Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter! This week we are playing with symbols and traditions of Easter! For us Easter means Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! New life is ours in Christ Jesus our risen Lord!

No KDI this week!

Table Activities- This week we will decorate eggs and crosses, play with Easter slime, play in an Easter sensory bin, color Easter coloring pages, paint Easter dot paintings, sort some jelly beans and paint egg shaped paper.

Small Group- Our small group activities this week include a cross suncatcher, a cross necklace, adding "Jesus is Risen" coloring to our journal and making a hand Easter Lily.

Large Group- We will have an outside Easter egg hunt this week and play with sidewalk chalk to write some Easter messages in picture.

Books of the Week- "Sad News, Glad News" by Lois Rock and "The Easter Lily Parable" by Liz Curtis Higgs.

Bible Story- This week we hear the account of Jesus' Crucifixion. Even though it's hard to hear or understand for young children, we begin their understanding here. Jesus did nothing wrong, no sins he had to pay for. Jesus suffered and died for our sins and the sins of the entire world. It was hard and horrible, painful and humiliating. Jesus did all this because he loves us!

After Palm Sunday, Jesus remained in Jerusalem with his disciples, preaching at the temple, answering questions. On Thursday evening, Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover meal in a rented upper room. It was at this meal that Jesus revealed that someone would betray him and Judas Iscariot went to do what he had planned. Jesus washed his disciples feet before the meal and gave them a new commandment- Love one another. He also instituted the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. After this meal, Jesus and his disciples went into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed desperate for another way, but he submitted himself to God's will. In the garden, Judas came with guards and kissed Jesus on the cheek, which showed that that was the man who should be arrested. The guards arrested Jesus and the disciples fought back a bit, but ended up running away.

Jesus was taken to the high priest, Pilate and Herod over the night. He was beaten, whipped, mocked and eventually sentenced to death by crucifixion. 

On Friday morning, Jesus was to carry a portion of his cross to a hill outside the city of Jerusalem. He was too weak to do it. A man visiting Jerusalem named Simon of Cyrene, was forced to carry his cross for him. Once they reached the hill, Jesus was nailed by his hands and feet to the cross. He spent hours there, speaking only seven phrases. His first was "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing." This was spoken about the soldiers who nailed him to the cross. "This day you will be with me in paradise." This was spoken to the thief on the cross next to him. As they were being crucified, the thieves were mocking Jesus, but one repented and confessed his faith. "Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother!" Even as Jesus was dying on the cross, he made sure his mother. Mary, would be taken care of by his disciple John. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In the darkness that covered the earth, Jesus was abandoned by his Father as he paid for all of our sins on the cross. "I thirst." To fulfill Scripture, Jesus asks for a drink of wine vinegar. "It is finished." He did it, He paid in full the punishment for all sins of all time! "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Back into the Father's hands to be taken care of and mark paid in full. Jesus died in the peace of knowing he had made peace between God and man.

What wondrous love is this, Oh my soul!

That's as far as we will be going, make sure to tell your child the rest of the story and celebrate it!!

Qq is for Quilt.

 

This week we are looking and listening for the letter Qq and playing with quilting. If each piece of fabric had a letter on it and we "sewed" them all together, what wonderful word would it say? We are going to start looking at putting together letters to make words.

Our KDI of the week is phonological awareness- Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. We are going to take this a step further and link the letter that goes with that sound to it.

Table Activities- This week our table activities include sewing plastic canvas, "quilting" letters together to make words, quilt coloring pages, shapes to glue to quilt, pattern block letters, fabric on sticky paper, cutting and gluing fabric scraps and letters.

Small Group- This week we will glue together a quilt, quilt our name, add Qq is for quilt to our journal and make fabric words to sound out.

Large Group- We will do a little tumbling on quilts on our mats and play with the parachute.

Books of the Week- "The Quilt" by Ann Jonas, "llama llama home with mama" by Anna Dewdney and "Luka's Quilt" by Georgia Guback are our stories this week.

