Today was so unbelievably hectic. It was Curriculum Night at school, but only three (including me) teachers could stay out of the six total that work in our room. Kids getting picked up late, having a whole room to set up.... it was really flustering. We had four activities set out for the kids to do: Sensory tables (one with just dirt with shovels and pails, and one full of dirt and worms [real]), blocks of all different shapes, colors, sizes, and textures, hand puppets, and books (both board and soft washable ones). These all could be tied back to the book Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek, which our kids absolutely swear by. We started out the night by saying hello, givin a brief introduction, and then reading Butterfly, Butterfly outloud (my little primary student Elena, almost one, was so excited to get to the end where we all kiss the butterfly, that it didn't seem to matter that none of our older kids who know the words were there to help me read, which I wanted the adults to hear).

For each activity, we had to write up how they fit into the Missouri Pre-K standards (Math, Science, Literacy, Physical, etc), but also how they fit into the school;s own philosophy of attuning to the three spheres of development (such as early literacy and psychodynamic), such as "this activity teaches empathy and compassion/phonological awareness/autonomy/independence/etc by such and such and such. It was a LOT of work, but I think it really came out great. We had such a tiny group this year that it was a lot less stress once the night actually started than I thought... I gave the introduction and read the opening book to only three families! The rest that were there had been in a sibling's room to start instead and came in and out as the night went on. Doing stuff like this stresses me out and sometimes feels like BS, but then when it's all done I look at it and feel proud and like I actually know what I'm talking about.

I'm exhausted. Going to have a pot of tea and curl up on the couch.