Wednesday, January 17, 2024

  Thank you for checking out our Wednesday in preschool!

A few quick reminders...

2024/25 Enrollment for ELP, Preschool, and Kindergarten...opened today, Monday, January 8th for current families and Zion congregation members. You should have received links for enrollment and to review information. Enrollment opens to the community beginning February 1. We encourage families registering for our Early Childhood Programs to register early in order to reserve your preferred days. (Please complete enrollment before February 1 to secure your spot for the upcoming year)

National Lutheran Schools Week will be celebrated January 22 - 26. Part of NLSW fun every year is getting to have dress up days! So, continuing that tradition, check out what’s in store for 2024…

• Monday, 1/22 - PJ Day...Wear pajama/sweats; may wear slippers (bring change of shoes for outside)!
• Tuesday, 1/23 - College/Sports Day…Dress in your favorite college or team apparel.
• Wednesday, 1/24 - Ultimate Spirit Day…Go all out and show some Bobcat Spirit. Wear your LOUDEST Zion outfit.
• Thursday, 1/25 - USA Day…Wear all of your red, white, and blue.
• Friday, 1/26 - Letter Day…Dress up like anything that begins with the first letter of your name.

Valentines to give to Friends...Our class will have our valentine parties on Tuesday, February 13 and Wednesday, February 14. Prior to the parties, each child will be making a valentine bag, at school.  Please have your child prepare 21 valentines at home (1 for each child in the class) and bring them on 2/13 or 2/14.  See email sent on Friday, 1/12 with additional details and tips!

Here we go...

We had a different check-in this morning. Each friend decided how he/she was feeling today (happy, sad, angry, scared, tired, or excited).  Then wrote his/her name in the correct column!

With everyone checked in, we used our early math skills to see that "happy" had the most with 6 friends, while "sad" and "scared" had the least with 0 friends!

To finish up morning meeting, I had 7 items from around the classroom.  After identifying each item, we locked them in our brains.  I covered the items with a towel and removed 2.  Our job was to recognize and recall what was missing!  There was no fooling us...we figured it out every time.

We enjoyed chapel led by Mrs. Oswald! She was excited to read us a story reminding us that we are in the season of Epiphany...and we too can remember to follow the star to Jesus!

Cold temps required us to be inside for large motor time...so we danced it up with another preschool class! It's so hard to dance and then freeze for soooo long!

Last week we read "Who Sank the Boat?", discovering that when the mouse got in, the boat sank. Today we searched for pictures of different kinds of boats on the smart board. We noticed there were some things that were the same, but each boat actually looked quite different.  

A fishing boat...

Speedboat...

Pirate Ship...

Rescue boat...

Police boat...

Our favorite...the cruise ship...

After exploring each boat, each friend drew a picture of the boat they would like to make (next week) out of aluminum foil.

Time for small groups (centers)!

With Mrs. Mudd, we completed another observational drawing of the same tree that we did earlier in the year.  Each friend looked to see what was different about the tree since last time. Then, they drew the tree again, realizing they didn't need much color, since the tree and grass were mostly gray and brown (and there was snow on the ground)!

When it's frozen outside, what could be better than a "Frozen" dance party! We LOVED dancing and singing along with Elsa, Anna, and Olaf!

With Mrs. Fahey we improved number recognition and counting objects while we placed snowballs (marshmallows) in egg cartons!  On the bottom of each space on the egg carton was a number.  Each friend had to put that number of "snowballs" into that space of the egg carton.  Early math skills at work!

 We improved hand-eye coordination and patterning skills as we made towers, in a pattern, with cubes!  Success for some was copying a pattern already made.  Success for others was finishing a pattern already started.  While success for some was starting and completing a pattern on his/her own!

And...hooray for large motor time in the gym!!!

That's a wrap for today, folks!