Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Thank you for joining us on our Tuesday!

First...a few reminders...

Donuts for Dads…is tomorrow Wednesday, January 13 at 7:00 am!  Dads (or grandpas or special friends) are invited for a morning with your child(ren) here at Zion.  Enjoy a light breakfast and time to socialize with others.  You can also schedule a little extra time to attend chapel with your child(ren) at 8:10!

No School on Monday, January 18…in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Trivia Night…is Saturday, January 30 at 7:00 pm.  Escape the winter doldrums with a trip to the beach.  Zion’s Trivia Night is themed as a Hawaiian Luau.  Gather your friends for a fun evening of fellowship in support of our school.  Tables of eight are $200 (before 1/15, after 1/15, price increases to $240 per table) and include beer, wine, and soda.  Doors open at 6:15 and the first question will be read at 7:00.  Prizes will be awarded for the winning team, and the best luau themed dress and table decoration!  If you have any questions please email trivia@zionharvester.org or contact Josh Kainady at 314-518-5645.

Zion Half Day Care Registration for Wednesday, 2/3…Last week, in your child’s folder, you received a registration form for half day care on Wednesday, 2/3/16 . School will dismiss at 12:00 on 2/3 for teacher in-service meetings.  It is expected that your child be picked up from school at 12:00 on this day, unless you register your child to attend half day care.  If you would like for your child to attend half-day care that afternoon, please fill out and return the registration form by Friday, 1/29.

Check out our day...

While others were enjoying free choice time, each friend (not here yesterday) began his/her day with a special check-in!  Each child completed his/her "January My Name" for his/her portfolio.  Each friend was asked to try writing his/her name without using his/her name tag! Most were able to write his/her name without the help of the name tag.  Others were able to begin, but needed his/her name tag to finish.  We did GREAT! While each friend wrote his/her name I took special note of :

pencil grip

right or left hand

copied name or wrote from memory

did he/she know the letters in own name

Since it was a toasty "feels like 6" outside and there was still a bit of snow on the ground, we headed to the commons for large motor time!

To wrap up morning meeting, we each took a turn voting on a name for our snowman (hanging on the closet door).  The two names we voted on are Fluffy and Snowy.

After today's vote FLUFFY has the most.  We didn't even have to count.  We knew Fluffy had more since the line of stickers was taller!  Understanding more, less, and the same is an early math skill. Now we will work on making a name tag for our friend Fluffy!

Happy 4 1/2 Birthday Sophia!  Thank you for sharing your special day with us!

Today we continued the letter "P" and number "5"!  

We remembered start your letter "at the top" then big line down, little curve to write a "P" and little line down, little curve, and little line across to write a "5"! Then we came up with words that start with "P" and found "5's" around the room!

Anytime one of our friends thinks of a word that starts with "P" we can add it to our big letter.  Or, if at home, your child sees a small picture or item that starts with a "P", bring it in and he/she can glue it to our big letter!

Then we practiced writing "P" and "5" with our special handwriting without tears crayons (nice and short to reinforce proper grip)!

Time for small groups (centers)!

The snow outside arrived at just the right time!!!  We got to make "snow" for our sensory table today.  Each friend was given 1 1/2 cups of baking soda and a 1/4 cup of hair conditioner.  Then we got MESSY!!!  Mixing, squishing, smooshing, and squeezing until the conditioner was all mixed in.  Once finished, we dumped it into the sensory table so we can play with "snow" where it is nice and warm, and it won't melt!

With me, we made a different kind of "snow".  Each friend was given a blue sheet of paper and white strips of paper.  As I observed his/her scissor cutting skills, each friend cut the white paper however he/she choose.  Then, glued that white paper onto the blue paper, making...SNOW!

And...we had a few snowmen that needed help getting back in order from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest.  So, we gave a lending hand and did just that!  The ability to compare and order a small set of objects in order by size is an early math skill!

Finally we improved our sorting skills and strengthened the finger, wrist, and hand muscles.  We used tongs/tweezers to pick up pom pom balls and sort them by big, medium, and small into 3 different containers!

During Jesus Time today I read the book "Jesus Wakes the Little Girl" retelling the story of Jesus bringing Jairus' daughter back to life after being so sick.  Only a miracle He can perform!  Then, Zippy came, telling us all about going to work with his mom, at the hospital. There was a little girl that with medicines and machines was being healed.  We can be thankful to God for blessing us with doctors and nurses and with medicines and machines that can help us get better.  We will always remember that God is always with us and will never leave us!