Water Week!

 

The final few days of preschool will be full of fun with water! Hopefully the temperatures will still be warm enough to have full water play! We'll go day by day! So pack an extra towel on Monday and Tuesday and wear some clothes you can get wet in and we'll have fun!

Table Activities- This week we'll play with orbeez, water absorption with cotton balls, decorate some postcards that I'll send back to you over the summer, water table and dropper painting.

Small Group Activities- We'll doing some baking soda painting and spray bottle painting  to see how water reacts with other substances!

Large Group Activities-Water and ice and water balloon play in wading pools and playing with water in gutters outside will be out gross motor water play.

Books of the Week- "Better Not Get Wet, Jesse Bear" by Nancy White Carlstrom and "Singing in the Rain" based on the song by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, pictures by Tim Hopgood.

Bible Story- Our last Bible Story of the year takes place back in Jerusalem. Jesus had ascended back into heaven 10 days ago. The disciples were waiting for the Counselor he had promised. Many disciples were gathered together in one place when a sound like a roaring wind came and tongues of fire came to rest on each head. Those gathered were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. Many people from all over the world were gathered in Jerusalem for a festival and they heard the noise also and gathered around the building where the believers were. The believers came out and spoke to them and each heard the good news of Jesus and marvelous things of God in their own languages! Peter spoke to the crowd and using Old Testament prophecies and eyewitness accounts of Jesus, he told the crowd what was happening and how Jesus had been killed for their sins, but rose again to life! This cut many in the crowd to the heart and they wondered what to do! Peter told them to repent and be baptized. Over 2000 people became believers that day alone! What a miracle! Sometimes we wonder why we can't do the same thing today. The Word of God doesn't appear to have the same effect on people, to cut them to the heart. Today it just seems to make them angry or defensive. The Word of God works- speaking the truth in love will always have an impact, sometimes we aren't there to see it, but we continue to love God and love our neighbor. May God give us the Holy Spirit to speak with passion and love about Him!

Some Camel ride pictures!

Masterpiece Week

 

This week we are all about art. Next year's school theme is "For we are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

We are the masterpieces!! This week we will take a look at some art masterpieces and make a lot of art ourselves!

Our KDI for the week is Appreciating the Arts- Children appreciate the creative arts- we will look at some famous paintings, use many different mediums to make our own art and have fun doing it!

Table Activities-  This week's table activities include water colors, drawing with many different mediums, sculpting with clay, mixed media art, making egg shakers, using stickers and stamps in our art.

Small Group- We'll look at Van Gogh's Starry Night and use thick brushes and tempera paint to make art. We'll look at water color painting and do a water color wash with crayon and water color. We'll look at Georges Seurat " A Sunday on the island of La Grande Jette" and experiment with pointillism.

Large Group- We'll draw, paint and spray colors outside, make art with chalk and sculpt with larger objects.

Books of the Week- "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds and "Draw Me a Star" by Eric Carle.

Bible Story- This week we are talking about the ascension. After he rose from the dead, Jesus spent 40 days here on earth appearing to his disciples and others, strengthening their faith and re-teaching them to help them understand what had happened and what was going to happen. When that 40 days was over, Jesus met them on a mountaintop outside Jerusalem and gave them the promise of the Holy Spirit and gave them the job of going to tell the whole world about him. Make disciples of all nations! We are still doing that work today. Jesus also promised he would always be with them. Then he began to rise up into the heavens. The disciples stood watching until he was hidden by clouds. Then two angels were standing by them. They asked what they were doing. The angels told them that Jesus would return the same way he had gone. We anxiously await that return! While we are waiting, we tell others of the wonderful good news that is found in Jesus. Jesus loves them, he died for them and he lives again! We will live too!!

Have a super week!

Just a little flower arranging-

Zz is for zinnias.

 

This week we are going to learn about zinnias and all sorts of other flowers and plants! We are on our last letter!! Summer seems like it's about to visit us this week!

Our KDI of the week is music- Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine and feel through music. We will learn some garden and growing songs this week and sing to our plants!

