Pp is for pumpkin

 

This week we celebrate the upcoming holiday with Pp is for pumpkin.

Our KDI for the week is Emotions-Children recognize, label and regulate their feelings. Using jack o lantern faces to practice with, we give names to our emotions with nuance, not just happy or sad. We also practice changing our faces to fit different feelings.

Table Activities- This week table activities include pumpkin slime, creating a jack o lantern, pumpkin puzzles, a pumpkin sensory bin, making a bead pumpkin, pumpkin playdoh, pounding golf tees into a pumpkin and Halloween clay mats.

Small Group- Our small group activities this week include using our senses to explore pumpkins, painting our own pumpkin, adding "Pp is for pumpkin" to our journal and trick or treating to the other classroom door with masks on. We plan to trick or treat on Thursday, just so you know. I won't say too much about it in class if you are a 3 day person and can't come on Thursday- you are always welcome to come if you are able! On Thursday, kids can also wear a costume if they wish.

Jesus Time- This week our story takes place when Moses is an old man. Moses was raised to adulthood in the palace of the Pharaoh, as an adopted prince of Egypt. He knew his heritage as an Israelite and when he once saw how the slave masters treated the Israelites, he grabbed two of them, killed them and buried them. Others saw what he did and he ran away from Egypt. He ended up settling in a wilderness area called Midian. There he married a Midianite woman named Zipporah, whose father, Jethro, was a believer and a priest. Moses became a shepherd. One day while Moses was out watching the flocks, a bush appeared to be on fire without burning up. Moses approached the bush and God called out to him. Moses was terrified!! God told him that he had been chosen to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of slavery. Moses came up with many excuses why it should not be him. Finally, he agreed to go with his brother Aaron as his spokesman. Moses approached Pharaoh and asked him to let the Israelites go. Pharaoh laughed at him and said "NO!" Moses showed his several miracles to show the power of the one true God, but Pharaoh's wisemen could replicate them, so he would not give in to Moses. Moses warned him that plagues were on their way to make Pharaoh change his mind, but Pharaoh would not listen. God then sent 10 plagues, each attacking the pagan gods of the Egyptians in some way- the first plague was turning all water into blood. When Pharaoh asked Moses to have his God turn it back and he would let the Israelites go. Moses prayed, the water returned and Pharaoh changed his mind. This is the pattern that was set for the next eight plagues which consist of frogs everywhere, lice or gnats, flies, sickness of livestock, boils, hail, locust and darkness. During each plague, Pharaoh promises to release the Israelites when the plague is taken away and each time he goes back on the promise. Finally the last plague comes, this is the worst of them all. Each household will loose it's firstborn's life. The Israelites are instructed to dress for traveling, make bread without yeast, kill a young lamb and take its blood and paint it over the top of and down the sides of the doorway, that way the angel of death will Passover their home. After this plague, the Pharaoh commands the Israelites to leave. As they walk out of Egypt, thousands of them, with goods and livestock also, Pharaoh once again changes his mind. He leads his army against them and the Israelites are trapped between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea. God miraculously opens a way for the Israelites to walk on dry land through the Red Sea. As soon as the Israelites are safely on the other side and the Egyptians start to follow, God allows the sea to come crashing back down, drowning the army that would have slaughtered the Israelites. It's a lot of story, we'll see how much the little ones understand. God fights our battles for us to free us from the slavery of sin! He sent us our Savior in Jesus, who stood up to the devil and won our freedom by sacrificing His own innocent life, and stands resurrected!

Large Group- This week we plan to do pumpkin tossing, bowling, a Halloween obstacle course and playing with pumpkins outside.

Books of the Week- "Pumpkinheads" by Wendell Minor, "Too Many Pumpkins" by Linda White and "Pumpkins! Pumpkins!" by Jeanne Titherington.

Almost everyone has signed up for a Parent/Teacher conference, Thank you!! If you still need to sign up, here's the link Parent Teacher Conference!

And we made it through 1st quarter!! We will still spend as much time as possible outside, so send warm clothing and boots if necessary! 

Have a pumpkin-tastic week!!

Rr is for reptiles!

 

This week we are listening for the sound of the letter Rr and learning about reptiles!

Our KDI of the week is classifying- children classify materials, actions, people and events. We will be putting that into practice as we learn what traits make a reptile and classify animals as reptiles or not reptiles.

