Dear Readers,     

Instead of just sharing holiday posts with suggested activities like we normally do, I decided to share my personal discovery and journey through Christmas traditions of my own country, Brazil and Hispanic countries, when I research the topic to bring to my classes.

My first stop will be the Shoe on the Window tradition!

The story I was told when I was a child was that Santa would come at night and drop off toys in the shoes left on the window….because of the safety issues, we would leave them outside our doors and Santa would leave the toys!

There is a song which has remained in all my wonderful Christmas memories! Deixei meu sapatinho

So, to bring this tradition to my son, I explain to him, since it is warm in Brazil, there are no stockings, we have shoes and I ask him to place shoes outside his door and every Christmas morning, Santa leaves stocking stuffers in them, along with new slippers! Fun! Divertido!

This week some of our classes had the theme Ropas , we started by learning basic vocabulary: 

Vestido – dress                                                                                                                                           Pantalones – pants

                                                                   Shortes/bermudas – shorts

Falda – skirt

                                                                                                                  Camisa – shirt

                             Blusa – blouse

                                                                                                                                            Zapatos – shoes

                   Sandalias – sandals 

We then worked on drawing clothes for our ninos y ninas:

The results were amazing and they took home versions which could be altered to review other clothing vocabulary.

Some of the samples below were done by 3/4 year olds!

We played a hide and seek game with clothing items where they won a point if they shouted the name of the item. Encontre la camisa!

We looked at two pictures of a boy and a girl at the beach and talked about what they were wearing. Me gusta el sombrero, no me gustan las sandalias…..

We watched el negro cirilo pro Guia Infantil:

We ended the class looking at what we were wearing and talking about it!

Hope you enjoyed our class! Please let us know! if you wish to download a free coloring page, please click here!

Dear Readers,

Thinking about a new post for Valentine’s day, I decided to share something amazing that happened to me yesterday! I had my usual busy schedule, taught 5 classes during the day, but since the first one, my students, boys and girls, noticed my outfit, my bracelet, my earrings and complimented me….it made me think how children, starting age of 3 were being influenced by me….how much we take for granted when we, teachers, get dressed to bring knowledge to the little ones, we seldom think how much our overall presence and acts affect them!

When a 3 year old says: Ms Claudia, your earrings are beautiful! Another two girls asked me to lend them my bracelet and proudly shared them during the class…..that really touched my heart because all the effort and style or lack of…LOL I try to bring to the classroom, from my hair to my shoes, really does influence and puts a strong mark on my work, which opens the door to bring a rich foreign language experience to the little ones!

Yesterday’s experience made me think about something much deeper than just cutting papers and preparing for a class, but how much love I put in getting ready for a class, from the moment I get dressed to the moment I finish it!

This Valentine’s day I wanted to share my AHA moment, when I finally understood, teaching for me is not a job, it is an act of love and best of it: I receive a lot more love than I give and that is very gratifying!!!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!