Table Activities- Table activities this week include a flower sensory bin, flower investigation, dirt and seeds sensory bin, make a flower, invite to create a flower, flower clay mats, flower coloring pictures and flower shop dramatic play.

Small Group Activities- This week our small group activities include dissecting and naming the parts of a flower and plant, making a garden in a glove, adding Zz is for zinnia to our journal and painting gourds that were once part of a plant.

Large Group Activities-  This week we will pick and investigate flowers, plant our seeds and a flower border in our garden.

Books of the Week- "Inch by Inch: a Garden Song" by David Mallett, "Up in the Garden and  Down in the Dirt" by Kate Messner and "A Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle.

Bible Story- Our Bible story this week takes place back on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Some of the disciples have returned to their original occupation of fishing. They are out on their boats early in the morning and they see a man on shore. He asks if they have caught any fish. When they reply that they haven't, he tells them to put their net out on the other side of the boat. As soon as they do, their net is filled with 153 fish- the Bible even tells us the number. As soon as Peter hauls up his nets, he realizes who is on shore- Jesus! He gets out of the boat and makes his way to shore. There Jesus has started a fire and is cooking some fish over it. The rest of the fishermen pull in their nets and boats and sit to eat. Peter is thinking about all that has happened. He had boasted that he would never leave Jesus, but he ran when Jesus was arrested. He boasted he would never deny Jesus, but he did three times in the courtyard of the high priest. He didn't follow Jesus to the cross like he was so sure he would. Jesus has a conversation with him- Jesus asks, "Peter, do you love me?" Peter replies, "Yes, Lord, I love you!" Jesus says, "Feed my sheep." Jesus asks again, "Peter, do you love me?" Peter replies, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you!" Jesus replies, "Feed my lambs." Jesus asks again, "Peter do you love me?" Peter is hurt by his questioning. He replies, "Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you!" "Feed my sheep." Jesus replies. Jesus also foretells Peter's death, he will be led by others where he does not want to go. Yet even in his death, he will glorify God. Peter wasn't sure that he was worthy to serve his Savior. To be honest, none of us are worthy. But, it is such a blessing that He allows us to serve Him and share His word anyway! We are blessed to feed his lambs and sheep!

Yy is for you!

 

Yy is for you! We learn about ourselves, what do we look like, how many hands, feet, ears, eyes, noses? Is our hair long, short, curly straight? What is the same and different about us and others?

Our KDI of the week is self-identity- Children have a positive self identity. We will learn about what makes us special and what we have in common with others. Most of all, we will learn and re-learn how much Jesus loves us!

Table Activities- This week our table activities include making a mirror with foil, looking at our fingerprints, coloring with people shaped crayons,  sticky paper faces, dressing foam people, playdough mat people, potato heads and making our names with stamps and stickers.

Small Group- Making our faces and our bodies are part of small group this week, along with making a cookie self :)

Large Group- The Mirror Dance, moving our body parts, chalk outlines outside and doing the Hokey Pokey are part of our large group plans this week.

Books of the Week- "One World, One Day" by Barbara Kerley, "Unlovable" by Dan Yaccarino, "I Don't Want to be a Frog" by Dev Petty.

Bible Story- This week we hear the story of Thomas. On Easter evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room. They were afraid and confused. He appeared and said "Peace be with you". The disciples were scared, they thought he must be a ghost! He showed them that he was flesh and blood, he even ate in front of them to show them he was not a ghost. He encouraged them not to doubt, but believe. Thomas was not with them. We don't know why. His name means "twin", maybe he was warning his twin brother that he may be in danger. When Thomas returned, the disciples told him what had happened and he refused to believe them. He stubbornly said, "Unless I put my fingers in the holes in Jesus' hands and my hand in his side, I will not believe." The next Sunday, the disciples were in the locked room and Jesus appeared again. He went right to Thomas- put your fingers in the holes and your hand in my side, stop doubting and believe!! Thomas fell to his knees and confessed, "My Lord and My God!". Jesus told him he was blessed because he had seen and had believed, but how blessed those are who have not seen and still believe. That is us- we haven't seen Jesus with our own eyes, but we believe! We believe that He is our Lord and our God! We can also let others see Jesus through us! 