Bible Story- Easter is quickly coming, so we are going to begin Holy Week in our story this week. Jesus knew that he would be entering Jerusalem for the final time. He had something special in mind that would fulfill prophesies and begin His last week as it should begin. As Jesus and his disciples were walking toward Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, he told some of them to go to a certain house and retrieve a donkey's colt. If the people of the house asked, they were simply to say, "My Lord has need of it." They brought the donkey to Jesus and he sat on it. Crowds from the festival and crowds who were following Jesus because he raised Lazarus from the dead began to shout. "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna to the Son of David!" They waved palm branches and places cloaks on the ground for the donkey to step on. The people cheered Jesus into the city, the leaders of the people, not so much. They complained to Jesus to keep his followers quiet. He told them if they were quiet, the rocks would cry out. 

Jesus is the promised Messiah who enters Jerusalem on a donkey to bring peace between God and mankind. The only way that peace is achieved is through his suffering and death on the cross. God showed he accepted that sacrifice through Jesus resurrection! Take some time this week to share the story with your children. The last two years we have made resurrection eggs in class. We won't be doing it this year, but you can make them at home with just a dozen plastic eggs and some small props. Here is a link to a set I have used before- https://www.faithward.org/diy-resurrection-eggs-for-holy-week/

Have a wonderful week!

Uu is for underneath

 

This week we are looking and listening for the letter Uu and exploring underneath things- under the ground, underneath tables and chairs, underneath cups, underneath cards or game pieces. 

Our KDI for this week is communicating ideas- children communicate their ideas about the characteristics of things and how they work. We will be working on describing where things are and what their purpose is there. What do roots do underneath the ground? How do you describe what goes on underneath the ground or water? Building vocabulary helps to build the ability to communicate!

Table Activities- We will have the opportunity to draw underneath tables and chairs, make an underground world in a box with tubes, look under cups and cards for memory, worm playdough, underground pictures to color, put things under the flaps of an envelope, and underwater play.

Small Group- We will all draw underneath a chair, see what is underneath a plant and replant it, add Uu is for underneath to our journal and see what happens when we plant a seed underneath the ground.

Large Group- We plan to go underneath London Bridge, and see what is underneath the soil and mulch and items on our playground.

Books of the Week- "Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stevens, "Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt" by Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal and "underground" by Denise Fleming.

Bible Story- For the last 6 weeks or so, we have been concentrating on accounts of Jesus' miracles. Jesus miracles show the power he has as God and also show the love and compassion He has for us poor sinners. Jesus never once performed a miracle to draw attention to himself, in fact, he often told the recipients of the miracles not to tell anyone else. Contrary to many of the television preachers who invite people up on stage to make a show out of their healing, Jesus healed out of compassion and love, not ego.

Now we are going to listen to some of the accounts of Jesus' parables. Parables are a special way that Jesus taught- earthly stories with a heavenly meaning. Sometimes the characters represented God or the prophets or Jesus himself. Other times they represent how God feels about us or how he wants us to show our love to others. 

This week we see in the parable how Jesus wants us to show love to those around us, particularly our enemies. He was also answering a question from a Jewish leader who wanted to trap Him in His teachings. The leader asked, "What must I do to gain eternal life?" Jesus asked him what the commandments said. The teacher summarized, love God, love your neighbor. Jesus said he was correct, if he did that perfectly, he would gain eternal life. The leader wanted a clarification or a way of getting out of something he didn't want to fulfill in the law. He asked, "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus answered with this parable. A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stole all his goods and most of his clothing and beat him up. They left him lying by the side of the road half dead. 

A priest passed by and when he saw the man, he passed to the other side of the road. The same too when a Levite or temple worker passed by. Then a Samaritan passed, he stopped, took pity on the man, cleaned him up, bandaged him and put him on his donkey and brought him to an inn. He got a room for the man and took care of him. When he had to continue on his journey, he gave the innkeeper extra money for the man's care and even said he'd check back on his way home to see if he owed anymore. 

Who was the man's neighbor? Clearly, the one who had mercy on him. Jesus instructed him to go and do likewise. As should we. It's hard, sometimes dangerous. If robbers had attacked the man, they were surely around when the Samaritan helped him, he could have gotten robbed himself. He still helped. I know that I use that excuse sometimes, it's too dangerous, too inconvenient, I don't have the time. 

Lord help me to stop and help those in need, just as you sacrificed yourself to help me. Forgive me for the many, many times that I fail. Amen.

Some pictures from our Instrument Petting Zoo on Wednesday, Career Day and Pajama Day-