Mother's Day Tea {freebie included!}

I hope everyone had an amazing Mother's Day!

I had so much fun playing games and the Wii with my two awesome kids! They made me cards and took me to lunch!
I love my sweeties! I feel so blessed to be their Mom!

I always have a Mother's Day Tea to celebrate Mom's! My class had their Mother's Day Tea on Friday! It was so much fun!

First, let me show you pictures from {Mother's Day Tea 2012}:

We made Mother's Day Coupons from childcareland.com

My Mom and Me book from Lil Country Kindergarten

I used A Cupcake for the Teacher craft to make our place mat

Mother's Day Purses from Miss Kindergarten

These are our Mother's Day Cards

We used HeidiSongs directions to draw our Mom

Here are pictures from this year {Mother's Day Tea 2013}:

I used Pink Bulletin Board paper and tied a bow using Pink Tulle for our chair covers

I used a white paper bag and stapled a cute drawing

of their Mom to make their gift bags

{click here to get the freebie from Simply Kinder}

We use HeidiSongs directions to draw our Mom

and I made this freebie for them to write about their Mom

{click here to get this freebie - you can tuck it away for next year}

My class sang the song I Love Mommy

{to the tune of Are You Sleeping}

This year's Mother's Day cards

I sent home a few cookies for my Kinder's to have

a party of their own at home with their Mom!

The labels are from Kinder Craze!

One of our local stores gave away these cute Brighton boxes,

so I die cut hearts and had my sweeties write

Hugs and Kisses and I filled with a few Kisses!

The labels are from Kinder Craze's Mother's Day Tea Party Pack

I love that it's editable!

Here is their plate of goodies!

These are Miss Kindergarten's Mother's Day Purses!

Aren't they adorable!

I didn't have time to use ribbon on them, so I put Velcro dots on the handles to keep them closed.

We glittered them!

We LOVE glitter!

These cute signs are from Kinder Craze's pack!

I hope you got some great ideas!

Feel free to pin and save for next year!

Make sure you follow me ~

I have a great craft coming up on my next post!

Love for My Students and Mother's Day!

I can't believe this year is nearing the end!

I love my class! They are the sweetest! They hug me and tell me they love me all day! They gush compliments "I love your hair!" or "I love your shirt!" - they are the sweetest!

And they love each other! They help each other all the time! And they love to hug each other!

Well, one of my sweeties brought me this today:

You can't see, but tucked into the cup was some smarties! :)

This was the best Teacher Appreciation gift! Pretty flowers from her yard and a sweet note! I love it!!! :)

Tomorrow is our Mother's Day Tea! I am so excited! My kinders have been working so hard on so many cute items for their Mom!

I will share more on my next post... but here is a peek at one of their cute items from Miss Kindergarten:

Glitter makes everything so much prettier!

My classroom is all decorated!

I used the cute Mother's Day Tea pack from Kinder-Craze!

I will be back to show you more!

Happy Friday! :)

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Last year I made my son's Kinder teacher a cute M&M jar and I had to make my son's First Grade teacher one too!

She is amazing!

He loves her so much!

{he isn't crazy about first grade work - but he LOVES his teacher!}

His teacher is a Mom and she treats all her students like they were hers - so sweet and caring!

Teachers work sooo hard to make sure their students learn everything, while making sure their needs are met!

Teaching is such a hard job - so I wanted to make sure she felt appreciated this week!

If you want the labels for the jar you can visit my TpT store and pick them up here and read more about them here (I blogged about them last year with all the how-to information!)

and don't forget!

Tomorrow and Wednesday

Sale time!!!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to you!

I hope you enjoy this week

{and remember TpT is having a great sale!}

On Tuesday May 7th and Wednesday May 8th you can save up to 28% using code TAD13 don't forget to use the code at check out -

I would hate for you to not get the full discount!

Click the picture below to head to my store!

This cute button is from

My Newest Literacy Station, a Sale and a freebie!

