The Making of a Clay Fairy House

 One day, while a few children were exploring clay, the notion of building house emerged.  Several children pulled out some of the log blocks. 

 Pieces of clay were placed in the log "forest" as one child called it.  The piece with the hole in this photo was created for "lady bugs to crawl through."

 Another child created an umbrella to protect the creatures from rain.  He poked a wooden dowel on top of the clay "pancake" to make raindrop markings.  (It is the piece laid on top of the log in this photo.)  Pieces of clay became homes for bugs and butterflies.

One child decided to make a wee bird to sit on the tree.  Another made a place for spiders to walk.  

The next day,  two girls gathered at the clay table.  They chattered about the forest and the fairies.  "Fairies live in trees."  (I am so sad I do not have photos of the next phase.  But little clay fairies were formed and added to the landscape.)  

It was amazing to let the story unfold as each piece of clay revealed a new layer of the plot.   It was extraordinary to be a witness as simple organic shapes of clay became something so magic.

Easy DIY Name Center

I saw this idea in one of my colleague's rooms and loved it at first sight. It is so simple and super cheap to make.  It is a great letter matching game and the clothespins help build fine motor skills.

What you will need:

• a couple packages of clothespins 
• a sharpie (permanent marker)
• printed & laminated name cards (or sight words!)

Write the letters (I used uppercase - you could use both) on both sides of the clothespin.

Make sure you have at least two of each letter and a bunch of vowels!!

The children find the matching clothespin letters and put them on the card - on the corresponding letter.

The children love searching for friends names and then the letters.

Homeschooling in France: Part One

Guest Blogger:  Elizabeth des Roches
Blog: Handwork Homeschool  

My good friend Sally, here at Fairy Dust Teaching, asked me if I'd like to share a bit about my homeschool & life in France. "Sure", I said, "why not?" 

Today, I'll be giving you a glimpse into our time at home - learning, creating & making. 

Who are we?

 

The Parents.

The kids.

 The Kittens.

We’re Canadians, who decided 3 years ago, to sell our city house and most of our belongings, buy a glorious old house in the French countryside, pack up the kids and live on the wild-side! We have 5 children, 3 grown adults & the younger set, who are 5 & 9 years old. Andrew & Arabella have been homeschooled their entire lives. 

 

Our Wild Waldorf Ways

I say wild, not because the kids swing from the trees during their lessons (well, not usually!), or spend their days in their PJs (they’re usually dressed at some point) but because I pick from the many Waldorf theories & techniques that make sense to me, mix them in with a bit of Reggio & add a dash of my own style. I call it “Worldschooling”. 

LESSONS

I do make plans for the year, design lesson blocks, gather books & resources, gather the children for a circle-time & teach Andrew a main lesson 4 days a week. I have been known to “forget” about wet-on-wet painting for weeks on end, build entire lessons around handwork & use cranes, diggers, princesses & fairies as teaching tools. 

Andrew's Office.

Arabella's Play Space.

 

Our all round lesson/baking table.

Our giant PURPLEboard!

Construction word writing.

Cute sight words.

Our homeschool is inspected once a year by a state inspector and the interview is conducted entirely in French (I can speak fairly well but I still worry that I’ve said something totally nuts by mistake!) 

The kids are picking up the language through daily interactions with friends (old & young) and by being totally surrounded by it! Our tri-lingual babysitter comes once a week to hang out with them and ensure that they end up with great accents! 

CREATING

My kids are lively, engaged & learning in leaps & bounds. My son (9) has 5 minutes a day to spend wandering around virtual construction sites online & other than that, they never look at a screen. They don’t miss electronic media one bit. They are too busy telling their own stories, drawing their own pictures & making their own things. 

 

Fireside Reading.

  Handmade INDOOR Sandbox.

Andrew's First Knit Horse.

. The Princesses.

 

Safety first!

Props for a French song Une Poule.

WORKING

We are restoring our house, bit-by-bit. My husband does most of the construction work, I tell him what to do (ha ha!) and the kids help when they’re needed (or they want to)! We are with each other almost all the time as my husband works from home. Our days are always busy.

Building an Ikea Kitchen.

Andrew's new bedroom (one day).

Next week, come & explore Our Secret Garden (see the pond, river, bridge, ancient stone ruin, old orchard & new veggie garden). Until then - have a happy week! 

