star of the week 2011

At little guy's school, a child is chosen from each class every week to be the "Star of the Week".  That child is celebrated and given special recognition throughout the week.  S/he will have pictures posted outside the classroom to let the whole building know that s/he is the star.  At the end of the week, the mother of the star will make a small party for the class, and she will pass out gifts to every child as well.
This year it seemed as though little guy's star of the week would never happen.  His teacher asked me at the beginning of the year and I told her to wait a while.  That was a mistake.  She scheduled him towards the end of the year when my section was having our graduation ceremony so I had to reschedule.  And then little guy was very sick and was absent during his scheduled week.  :(  So I had to squeeze in his activities during the following week.  Thank God his teacher was cooperative. 

So one day, I sent little guy with gifts for his friends and teachers.  I went with "simple" this year.

Ritz crackers, a choco dipping snack, a milk flavoring straw (a big deal with the kids here), a lollipop, a balloon, and a toy truck for the boys, and a best friends bracelet set for the girls.

With all the craziness, I was unable to make it to my favorite gift bag store.  So I had to go to a different place near our home.  And of course I could not find suitable gift bags.  I needed about 15 boy bags and 10 girl bags, plus four teacher bags.  The only things I could find were baby shower gift bags.  And of course they were more expensive but I had no choice.  It was worth it though because all of the children loved them and I had several mothers ask me where to find them...lol.

For the girls.

For the boys.

I wanted to keep teachers' gifts simple as well.  We were nearing the end of the school year and I enjoy buying nice teacher gifts for the end of year party (this year I bought perfume and makeup bags from The Body Shop).  So for little guy's star of the week gifts, I went with simple and yummy.

I just adore these Hershey's Kisses packages.  And I enjoy giving them as gifts because Hershey is in PA, and being a PA girl myself it's like giving a sweet little taste from home.  :)

Loving gift bags for the teachers that matched the style of the children's bags.  Little guy hand wrote notes to each of them.  He had four teachers; his class teacher, his assistant teacher, his Arabic teacher, and his Quran teacher.

The next day, little guy's teacher allowed me to have one class period to come and show a Power Point presentation that I had made of little guy, complete with pictures.  I handed out name tags for each child.  I used bulletin board accents (fun school buses), wrote each child's name on one, and using ribbon and a hole punch, made "necklaces" so that the children could wear their own tag around their neck (these were prepared in advance of course).  When talking to a group of young children it is so nice to learn their names and make each child feel special by calling them by name.  This was actually my warm-up activity with them in circle time.  I called each child up by name and put their name tag on them.  This way they each got a moment in the spotlight and I could read their names for the rest of the class.  Even the shy children enjoyed receiving their name tags.

After the nametags, I showed the Power Point slideshow.  This worked like a charm.  The kids were so into it.  They were so well behaved and just loved seeing all of little guy's pictures.  I showed our house, little guy's favorite toys, things he likes to do at home, places he likes to go (including trips to the U.S.), and pictures of him with my hubby and I (aka: his family).  I may repeat this idea for next year...lol.  It was that successful!  Tip:  When making a Power Point Presentation for children, be sure to add lots of fun effects.  Images bouncing in are way more fun!  :)

After the show, it was time for cupcakes and juice, the only food I made this year, and honestly, it was MORE than enough.  Some mothers make loads of food and it's just wasted, the kids are not interested in elaborate dishes.  Last year, I made a lot of food, but I made kid-friendly things so most of it was not wasted.  But my simple version this year was more than fine.

After a quick clean-up, it was time to give little guy hugs and kisses and I was off to teach my classes (When I said that I squeezed this in, I also meant that this was on one of my full teaching days.  I just happened to have the first two periods off that day, so I was able to do this in the morning before my classes.)

I learned a few things.  One, always except the first semester option for Star of the Week.  It's better to get it done earlier in the year then later.  Two, kids really do like "simple".  And three, I LOVE to see my little guy's face light up when I come to visit his class.  It makes me a proud Mama to see that my little guy is proud of me.  And I love that he feels so loved, of course by us, but also by his teachers and his classmates.  Nothing makes me happier as a mother than knowing my little guy feels emotionally secure.  We are truly blessed!

As a side note, I had such a good time with his class that I begin to think about possibly transferring to the KG section.  A bizillion ideas came to mind when I imagined having my own classroom.  I'm a subject teacher so I go to my students' classrooms and only get a bulletin board and maybe one wall to decorate.  That's just not fun enough for me...lol.