Valentine's Day - You Know You Love It!

Before I jump into my list of Heart Day books, I’m going to tell you a story I like to remind myself of every time I get close to February.

It was my first or second year teaching kindergarten and I had a class of like 35 kids and it was just a little crazy. My boyfriend, at the time, thought it would be special if he took the day off work and volunteered in my class. And, special it was.

Like most non-teaching boyfriends, he came, he was happy, he had fun. He did almost nothing to help wrangle the sugared-up students in my class and at about 10:30 (yep, I made it like 2 hours) I snapped at him. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t loud, it was just a snap.

However, big-eyed, big-mouthed Alijah in my class said, “Come on, Ms. Glaab, give him a break, it’s his first day.”

Leave it to a kindergartener to tell you to remember to stop, smell the roses and appreciate what you’ve got every once in a while.

I picked these books because I love them and they have a Valentine’s theme but, I picked this story because this time of year starts to get crazy. There are parties and holidays, testing and paperwork. So- take a little time, show some love and, as Alijah would say, give yourself and your kiddos a break.

Here are the books:

The “learning to make a heart is cool” book: My Heart is like a Zoo This beautiful simile outlines a simple but perfect book. If you teach younger grades, this is a perfect way to start teaching them to make hearts for the first time. It also can be a great way to make a February Bulletin board with some heart shaped animals.

The “cooperation is key” book: The Biggest Valentine Ever- As I am sure you could guess, this book is about 2 mice that learn to work together to make the biggest valentine ever. I used to do thematic reading stations. I used this book to lovingly remind my students to work together nicely. Students always seem to be great in January and in need of “loving reminders” in February. I’ve also done class valentines to administration using this book.

The “big things in small packages” book: Love Monster and the Perfect Present- I love this book. I love everything about it. If you don’t own it- go get it! Spoiler: In the end, Love Monster learns that he can MAKE the perfect present. I’ve used this to help students remember that homemade is often the most special. In my class, I always have a Valentine making station or after school club for those kiddos who might forget. It’s fun and easy and anyone can do it. I also just had a parent tell me a story about a teacher who had every student write a letter to another student about why they liked them and on Valentine’s day- they read the letters aloud. Let’s just say, parents were in tears…Valentines and love can look a lot of different ways.

The “typical but so good” book: Plant a Kiss- This book has lovely rhyming, and beautiful sparkles that are fun to touch. My class used to make Valentine’s planters for their parents and we used this book to get us started. Plus, it’s just fun to say, “Plant a Kiss”

The “are those Valentine’s books?” book- Dragons Love Tacos and There is a Bird on your Head- The answer is yes- these are perfect for this time of year! Love comes in a lot of forms and expressing love for tacos is important too! I used to read this book and then do a “What do I love” writing activity- and the answers were “inspired”. The Mo Willems book has “Love Birds” so yeah, it’s a stretch but Elephant and Piggie are the perfect exemplars for friends who love each other for their differences. Plus, I LOVE Mo Willems.

Okay, that’s it - have a great Valentine’s Day, fall in love with your kids or at least “give ‘em a break” and make sure they don’t get into the Fun Dip until after 3 p.m.