Qq is for quilt.

 

This week we are listening and looking for the Qq sound and having fun with quilts.

Our KDI for the week is Phonological Awareness- Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. As we listen for the /q/ sound, we hear the /kw/ sound that it makes. We will work on decoding- what sounds do those letters in the word make- so what word is it? and encoding- what letters make those sounds- so how do we spell or write it? Hearing the different sounds and linking them to letters is the foundation for learning how to read!

Table Activities- Our table activities this week include sewing with yarn, magnet letters, cutting quilt pieces of paper and fabric, coloring quilt pictures and a giant quilt, gluing fabric and paper to make quilts and fabric on contact paper.

Small Group- Our small group activities include making a fabric quilt, making our name out of quilt squares, adding Qq is for quilt to our journals, putting letters together to sound out words.

Large Group- Large group activities include under the quilt (parachute) and starting to roll and crawl on tumbling mats.

Books of the Week- "llama llama red pajamas" by Anna Dewdny and "The Quilt" by Ann Jonas.

Bible Story- This week we hear the story of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal means someone who left the family. Jesus had been preaching with parables for quite some time, instructing those who came to him. Often the people who followed Jesus were the people looked down on by society, the tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners. The Pharisees, religious leaders who thought they were perfect enough to go to heaven without a Savior, were grumbling about the fact that Jesus didn't really pay attention to them or praise their good deeds. He just spent time with the sinners. In response, Jesus told several parables about things that were lost- a lost coin a woman spent all day looking for, a lost sheep, even though 99 were safely in the fold, the shepherd wouldn't rest until he found the last one and finally, the lost son.

There was a man who had two sons. The younger son was tired of living at home and the work on the family farm and he asked his father for something outrageous. He wanted his inheritance, now, without waiting until his father died. Even though his father was heartbroken by his request, he gave it. The older son stayed home and worked hard and was upset by his younger brother and put his nose to the grindstone to prove he wasn't like that. 

The young son went to the big city where he spent his money freely, partying, wasteful spending and before long, the money was spent. Those who befriended him because of his wealth soon were his friends no longer and he found himself alone, abandoned and homeless. He found a job feeding pigs, he worked alone and in filth. As he worked, he thought about the family he had abandoned and came to realize that the pigs were eating better than he was. If he went home and begged his father to take him on as a servant, he would have a much better life than he had right now. 

So he went. As he came down the road to his father's house a figure came running toward him. It was his father!! He had been keeping an eye on the road all this time, hoping his son would come home! The son threw himself at his father's feet begging to be taken on as a servant. His father lifts him up and swallows him up in a hug!! He calls for his robe and his ring- his lost son has returned!! He calls for the fattened calf to be butcher and neighbors invited for a party, for the son he thought was dead is alive and home!!

Meanwhile, the older son hears the ruckus and wonders what is going on. When he is told, he comes to his father, very upset- what is this?? I have worked hard for you many years, never abandoned you, always stayed faithful. I was never given a party or a sheep to share with my friends? How is this fair?? His father replied that all he had to do was asked and he would have given him anything- all that he has is his son's as well. But rejoice with me, because your brother is found and safe!!

Lost and found- One sinner at a time. Some of us have known Jesus as our Savior our whole lives it seems, some come to know Jesus through the Holy Spirit after a life full of sins we can't even imagine. Jesus loves us all!! He loves us because of who he is, not because of who we are. Rejoice over the lost who are found and ask for all the blessings that are yours because you are a child of God!

Pictures from our week of under-

Uu is for underneath.

 

This week we are listening for the sound and looking for Uu as we explore underneath things. We will be using many different position words, underneath, next to, beside, past, above, etc. We'll look underneath the ground at plant roots and draw underneath our tables!

 Our KDI for the week is Communicating ideas- Children communicate their ideas about the characteristics of things and how they work. What do they think happens underneath the ground, the snow, the water?  We'll have fun guessing and seeing if our guess is correct!

Table activities- The table activities for this week include drawing under the tables, playing Memory and Husker Du?, looking under cups, playing under water, putting letters inside envelopes and "mailing" them, worm playdough, coloring pages of underneath and a dirt sensory bin.

Small Group Activities-  This week our small group activities include drawing under a chair, looking under plants, adding Uu is for underneath to our journal and planting a seed under the dirt.

Large Group Activities-  The large group activities we hope to do are London Bridge, an obstacle course, looking underneath things outside.

Books of the week-  "Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stevens, "Underground" by Denise Fleming and several "Over and Under" books by Kate Messner.

Bible Story- For the next several weeks, we are going to be listening to parables that Jesus taught. Parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings. Jesus often used storytelling to teach his followers deeper, spiritual truths. Our first parable was told after a student of the law asked Jesus what he needed to do to go to heaven. Jesus replied that he needed to keep the law perfectly. The y man thought he had. When Jesus asked if he had loved God with all his heart soul and mind and if he had loved his neighbor as himself, he tried to justify himself by asking "Who is my neighbor?" 

Jesus told this story, there was a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers, they beat him, stripped his clothes and left him lying on the side of the road half dead. 

A priest walked by, instead of helping the man, he walked as far away as he could while still staying on the road. A temple worker (Levite) saw the man and did the same thing. A Samaritan came by and he stopped and helped the man by cleaning him up, covering him up, putting him on his own donkey and taking him to an inn. At the inn, he gave the innkeeper money to care for the man until he was well enough to go home. He also told the innkeeper he would come back through and pay him more if he needed more. 

Jesus asked the man- who acted as a neighbor to the hurt man? The one who helped him. Jesus said "Go and do likewise!"

A little background on the Samaritans- The Jewish people and the Samaritans did not get along at all. In fact, Samaria was in the middle of Galilee and Judea  and rather than traveling through it, the Jews would go around it. They had different beliefs and the Jews treated the Samaritans horribly. I don't think there is anything comparable in the US today, but if you think of maybe the Serbians and Bosnians. Different heritage, different beliefs and a lot of animosity. The fact that this Samaritan helped a Jewish man was remarkable, especially since the man's own religious leaders wouldn't help. 

Everyone is our neighbor, we need to think- how can I help? How can I love my neighbor as myself. 

Pictures from this week's Alaska adventures-

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!