the "why" phase...

My 3 year old is in the "why" phase.  You know what I mean, the "why does it rain, mommy?"  "Why does Mater say/ do this?"  "Why do Buzz/ Woody..."  "Why do you do/ say..."  "Why do I have to brush my teeth at bedtime and after I wake up?"  "Why do I have a bedtime?"  "Why, why, why?!?"  and on, and on, and on and on he goes. While I adore his naivete, and am in awe of how the little wheels of his mind are constantly a spinning, spinning, spinning as he desperately tries to piece together connections and make sense of the world and happenings around him...sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and tell him, "Okay Jack, you sir, have hit your question quota for the day!" He looks at me with gorgeous, huge, round cerulean eyes blinking like wings of a butterfly, perplexed by my last statement and I instantly feel bad for shutting down his wonders; he has such innocence and is just trying to make sense of the world around him- like all toddlers and young babes of his age, he has so much to learn.  I STILL have so much to learn.  And last night as I lay next to him in his bed, watching his chest fall up and down in peaceful rhythmic motions, inhaling the scent of his lotion and freshly washed hair, having just read a few of his favorite books and heard what felt like an insurmountable amount of questions about each page, I began finding my mind wandering to some "whys" of the world of my own...


1) Why do we park on a driveway, but drive on a parkway?

2) Why do we call grass, grass?  Who came up with that term?

3) Why do we just rely on calendars as is?  Who is the grand voice/ decision maker in all the calendars of the world, saying YES that is most definitely without a doubt, when Easter will be this year?

4) Why do we pay teachers so poorly and doctors/ lawyers/ businessmen so well when we are the ones who educated these people to get where they are?

5) Why does a bird or plane stay in flight?

Now, going with the WHY theme...

WHAT are some WHYs that YOU have?  Channel your inner 3 year old and think about some things in which you may have found yourself to wonder recently or in the past and jot them down in your journal or Writer's Notebook.  What do you wonder WHY about like one Mr. Jack Thomas, 3 year old extraordinaire?!?  Can't wait to hear!!!  I bet you have some AWESOME ideas!!!

Doodling...

It's NO secret that students often find their minds wandering off in class.  I too often find myself daydreaming away in meetings or even doodling drawings galore a top any paper surface at my disposal.  Thus, I have found a few FUN doodling tutorials out of NUMBERS and LETTERS (or shapes) that are easy peasy (lemon squeezey) for you to practice with on a few pages in your journal. Do YOU have any tricks to doodles you frequent?!?  Ask me to show you my dog and owl tricks that I use on practically evvvvvvverrrrrrything!!!!  Enjoy!!!  And which of these were most doable for you or you enjoyed most?!?

P.S., DO NOT forgot to check out the journal entry I posted BELOW (or you can click HERE).

3 journal entries to start us off...

1) What are your favorite summer memories?

2) What are you favorite memories from this past school year as a 4th grader?

I know my favorite memories with my 5th graders this past year include:
-random dance parties to blow off some steam and rid of some stress
-winning the coveted spirit stick
-Camp Shantituck
-the bonds we created- I've NEVER laughed so hard with a class
-the care, consideration, and concern they had for Baby Harry
- I could go on, and on, and on, and on

***I CANNOT wait to make these special types of memories with Y-O-U this year!!!***

3) What are you most looking forward to about 5th grade?!?