Table Activities- Our table activities for the week include a bubbling alligator swamp, making reptiles out of pattern blocks, making bead snakes, coloring reptile pictures, playing with slimy snakes, reptiles in playdoh, playing with reptiles in their biomes (environments in which they live) and a snake matching game.

Small Group- We will put our scissors skills to use in decorating and cutting a paper plate snake, exploring reptiles by looking at snake skin, turtle shells, a replica of a reptile egg and visiting with a real reptile, Norbert the bearded dragon (6-8 grade class pet), adding an Rr is for reptile page to our journal and making a mosaic turtle shell.

Jesus Time- This week we jump ahead in history. The descendants of Jacob or Israel are still living in Egypt, but the ruling Pharaoh is not familiar with the story of Joseph and how he saved Egypt from starvation. The Israelite people, as they are called, have become numerous and they are healthy and strong. They have always kept their traditions and religion separate from the Egyptians. The Pharaoh begins to worry that if an enemy fights against Egypt and the Israelites take the enemy's side, Egypt could be decimated. He decides to persecute the Israelites. He make them slaves of Egypt. He gives them the task of building bricks. They are worked hard, given little and they still are a strong people. Then he comes up with the wicked plan of trying to keep the Israelites down by instructing the Egyptian midwives to drown any boy babies that the Israelites have. He thinks this will weaken them and break them down. A woman named Jochebed becomes pregnant and she keeps her pregnancy a secret. When she gives birth, she only has Israelite midwives attend her. She gives birth to a baby boy and she hides him. When he is about 3 months old, he is getting too difficult to hide, so she makes a basket, coats it with tar and makes it waterproof. She then sends her older daughter, Miriam, to watch as she places the baby and basket in the water of the Nile River. The boat basket floats downstream to where the Pharaoh's daughter and her maids are bathing. The princess hears the baby crying and tells her maid to fetch the basket. She instantly wants to keep the baby. Miriam appears and asks her if she needs to have a nurse help her care for the baby. When the princess says yes, she runs and gets her mother. The Egyptian princess names the baby Moses, which means "drawn out of the water". Moses' own mother gets to care for him for the first five years of his life. She makes Moses aware of who he is and tells him the stories of God's deliverance and that he is part of God's chosen people through Abraham. At the age of five, Moses goes and lives in the palace with the Egyptian princess as his mother and learns about Egypt, it's beliefs and government. God is preparing him for the role he will ask him to take on many years from now. God has us in his hands, even when seemingly awful things are happening around us, he's got a plan. Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Those who know the Lord as Savior can be comforted to know that God's got a plan for you!!

Large Group- This week in large group we will practice some reptilian movements, find reptiles hidden on the playground, make a pool noodle snake and observe Norbert.

Books of the Week- "Verdi" by Janell Cannon, and "Reptiles and Amphibian" by Roger Priddy.

Remember to sign up for Parent Teacher conferences at this link Parent Teacher Conference

This conference will be just checking up on the transition to the new year, any concerns I or Mrs. Fager may have and any concerns you may have. We will have another conference in February and that conference will have results of some informal assessments- just seeing where they are as far as number and letter recognition, math concepts, independence and kindergarten readiness for those getting ready to move on from preschool. If none of the available times work for you, let me know and we can set something else up. We will be meeting in the preschool classroom, so you can park in the front and come in the same door you drop your kiddos off at! 

Also remember that tomorrow, Monday, October 19, is picture day. There is no cost. You will receive a digital copy of the photo and then you can take that and order pictures wherever you would like! Thanks to Mrs. Sordahl, our kindergarten teacher, for doing this. We decided to go this route this year for a couple reasons, COVID was one, also the cost that Lifetouch charges for photos is pretty high and last year, we had to have them reprinted several times as they came to us spotty and not well done. Hopefully, this works out for us better!

Have a great week!

Pictures from our short camping week

 

We love to find out!

 

This week we are experimenting! The morning class always is interested in just about everything! So this week to fit our KDI Initiative, we are becoming scientists! Initiative means- Children demonstrate initiative as they explore their world. Through showing interest in this topic, they made their own way to play! To feel like scientists, each preschooler gets a lab coat and their own pair of safety glasses to keep!

Table Activities- Table activities this week include a lot of experimenting- What is magnetic? Can oil and water mix? What happens when we mix vinegar and baking soda? How can food coloring run away from dish soap? What is surface tension in water? Why do Orbeez swell in water? What is Oobleck? How does plain water, sugar water, salt water, warm water and cold water react to food coloring?

