For those returning to school for the first time after break...welcome back! I pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! (And...welcome back to those that were here yesterday too!)
First...3 reminders:
Christmas Cheer Service Project…11/30 - 12/4! Each year Zion’s Early Childhood program participates in a Christmas Giving Project. This year our goal is to raise funds for the purchase of TWB gift cards for Friends of Kids with Cancer families in the St. Louis area hospitals. This service project is dedicated to the memory of Drew Albritton (October 2009 - March 2014) and Glenn Markway (January 1992 - August 2015). Funds/gifts cards will be collected this week, November 30th - December 4th (another copy of the letter/order form is being sent home Monday or today in your child's folder). Donations of cash or checks will be used to purchase gift cards through Together We’re Better in the school office. Families wishing to participate in our service project can send cash or check with the Together We’re Better order form (on the back of the service project letter sent home the week of 11/16 or yesterday/today) to me the week of 11/30 - 12/4. Each student in the early childhood program has made a Christmas card to accompany our gifts!
St. Nick Nite…Lutheran High School invites children and their parents to “St. Nick Nite” on Friday, December 11, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. In addition to enjoying boys’ and girls’ Cougar basketball games, you’ll have the opportunity to have your picture taken with “Jolly Old St. Nick!” Unwrapped toys or monetary donations will be collected to benefit the Ablaze! The Lutheran Sidewalk Sunday School ministries.
Preschool and Kindergarten Christmas Service…is Sunday, December 13 at 4:00 pm in Zion’s sanctuary (please have children arrive at 3:45 pm). We will worship together and celebrate the birth of Jesus through songs, pictures, and words spoken by our Preschool and Kindergarten students!
I love to see the excitement in the eyes of children when the room is "different" from when they were last here, especially at Christmas time!
Claire and Brooke enjoyed reenacting the first Christmas with our Little People nativity scene!
Once again today the most popular "attraction" was the candy construction set! We improved hand-eye coordination and practiced working well with others as we explored this new manipulative! Check out the concentration on so many of their faces!
The sensory table had changed too!!! Not only did we have our old table back, it was filled with something new...packing peanuts! This time of year these may be used to wrap/send packages to family and friends! But, we enjoyed "snapping" them, strengthening the finger muscles. We loved seeing how they "floated" when tossed into the air!
Some friends expressed creativity as they made ornaments for our class Christmas tree!
Yay!!! Even though the ground was a little muddy, the rain was gone and we saw blue skies!
Time to play outside again!!!
We noticed that our weather tally sheet was empty and the November pie graph was filled in! We studied more, less, and the same (equal) as we compared the 4 months we've filled in so far this school year! Understanding more, less, and the same is an early math skill!
We finished morning meeting practicing our number recognition and quantifying skills while demonstrating different positional words (all early math skills)!
A few friends took a turn rolling dice, stated/counted the number of dots, and found that number on the yellow sheet! I read the positional word to him/her...then...
He/she put his/her body in the correct position in relation to our big Christmas box! Can you guess what each friend rolled?
We all decided it would not be safe for Thomas to get "on" the box! So, he put the dice "on" the box instead!
Today we introduced the letter "S" and number "2"!
We remembered start your letter "at the top" then little curve, turn, little curve to write an "S" and big curve, little line at the bottom to write a "2"! Then we came up with words that start with "S" and found "2's" around the room!
Anytime one of our friends thinks of a word that starts with "S" we can add it to our big letter. Or, if at home, your child sees a small picture or item that starts with an "S", bring it in and he/she can glue it to our big letter!
Then we practiced writing "S" and "2" with our special handwriting without tears crayons (nice and short to reinforce proper grip)!
Time for small groups (centers)!
As we remember Jesus' birth this month, we learned "J" is for Jesus! We colored dots in the shape of a "J". Each friend was asked to pick 2 - 3 colors, then color the dots in a pattern! Not only did we improve patterning skills (early math), we also improved small motor control needed for coloring/writing!
With Mrs. Dose we made ornaments for our Christmas tree! We strung beads (some even did so in a pattern) and jingle bells onto pipe cleaners! Stringing those tiny beads while holding a pipe cleaner sure can be tricky!
We noticed that all our Thanksgiving/fall books were gone and we had "new to us" Christmas books to read! We "read to self" remembering the rules of using a book correctly (orientation: read from front to back and left to right...make sure the letters are right side up...turn 1 page at a time, gently!!! Being able to use a book properly is an early literacy skill.)
Yikes...we had a little snow in the classroom!!! Working together we sequenced snowflakes from smallest to biggest and/or biggest to smallest!
I know the calendar says December 1st, but it sure was a nice, brisk day for large motor time outside!
During Jesus Time today we thought about how Mary must have felt when suddenly an angel appeared at her house. We all agreed she was probably surprised and maybe even a little scared. Then that angel told her something even more surprising! She was going to have a baby, God's son! She knew that her baby was going to be the Savior. God's plan for saving us was finally going to happen!
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