Polar Express Is Coming
Friday, we will be taking a "trip" on the Polar Express. If Friday is not your normal attending school day please join us for fun at the Webster Campus at 10:00 am.
Advent
Advent is from the Latin word adventus and means coming, the coming of our Lord!
In preschool we talk about how Advent is a time to prepare, get ready for Jesus' birth, and learn about waiting and patience.
One morning during Jesus time, we talked about the many things we do to prepare for our day. We compared this short time to what Mary did to prepare for the coming of Jesus.
We also learned about Zechariah and Elizabeth, even though they were very old, they waited and prayed for a child.
An angel appeared to Zechariah proclaiming that he would have a son. Not believing what the angel said, he would not be able to speak until his son, John, was born.
Kinetic Sand
We had lots of fun molding and shaping. The send sticks together, but it's easy to shape. Gets the creative minds going!
"Look I can make Mickey Mouse!"
Christmas Collages
We used strips of paper to create colorful Christmas designs. This process worked on the the fine motor skills of cutting and pasting. Plus we learn patience, because it takes a while to make the paper stand up to make a ramp.
100 Piece Puzzles
The class has been working on a lot of puzzles. Here they completed a very difficult 100 piece, I SPY puzzle.
There are a lot of benefits for children attempting and completing puzzles.
*Increases their visual spacial awareness,
*Sets a single goal to achieve, problem solving,
*Develop and refine their fine motor skills,
*Puzzles requires a trial and error process which involves a lot of hand and eye manipulation
*Enhance and promote cooperative play
Writing December Words
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| Sticky Paper Window Decorations |
Alphabet Stampers
Finding letters in their own name and others.
Triangle Class Christmas Tree
Each child in our class created their own triangle design to put with the others to create a large Christmas tree to display in the hallway.
Sharing Joy!
We created new Christmas cards and projects of out stickers, old Christmas cards, ribbon, scraps, tape, pretty much anything they could find. It is such a joy to see their creative minds work.
No one ever said that creating is a tidy process. 
Tying a Wreath
Our class starting working on their tying skills by learning how to tie a simple knot.
Dry erase tracing upper and lower case letters
The students are working on letter recognition.
Block Play
Below is an excerpt from an article by Nancy P. Alexander, titled "All About Block Play". It expresses the educational importance of block/building play. One thing that I find most important that children are learning is the importance of working together to accomplish a goal. This skill will take them far in life.
Dear Parents:
Children learn many things from the special blocks in our classroom. The blocks are called Unit Blocks because they are designed to be proportional in size to help children learn math and other skills. Some of the math skills they learn are counting, comparison of length and width, names of shapes, and how to combine some geometric shapes to make other shapes. They are even learning the basics of addition when they discover that two short blocks will be the same length as the next size block.
Children learn science when they experience gravity as their constructions fall, and they learn the use of simple machines such as ramps through their building. They learn language skills and vocabulary as they talk about what they are creating and discuss their experiences that they are representing with the blocks. Children develop an understanding of geography as they create maps with the blocks. They acquire an understanding of sequence, an important reading skill, as they retell their experiences with the blocks. Children learn to write as they make signs and as I help them write stories about what they are building.
Children learn to cooperate and share when they work together with the blocks. They develop problem-solving skills and learn good work habits since they are responsible for picking up when they finish.
While your children will tell you they are playing, they are actually learning math, science, and literacy using the blocks. Please visit and see for yourself!
Sincerely,
Your child’s teacher
New Month: DECEMBER
Using our counting and sorting skills the class found out that "E" is the letter that is most of our names.
The Legend of the Candy Cane
During this Advent Season we are learning about some of the traditions we celebrate. Painting with red peppermint paint, the children painted red stripes that remind us that Jesus died on the cross for all our sins. The white reminds us that Jesus washes our sins away. This week, we will finish our candy cane projects with the rest of story.
Mission Project Box
Our class has already brought in some gifts for our Christmas Mission Project. They were very excited to decorate the box we will deliver to Mrs. Heidi at St. Trinity. We will be collecting new and gently used toys and gift cards through Thursday.
Amani Children's Choir from Uganda
On Friday, our class was able to attend the concert by Amani Children's Choir from Uganda. They were amazed by all the dancing and singing at the same time. After the concert, they were able to dance with some of the girls and try out their instruments.
This a short video from the concert.
Here is a short video of the class checking out the instruments. I apologize about crazy the ending.
Blessings on your week!
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