May we know we are blessed to believe without seeing, but know that one day we will see Jesus with our own eyes and we can confess with Thomas, "My Lord and My God!"

A few pics from insect/bug week-

Insects and Spiders!

 

 This week we are going to have fun looking and learning about insects and spiders! We already love to look at and for bugs, we'll learn the difference between insects and spiders and the metamorphosis some insects go through.

The KDI for the week is classifying-Children classify materials, actions, people and events. We will classify what is and isn't an insect and differentiate between spiders and insects and other creepy crawlies!

Table Activities- This week our table activities include a bug sensory bin, bugs and playdough, spiders in their web, bug sorting, bug coloring and activity pages, create our own paper bugs, bug dot painting and bug rubbing plates.

Small group activities-  This week we will investigate bugs- looking closely at them and noting their differences and similarities, make a spider or a bug, add spiders and bugs to our journal and make a model of a spider or insect with model magic and pipe cleaners.

Large Group Activities- We will look for bugs and move like bugs.

Books of the Week- "Diary of a Worm" and "Diary of a Spider" by Doreen Cronin are our books this week.

Bible Story- This week our story takes place on Easter afternoon. The women had been to the tomb and seen the angels, Mary had seen Jesus himself. They told the disciples what they had seen! Peter and John ran to the tomb and found it empty with the grave clothes lying inside. They didn't know what to think. In John's Gospel account, he says he saw and he believed- but they didn't really understand that Jesus had to die and be raised from the dead. That afternoon, two disciples, not of the 12 apostles, were walking to a village about 7 miles west of Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about all that had happened, confused, upset, scared. A third person joined them in their walk and he asked what they were talking about. They more or less said, "Where have you been??!!" and told him all about the events that happened, Jesus arrest and crucifixion, now the news that his body was missing and some women saying they had seen angels and even Jesus himself saying he was alive again. They didn't know what to believe! 

The stranger asked them questions and directed their attention to Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and how Jesus fulfilled them. They were instructed bit by bit about every aspect of the promises made and kept. When they reached Emmaus, the man acted as if he were going to travel farther, but they invited him to take the evening meal with them. He sat with them and broke the bread and blessed it and their eyes were opened! They had been talking to Jesus all along!! After he blessed the bread, he disappeared from their sight! They said to themselves- didn't our hearts know that this was more than a traveling companion, this was the Lord! They were so excited, they ran all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples that they had seen the Lord! Jesus had also appeared to Peter. The disciples were hiding in a locked room out of fear of the religious leaders and would soon see Jesus themselves!

Jesus is alive! He's risen indeed!

Have a super week!

Just a couple pictures last week- boys making a flower garden in the middle of our playground! We'll plant our raised bed soon!

He Is Risen! Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter!

This week we celebrate Easter! There will be no KDI we concentrate on but we will still learn and have fun!

Table Activities- This week our table activities include decorating Easter eggs, decorating crosses, watercolor paint paper eggs, plastic egg play, Easter coloring pages, practicing our cutting with paper eggs, jelly bean sorting and Easter dot painting.

Small Group Activities- This week we will make a cross suncatcher, our own set of Resurrection Eggs, add a Jesus is Risen page to our journal and make a "hand" Easter lily.

Large Group Activities- Large group activities this week include an egg toss, a basket relay race, an Easter egg hunt and drawing with sidewalk chalk.

Books of the Week- "Sad News, Glad News" by Mary Joslin and "The Parable of the Lily" by Liz Curtis Higgs.

