Getting Ready for Teaching Other People's Kids! Oh My!

Since my last post, I had the pleasure of meeting the woman that I will be team teaching with during the Fall semester of the Legacy co-op and I have to say that I am really excited about it! James and I went to her house last Tuesday so we could have our first planning meeting. We started talking the minute I walked in the door and we never stopped! James played with her 5-year-old daughter who will also be in our class. They hit it off well. We decided on the stories we would read- 8 stories for each of the 8 Fridays we will meet this Fall. Here is what we choose:

1. Three Names by Patricia McLachlan 
2. Mr. Grumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham
3. The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge by Hildegarde Swift
4. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
5. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
6. Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
7. Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
8. A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert

We decided to read Three Names first as a way to allow the kids to introduce themselves to the group. It's a story about a dog named...Three Names and he goes to school with his boy. I liked the idea of "reading" Harold and the Purple Crayon because there are NO words in the book! Just Harold drawing where his imagination leads him. I thought it would be great to make purple crayons or use purple straws and go outside and "draw" like Harold. Kids this age can't sit still for a very long time and I would love to see them up and moving...and videotape it all! These stories are all so wonderful it was hard to pick just eight from the Five in a Row list. One of the ones I really like was called Gramma's Walk because I got teary-eyed just reading the synopsis about the story! Here it is on Amazon.com:

Donnie's Gramma gets around in a wheelchair, but through the magic of imagination, the two of them walk to the beach; listen, feel, and smell the sea; identify prints in the sand; and admire the wildlife. The wake from a passing ferry collapses the sand castle they build, leaving only the flag and footprints when they head for home. "'You know what, Gramma?'" Donnie says. "'You're the best walker in the whole world.'" 

Some of the themes we will be touching on include helping others, the 5 senses, using your imagination, relationships, feeling important even though you are little and courage. On the last Friday, there will be a big celebration that all the kids of the co-op will attend. It should be fun! I am looking forward to this adventure and sharing it here!