Miller and Craddock Elementary Schools: Elf-in-Training ~

Friday, January 2, 2015

Elf-in-Training ~

Lilly Raab is an Elf-in-Training . . . each year, Lilly and her Dads host a Cookies with Santa event with all of the proceeds or donations going towards a charity ~ this year, they chose our Project Back-Pack Program!

Through the generous donations from the guests who attended the event, 25 of the students that benefit from our program received great Christmas gifts this year! THANK YOU to Lilly, Stan Smith and Mark Raab for opening their hearts to our families!!

Santa, Lilly and Ms. Mazzella

Resources I've enjoyed reading over the years:

You're A Better Parent Than You Think - Dr. Ray Guarendi
Discipline That Lasts A Lifetime - Dr. Ray Guarendi
Back to the Family - Dr. Ray Guarendi
Donna's Day - Donna Erickson
Today I Am Lovable - Diane Loomans
FISH! - Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D, Harry Paul and John Christensen
Who Moved My Cheese For Kids - Spencer Johnson, MD
Who Moved My Cheese - Spencer Johnson, MD
Children Learn What They Live - Parenting to Inspire Values - Dorothy Law Nolte
Raise Your Child's Self-Esteem! 99 Easy Things to Do - Nancy Krulik
Life's Greatest Lessons - 20 Things I Want My Chidlren to Know - Hal Urban

Books I use with my classroom lessons and group/individual sessions . . .

A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue - dealing with tattling & telling
A Pocket Full of Kisses - dealing with separation anxiety
All About My Brother - an 8 year old sister's introduction to her brother who has autism
Angel Catcher for Kids - dealing with grief
Beatrice Doesn't Want To - dealing with attitude
Big Al - dealing with friendship
Big Al and Shrimpy - dealing with friendship
Bully B.E.A.N.S. - dealing with bullying
Chester Raccoon & the Acorn Full of Memories - dealing with grief
Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully - dealing with bullying
Clifford's Manners - dealing with manners
Dinosaurs Divorce - dealing with divorce
Don't be Afraid to Drop - dealing with fear & taking risks
Don't Call Me Special - a first look at disability
Don't Laugh at Me - dealing with bullying & acceptance
Don't Squeal Unless it is a Big Deal - dealing with tattling & telling
Feeling Angry - dealing with anger
Fluffy and Baron - dealing with friendship
Franklin is Bossy - dealing with bossy friends
Franklin's Secret Club - dealing with friendship
Grief is Like a Snowflake - dealing with grief
Have You Filled A Bucket Today? - dealing with attitudes and how we treat others
How Full is Your Bucket? for kids - dealing with attitude
How to be a Friend - dealing with friendship
I Am Responsible - dealing with being responsible
I Just Don't Like the Sound of No! - dealing with disagreeing the right way
I Like Myself - dealing with self-esteem
I Miss You - dealing with death
I Show Respect - dealing with respect
I Tell the Truth - dealing with being honest
I'll Always Come Back! - dealing with separation anxiety
I'm So Embarrassed! - dealing with embarrassment
I'm Special I'm Me! - dealing with self-esteem
In Jesse's Shoes - appreciating kids with special needs
It's Hard to be a Verb - dealing with self-control
Last One in Is a Rotten Egg? - dealing with not being first
Lifetimes - dealing with death
Littlest Tall Fellow - dealing with goal setting
Mama & Daddy Bear's Divorce - dealing with divorce
My Family's Changing - dealing with divorce
My Mouth is a Volcano - dealing with self-control
Nobody Knew What to Do - dealing with bullying
Perfect Pigs - dealing with manners
Personal Space Camp - dealing with personal space
Please Say Please - dealing with manners
Samantha Jane's Missing Smile - dealing with the loss of a parent
Saying No - dealing with attitude
Shyanne - dealing with being shy
Soda Pop Head - dealing with controlling anger
Sometimes I'm Scared - dealing with fear
Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon - dealing with making your own choices
Stop Picking on Me - dealing with bullying
Taking Down Syndrome to School
The Bully Blockers Club - dealing with bullying
The D (divorce) Word - dealing with divorce
The Fall of Freddy the Leaf - dealing with death
The Lovables in the Kingdom of Self-Esteem - dealing with self-esteem
The New Bear at School - dealing with being new
The Shark Who Was Afraid of Everything - dealing with fear
The Special Needs Acceptance Book - being a friend to someone with special needs
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney - dealing with the death of a pet
The Way I Feel - dealing with feelings
The Worst Day of My Life Ever - dealing with listening & following directions
Two Homes - dealing with divorce
Was It the Chocolate Pudding? - dealing with divorce
What Are You So Grumpy About? - dealing with attitude
When Dinosaurs Die - dealing with death
When I Feel Angry - dealing with anger
When My Parents Forgot How to Be Friends - dealing with divorce
Who Moved My Cheese? for kids - dealing with change
Why Should I Listen? - dealing with the importance of listening
Words are Not for Hurting - dealing with bullying

Happy Thoughts!

"Do not educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy. So when they grow up, they will know what has true value..." ~ author unknown
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"All children have gifts ~ they just open them at different times"
'Words can't break bones but they can break hearts.'
"Other than the gift of unconditional love, the greatest gift you can give a child is the understanding of her or his power to choose."
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is COURAGE that counts!" - Winston Churchill
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere!" - Albert Enstein
"What I leave behind . . . I hope my achievements in life shall be these - that I will have fought for what was right and fair; that I will have risked for that which mattered; that I will have given help to those who were in need . . . that I will have left the earth a ...better place for what I've done and who I've been."
"Carve your name on your heart and not on marble."
"We must admit that we spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the things that can't be changed than we do giving attention to the one thing that we can change: our choice of attitude."
"Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that the right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results!"
Just for today . . . consider your blessings; show a kindness; contribute to the better good; tell your friends you care; show your family love; ponder the beauty in nature; be grateful!
Attitude is the crayon that colors your world!
On the playground of life, you cannot swing alone!
If you're handed it, you can handle it!
Need knows no season!
Give all, Believe fully, Laugh deeply and Be Yourself!!
"Be kind . . . everyone you meet is dealing with something!"
"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!"
"Each child is a story yet to be told!"

Friday, January 2, 2015

Elf-in-Training ~

Germ experiment...........