This week we walked just around the corner to my old elementary school. This time around munchkin was joining me and It was special because this will be his school next year. We were going because I heard that our school was one of the sites for National Night Out. What is National Night Out? A night where people from your neighborhood come together over food, fun and music to strengthen neighborhood spirit. We hadn't been to one of these events since I was in school so I didn't exactly know what to expect.
We got there early and watched different organizations arrive to help set up tables and bring treats. We heard that even Mayor Castro was going to be coming to visit the school. We got information on parks and recreation and a huge firetruck came and several policemen came too. Everyone was very friendly and kind. The event was free and open to the neighborhood. The food that was brought was free and set up as a potluck. It was a very nice way to spend an evening. Munchkin got a tattoo and made a collage of fall/Halloween stickers, got a glow stick and a balloon and met some nice kids. He even got to take a picture with Mayor Castro!
We had a great time and are looking forward to more events at the school and in the neighborhood. I think National night Out did fulfill its purpose and bring together the neighborhood. I'm glad munchkin liked being at the school since I want him to only have positive feelings towards his future elementary school.
Did any of you participate in National Night out? What did you do at yours?
This week is Banned Books Week (September 30- October 6). I actually didn't know this until lately and wondered why they would have a week dedicated to this and so I looked at a bunch of articles and the overall feel I got was that it was about freedom, Celebrating the freedom to read. It was spreading awareness about it and I looked at lists of books that throughout the years have been banned and could not imagine why. These were books that were dear to my heart and here they were on lists of books that people had burnt and not allowed to be read at schools and such, it made me sad. I'm glad that I have had a chance to read these books.
I wanted to share with you some of the books I have read that were on the List:
- Scary Stories to tell in the dark By Alvin Schwartz
- Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck
- To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee
- Harry Potter series By JK Rowling
- The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck
- The Lord of The Flies By William Golding
- Brave New World By Aldous Huxley
- A Farewell to Arms By Ernest Hemingway
I am thinking of actually going through these banned lists and reading books that i haven't read from the lists to see what makes them special. What do you think? Have you ever been denied access to a book you wanted to read? What books have you read that were banned too?
Go to your local library and check out the banned books displays and why they were banned. Its pretty interesting to look at.
I didn't know what to expect with the Letter C, because A was easy but B was not. Luckily munchkin did pretty good with the letter C. Here is what we did this past week:
Monday: we worked on Letter Recognition. I made a collage of letter C's and showed him the letter C with a foam letter, flash card and puzzle. We have a magnetic board set up on the wall with the alphabet on it we use alot.
Tuesday: On Tuesday we used one of my favorite free websites for kids www.starfall.com . Its an amazing resource for learning your letters and sounds and so much more in a fun way. Give it a try!
Wednesday: We did Play and learn at Central Library and letter recognition (finding letter C's in library books and signs). We checked out these books to use at home. They are incredibly useful.
Thursday: We went to Play and Learn at Forest Hills Library and did highlighter letters.
Friday: We continued to use the alphabet books to identify letters A, B, C and words that start with the letter C. We played with playdough we made on Thursday and used cookie cutters to make letters. Then used the playdough to make letters out of straws. I cut up colorful straws and then traced the letter with them. It makes a good visual. Munchkin mainly wanted to poke holes though.
Saturday: We made some incredibly cute letter visuals. I had munchkin help me trace small circles and I cut them out in different construction paper colors. I then wrote out a big letter C on paper and had munchkin glue them onto the letter C to create a caterpillar. I then drew on eyes and legs to make it cute.
I then made a Letter C Cow with munchkin. I cut out a big letter C written freehand from white paper. I drew a face and tail and glued it on (I tried my best). Then made spots on the cow with black crayon and had munchkin color them in. Showing him how C is for Cow. He thought it was awesome!
We then played with our alphabet puzzle (great buy from Target for $1).
Overall I think our week with the Letter C went pretty well. We reviewed A, B and C and he can differentiate between them. I'm so proud of his progress! We are still in the beginning of the alphabet but I am glad to see us advancing further every week and hopefully you are joining us on our journey with your own munchkin.
