Nickel Charlies in Bigfork

Mrs. Kelly's class brought ARFF to our school today by opening up a Nickel Charlies restaurant in their classroom. Last week they researched how to operate a restaurant, and since then they have been busy developing the menu, making paper food, paper money, training waitstaff, and setting up a hostess station and a cashier booth.

Their hard work paid off. Students and staff were invited to dine today.  I was able to take a short break today and "eat" with our principal, Mrs. Clarke. The service was excellent and the food was tasty. I highly recommend Nickel Charlies in Bigfork for your ARFFing pleasure.

Here's the entrance to the restaurant:

Mrs. Clarke paying her bill at the cashier station:

Snowman ARFF

Snowmen are total ARFF!

Vehicle Repairs

Achievement: My motor home was totaled in a wreck today and I repaired it completely on my own!

Anxiety Link

This time of year anxiety appears to be an issue for both parents and kids. To pinpoint the source of the anxiety in either adults or kids, we do a quick ARFF check. What is missing? Achievement? Respect? Fun? Freedom? It's usually pretty obvious, and then we can quickly find a solution. Guess which one it usually is.....

Fun! (That's when the Legos appear to be magic!)

How's your ARFF?

Lego Therapy

Some of the best conversations happen while we are lego-ing.

Do you have kids that blurt?

Then this is the book for you!

Julia Cook has written some ARFF-filled books that teach important lessons for elementary age students. I read this one to first, second, and third graders and they were spell-bound throughout the reading, and totally got the message. "My Mouth is a Volcano" is the story of Louis who has a habit of blurting out at inappropriate times. His mom teaches him to bite down on his words before they leave his mouth...and it works!

I wish I had read this book when I was in third grade. It might have kept me from staying after school and having to write, "I will not talk out of turn" ONE HUNDRED TIMES! Yes. I really had to do that.

New Year ARFF

Achievement: Eased into the first day after break mostly listening to kids' Christmas vacation stories.
Respect: 8:00 a.m. all teachers were standing outside their classrooms greeting students with hugs and happy faces.
Fun: Put the finishing touches on my Lego camper (Christmas gift)
Freedom: Steve and I chose the word "JOY" for our theme for 2016.