Making a house a home...

Today I hit a breakthrough with the kids at Joy School. The last few days of school, I have completely lost them half way through and all they want to do is play in the basement. Today, I tried something a little different. We were talking about families again, and we were "charting" our families, counting how many people were in our families. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. So, I got off my schedule and missed like three things i had planned on doing. So, I had them go downstairs and get thier wiggles out, while I got snacks together with the help of little Sara who was the snack helper for the day. Then, while they were eating their snacks, I read them a story, and had a little discussion with them. I should try that more often. I totally had their attention because they were eating and not talking.

We talked about Making a house a home today. I drew an outline of a house, and asked them what it was. They said, "a house". I asked them what made a house a home... of course they had no idea. I told them that a house became a home when a family was in it. I asked them what they felt in their homes, and one of the little boys said, "love, lots and lots of love!" How can a 3 year old know that? WOW!!! We read a story about a little Tiger who moved into a new home and missed his old house. He ran away and went back to the old house and realized that it didn't feel right, because he didn't have his mommy there or his toys or the smell of things baking. So, he went back home and told his mom that he realized that this new house was his home. The kids totally understood what I was telling them. We also did an art project and made a house and trees and flowers out of different shapes of paper. They love to glue and make things look pretty. Their homes looked fantastic!!!

One of the dad's came to pick their son up and I told him that he should tell his dad what we learned today. The little boy said, "Houses... making them into homes!" I was amazed, they never remember what they learned, just what we had to eat!

What a great day it was today. Only two more days of teaching, and then I am done until next year. Next week we are having a baby visit. How fun is that going to be!