Classroom Decorations

 

One of my favorite things about having a classroom is changing and adding decorations on a whim.

The school theme is Snoopy.

 I enlarged a Snoopy and Woodstock on my home computer and made a poster board decoration for our classroom wall. They sit right inside our door. I know that you can go buy almost any decoration you can imagine, but we are a small school. We are located at a church so you can imagine our budget is tight. If I spent all my money buying decorations, well, there would be no point in working.

I am a self professed craft junkie. I have all kinds of craft materials in my house. I have a ton of 12x12 scrapbook paper so making paper decorations is cheap!!

I guess you could say decorating my classroom falls right in line with my love for party decorating!!

Check out my Snoopy fun below:

Thanksgiving

Ready for Christmas: see the paper lights?



Ready for February

Heart garland

3d layered  heart

Valentine's Day Snoopy with 3D hearts.

Being a "teacher"

I am a teacher in a preschool program. The children in my class are 4 at the beginning of September. Most of them turn 5 before the school year is over. This means most of them can begin kindergarten next year.  (So I will not see them again.)

I was a substitute last year and in no way prepared to be a teacher this year. I thought I knew what it was to be a teacher...yeah, no clue!!

I LOVE my children! I see them only two days a week (some three) and still feel so attached to them. I can see the children that need more from me, the ones that seek my approval, the ones that seek my attention, and the ones that seek my love.

I have a business degree in college, but studied child psychology in my electives. I was raised by a psychology major so I have my fair share of "shrink" think. Even with all this, I was not prepared for how much I would fall in love with my children.

I am a mother of three!! I have my own kids at home. I am not lacking in children to feel "motherly" toward. Yet, there is a love that blossoms from seeing your class children learn, experience and grow.

I have children in my class who's names I know from being a substitute in their class last year. I had a few days to get to know them, but this year to really meet them. Now, I know their smiles, I know what makes them laugh and what makes them sad.

So to every first time mom who worries about their kids and the preschool teachers, please know...we LOVE your kids. I look forward to the days I work and hearing all they have done while away. My kids override all the frustration I may feel at the "system" or the limitations. My kids are why I gladly go to work and why being exhausted is worth it.

My own family knows all about your kids, they have head their names and know who is "naughty or nice."  My "naughty" kids make me try harder and my "nice" kids make the day easier.

I could not have imagined how emotionally exhausting my days can be, yet how rewarding. I know public school teachers have it harder than I do, and I know that the love of their kids is what keeps them going!!

Say "thank you" to your child's teachers...they deserve it!!

Nylon Bags and Gymnastics

My 7 year old is on pre-team gymnastics. What exactly is "pre-team"? Well, at the gym we are at, it means a day less of practice as team and also a little less expensive. She is technically a Level 2 gymnast.

She LOVES gymnastics. When she was 3, we began with ballet. She danced until this past year when she decided to give gymnastics her full attention.

The gym tries very hard to maintain the cost of the pre-team low. (Which I appreciate very much.) Because of this, they do not have a team bag. At our first meet, all the girls had their own bags to put their shoes and sweats in while they competed.

For some reason this drove me nuts. I decided to take it upon myself to buy the girls bags. The most inexpensive option is nylon, drawstring bags. The problem with this kind of bag is getting decorations to stick.

After looking EVERYWHERE online for information (and finding very little) I decided to experiment. I only needed nine bags and received twelve.

Online you can find a special kind of vinyl for nylon, but it requires a professional iron press. I just couldn't see how I was going to use it at home. I tried regular iron-on vinyl: no go. Then I picked up some fabric paints: the color was not bright and did not stand out. Lastly, I tried out my paint pen. Winner!!

I was able to use a silver, oil based paint to draw the team name on the bags. I then tried to layer a second color (fabric paint) on top to get the look I wanted. The fabric paint came off so I used a second oil based paint for the top layer. This worked perfectly!!

SO if you buy nylon bags, use oil paint pens!! I found mine at Michael's by the paint, not by the fabric paints. (Don't forget to use your coupon.)

The paint pens I used.

The finished bag.

Thanks for checking out my post!!