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-

Vv is for Valentines.

 

This week we are going to celebrate Valentine's Day! We are also looking and listening for the letter Vv.

Our KDI of the week is Building Relationships-Children build relationships with other children and adults. This is something we work on every week, but will put special emphasis on this week. We will work on recognizing our classmates' names, hearing about relationship building in Valentine's books and continue to work on building relationships!

Table Activities- This week our table activities will include  decorating our Valentine bag, Valentine's slime, heart hole punching, Valentine playdough, a Valentine sensory bin, Valentine's coloring pages, heart cutting and tracing and drawing hearts.

Small Group Activities- This week we will have a Valentine's party and pass out Valentines, paint a giant heart, add Vv is for Valentine to our journal and do a Valentine experiment.

Large Group Activities-  This week we will play with some heart balloons, look for heart outside and play with some heart shaped bubble wands. 

Books of the Week-    "Click, Clack, Moo I Love You!" by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin, "Slugs in Love" by Susan Pearson.

Bible Story- This week we are hearing about Jesus raising Jairus' daughter from the dead. Jesus and his disciples had returned to the other side of the lake after the storm and healing others on that side. When they returned, there was a crowd of people waiting for them and an official from the local synagogue named Jairus came and begged Jesus to come with him. His little girl was very sick and he begged Jesus to come and lay his hands on her so that she would be healed and live. Jesus agreed to go with him, the crowd came along too. They passed through the city where a woman who was sick just touched the hem of Jesus robe was healed. Jesus stopped and turned and said, "Who touched me?" His disciples replied that everyone was trying to touch Jesus, the crowd was pressing in on them. Jesus had felt the power go out of him to heal her. She realized she had been healed and came and knelt before Jesus. He told her that her faith had healed her and to go in peace. Then he turned to continue to Jairus' house. Some messengers came from the house and told Jairus that his daughter had died and that he didn't need to trouble Jesus anymore. Jesus told Jairus to just believe. As they continued, Jesus took only John, James and Peter with him. When they arrived at the house, there were mourners loudly wailing and carrying on and Jesus asked what they were doing, the girl was not dead, he said, only sleeping. They made fun of Jesus and so he sent them out of the house. He then took Peter, James, John and the girl's parents into her room and he took the little girl's hand and said, " Little girl, get up!" and she immediately did!! She was about 12 years old. Jesus told her parents to get her something to eat and told them and his disciples not to tell anyone about what had happened. They were all amazed!! Jesus has power to heal, over wind and waves, over fish in the sea and even over death, but his most amazing power was over sin and the devil- he conquered them for us!! He was focused on the job he had ahead of him- to go to the cross and take our place. He wasn't out to be famous and show how powerful he was. It makes me contrast Jesus' attitude with many tele-evangelists of today- the big show, the big building, "Look what I can do!" send me money$$. I'm not saying that God's Word isn't there at times, but it's suspect. It's not making sure we are focused on the only one who saves, and that is Jesus!! Keep your eyes on Christ and put your faith in Him!

Didn't get any pictures this week, but wanted to share this cute dance party the afternoon class spontaneously had!

Kk is for keys

 

This week we are listening for the sound of Kk and looking for it's shape as we explore with keys of all different shapes and sizes.

The KDI for this week is measuring-Children measure to describe, compare and order things. We will be measuring with keys- how many keys long, tall, wide. Is it more or less keys?

Table Activities- Table activities this week include tracing keys, unlocking padlocks, keys and playdough, coloring keys, a key sensory bin, putting keys on a key ring, gluing foil on a key and other key play.

Small Group-This week for small group we will be making a shrinky-dink key ring, measuring with keys, adding Kk is for key to our journal and sorting keys.

Large Group- This week we will be playing key hide and seek, dancing with a key and lining up keys to see how long a line we can get.

Books of the Week- "Goodnight, Gorilla" by Peggy Rathmann and various fairy tales.

Bible Story- Our Bible Story of the week is Jesus calming the storm. Jesus and the disciples had been preaching and teaching all day. Jesus had been healing those who came to him and he was exhausted. He asked his disciples to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. At least four of his disciples were experienced fisherman, they knew that squalls can come up quickly on the Sea of Galilee and had no doubt, sailed and maneuvered through them before. When Jesus got on the boat, he went to the stern or the back of the boat and fell asleep on a pillow. While they were sailing across, a storm whipped up that had even the fishermen afraid for their lives! They were nearly swamped by a huge wave and still Jesus remained sleeping. They woke him, saying, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown???!!!" Jesus rose and said, "Peace! Be still!" and immediately it was calm. Jesus turned to his disciples and asked, "Why were you afraid? Do you not have faith?" 

What had they just seen him do all day? Did they really think he would let them drown? They were astonished- Even the winds and waves obey him!

How often are we like the disciples? We don't trust or have faith, we worry, we fret, we make our own plans. We just need to ask and wait, God will take care of our every need. He gives us what is best for us always!! Trust and wait! Romans 8:32-Your God loves you and gave Himself for you, will he not also along with that give you all things?" That doesn't mean a million dollars or two cars and a boat- what is best for you and what you need to stay close to Him.

Some pictures from our short group week- Missed you on Wednesday and Thursday- hope you got to play in the snow!!