Elizabeth 

P.S. When I collected photos for this post, I came up with so many... come over to my blog, Handwork Homeschool to see the rest if you'd like! 

EXCITING NEWS!  Elizabeth is offering a course through Fairy Dust Teaching on integrating handwork into your existing curriculum!  Stay tuned for more details!

Reggio: Ramp Investigation

Guest Teacher: Kati Nash
Monday Reggio Blog Series 

Hi! My  name is Kati and I am a teacher in a Reggio-inspired preschool that serves the most at-risk children in our school district. Our school is unique in that we have private, philanthropic funding but remain a public school. Our school works with many local foundations and groups including the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. I am so excited that I can share a glimpse of my children’s inspiring investigation from this year with the world.

We first began noticing  children’s intrigue with ramps, bridges, and 

tunnels emerge in the block area.

 Children were building multi-level structures and using objects to manipulate cause and effect relationships with their structures.

 We wondered what would develop if the children’s ideas of ramps were brought

 into another area of the classroom.

 Teachers set up a series of provocations involving ramps and a variety of materials. These started with simple ramps and obvious balls.

 As teachers watched the children’s interactions with the ramps evolve 

they would add or take away materials. 

   During ongoing exploration children began to agree that “a ramp goes down.” And thus the children formed their definition of a ramp.

Kati will be a guest presenter this summer with Fairy Dust Teaching's e-workshops!  She will be presenting a workshop on Classroom Management with 3 & 4 year olds.  She has so much wisdom to share with you!  Registration opens later this week!

Sneak Preview! Summer Course Registration Opens Wednesday!

Preparing for next year's class?

Do you have a desire to deepen your knowledge?

Are you ready to build new skills?

Fairy Dust Teaching has expanded its offering of summer courses.

All courses are online so that you can move at your leisure, at your pace.  Kick back, put your feet up, and pour a tall glass of ice tea!
Here is a sneak preview into the 2013 offerings (a few more courses are in the works with guest teachers!):

4-WEEK E-COURSES:

The Making Lessons: Creating Unique Handwork Experiences
Guest Teacher:  Elizabeth des Roches, Handwork Homeschool
When:  June 16 - July 12
20 hours of Professional Development

• Take hold of your curriculum, draw out a few interesting threads & twist them around some fresh inspirations.  Choose from your new collection of simple tools & start designing imaginative projects!  This novel approach, presented in engaging multi-media lessons, is perfect for those who dream of enhancing their teaching with vibrant colours, rich textures & creative memories.

Curriculum Blueprint: A Map to a Wondrous Year
When: July 7 - August 2
20 hours of Professional Development

• This course will take you through the steps to creating a "road map" to your school year.  This methodology allows you to integrate multiple curriculum packages and ideas into a cohesive whole.  Teach to the standards without giving up your passion! 

Classroom Management Boot Camp:  Confidence, Clarity and Personal Power
When:  August 3 - August 30
20 hours of Professional Development

• This class is designed to unleash your personal and unique authority in the classroom.  You will learn the most important building blocks to running an effective class and provide tried and true methods of dealing with challenging behaviors.

 Soulful Teaching: Igniting Your Inner Purpose
When: August 11 - September 6
20 hours of Professional Development

• This course will take you into the deeper mysteries and practices of teaching.  If you feel teaching is a calling - this course will give you a rich and magical foundation to deepen your teaching practice. 

  2-WEEK E-WORKSHOPS:

Classroom Management: Through a Preschool Lens
Guest Teacher:  Kati Nash, Reggio Preschool Teacher
When: June 9 - June 21
10 hours of Professional Development

• Kati will share with you her rich experience in how to manage three and four year olds.   Learn the most basic and essential components of managing the young child.
  

Dynamic Family Involvement:  Building Partnerships
When: July 21 - August 2
10 hours of Professional Development

• This course is jam packed with ideas, tips and tricks to engaging families in your classroom.  This course gives you a complete map from before school, Back to School Night, homework, and so much more!

Early Bird Pricing will be released on Wednesday through my Freebie Mailing List! 

(Sign-up to the right!)

NEW!  SUMMER INSTITUTE!!

I am so excited to announce a brand new offering. It is a virtual training! An institute online in the comfort of your home!

I wanted to give you a chance to be sure you were on my "Freebie Mailing List" as I will be sending out a deep discount price for the entire Fairy Dust Teaching Institute - only $65! This pricing will end June 2.

