Art Show and Parent Teacher Conference

This week was so crazy at the Hamon house.  Garrett stayed up till 2 or 3 am every night working on pieces to submit into an art show and I had Parent Teacher Conference on Friday.  With all of this there were a lot of stressful feelings but through it all we worked together and stayed positive and it turned into a great week!

Art Show-
BYU is having a student art show this April and Garrett wanted to be a part of it so he worked all week to finish a couple more pieces so that he would have 4 pictures to enter into the competition.  After hours and hours of work and the money it took to print, mat, and frame the pieces we were able to submit all 4 pieces to be judged for the show.  Hopefully all 4 get into the show and hopefully we can win something from all of the hard work!  The student art show will be April 4th through the 26th in the HFAC at BYU.  Check out the digital version of his pieces on his blog http://ghamon.blogspot.com/ and we'll let you know if they are chosen to be displayed in the show.

Parent Teacher Conference-
PTC always makes me a little nervous, I have no problem working with the kids but I always feel just a little awkward in front of the parents.  I feel like maybe they will think that I'm a joke and don't know what I'm talking about.  So I just prepared myself the best I could and felt ready for whatever came my way.  I was ready to address even the most intimidating of parents which was a great feeling but only 6 parents showed up!  I have 17 children in my class and only 6 of them had parents who came!  All 6 of those meetings went very well and they were each important but that means that I have 11 students with parents who don't know what I need them to be doing at home to prepare their children for Kindergarten, 11 students with parents that don't know where their children are really at, and 11 students with parents that don't know what is going on in our classroom. But oh well, it'll all be fine.

Called to Teach

I love children, I love working with children, and I really love teaching children!  Being a preschool teacher has to be the best job in the world!  There is no other job where you get told 4 or 5 times a day how beautiful you are or how cool your dance moves are.  This week was a hectic week at the preschool, there was hitting, chasing, tears, and tantrums but in between the moments of crazy I got compliments and hugs and a good feeling knowing that I was making a difference, that I was having an impact for good on the lives of these precious children of God. 

I get to work with children on Sundays as well as one of the nursery coordinators (Our nursery is so big that we have to have three of us out in the hall making sure everything is running smoothly in all the different classes.) This week I was asked to teach the nursery teachers at our teacher development meeting, preparing for this helped me to slow down and remember how special each child is and what I can be doing as a teacher to help each child learn and grow.  Now I know that I can't use all the same principles in my public school preschool that I would have the nursery teachers use but I do believe that they all still apply.  This is a handout I prepared for the workshop, I feel that most of the principles are applicable for all teachers, parents, and anyone who is working with children in anyway.

“Encircle them with Love and the Fire of Faith”

“Clearly, those of us who have been entrusted with precious children have been given a sacred, noble stewardship, for we are the ones God has appointed to encircle today’s children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are.” (M. Russell Ballard, Great Shall Be the Peace of thy Children, Ensign, April. 1994, 60)

You have not been called to babysit for 2 hours at church each week you have been called as teachers.  The difference between it feeling like babysitting and it feeling like teaching is up to you.  You are in charge of making this calling a spiritually uplifting experience for yourselves and for each child in your class, here are some ways to do that.

1.       Come Prepared- Prayerfully read through the lesson before you come, think of songs and activities that you could use to help reemphasize the message.  If you aren’t prepared with a lesson the children will know and most likely the lesson won’t happen.

2.      Pray in class- Don’t forget to have an opening and closing prayer!  This will invite the spirit into your class and help the children learn the importance of prayer.

3.      Observe the children- find what is important to them and what they respond to so that you can meet them at their level.

“What we learn about specific children helps us teach and care for each child as an individual. By continually observing children’s play and interaction with the physical environment and others, we learn about each child’s interests, abilities, and developmental progress” (naeyc.org)

4.      Play with them- The toy room is not a time for the kids all to go wild and for you to take a break. Get down on the floor with them and talk to them while they play.  See what they are doing and join in and find ways to emphasize the lesson while you are talking with them.  Take a little time with each child if possible. 

5.      Greet them when they first come in- Each child needs to feel welcome, safe, and loved when they come to nursery, the best way to accomplish this is to greet them cheerfully by name as they come into the classroom letting them know how excited you are to have them there.

6.      Call the children by their names- it’s simple but your children will feel more loved and welcome if you do. They are all special and unique, help them feel like they are more than just another nursery kid.

7.      Pray for the children in your class by name- pray for guidance on how to meet their needs, pray for patience and understanding because there will be weeks where you will need a lot of it! Pray to know how to teach each child and bring them closer to their Savior. 