My sweet Kinder students have really been busy, busy, busy learning how to sound out words. Some of my students have it down and others are having a little struggle with this concept.
We have been having "spelling" tests to help them {They love it when I tell them they are taking a first grade spelling test! They feel so big! It is so cute to see their smiles!} 

To help them with this concept,  I made this little CVC "Spelling Test" freebie that I thought I'd share with you. The hard hat is for the vowel. We use ZooPhonics in my classroom and we learn that the vowel is a hard worker, so the hard hat! This helps them remember to put the vowel in the middle. {If you like this, please leave me a little note letting me know how you plan to use it with your students!}




Here is a picture of one of my students in the station:

My students did so awesome! They adore this station!

They even like to play it during free choice time!

I have a list of CVC words and one of them pretends to be the teacher.

Here is a picture of the cool dry erase pockets I use!

I love all the colors!

I got mine from MyBinding.com 

{click Here if you want to check them out for your classroom}

They are so colorful and well worth the money!

If they get a little dirty, I just clean them up with a little Expo Cleaner and they are like new!

And they are super durable - My Kinders are really rough on them and they are really holding up!

I love them!!!

The cute markers and erasers are from Target's Dollar Spot last summer!

And Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to you! I hope you enjoy this week {and remember TpT is having a great sale!}
On Tuesday May 7th and Wednesday May 8th you can save up to 28% using code TAD13 don't forget to use the code at check out -
I would hate for you to not get the full discount!
Click the picture below to head to my store!

This cute button is from

** Disclosure:  I received the awesome dry erase packets from MyBinding.com for free to review on my blog. All opinions are purely my own! I really do love them!

I Love Mrs. Wishy Washy!

I recently won a Mrs. Wishy Washy big book from Hameray Publishing Group!

Maggie's Kinder Corner  was giving it away and my name was chosen! I was sooo excited!

Well, it came in the mail this week and my class loves it! 

This is one of my sweeties

{her mom gave me permission to take her picture reading the book - don't you love her socks?} 

Want to win a Mrs. Wishy Washy book? I found a few blogs giving one away!

Kathleen from Growing Kinders is giving one away - but hurry - you only have until April 26th!

Michelle from Fabulous in First is giving one away - but it expires in 3 days!  Click here to enter

Earth Day!

April 22nd - Earth Day!  What a great day to get your class excited about taking care of our natural resources!  Even though this was officially our Science for the day, I tried to include it in some of our other areas today!

We talked about what was recycling and where we have to go to recycle in our town (we don't have curb side service - we have to take it to a container in town where a larger company comes and picks it up). We also talked about what you can recycle.

Then we talked about items that could be reused. I gave my class the challenge of reusing some items in their home to make crafts or projects. {I hope they bring some in to share with our class!}

We also discussed reducing the amount of water and electricity we use everyday {even in the classroom} - what we could do to help save our planet!

We also went to Starfall.com and clicked on their Earth Day picture (bottom right) and read the story and played the game on our SmartBoard. They loved it!

We then read this book, Dinosaurs to the Rescue! and talked about what we could do to help save our natural resources (like cutting off lights, turning off the water, and so on).

Next, we made this craft that I saw on The First Grade Parade! It was so cute, I knew I wanted to make it with my class! (and they did such a good job!)

What a fun day it was!  I hope you enjoyed your Earth Day! Did you have some fun activities planned? Leave me a note! I would love to hear what fabulous activities you had planned for today!

What We Have Been Up To {and a Freebie!}

We have had such a great week! Yes, my students have been super active {Spring Fever!} and I have been super busy with my own family, but overall it was a great week!

We worked on Past, Present and Future this week.  We picked stuff on the calendar that happened last week (and I had them point behind them), today (they pointed to the ground) and next week (and they would point straight ahead). They totally got it! I have such smarties!!

I had them draw themselves in the Past, Present and Future. They were so cute!

Here is a sample:

I love that she is "old"! :) So cute! I just love Kinders!

And here is a freebie for you!




I also received some sweet love this week {From such a sweetie!}

Don't you just love their sweet notes! It makes a bad day turn into such a great day! :)

Well, I am headed to my son's baseball game!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Freebie time!

I am sooo sorry I have been MIA lately!  My kids have been keeping me extra busy!  I am working on doing better in the future!  Has this Spring been just as busy for you?  I am sure it has! :)

I have some wonderful news!  Would you like some freebies? TBA (Teaching Blog Addict) has some freebies for you! 

If you teach Pre-K to 6th grade - they have the freebie you need!

