I have to admit, I'm in denial that I have to go back to school tomorrow. I have truly enjoyed Christmas break with my family. However, I know that I will be going back refreshed and ready for the second half of the year. It helps that I really enjoy my class this year, too.

Now that Christmas is over, I wanted to share a few pictures of what I made for the students to give to their parents as a Christmas gift this year. I take a picture of each child sitting sideways, lay the photo on top of a piece of black construction paper and carefully cut out each image. Then, I attach the silhouette to a paper doily. Each child decorates an envelope or folder as the gift wrap for the present. I sent them home right before break.

This weekend, I decided it was time to introduce my 3 year-old daughter to playing preschool computer games. She picked it up very quickly just like my son did when he was her age. I knew it probably wouldn't be too difficult for her because she navigates her way through my Droid finding 'her desktop' with all the memory and puzzle apps like she was born with the phone in her hand.  (Don't worry, I limit her exposure.)

Tonight, she begged me to let her type her name on the computer and she did it! I was so proud of her! She was pretty proud of herself, too! I know this doesn't seem like much to other moms & dads that are teaching their children how to do these things on a daily basis, but it's easy to lose perspective on how meaningful interactions can be between a parent and a child when you have Kindergarten students that come to school not knowing a single letter in their name, let alone how to spell, write or type their names.