Bible Story- Our Bible Story this week is Jesus Resurrection and his appearance to Mary. Jesus was taken down from the cross on Friday afternoon and quickly put in a tomb of a man named Joseph of Arimathea. They did a hurried job of preparing his body because the Sabbath was quickly coming, at sundown on Friday. The women who watched planned to return early Sunday morning to wash his body and anoint it with spices and wrap it properly. They wanted to give Jesus the burial he deserved. The religious leaders were still suspicious of Jesus, even in death and they demanded that a guard be placed at the tomb and the tomb be sealed so if it was tampered with, there would be evidence. They were afraid that Jesus' followers would steal and hide his body and say that he was raised from the dead. Pilate gave in and had two soldiers stationed at the tomb. Sometime early Sunday morning, the soldiers were confronted with an angel who appeared at Jesus tomb, the stone rolled away and the tomb was empty. When the soldiers saw the angel, they fainted like dead men! When they woke up and saw the tomb empty, they ran away. The women got their spices and linen together and walked sadly to the tomb. As they walked, they remembered that they would need to find someone to roll the stone away so they could work on Jesus body. When they arrived, they saw the tomb was already open. It seems like some women stayed and were met by an angel who told them that Jesus was risen!! They should go and tell the disciples that Jesus was alive. Mary Magdalene may have not stayed to see the angel, just saw that the tomb was open and empty. She seemed to have run into the garden, distraught. There she saw someone she thought was the gardener, she asked him, in tears, if he knew where Jesus' body was. The man simply said, "Mary" and she knew it was Jesus. He told her to go and tell his disciples that he was alive. The disciples didn't believe the women, they thought they were talking nonsense. The disciples would soon see Jesus for themselves! What a triumph over sin, death and the devil! Jesus died and rose again and so will we!

Some pictures from the week- books from the bookmobile (we actually got to go in on Thursday!), great kite flying- girls with their stink bug classroom pet and other wind fun!

Ww is for wind.

 

Just after we closed school because strong winds caused a power outage, we have a Ww is for wind week! We'll see how this week goes!

Our KDI for the week is movement- Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine and feel through pretend play. We will play and move as if blown by the wind!

Table Activities- The table activities this week include blow painting, coloring a fan, making a wind sock, making underwater wind, making a pinwheel and seeing what happens when things get affected by wind.

Small Group Activities- This week we will experiment what the wind blows, make a kite, add Ww is for wind to our journal and make a group wind painting.

Large Group Activities- Hopefully we will get outside to fly our kite, try out our pinwheels and see the effect of wind on other things!

Books of the Week- "The Wind Blew" by Pat Hutchins and "Feel the Wind" by Arthur Dorros.

Bible Story- This week we will hear about Jesus' arrest and crucifixion. It is a heavy story for little ones, but one they need to know. After Jesus arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he spends time in the temple and teaching his disciples. They get ready to celebrate Passover as a group on Thursday evening. Judas, one of Jesus' disciples has already agreed to betray him. He is at the meal, Jesus even makes Judas aware that he knows what is going on. Judas leaves the meal to meet with the religious leaders. Jesus has the remaining meal with his disciples. As he eats with them, he gives them a new command- Love One Another. He knows what is coming for them and gives them strength with his words. They finish the meal and walk to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus goes alone to pray, checks on his disciples several times and they are asleep. He asks God to take this cup of suffering from him, but submits to God the Father's will. Then he wakes his disciples up to go meet Judas. A company of soldiers and temple guards are with Judas. Judas walks up and kisses Jesus on the cheek, a sign of who Jesus is, and Jesus is arrested. The disciples fight back, Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant and Jesus heals him. Then the disciples flee. Jesus is taken and put on trial and eventually condemned to death by the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate. Jesus is horribly beaten, mocked, spit at and then forced to carry the heavy beam of his cross to Golgotha or Calvary. Jesus is nailed to the cross and placed between two thieves. One mocks him, one believes in him. So much happens in a short time- Jesus speaks to his disciple John and puts his mother, Mary in John's care. The sky grows dark for three hours. Jesus calls out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? He carries the sin of the world on the cross. Finally, he says "It is Finished." and gives his spirit into his Father's hands. Oh, how he loves us! There is not one thing left for us to do to save ourselves- even faith is worked in our hearts through the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit. All we do now is out of love and thankfulness for His love for us!

Not a lot of pictures this week- we were having a lot of Tacky fun! And the afternoon class had a special birthday visitor!