Jesus Time- This week we see Joseph turn into a bit of a superhero himself. Last time we met Joseph he had been sold by his brothers to traders who were on their way to Egypt. When they arrived, Joseph was sold as a slave to a man named Potiphar. Joseph was the best slave Potiphar had. However, Potiphar's wife did not treat Joseph well and he ended up in jail. While he was in jail, he was a model prisoner. Joseph never forgot that God was with him wherever he was. God had given him the ability to tell the meaning of dreams. Pharaoh had two servants who were in jail at the same time as Joseph and they had some strange dreams. Pharaoh's baker dreamt that he was carrying a basket of bread on his head and birds came and ate everything. Unfortunately, this dream meant that the baker would be put to death. Pharaoh's wine taster was also in prison. He dreamt that he picked some grapes, squeezed the juice into a cup, gave the cup to Pharaoh to drink and Pharaoh drank it all. Joseph told the wine taster he would be released from prison soon. He asked the wine taster to remember him when he was released and tell Pharaoh that he was unjustly imprisoned. The wine taster forgot all about Joseph until Pharaoh himself had some crazy dreams. The wine taster told Pharaoh about Joseph. Joseph was brought from prison and Pharaoh asked Joseph to tell him his dreams and tell him what they meant. Joseph made it clear that this ability was from God, not from himself. Joseph told the Pharaoh about his strange dreams. One was that he saw 7 fat cows eating grass next to the Nile River and 7 skinny cows came up out of the Nile and ate the 7 fat cows, but they didn't get any fatter. The next dream was that Pharaoh saw 7 fat heads of grain and 7 skinny heads of grain ate the 7 fat ones, but did not get any fatter. Joseph told Pharaoh that the dreams meant that Egypt was heading for 7 years of plenty, record harvests, lots of food. But then, 7 years of famine were coming, no rain, no crops, no food. Joseph suggested to Pharaoh that he should put someone in charge of collecting the excess crops into huge storehouses, so there would food stored up for the time of famine. Pharaoh was so impressed that right then and there, he gave Joseph his ring, chains of gold and a new robe and put him in charge of Egypt, under him, of course! Soon Joseph's dreams of his youth would come true. During the 7 years of famine, his brothers came to Egypt for food. Famine had hit their home hard. They bowed down to Joseph without even realizing it was him. When they came the second time for food, Joseph revealed himself to them. They were afraid he would take revenge, but he didn't. He knew that God had made everything work out for their good! Sometimes we might feel like Joseph, especially in today's world, but if Joseph stayed faithful and went from the prison to the palace, God will take us under his care and work things out for our good too!!

Small Group- This week we tackle the scientific method at preschool level in sink or float experiments, make tensile bubbles, make a lava lamp type liquid movement and add our observations to our journal.

Large Group- We will pound chlorophyll out of a leaf, experience centrifugal and centripetal force, transfer of energy through bouncing balls and feeling our own heart beating after exercise. 

Books of the Week- "Ada Twist, Scientist" by Andrea Beaty and "What is a Scientist?" by Barbara Lehn.

Wear your school t-shirt on Tuesday for an all school picture outside!

Book orders due Saturday, October 17th. Have a great week experimenting!

We Love Superheroes!

 

The afternoon class has been very into superheroes lately, so we are going to spend this week exploring that theme. Our KDI for the week is Initiative- Children demonstrate initiative as they explore their world. Through showing interest in this topic, they made their own way to play!

Table Activities- This week we explore a super hero sensory bin, play with Hulk Slime, figure out mix and match superhero puzzles, color superhero coloring pages, make popsicle stick superheroes, decorate our "bullet proof" wrist bands, add and sculpt on super hero clay mats and design our own shield frisbee.

