Summer of Gratitude

I have a few posts sitting in my drafts folder, waiting for their finishing touches. Trying to decide which one to finish first I glanced at the stats and realized that I have published 99 posts.

99.

That meant the next post was going to be, clearly, number 100.

For some reason to me that meant the post had to be something different. Something I hadn't done before. I tossed around a few ideas, and then boarded a plane to San Francisco, CA for a conference. The conference was going to be all about Early Childhood Education, there just had to be inspiration there, right?

Well, there was. It just didn't happen in the conference room.

It happened on a busy intersection, behind the wheel of a car. A terrifying car accident that shook me to my core. After the shock and the shaking, and beyond the bumps and the bruises, there is a very clear feeling that has completely overtaken me. It is that feeling that found this post...

Clubhouse ABC's Revisited

*This is a post I wrote awhile ago when I had no idea how to attach a printable. I've had a flurry of emails recently asking for a printable of the letters, so here is the post revisited, printable included...

In the past I have been asked how I teach Preschoolers ABC's, letter recognition, and ultimately writing their name. The answer is simple. Here at the Clubhouse, letters are everywhere, and the Clubhouse Kids manage to teach themselves.

Sure, I help them a long.

That's what I'm here for, right?

I start with a basket.

Clubhouse Garden Math: Common Core in the Dirt

We do a lot of learning here at the Clubhouse.
Everything from Math to Science, Literacy to Geography, and so much more.

The irony is, I hardly do any teaching at all.

They learn through what we're doing, not because of it.

We get a lot of questions about "Common Core State Standards" though. Basically people want to know how we're going to ensure standards are met for Kindergarten.

Because really, how can these core requirements be learned without specific worksheets, flash cards and teacher led instruction?

To that I say, we start in the Garden...

and if you want to see what that has to do with common core,

be sure to read the writing in italics over here on this side.

Clubhouse Eyeball Experiment

If you read our last post you know all about our little conundrum.

If not, let me sum it up for you. 

We have an eyeball stuck in a jar.

Clubhouse Scientist: An Eyeball, a Jar, and a Giveaway!

Whenever I travel without my Clubhouse Kid, I make it a point to bring back a gift for him. Unfortunately, I usually don't remember to get said gift until I'm at the airport awaiting departure. That leaves me to search airport shops looking for something fun that doesn't cost more than my airfare.

In this case, I found an eyeball.

What boy wouldn't be excited to receive an eyeball from California?

...and so it begins.