March 2-6

 Hello

I can hardly believe we are almost in March!! The time just goes by so very quickly! 

Before I forget to tell you, I will not be here the week of March 16-20. Months before I accepted this job, I had planned to be gone that week.  It is not an event I can change, unfortunately. But the good news is that Mrs. Schneck will be the teacher that week, along with Mrs. Seibert. So the children that had Mrs. Schneck as a teacher last year will be able to enjoy her for an entire week. I know Mrs. Schneck is excited to see the children again.

Last week we learned the Bible story about the Ten Leppers. (We learned that we don't need to worry about that sickness anymore because God has allowed us to find a medicine that can get rid of that.) Ten men were sick with leprosy, and they asked Jesus to cure them. Out of love, Jesus did cure them. One of the men went back to thank Jesus for making him better.  We want to remember to thank Jesus for all He gives us, too. Jesus gives us things like money so we can buy food and clothes and toys and houses and cars. The list is really endless. Thank you, Jesus, for all you give us simply because you love us! We also learned about the letter "q" who has a best friend named "u." Q and U are always together! We also started to learn to say the months of the year in Spanish. That is definitely a much longer list! I'm amazed at how well they are doing already! We have done more work with AB patterns. They pretty much have that down now, so next week we will try an AABB pattern. Depending on how well that goes, we might even try and ABC pattern. Finally, our song last week was "Shaker on My Head" by Shawny Kids Music. They all seemed to really like that song. 

This coming week we will be learning about the letter "u," patterns and shapes. It will also be ZLS week. That means that each day the children will be asked to dress in a certain way to show their school spirit. Monday is pajama day. Tuesday is dress like your favorite celebrity. Wednesday is anything BUT a backpack or water bottle. (Perhaps a suitcase or a grocery back instead of a backpack, and a non breakable glass instead of a water bottle.) Thursday is green and white day. Now we don't have school on Friday, of course, but I was thinking if you wanted to you could combine the 2 days together. Friday is crazy hair day,

Thank you so much for your help with our Pennies for Patients drive. You are doing a good  job! It is so heartwarming so see that (you and) the children care for others in need. St. Jude's Hospital does some really wonderful things, to say the least.

Finally, if you have any art or craft projects you would like your child to enter in our Art Fair, please be sure to send those in this week, as the Art Fair is Sunday, March 8th. This coming week is your last chance to get those in. This is not mandatory, and we actually entered all the art the kids did this week. So that means your child will already have one project entered. :)

May God grant you a thankful heart for all He has done for us.

February 23-27 letter "q"

 Hola!

I am so sorry I forgot to post a blog last week! That's what happens to me when I've got a vacation coming up: I get so excited I forget important things. Thankfully, it ended up being a very short week, so it wasn't a tragedy. I hope.

 This week we will be learning about the letter "q." We will also continue to learn about AB patterning. The children are starting to understand this concept, but we still need a bit more practice. Our new song for the week is "Shaker on My Head" by Shawny Kids Music. That song involves egg shakers. We really enjoyed our last song using egg shakers, so I thought we would do another one. We will also be looking at "The Letter Q Song" by ABC Mouse. Starting this week, we will also be looking at more poems and rhyming words. (I once learned at a conference that if a child can't rhyme, it is much more difficult for them to learn to read. I have found this to be a generally true statement. They CAN learn to read, it is just harder and seems to take more effort.) We will be talking about rhyming for the rest of the school year.

This week we will be going to the Mobile Library again. In connection with that, we have been informed that the book entitled "You Can Be a Teacher" by Bria Lymon has not been returned to the Mobile Library. It was taken out about 4 weeks ago. If you could check your house to see if your child accidentally took that book home, we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much for your help!

The Art Fair is coming up the beginning of next month. Mrs. Sordahl let me know that the Preschool children can enter up to 3 arts or crafts things. This is not a mandatory thing, but your child is more than welcome to enter something. If your child would like to draw something, we just ask that they NOT draw it on lined paper. It should be drawn on a piece of plain white paper. Your child could also paint something. (Did you know that YOU can enter something in the Art Fair also?!) They will be judged if that adds more incentive. Just have those things handed in to me by the 1st week in March, please. If you have any questions, I will try to help you out. :)

May God bless you richly!

V is for…

V is for our friend Victor and Valentine’s Day! 

Happy Valentine’s Day pre-k fam!! We had a busy, but fun week! We got more puzzle practice in, got lots of outside play, decorated our Valentine’s bags, had a Valentine’s Day party, and learned about chemical reactions. 

In our Bible story this week we heard the parable about the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. 

One day, a man who knew a lot about God’s law asked Jesus a question. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.”Jesus told him, “You are right. Do this and you will live.” But the man wanted to know more. So he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

So Jesus told a parable.

A man was traveling down a road. Robbers attacked him. They hurt him, took his clothes, and left him on the road, half dead. A priest walked by and saw the hurt man, but he walked past him. Then a Levite walked by. He also saw the hurt man, but he walked past him too. Then a Samaritan man came by. Samaritans and Jews did not like each other, but when the Samaritan saw the hurt man, he felt compassion. He felt very sorry for him and wanted to help. The Samaritan cleaned the man’s wounds and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn. At the inn, the Samaritan took care of him. The next day, he gave money to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more money, I will pay you back when I come again.’

Then Jesus asked, “Which man was a neighbor to the hurt man?” The man of the law said, “The one who showed mercy and helped him.” Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

For every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction, even in chemical reactions like propulsion created by the release of carbon dioxide from the combination of sodium bicarbonate and vinegar. Ok, I did not get that scientific when it came to explaining our apple volcanoes this week, but we did learn that science is pretty cool, and we all usually have these things at home on a regular basis. This is an easy peasy experiment to recreate if you’d like to do this at home. I hollowed out an apple (you can also use a potato) and filled it with baking soda. Then I combined vinegar, red dye, and a few drops of dawn dish soap and shook it up. Next grab a pipette and squeeze your solution into the apple and watch the fun begin!

A few reminders-

•We have NO SCHOOL on Monday and Tuesday due to a pastor/teacher conference. 

•Zion’s skate party at Dixie Skateland next Monday will be from 6-8. Bring your own skates or rent them there for $3. It’s gonna be so much fun! 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Thank you for all the love you show Mrs. Dorow and I. Have a blessed weekend. Here are our pictures from 02/09-02/12.