In Honor of Those Who Were Lost

I'm still in shock, as I'm sure most of you are, about the shootings that took place on Friday in CT. Those sweet little angels are being taken care of now, and the heroic teachers who helped save others will never be forgotten. 

I hope we don't take one day for granted, because we never know what will happen. I will be hugging each of my Kindergarteners a little tighter this week and laughing a little more with each of them too. Life is so precious, and we never know when it will end. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all of those who were taken.

I'd like to share a poem I saw today:

twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38
when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.
their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.
they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.
they were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.
"where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.
"this is heaven." declared a small boy. 

"we're spending Christmas at God's house."
when what to their wondering eyes did appear,
but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.
He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.
then He opened His arms and He called them by name.
and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring
those children all flew into the arms of their King
and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.
and as if He could read all the questions she had
He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."
then He looked down on earth, the world far below
He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe
then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,
"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"
"may this country be delivered from the hands of fools"
"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"
then He and the children stood up without a sound.
"come now my children, let me show you around."
excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.
all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.
and i heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
"in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA

 In honor of all those that were lost I'd like to give you this Reindeer Craft freebie for you to make and enjoy with your kiddos this week.

I hope that you may find joy in your journey through life this holiday season and may we all remember the true reason for the season.

(UPDATE: I apologize, but due to some graphic images used I cannot offer this as a freebie. It is now posted in my TPT store for $1.00 if you are still interested. I also have other Christmas freebies in my store if you'd like to check those out. Sorry!)

Merry Christmas!

 -Melissa

12-12-12 and a FREEBIE!

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and are getting ready to head back to school tomorrow! 

I am very lucky, the private school I work at only has school Tuesday-Friday so I get an extra day each week. I still go into work for a few hours each Monday to make sure I have everything prepared for the week, which is extremely nice! 

I don't know if any of you are in the same situation as me, but my husband has a full week ahead of finals for grad school. He already took 2 last week and has 5 more this week. (Even on his birthday which is on Wednesday....12-12-12....He's SO excited about that!) 

Do you have anything fun planned for your kids on 12-12-12? My kids are so sad that this won't happen again because 13-13-13 will never exist!

I made a simple Holiday Traditions page that we will make into a class book this week. Do your kids like reading your class books? My kids are always trying to read ours. (We should probably make them more often). I thought I'd share it with you! 

Please leave a comment or follow my blog so you'll know of other fun freebies coming up!

Enjoy and have a great Monday!

Melissa

Roll Say & Keep FREEBIE!!!

Happy Saturday! I hope you all had a great week. I finally got over the cold I've had for over a week and I'm contemplating about getting a flu shot this year {I never have!} What about you, do you get a flu shot each year?

 I have two more weeks with my kids before Christmas break....and they are getting very antsy and excited! I hope they can give me one more week of academics, then the last week we'll be having a review week, doing "Christmas around the world" & our class parties. I'm really excited! 

Do you get to have class parties this year? I work at a Christian private school, so we get to talk about the true meaning of Christmas each day. It's so fun to watch their excitement of celebrating Christ's birth. In fact, yesterday we just made Doodle Bugs "Baby Jesus craft" and my kids loved it! I forgot to take pictures, but I will next week and add them on. If you're interested in this free craft, click the picture and it will take you to the download on tpt.

What are you planning for the last couple weeks before the break? This next week we will be focusing on Gingerbread Men and will be doing a science experiment on what would have happened if the he did fall in the water. I have a fun gingerbread add and color math center and I also made a "Roll, Say & Keep" game for them and want to share it with you! 

 

Just click on the picture above for this FREEBIE and please feel free to pin it, and tell your friends about it too! I included a blank card sheet in case you'd like to write in the concept you need for your class....so this could be used for anything, not just math!

I am also planning on using the cards for a "Write the Room" activity- my kids loved the last one I made for them! Here is a recording sheet if you're interested in doing that as well. You'll just have to add the numbers on each card, and then hang them up around your room! 

I hope you are able to use these! I would really appreciate some feedback if you download them! Make sure to check out my other freebies while you're here!

Thank you!

Melissa