If you love those freebies, I have another one for you

This one is from my I Can Read the Alphabet pack

If you download, will you leave me note? :)

And make sure you follow me!

I am working on a few Spring things! :)

Quick Freebie!

I am on Spring Break and spending lots of quality time with my two children, but wanted to share a quick freebie with you! 

When I return to school next week, my class will be working on the letter Uu, so I made this for my morning work {while I check folders first thing in the morning, they do a little review work - they will probably do this on Thursday or Friday, after we have done lots of learning about the letter}.



I hope you can use it! 

And, have you heard about Educents?  They are a daily deals site for educators. They will have daily deals 30 - 90% the latest educational products! They launch April 2, 2013 and, if you sign up now, you can earn a $15 gift card!  Just click here to learn more! 

And because I love a sale, Carson Dellosa is having a big sale right now!
What a great way to get some new pocket charts or Bulletin Board sets! And there are over 100 items under $2! Click here to check it out!


Now, if my children give me a spare moment to visit with you, I will be back later in the week!  '
I hope you have a Super Happy Week!!! :)

Love for Issy Books!

I was recently asked to review some Issy Books {check out their website www.issybooks.com}. After receiving these sweet readers, I could not wait to take them back to my classroom and have my class read them! They are precious!  They are the perfect size for little hands. The words are clear and just right for some of my little Kinders!  And we love the adorable illustrations!

First, let me tell you about the sweet author!  {her picture is above}

Here is the press release they sent me:

"Compass, the educational imprint of Brigantine Media, announces the release of the Issy Books, written by Pat Calfee and illustrated by Isybilla Gee. The first eleven Issy Books (trade paper, 12 pages each, $6.25 each) became available nationwide March 1, 2013.

            The Issy Books are for “emergent readers”—children who are just beginning to learn to read. The books are written by educational consultant and teacher Pat Calfee, and are illustrated by Pat’s five-year-old granddaughter, Issy. Like the children who read the Issy Books, Issy herself is just learning to read, and her ever-present optimism and charm shine through her art. Issy draws and paints from her imagination and from life, using animals, flowers, and the world around her as reference.

Her grandmother, Pat Calfee—whom Issy affectionately refers to as "Gigi"—writes the stories that Issy illustrates. Using sight words, controlled vocabulary, and illustrations to support the beginning-level stories, the Issy Books are specifically designed to engage young minds in reading. Picture clues and predictable text help early readers gain confidence in their new reading skills.

The first ten Issy Books tell the stories of different animals, such as Snappy the crab, Oscar the octopus, and Bam Bam the dog. The books are available in sets of 5 books (ISBNs 978-1-9384061-3-3 and 978-1-9384061-4-0) and 10 books (ISBN 978-1-9384061-5-7), and are packaged in a clear carry tote, sized for young hands. The eleventh book, “Meet Issy” (ISBN 978-1-9384061-6-4), lets readers learn about the young illustrator herself.

These emergent readers are different from any others because their characters are created by a child of the same age as those reading the book. The Issy Books are meant to be read again and again. Readers of all ages will delight in the stories this young artist and her grandmother tell about the animals that inhabit their imaginations."

Wow! What talent at such a young age!

Your class or child will love these books!  My class loves these books!

I have made it one of my reading centers and it is one of their favorite centers! They love to read them!

If you would like to get your child or class a set of these books, they are available at their website or  Amazon!

March Weather!

In like a Lion and out like a lamb!

Living in Texas, we can expect warmer weather... so 70's in January is not shocking.  But now it's March.  It is windy - I am talking really windy! Hold on to your skirts and hats windy!

We had a rodeo today... outside - two hours! My kiddos made cute cowboy and cowgirl hats... They had to run after them because the wind stole them off their heads! {But it was super fun!}

So, last Friday, March 1st, we were learning about the letter L and we were learning about weather, and we read

and we made {from Miss Kindergarten - click here to check it out at her TpT store}
{I love making her crafts! The kids have fun, they learn something new, they get to practice writing... It is a win-win!}

And since I was taking pictures {with my phone - so please excuse the blurry pictures}

I finally took pictures of the cute bear craft we made for Valentines!

(we were also learning the letter B, so it worked out perfect!)

{Also from Miss Kindergarten - you can click here to get it from her TpT store}

(and she did not pay me to say these things - I just Love her crafts!)