Volunteering at Woodbine School

My Children attend a wonderful school! Woodbine school has the best, most kind, dedicated teachers I have ever had the pleasure to interact with. 

Every time I volunteer at their school I am always very impressed by their work ethic, their kindness, and specially their patience towards all the different types of personalities they deal with daily.

What is it that makes them great? Here are a a few things I noticed that they do, that inspire me to try to be a better parent, and soon a better educator to my children (We are home schooling for 6 months, more on that in a later post):

1. They listen to the kids- They take the time to stop, look at the children in the eyes, and are genuinely interested in what happened to each of the kids. From listening to the stories about "their grandma's dog who is named after a gun" to what each of those children did over the weekend, and who got poked by whom. They listen with kindness, and their full attention.

2. They are patient- Today I noticed my son's grade 2 teacher was "reminded" by at least 2 or more kids that she needed to do the attendance, after she had done it. Each time, she thanked them for remembering this important part of school, and smiled at them, at no time it felt like she was annoyed at all. How do they do that?!

3. They keep their voices down- At church we are taught to listen to the still small voice, the teachers that my kids have had so far exemplify this so well. This is how I believe God talks to us, in a still small voice.They, our Woodbine teachers, do not yell, at least I have not heard them yell, and for the most part the kids respond to them.

4. The smile a lot! Thank you for doing this Mrs. L-J and Mrs. Ellis, and Mrs. ES, Ms. Parker, Ms. K, Mrs. Part, Mr. Wolfe and so many more of you!

5. They prepare- A lot of preparation goes into all the work our children do daily. All those papers we parents photocopy represent hours of research of ways to teach our children about Math, Science, Community, and so much more.  

6. They put my mind at ease, they emphasize the positive in my children, while giving me tips about how to help my kids succeed.

7. They spend time with the kids, and have fun with them. I imagine that a classroom full of active 2nd graders, and 6th graders is not always fun, but boy I hear nice things. "Mom, Mrs. LJ dances on tables, is funny, and nice", "Mrs. Ellis remembers our birthdays and has special birthday gum for us."

So for me volunteering is so much more than just photocopying, cutting, and gluing. It is a chance to see my kids in action at school, to see what, and how they learn, and to learn from those very skilled individuals. Oh, I know they are not perfect, but today as I reflected on them, they came pretty close! Thank you Woodbine!

A fun new Hobby!

My sweet husband is always encouraging me to develop my hobbies, or find new ones. He loves working with wood, and suggested that I try learning how to use a scroll saw. It feels a lot like a sewing machine, and in case you are intimidated by power tools like I am, this one is pretty safe, and fairly easy to handle.
Here is a photo of my first scroll saw projects.

I'm particularly proud of snoopy, since that is my first, mostly original project, and I learned how to do some wood burning along the way too. The other patterns came from various sources on-line, mainly http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.ca/2011/11/five-simple-christmas-ornament-scroll.html, I love that website, it offers a number of free, and simple patterns to use.

Here is another attempt at a water color sketch. I've always wanted to paint a picture of the Eiffel Tower, this sketch is basically a copy of an image that I found online, but hey that's how the Masters learned, by copying those who came before them ;)

American Girl Knitted Dress

Here is my latest creation. I follow a pattern from ABC knitting. I really like how it turned out. I was my first try with circular knitting needles.

Almost done...?...

So here is it, I think I am done, but it need a bit more detail...or maybe not.

Watercolor wash before taking the masking tape off...

Now to wait until the watercolor dries up, and I can take off the masking tape.....so nervous! ;)

Another try, and a different medium

So I try adding color to my last picture, and I'm not happy with the result, therefore, I think I will try a new method.

Here is the oil painting that I believe is NOT working out...

However, I might go back, and keep trying it out. So here is another drawing, this time I'm attempting the same painting with watercolors, and pen and ink. I'm trying out masking fluid for the first time. Wish me luck! I'm using "Fineline Resist Pen."

And here it is, the new under painting, after applying the FineLine masking fluid, the idea is that all those areas that look blueish will be white.