 I will send the special paypal button out on Wednesday! Woot!

 (These classes will be $15 after the institute is over - so grab them now!)

Sessions Include:

• Hands-On Literacy: Bringing Stories to Life Through Drama, Music, Art & More!

• Its Back to School! Beginning of the Year Tips and Tricks

• Making Your Own Math Manipulatives!  

• Creating Rooms of Wonder:  The Early Childhood Environment

• Arts Based Education:  The Four Essential Ingredients

• Preparing Children for Handwriting

• Puppet Magic!

• The Three Billy Goat's Gruff: Math, Literacy, Science and Art Projects & Centers

• Goldilocks & the Three Bears:  Math, Science, Literacy and Art Projects & Centers

• The Three Pigs:  Math, Science, Literacy and Art Projects & Centers

• The Little Red Hen:  Math, Science, Literacy and Art Projects & Centers

• The Elves and the Shoemaker:  Math, Science, Literacy and Art Projects & Centers 

• The Gingerbread Man:  Math, Science, Literacy and Art Projects & Centers

• The Chinese New Year:  Math, Science, Literacy and Art Projects & Centers

• Jack and the Beanstalk:  Math, Science, Literacy and Art Projects & Centers 

• Fabulous Fall Art, Activities, Stories, and Songs

• Wondrous Winter Art, Activities, Stories and Songs                                          

• PLUS MORE!!!

The Best Kept Secrets of the Musical Arts

 Are you tired of ho-hum curriculum?

Honestly.

Sometimes you need a good zap.  I did.

It was 2001.

I was working at Head Start and the class was  -- well - can we say wild?!  I remember that feeling of complete overwhelm as the children's energy abounded and I had no idea how to rein them in.   The traditional tricks were not working.  Fingerplays and the classic songs were falling on deaf ears.

What am I going to do with these children?

I had a gathered a few drums and thought - what the heck.  Drumming circle?  Why not.

During centers, I sat down on the carpet and sat out those five drums.   I turned on Ella Jenkin's "This Train."  

The room fell silent.   The class gathered on the carpet.  (And I did not call them!)  Several boys began playing the other drums with me.   It was gorgeous.  The room was spell bound.   
 
I knew I had struck a cord.  I began bringing music to these children on an intentional level.  We rapped, drummed and sang our hearts out.    And it transformed the classroom. 

We became a unified school family.    

I research the power of music and discovered a treasure trove of information - music is medicine, it is a raw power that can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
 

Today's educational climate has me worried.  Will education loose it's soul?  

I don't know what to do to stop the madness except share my wisdom.  I offered a free Arts Integration workshop to give a basic overview.   Now, I have a huge opportunity for you.

Starting Sunday, May 26th

I am opening up full access to my

 My Best Kept Secrets of the Musical Arts in the Classroom

 for a give away price!

Six packed modules:

• MODULE 1:  I will teach you my personal approach to developing auditory discrimination and how to powerfully use music to develop important sound decoding skills.  
•  BONUS  you will receive my charts and forms and the brain science behind my approach!

• MODULE 2 & 3:  I will show you how to introduce playing instruments, my secrets to managing instruments, my favorite instruments you can make on the cheap - all in pdf downloads.  
• Receive my sequence of lessons for rhythm instruments.  Magic!!
• BONUS:  Get the low down on how to use rhythm instruments for math lessons - patterning, counting, skip counting and more!

• MODULE 4:  I will show you how to integrate singing  (teach you the vocabulary to use) my sequence of specific kinds of songs to use and how these support critical literacy skills.
• I will share with you why it is critical you sing in class - the science and secret of the voice chords.
•  BONUS  I will share my method to creating your own songs for anything!  Super simple!

• MODULE 5:  I will show you how I integrate major musical works across the curriculum.  
• You will receive my list of must use music across cultures and musical genres.

• MODULE 6: Finally,  we will look at the deep spiritual and soulful benefits of music for challenging and difficult children, for shy and withdrawn children and more.
• HUGE BONUS:  I will give you my personal notebook of favorite songs with examples and instructions!  This is a huge resource! This notebook will give you tons of ideas of materials to use.  This is a go-to-guide.

• Receive 10 hours of Professional Development Hours 

 You will have a master notebook of the musical arts. 

