Alaska Week- getting to know about our world

 

This week we are looking at the state of Alaska and talking and studying about the differences between Alaska and Michigan and the similarities between Alaska and Michigan.

The KDI for the week is diversity- Children understand that people and places have diverse characteristics, interests and abilities. We will look at the people and places in both Michigan and Alaska and discuss and experience the diversity found there.

Table Activities- Table activities this week include igloo building, Arctic habitat, dogsled craft, inukshuk exploration, coloring pages, ice fishing, totem pole building and an Alaska sensory bin.

Small Group Activities- We will make a polar bear painting, use chalk pastels to make Northern Lights, add an Alaska page to our journals, and make Tlingit paper piece art.

Large group Activities- Large group activities include blanket toss with a parachute, iceberg jumping, roll the die to move like an Alaskan animal and fan dancing.

Books of the Week- "Charlie and the Blanket Toss" by Tricia Brown, "Itchy Little Musk Ox" by Tricia Brown and "Alaska ABC Book" by Charlene Kreeger and Shannon Cartwright.

Bible Story- Our Bible Story this week is the story of the 10 lepers. In Biblical times, leprosy was a tragic sickness that affected people in all levels of society. Leprosy was contagious, so those afflicted had to move away from their families to leper colonies and were prevented from interacting with the rest of society. One day, 10 lepers call to Jesus from a long way off, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priest which is how they would be allowed to enter society again, when the priest announced that they were clean. As the lepers walked to the priest, they were cleansed. One, only one, of them turned around and went back to find Jesus. When he did, he fell at Jesus feet and thanked him! Jesus asked him, "Weren't there 10 cleansed? Where are the other 9?" Then he told him to rise and go, his faith had made him well!  

Just thank you, that's all that needs to be said. Thank you for being parents that support your kids and bring them to hear God's Word!

Thank you to our Mighty God who loves us!

Pictures from our short nursery rhyme week-

Flower tea!

Getting to know Nursery Rhymes

 

This week we are listening to nursery rhymes, listening for rhyming words and patterns and enjoying the new vocabulary they introduce to us!

The KDI for the week is vocabulary- Children understand and use a variety of words and phrases. Nursery rhymes provide us with vocabulary we don't usually use, like "water spout", "the clock struck one", or "fetch a pail of water". We're expanding our word knowledge and our language!

Table Activities- Table activities this week include decorating a twinkle star, catching the itsy, bitsy spider, a Hey diddle, diddle sensory bin and water play with our little teapots.

Small Group Activities- Small group activities include putting Humpty Dumpty back together and seeing what our drawings do when the rain, rain won't go away!

Large Group Activities- We'll be Jack be nimble and jump over our candlestick and act out other nursery rhymes.

Books of the Week- We'll read various nursery rhymes- some great rhymes in book form are by Jane Cabrera and Iza Trapani.

Bible Story- This week we will hear about how Jesus fed over 5000 people with just 5 small barley loaves and two dried fish. Jesus had been seeking some solitude because his cousin, John the Baptist, had been beheaded by Herod. Crowds of people still followed him and he had compassion on them and comforted them and healed them. When evening came, the people were too far from home to return to eat, so his disciples said to tell them to go and find food somewhere. Jesus gave them a faith strengthening reply- You find them something to eat! Some of the disciples balked and said that even with a years salary, they couldn't buy enough food for the crowd to have even a bite. One disciple found a young boy who had 2 fish and 5 small loaves. Jesus took the food, blessed it and began to distribute it. By the time everyone had eaten their fill, there were 12 baskets of food left over. The disciples were amazed! The people were astonished and wanted to make Jesus their "Bread King", they would never have to go hungry again!! Jesus did not come to give us bread for our physical bodies, but bread for our souls. He left them and went up into the mountains to pray in solitude.

    Two incredible things come to mind for me when I read this- the first is Jesus compassion even when he is going through an incredibly rough time. I know when I am stressed, my compassion is often in short supply- Lord help me be more like you in this way! 

     The other is when Jesus challenges us to have faith, he provides the faith we need! He challenged his disciples to feed the crowd, Jesus himself fed the crowd! Is that how the disciples thought the problem would be solved? Probably not! He can and does do more than all we ask or imagine!

Some pics from our Valentine week-