Reed's Playroom and Felt Activity Board 1st Try

A few weeks ago, I moved most of Reed's bigger toys downstairs to make a play area for him.  We are not totally finished which is just fine because I think the space will probably grow with him.  But for now, we have his toys under our basement stairs with an open area in the sitting area of our basement.

 

 

I already had these great shelves from IKEA and I placed the bins on the bottom level so he could safely get things in and out.  There is a space on the right that was open until I realized a basket I already had fit.  It is sort of a weird size.  Considering I would like to use this basket for parties like we did for Reed's birthday...

 

 

 

 I am still on the hunt for something else.  But for now it works.

 



I wanted to create a felt activity board for him and made a 1st try last night to see what he thought.  I placed it to the right of the fire place to keep it out of the way.

I purchased 2 yards of green felt for $7.99 from Michael's and then lots of sheets of colored felt.  I was planning on making felt garland for Christmas so I was okay with not using all of it.

I cut a small piece of green and taped it up on the wall.  Next I cut a few shapes out of various colors.  He liked it!  He liked taking the pieces off and tried to get them back on.  I think over time, he will really be able to use it better. 

 

 For a 1st try, I like the concept. Stay tuned for my final version with a larger surface area and more permanent method of attaching it to our wall.

Homemade Valentine's Day Cards

Reed has a little Valentine's Day Party at school today.  The kids are so excited and so cute about it.  Last night we made Valentine's Day Cards for all of his friends.  Reed helped too!  I can't wait until he is older and he can really get involved in making sweet cards even if it is just for Dad, Grammy and Mama B and Daddy B.

First I made purple, pink and red hand prints and footprints all over a white sheet of paper with Reed's feet and hands.  I worked one at a time and wiped each one off with a baby wipe between colors.

Then I drew red hearts over all of the sheet of paper trying to get a lot of color in each one.

Look at that sweet little footprint.  Aw!!!!

Then I cut out the hearts one by one.

I glued them to the front of these little red cards I found at Michael's.

The inside of the cards read:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you for being my friend.

Love,

Reed

I can't wait to see all of the little cards that Reed got today!  

LOVE to Read Week

When was the last time an 8 year old boy held open the door for you?  You may think that happened at Southpark Mall or maybe one of the many private schools here in Charlotte.  Nope, that happend today as I was visiting one of the most challenged schools in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Districts. 

My church has adopted an elementary school that has the majority of students on free and reduced lunches and overall has students that come from troubled and transient backgrounds.  This week we are helping with a program called LOVE to Read where volunteers come in each day and read to the students with books based on a theme.  Today's theme was "Citizenship" and I was asked to read to 4th graders.  I will admit, it was a little tough to find books but I did thanks to the help of the kind people at the book store. 

When I arrived at the school, I was told that this school was ranked LAST in the district on literacy and test scores and one of the lowest in the ENTIRE state.  I am so glad that our church has decided to adopt this school.  We won't make changes overnight but programs like this will help them see growth and help their students know they are loved.

I read to two classes and asked students to define Citizenship.  Both classes came up with the right definitions - the boring one, to literally be a citizen and the warm fuzzy one that talks about the behavior expected of a citizen - to be kind, helpful, contributing member, etc.  I picked two books. One more on the literal definition and the other more on the warm and fuzzy side.

Here are the basics of the books...

A Storm Called Katrina
One family's struggle during the aftermath of the hurricane and what NOT to do to be a good citizen as we learn how people behaved in the superdome.  This one was kind of a stretch but I think the kids liked it and they were very quick to say that they would have been nice to other people and  tried to help rather than getting into fights like what happened in the story.



So You Want To Be President
This one was cute but long.  It gave lots of unique information all about the Presidents - pets, hobbies, feelings on being President with the closing thought that all Presidents no matter what their background all wanted to do what's best for our country and to serve their country.  The kids also liked this one and laughed outloud a few times.

This was a great experience and I wish my schedule allowed for me to be a tutor for one of these children.  When I asked if they had any questions one girl asked "are you going to come back?"  Oh I wish I could come everyday!  They still need volunteers so I will be back on Friday for sure but hopefully other times too.

So even though this school is ranked one of the lowest in the city, I found such sweet students who were respectful, courteous, kind and eager to learn.  I think I gained much more from this experience than they gained from me.

For more on how you can help this school, Walter Byers School, go to www.watershedcharlotte.com.

Looking forward to Friday...