“With my own children, I prayed for revelation to know how I could help each of them individually prepare for specific opportunities to serve God…..God knows our gifts. My challenge to you and to me is to pray to know the gifts we have been given, to know how to develop them, and to recognize the opportunities to serve others that God provides us. But most of all, I pray that you will be inspired to help others discover their special gifts from God to serve. I promise you that if you ask, you will be blessed to help and lift others to their full potential in the service of those they lead and love.” (Henry B. Eyring, October 2012, Help Them Aim High)

8.      Give them comfort- when a child is upset go to them and comfort them, don’t be afraid to give them hugs or hold them if needed. 

9.      Be excited about what you are doing- have enthusiasm when you teach the lessons and sing the songs, make them feel excited to learn about the gospel.  They will be excited if you are.

10.   Set rules and talk about them with your children- Let them know that you are in charge and there are times that they need to be quite.  “Toddlers (16 to 36 months) are working on their identity; they want to know who they are and who’s in charge.” (naeyc.org)

11.    Recognize their potential- Each child in your class has the potential to be something great, help them feel of their importance when they come to your class.

“… I prayed to know what contributions my children might make in the Lord’s kingdom. For the boys, I knew they could have priesthood opportunities. For the girls, I knew they would give service representing the Lord. All would be doing His work. I knew each was an individual, and therefore the Lord would have given them specific gifts for each to use in His service.” (Henry B. Eyring, October 2012, Help Them Aim High) 

12.   Let us know what you need- We are here to help!  I know it looks like we just sit out in the hall chatting and eating snacks but we are out there to help you in any way that you need, please don’t be afraid to ask!  We love you and appreciate everything that you do, this is not an easy calling but you’ve been called for a reason.  These children need you and the spirit that you can bring into their lives.

Corned Beef

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day I made Corned beef.  It's not very nice to look at but it sure does taste good!

Corned Beef, Potatoes, Carrots, and Sparkling Grape Juice

Happy St. Patty's Day!

The First Bite

Mmmmmmm

Answer to Prayer

Back in seventh grade I had a friend that had many struggles with drugs and alcohol, he cleaned himself up for a couple of months but then got back into them, when I asked him why he replied that maybe this was what he was supposed to be, maybe he was supposed to fail, that it was already in God's plan for him.  As a 13 year old I had no idea what to say except that the God that I believed in didn't work like that.  Ever since then I have prayed to know what I should have said to him or what I could say if faced with a similar question in the future and I've gotten lots of advice from friends and family but none of the answers seemed satisfactory to me.  But today after almost 10 years of pondering my prayer was answered as I sat in church today.

Christ payed for me (and my friend) through the atonement, he suffered and bled so that my best would be good enough.  That means that as long as we never give up we cannot fail.  If Christ is our rock then we will succeed. I wish I could have told him that even if he struggled with this his whole life that as long as he didn't give up and he kept trying that it would be enough.  God did not put any one of His children here to fail, He gave us the gift of the atonement so that each one of His children would have a way back to Him.

 It's not a new concept, it is something that I've been taught my whole life I just felt it so strongly today.  As much as I wish I would have had this answer 10 years ago it's nice to know that God is listening.  He listens and He does answer prayers.  Keep praying and keep believing He is there and He hears you!

Learning To Share

Garrett and I have been so blessed to have my family so close to us throughout our marriage and they have always been so willing to help us with our needs.  I mean my parents let us live in their basement for the first year and a half of our marriage (and would have let us stay longer if that is what we had chosen.)  The last few weeks we have been spoiled by my parents once again as they let us borrow their truck.  It was so nice to have two cars and not have to worry about who needed the car and when, but now it is Rachel and Brian's turn with the truck we are having to learn how to share all over again.  As hard as it is to have to make extra trips and try and figure out how I'm going to fit in three more Brainworks students and still be back in Provo in time to pick Garrett up from BYU I think it's secretly a blessing.  We had to really communicate this week just to get each other to work/ school on time and that opened channels of communication which, as anyone who's ever been in a relationship knows, is the key to a good relationship.  I knew I loved him before and I knew he loved me but this was just one of those weeks that really reminded me of how amazing we are for each other.  Sharing the car has taught us, and will hopefully continue to teach us: Communication as we work together to figure our who needs rides when, patience as we wait for the other person to pick us up, thoughtfulness as we are reminded that the other person is just as crazy busy as we are, and gratitude for each other and for a car that runs!

I love this man!