Since Chris' doesn't get much time in this blog entry I am going to insert a cute picture that I took of him this morning after Sunday School. I realize he isn't looking at the camera, but it still shows his sweet expression that we love so much. He is a definite keeper when it comes to Grandsons!
As I have mentioned before, I spend Thursday mornings in the Kindergarten classroom of Chloe and Claire. It is the highlight of my week and I feel like they really look forward to it as well, since they are always so excited to see me. They have been busy students the past few weeks studying a unit on penguins followed by a unit leading up to President's Day. They learned so much about the different types of penguins and ended the unit by each making their own version of a penguin. Below you can see the many creative ideas they had. I believe Claire's model is right in the center of the picture, made of two soda bottles and depicting an adult and a baby penguin.
Chloe's version is similar but is a different type of adult and baby penguin. That variety has a plume of feathers on top of its head.
Both girls tend to have quite a mixture of friends and interestingly enough pretty much each do their own thing in the classroom. They are each in a different small group and so rarely are sitting at the same table or doing the same project at the same time.
In the President's Day unit they also talked about symbols for the United States (bald eagle, flag, statue of Liberty) and I enjoyed the discussions that the class had as a group. At one point Chloe told some facts that she knows about eagles (thank you Mommy and Daddy for teaching her so much about nature) and was right on target with her comments. Claire spoke about why the Statue of Liberty is a greenish color telling the class that it has been that color for many years and that it is from the dirt and grime on it, according to her Daddy. She said that it was not the original color, it was kind of "orange". I had forgotten that it is made from copper and so I learned or relearned information that day as well. Chloe finished the discussion by raising her hand and telling the class that the statue can't talk or speak but that she says "Welcome to America to people coming to our country." Good job Claire and Chloe!
This past Thursday the class had a small Valentine's Day celebration. Below are a couple of pictures of the girls working on a heart project.
During one of the class discussion's on this day the children reviewed what they had responded when asked what would they say if they were President and gave a speech. Not sure which of the twins went first, their responses were very similar but most of the kids said they would give ice cream or cookies or other treats to everyone. Below are the responses that Claire and Chloe gave.
In case you can't see the text, Claire said "Everybody can be free, they get their own beliefs. They can believe what they want to believe."
Chloe's speech would be, "Everybody should be free and have their own beliefs."
I feel confident that Claire and Chloe are in a great learning situation at their school and it is so fun for me to have a small opportunity to watch the process. I am blessed beyond measure!
