The Seeds are Planted...

In our little learning garden!  Day 2 has come and gone and I am so proud of our young learners.  They are building a community of caring already that makes me tingly all over!  This morning one child came in a little tired and weepy.  I hugged her for a minute and asked if anyone else could be a kind friend to her.  I LOVED watching two other little girls come take her by the hand and sit and tell her it would be OK.  SO SWEET!

We started our Letter Quest today...we're going to learn our ABCs (well at least visit them over the next 13 days).  I got this idea from Krazy for Kindergarten and thought I'd give it a try.  Found the book for 75 cents on half.com (which is a great way to get durable books).  I LOVE this BOOK!  It'll be a new favorite for a long time.

We made these "My Kindergarten Friends" books and gave each child one to keep for our ABC hunt.

 First we hunted for A's and B's in our room...a la the Letters are Lost.  Here are some of my cuties finding letters in the room:

 Once we found the letters, we came back together and let some of the kids come Rainbow write today's letters.  They loved doing this as well.

Then we added a picture of our friends who's names started with A or B to our friend books along with their picture.  The kids all practiced writing their A and B friend names.  And then the students rebuilt their name in the pocket chart.

Each student will take home my official certificate when they have "joined the Name Club" and have been added to their friends' books.  Tomorrow we'll do C and D and my kids are PUMPED knowing that their names are coming!  I have to say I love this activity on so many levels.  The kids helped each other.  They are learning to listen.  We are practicing that important alphabet and it's downright FUN!