What I Loved About Last Week

The last week of school prior to any break is full of excited children. This week was no different.

1. Social Studies Crafts: I am so blessed to have inherited some amazing unit plans. There are so many little things that are planned just perfectly, that cross reference other subjects, and just work so well. I'm sure it took years to bring it to what it is today. It's one of the blessings of teamwork that our school espouses! 

One of the things we do in Gr. 3, rather than Christmas crafts, are crafts from the countries we study in Social Studies. We did sand art from Tunisia, weaving from Peru and henna from India. It is fun, relaxing, and a lovely way to spend the last day of school prior to the break. I got to do the henna. I love doing Indian henna. It is a beautiful form of art. This year my son even came in to volunteer with the the other parent volunteers. We had a great time.

2. My student who struggles with being organized is doing awesome with his daily check lists. We have now evolved to him doing the check list first, and then I go through it as a double check after. It is wonderful to see how confident and happy he is about being organized for home time.

3. Every year we do a Secret Santa activity. Everyone draws a name and for five days you leave a gift. They have a wonderful sheet we all fill out with favourite scents, treats, stores, etc. That really helps with the gift giving. It is fun, on the last day, as we reveal who we were a Secret Santa to, to hear all the funny stories of people being sneaky. Have I said before how much I enjoy the people I work with? They are all terrific.

4. Usually, by this time of year I am dragging myself to the last day. This year I felt a little more together. Could it be the November break that helped with that? I'm thinking so. Sorry to all you haters of the fall break. For me, I think it was a lifesaver!

.....now, on to winter break!!