Blog for December 11, 13 and 15

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!
Just a quick reminder to wear boots, bring hats and gloves or mittens to play in the snow, snowpants if you have them would be great too!


Christmas is our theme this week! We are doing activities, reading books and learning about Christmas!

Table activities this week are create a tree with paper, jingle bells and magnets, star wrapping, Christmas playdough, pom pom ornament sort, and a Christmas sensory bin.

Small Group activities this week are cutting out a Christmas tree and decorating with a collage of paper, patterned lights, letter matching on trees.

The KDIs we are concentrating on this week are-

Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles- Alot of that this week in cutting and gluing.

Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds.- We will review the letters we have covered so far on our trees, see how much knowledge has stuck!

History: Children understand past, present, and future- How does the birth of a baby so long ago have anything to do with us today? Last week we talked about how the three men in the fiery furnace sharing their faith was probably where the ancestors of the wise men who came to see Jesus heard about it!


Jesus Time- This week we enter the stories that tell us about Jesus. Jesus' mother was a young woman who lived in Nazareth.  She was promised to be married to a man named Joseph. 
One day when she was working in her home, an angel appeared to her and told her that she was going to have a baby. She wondered how this could be since she wasn't married to Joseph and hadn't been with a man. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would make her pregnant with God's Son. He told her the child would be named Jesus because he would save his people from their sins. Mary accepted what the angel said. When she told Joseph, he didn't believe her at first. He was going to quietly cancel their wedding and try to cause as little embarrassment as possible for Mary. As Joseph was struggling with what decision to make and how to make it, he had a dream in which an angel also came to him and confirmed what Mary had said. Joseph did make Mary his wife and became Jesus father on earth.

Next Tuesday the Scrapmobile will be here from 10-11 am. Please fill out the attendance slip and put in your $7 if you would like to participate.

Preschool has school until Wednesday, December 20th. However, I will be leaving on vacation early. My oldest daughter graduates from college on Sunday, December 17th in Anchorage, Alaska, so I will be traveling up north for Christmas! I leave after school on Friday, December 15th.

May God richly bless you with a wonderful Christmas season and a terrific and healthy break!!

Mrs. Schneck

Blog for December 4, 6, and 8

This week we are talking about Hh and houses. Lots of different houses, not even all of them have four walls and a roof, some just have a roof!

Table activities this week include building and playing with houses, coloring or designing houses, making houses with playdough and popsicle sticks, making the three little pigs houses and making houses with styrofoam.

Our small group activities are making graham cracker houses, shape houses and adding the page Hh is for houses to our journals.

The books of the week are "The Three Little Pigs" illustrated by Paul Galdone, "Too Tall Houses" by Gianna Marino and "This is the House that Jack Built" illustrated and retold by Simms Taback.

The KDIs we are working on this week are-

 Shapes: Children identify, name, and describe shapes. - What shapes do we see in houses? How can we put shapes together to make a house?

Book knowledge: Children demonstrate knowledge about books.- We recognize the patterns in books like "This is the House that Jack built" Like one student said, "Jack's on every page!"

Speaking: Children express themselves using language. - Our pre-planning activity let children express themselves as they chose their favorite room in the their house and told why it was their favorite! 

Jesus Time- This is our last Old Testament story. This week we hear about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three young men brave enough to stand up to a king. 
Last week we heard the story of David and Goliath. David eventually became king and Israel went through a long list of kings, some good and some bad, many leading the Israelites away from God and to idol worship. After a time, God gave the Israelites a wake up call and the country of Babylon invaded and took Israel's brightest and best young people captive. The rest of the nation was scattered among other nations Babylon had conquered. King Nebuchadnezzer, Babylon's king, had a strict regimen he wanted his young captives to follow, including diet. When the Israelites informed the Babylonians that they followed their own dietary laws, they were upset. Over several weeks, the Israelites were given a chance to show that their way would work. By the end of the trial period, they were stronger and healthier than the rest of the captives. They gained the respect of the Babylonian government. 
King Nebuchadnezzer then had a dream where he felt he was led to erect a giant gold statue for his subjects to worship. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused. The punishment for not doing what the king asked you to was to be thrown into a blazing hot furnace. The king gave the young men one more chance. When they refused again, he ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. The boys were bound hand and foot and thrown into the furnace. The furnace was so hot that the guards who threw them in were instantly killed.
When King Nebuchadnezzer looked into the furnace, he couldn't believe his eyes, not only were the boys walking around unharmed, there was also a fourth man in the furnace who looked like the son of a god- he was the Son of The God!! Nebuchadnezzer called the boys out of the furnace and ordered his people to only worship Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's God. Our God is a Mighty God!!

Please remember to sign up for the Christmas Service you are attending on December 17th-Christmas Service sign up

Also we are having Christmas Service practice this Saturday, December 9th from 9-11am. Just drop off your child at the church and we will practice the service, have a little snack and play a bit and probably practice walking in and out again.
See you then!!

Also Arts and Scraps at school field trip on Tuesday, December 19th- note coming home Wednesday!

On Tuesday, December 19^th, Arts and Scraps is coming to Peace with their Scrapmobile for an “AT SCHOOL FIELD TRIP”.  Students will be able to make a project from the mobile in preschool.

The Scrapmobile will be here from 10-11am. The three year old class will have a regular morning until 10am.  At that time, three yr old parents may return to join us.

Four year students and their parents are also invited to this event and will need to be present to help their child with their project.

The cost is $7 per student/kit. The payment is due by Tuesday, December 12^th.

We look forward to working together!

My child, _________________, we be attending the Arts and Scraps workshop. $7

_______________ Sibling $7               _____________ Parent helper Free

Have a terrific week!!

Mrs. Schneck