. If intelligence is defined as the ability to learn, children between the ages of 2 and 7 may be the most intelligent humans on the planet.”

The article urges parents not to regard early childhood education as simply a precursor to “real” learning. 

For more information on characteristics of six-year-olds and tips on how to parent them, here are a couple of interesting articles:

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html

https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/development/development-tracker/6-8-years#:~:text=At%206%2D8%20years%2C%20you,and%20talking%20about%20tough%20topics.

” Train up a child in the way he should go;
    even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

 

Superheroes in Training

Last week marked out 100the Day of School. We celebrated the 100th day with a special treat, and we had a special dress-up day on the 101st day of school.

We are growing bigger and smarter...

We're getting stronger every day.

We are growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

We are superheroes in the making.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

God has great plans for us.

 

Ordinary people can grow up to be superheroes.

In our Bible lesson, we learned how twelve ordinary guys became Jesus-following, Spirit-powered world-changers.

Jesus didn’t chose the richest, best educated, most well-known or well-connected people to become His twelve disciples. He didn’t even choose the best behaved.

I like to tell my students that if the disciples had been in my class, they’d probably have “moved their clips” for misbehavior.

Impulsive Peter would probably have forgotten to raise his hand before he talked. He often forgot to think before he spoke.

Brothers James and John, the ones Jesus nicknamed the Sons of Thunder, would be in trouble for arguing over who would be first. (Mark 3:17, Mark10:35-45)

Matthew, who was a tax-collector before he became a disciple, might have been caught cheating.

Simon the Zealot might have been in trouble for fighting--that is, before he met Jesus and learned from the Prince of Peace.

And I could just imagine Thomas sitting in my class complaining, “I don’t know how to do this. This is too hard. I don’t believe I can do this.”  (John 20:25, John, 14:5, John 11:16)

The disciples often misunderstood Jesus---they often got it wrong. At times they were afraid. But the disciples had enough faith to follow Jesus, and they were teachable. Then when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were transformed into powerful leaders who turned the world upside down with the gospel message.

I believe when God looks at me, at you, at these children, He looks past our present shortcomings and sees our potential. He sees what we will become when we allow Him to teach us, to empower us, and to transform us.

Jesus-followers are superheroes in training.

Adapting to the Environment

How do living things survive harsh climates and adverse conditions?

The students are learning how God created Arctic and Antarctic animals with adaptations to help them stay warm. Polar bears and seals have thick layers of blubber to insulate them when they swim in icy waters.

Humans don’t have thick fur or layers of blubber. But our Creator endowed us with a brain equipped for invention and problem solving. The students learned this week that native people in Canada built ice houses for insulation and protection from the cold. 

In Science lab, the kids enjoyed building models of igloos using biodegradable packing peanuts.

They experienced how a layer of fat (in this case, Crisco shortening), keeps their hands warm in freezing water. 

In a perfect, Garden-of-Eden-type world, the temperature would always be comfortable, all creatures would be friendly, and we’d have everything we need without having to work.

But children learn early that life isn’t always easy. Not everyone on the playground is friendly. The cafeteria doesn’t always serve their favorite food. The work is sometimes challenging.

And sometimes it rains at recess time.

But the children are learning to adapt. They’re learning to use their problem-solving skills to navigate difficult situations and relationships.

When things don’t go their way, they’re learning to try new things and to make the best of less-than-ideal conditions. 

We’re working on skills that will help the students survive and thrive in a school setting and also in life. In T1, the students are developing character traits such as independence, persistence, responsibility, and growth mindset.

When faced with a challenging situation, these resilient students are learning to say, "I'll do my best. God will help me."

 

"… I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me."(Phil.4: 11b-13 ESV)
 

Hibernation Day

On Friday, our class learned about the ways animals survive cold, winter weather and frigid Arctic climates. We did some research on animals that hibernate, migrate, and adapt to their environment. 

The kids ate a big breakfast of donuts, cake, and milk or juice. We dimmed the lights and pretended we were hibernating. 

                                         

Animals have amazing ways of surviving long, cold winters and frigid Arctic climates.

In summer, the fur of the Arctic fox is brown or gray, enabling it to easily blend in with the rocks and plants of the Arctic tundra. But when winter arrives, its coat becomes white, effectively camouflaging the small animal and helping to protect it from predators.

Most Arctic animals have adaptations to prevent them from freezing. But the wood frog actually stays frozen for eight months out of the year. At the beginning of winter, ice forms around the frog’s internal organs and between layers of skin and muscles. But the liver produces high levels of glucose, and this syrupy sugar prevents the frog’s cells from freezing on the inside. While in this frozen state, the wood frog doesn’t breathe, and its heart doesn’t beat. Yet when spring arrives, the wood frog thaws, and it’s heart begins beating once more.

Another fascinating member of the animal kingdom is the monarch butterfly. Butterflies that emerge after mid-August begin migrating thousands of miles south to the forests of Central Mexico. This generation will live six to nine months. They'll spend the winter in Mexico, then in the spring they will begin to migrate north, laying eggs along the way. The second and third generation (their children and grandchildren) will live only two to six weeks as adults. The fourth generation will then begin the migration south. Scientists do not know how the butterflies find their way south, to the exact location their ancestors visited.

It defies logic to believe that the complex biological processes involved in these adaptations could be accidental. Hibernation, migration, and adaptation to the environment point to intelligent design by a amazing Creator.

The children may take for granted these amazing aspects of the animal kingdom. But I hope they will come to understand that the God of the universe, who so lovingly looks after the animals in winter, also cares about every aspect of their lives.  

For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine. Psalm 50:10-11

Developing Literacy Skills

The science of reading provides evidence about what matters and what works in literacy instruction. Simply put, research shows that reading comprehension is the product of decoding skills and language comprehension. 

Students need to be taught decoding skills:

• phonological awareness (hearing individual sounds in a word, identifying rhyming words, identifying the number of syllables in a word)
• phonics (knowing letter of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds)
• fluency (They need to be able to read the words at a rate that will promote comprehension.)

Students also need language comprehension:

• vocabulary and language comprehension (definitions, prefixes, suffixes, etc.)
• text comprehension 

We are working on all these skills in class, and as a result, the students are on their way to becoming independent readers. 

 Happy Reading!