AND you will receive a 100 page plus e-Book 

of the Workshop to keep forever!  

EARLY BIRD PRICING:

SIGN ME UP for $57!

You will have access to the course until August 15th!  

Take the course at your leisure and pace!

What Past Participants Are Saying. . . 

 

"Thank you so much for such a great workshop. You truly are such an inspiration. I'm a new teacher and it's so easy to become jaded by what I see happening to our education system. It's great to know that there are educators like you out there who strive to put the soul back into teaching." - Katrina  

"I am so excited about this school year since I have found you, Sally. You are helping me to organize some of the things I already know and teaching me so much. I am so looking forward to the next classes! I put these downloads in my planner so I can access them when I am doing my planning so I can take things to a deeper level and be ready to articulate to the parents why I do what I do. "  - Linda

"Thank you-This is the first time I have done an E-Workshop on line. I AM an "Arts Integrative Teacher" now and forever. I loved all the ideas especially the downloads. " - Donna

"Dear Sally, I'm sorry you cannot hear me, because I am clapping, clapping, clapping! This has been a great workshop!!!! You have given so many ideas as to how to do it in a fun way. Those new teachers in the group are very lucky to have been a part of this. Even after 31 years in education, I learned several new things and ways to implement others from you. Thank you."   - Carmen

"thanks so much for this. it is such great food for thought as i am at present a mum who's youngest has just started school and am starting work again as a mainly music teacher where parents are involved and stay to participate with their chldren. it is making me think about how our sessions run and how we (the team and caregivers/parents) can work together to make these sessions the best they can be." - Nikki

"I was blown away by your workshop and can't wait to learn more from you. You are such an inspiration. The world needs more teachers like you!" - Karina

 This course really touched my soul. I feel all of your words are so very true, I wish school administrators would sign up for this "boot camp" and require all teachers to do this program. We could support one another more rather than set each other up to fail, due to some popularity contest or something. Thank you so very much!" - Carol

"Thank you for everything! I love that you are who you are and that we found you. :) There is a new energy surging, those of us wanting more than what is set before us. Thank you for having the courage to light the way for others and may we light the way for those on their way. I will be taking your courses for as long as you offer them. It feeds my teaching soul. :) Keep doing your thing!! Woohoo!!!! " - Shawna

"You have inspired me so much that I have finally put some order in my thoughts and learned to organize my curriculum and view it from a very different prospective. You are an absolutely wonderful and inspiring teacher and person and I feel so fortunate to have found this course and... you! Grazie mille as we say in Italy!" - Elena 

"Thank you for sharing your philosophy. It reminds me of the big picture, so that I don't get too bogged down in the details of the day. This course will help me to do better than just surviving each day. I've got a map in hand. And can change course, if need be. When I get off-track, I'll have something to come back to." - Samantha

"I wasn't sure before this course exactly how I would begin homeschooling my 7 year old daughter, Isabel, but you made it all so easy and for that she, my husband and I are very very grateful. We're into week four of homeschooling and we are inspired and loving it! Huge Hugs to you. " Sophia

"I have thoroughly loved this course. I feel it really helped me to look at myself and what I am bringing to my classroom and therefore is going to help me be the best teacher I can be. Thank you so much." -Theresa

"Sally you are quite the inspiration. I have found you to be an incredible source of knowledge and you have such a love for others. This class was wonderful, following your blog prior to this was terrific but this class has been awesome! I am in awe of your sensitivity, compassion and genuine love for EVERYONE."  - Sari 

"Dear Sally I cannot begin to tell you how much I have enjoyed this course. It has made me realise that while I may not be the best I can be at the moment, I have the potential to be a great teacher and get the respect from my class that I need, and to be able to respect the students as the little people that they are." - Katie

"Sally your course was amazing. How I loved it. Every lesson, every word of wisdom." - Amelia

" I enjoyed the course and am thankful you will be sending us in that I can have a hard copy to reread and have more time to take in the info and process it then incorporate it in the classroom instead of the little bits I remember each day. Thanks for all the wonderful information" - Marcia 

Early Bird Pricing!

Only $57! 

Reggio: Scissor Storage!

 I love this simple but highly effective why to store and display scissors - in a brick!  Who knew!

This photo was taken in one of my colleague's classroom.  So cool.

 It looks so natural and provides a clear place for children to reach for a pair of scissors!