Commotion In The Ocean.

Today we read the story Commotion in the Ocean. The book was filled with wonderful creatures near or in the ocean. The children were filled with excitement to learn about all the animals in rhyming thrill. The conversation that occurred next, however, was filled with more commotion than any of the oceans combined. The conversation came towards the end when we reached a page about penguins and polar bears.


With attentive eyes, they carefully examined the bright and colorful illustrations. What stood out to them was not falling penguins or cuddling bears, but rather a tiny black and lonely starfish. I could barely tell what it was and asked, "Are you sure it's a starfish?" They assured me it was because of his pointy stature. In case you don't see it, as I did not, here is a closer look.

Now you see it? Off in the distance of the first picture? I was just as surprised as they were and asked, "Well, what's he doing way out there?!"

The answers were all very logical and Kindergartner-like.

"Walking."
"Playing."
"Maybe he needs alone time."
"Sometimes I need alone time."

"Well I hope he's not too lonely," I replied.

A moment of silence occurred before this enthusiastic soul shouted, "He's gonna jump!"

"Oh no! Why would he jump?!" I asked in shock that a Kindergartner would say something so terrifying.

"To see his family in the ocean," he assured me.
"Yeah, alone time is over," another chimed in.

Clearly, it was my mistake for assuming worse. The innocence and logic of a five year old will never cease to fascinate me.

The Money Machine.

Today we learned about money. To approach the topic of money, we did an overview of the names, values, and purpose of money. Doing the typical Kindergarten thing we sang a lot of cool songs about money. We even clarified a lot of key questions like "Is there a jail on the back of a penny. " I wanted to remind them that money doesn't just grow on trees, so we talked about where it comes from. I mentioned the special machines that make the money. That's where the first question arose.

"What's a machine?"

To be simple I said, "A machine is something that is made to do a specific job for you, like a computer or washing machine." I didn't get too specific with the electrical portion of it.

I went on to describe how it's not something we can own and only specific people (the government) can use this machine. That's where the final question arose.

"What's the government?"

And that's where I stopped. You can only guess why. Hopefully I haven't created a terrible image of the government, but somehow I think they'll end up discovering that on their own.

If you give Miss Molly a break...

If you give Miss Molly a break from teaching, she will dearly miss the children. She will be eager to get back to school and will happily return at the end of her break.

Returning to school will remind her about how special the children are. So, she will discover as much as she can from them to help them better their growth.

Their blossoming personalities will remind her about how really entertaining they can be. And she will further embark on the journey of sharing their joyous laughs, giggles, smiles, while learning and taking on new experiences together.

She will invest so much time into teaching everything she can to these very energetic children, that she will become exhausted through all her triumphant efforts. She will mark her calendar for her next break and press on with patience, love, and perseverance.

Working hard will cause the time to pass and her break will finally come. Yet everyone knows, once you give Miss Molly a break, she will miss her Kindergartners dearly and will be excited to return recharged!

This is just a little something I wrote to describe my feelings about teaching and a break every now and then. It has the flow of one of my favorite Kindergarten stories, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie." And to sum it all up, teaching is: Exhausting? Absolutely. Worth it? Totally.