Jesus Time- This week we see Joseph turn into a bit of a superhero himself. Last time we met Joseph he had been sold by his brothers to traders who were on their way to Egypt. When they arrived, Joseph was sold as a slave to a man named Potiphar. Joseph was the best slave Potiphar had. However, Potiphar's wife did not treat Joseph well and he ended up in jail. While he was in jail, he was a model prisoner. Joseph never forgot that God was with him wherever he was. God had given him the ability to tell the meaning of dreams. Pharaoh had two servants who were in jail at the same time as Joseph and they had some strange dreams. Pharaoh's baker dreamt that he was carrying a basket of bread on his head and birds came and ate everything. Unfortunately, this dream meant that the baker would be put to death. Pharaoh's wine taster was also in prison. He dreamt that he picked some grapes, squeezed the juice into a cup, gave the cup to Pharaoh to drink and Pharaoh drank it all. Joseph told the wine taster he would be released from prison soon. He asked the wine taster to remember him when he was released and tell Pharaoh that he was unjustly imprisoned. The wine taster forgot all about Joseph until Pharaoh himself had some crazy dreams. The wine taster told Pharaoh about Joseph. Joseph was brought from prison and Pharaoh asked Joseph to tell him his dreams and tell him what they meant. Joseph made it clear that this ability was from God, not from himself. Joseph told the Pharaoh about his strange dreams. One was that he saw 7 fat cows eating grass next to the Nile River and 7 skinny cows came up out of the Nile and ate the 7 fat cows, but they didn't get any fatter. The next dream was that Pharaoh saw 7 fat heads of grain and 7 skinny heads of grain ate the 7 fat ones, but did not get any fatter. Joseph told Pharaoh that the dreams meant that Egypt was heading for 7 years of plenty, record harvests, lots of food. But then, 7 years of famine were coming, no rain, no crops, no food. Joseph suggested to Pharaoh that he should put someone in charge of collecting the excess crops into huge storehouses, so there would food stored up for the time of famine. Pharaoh was so impressed that right then and there, he gave Joseph his ring, chains of gold and a new robe and put him in charge of Egypt, under him, of course! Soon Joseph's dreams of his youth would come true. During the 7 years of famine, his brothers came to Egypt for food. Famine had hit their home hard. They bowed down to Joseph without even realizing it was him. When they came the second time for food, Joseph revealed himself to them. They were afraid he would take revenge, but he didn't. He knew that God had made everything work out for their good! Sometimes we might feel like Joseph, especially in today's world, but if Joseph stayed faithful and went from the prison to the palace, God will take us under his care and work things out for our good too!!

Small Group- This week we are making masks and capes, creating a super hero scene with ourselves as super heroes and adding a super hero page to our journal.

Large Group- We will be taking some super hero brain breaks, overcoming a super obstacle course, trying to guess the super hero and going for some super runs, skips, hops and jumps.

Books of the Week- "Even Superheroes Have Bad Days" by Shelly Becker and "Be a Star, Wonder Woman" by Michael Dahl.

Wear your school t-shirt on Tuesday!! Book orders due on Saturday, October 17th. 

Have a super week!

Cc is for camping.

 

This week we are pretending to camp and listening to the hard sound of Cc. We will talk about Cc's soft sound too!

We have just two days to campout this week- school on Monday, October 5 and Tuesday, October 6. No school Wednesday, October 7 and Thursday, October 8. Have a wonderful long weekend!!

Table Activities- This week we can make a pretend campfire by ripping brown construction paper logs and orange, red and yellow tissue paper fire, pretend camp with camping gear, play with a little world camping scene, color camping coloring pages and playing with "outdoor" themed playdoh.

Jesus Time- This week we hear the story of Jacob's son, Joseph. Joseph was Jacob's favorite son and he was treated as a special favorite. He was given a beautiful, multi-colored coat, which denoted him as the boss. That was a problem because he had 10 older brothers who did not like being bossed around. Joseph had some interesting dreams that he shared with his family where it seemed as if everyone else would be bowing down to him. The brothers grew more and more jealous. Their jealousy lead to them plotting to kill Joseph and at the last minute they were talked into selling him to some traders who would take Joseph as a slave to Egypt. The brothers didn't tell their father what they had done. They lied to him, killed one of the goats that they were tending, dipped Joseph's multi-colored coat in the blood, ripped it up and told their father the story that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal and all they found was his coat. Their father, Jacob, mourned Joseph for a very long time. Even though Joseph was sold into slavery, he continued to trust in God and follow God's will for his life. Joseph did not let his circumstances give him an excuse to sin, but looked for ways to share his faith with others, especially through his actions and attitudes. God was with him always! Joseph firmly believed that. God is with us always too, even in these crazy, chaotic times, God promises us he will never leave us or forsake us!

Small Group- This week we are making a little lantern we can take camping with us and a triangle shaped popsicle stick tent.

Large Group- Fun in the tents is our large group this week.

Books of the Week- "Monster and Mouse Go Camping" by Deborah Underwood and "Pig Pig Goes to Camp" by David McPhail.

Here are some photos of our fun with tools last week-