Railroad week!

This week we are working on the railroad and listening and looking for the sound of Rr.


Our table activities are playing with Lego and wooden train sets, creating a train from cut paper, train station dramatic play, drawing trains, coloring railroad pictures and using trains to draw with.

Our small group activities are a name train, cutting a train out of card stock and putting it together, and adding Rr is for railroad to our journal.



Our KDIs of the week are-

Book knowledge: Children demonstrate knowledge about books- We are reading three non-fiction books and one fictional book this week. Talking about how books are written for different purposes is part of our week.

Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles.-Cutting with scissors, coloring and drawing are part of many activities this week.

History: Children understand past, present, and future. - Steam trains, diesel motors, how trains used to be and are now. What might trains be in the future?


Jesus Time- This week we see Jesus call his first disciples after he gives them a huge catch of fish. Jesus is preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and when the crowds are pressing in on him, he asks some of the fishermen cleaning their nets if they could take him out to speak to the crowds in their boat. They do so. When he is finished speaking, he tells them to let their nets down. They reply that they hadn't caught a thing all night, and now is not the time to fish. He insists. When they let their nets down, they catch so many fish, their boat begins to sink. They call for help from their fellow fishermen, and they have two boats filled with fish. When they return to shore and and get the fish out of their boats, Jesus asks them if they'd like to be fishers of men instead of fish. They agree, so Peter, Andrew, James and John, fishermen of Capernaum, become Jesus disciples.


Books of the week- "Railroad Hank" by Lisa Moser, illustrated by Benji Davies, "Freight Train" by Donald Crews, "Trains" by Gail Gibbons, and "The Train Book" by John Johnson.

Have a fantastic, surprising weather week! Be ready for it all, I guess!!

Mrs. Schneck

Blog for January 22-26, 2018

We are getting tangled up in a mess of yarn activities this week and talking about the sound of Yy for yarn.

Table activities- Painting with yarn, lacing cards with yarn, yarn on sticky paper, wrapping yarn sticks, yarn necklaces and sewing with yarn on plastic canvas.

Small group this week includes a two part project, today we glued yarn onto some watercolor paper, on Wednesday we will fill in the gaps with watercolor paints, on Friday we will add Yy is for yarn to our journals.

KDIs for the week-

 Engagement: Children focus on activities that interest them- There are a wide variety of ways to play, we see some children who choose the same activities every day and those who try different things. 

 Personal care: Children carry out personal care routines on their own.- Very important in this flu season. We washed hands a lot today. Washing off paint and glue and every time they went to the bathroom and before they ate. Stay away germs!

Appreciating the arts: Children appreciate the creative arts- This week is the first time we have more than one step to a project, hopefully, they will appreciate the results!

Jesus Time- In this week's story we see Jesus at the wedding of a friend. It was the custom in those days to have a wedding celebration that lasted longer than a day, more like a week. Usually the best wine was served first, but enough food and wine was purchased to feed everyone for the entire time. They had run out of wine at this wedding and Jesus' mother let him know what had happened. He told her that it wasn't quite time yet. She told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Jesus quietly called the servants to him and told them to fill the jugs up with water. He then told them to take a cup of it to the master of the feast. When they did, the master said, "Why did you save the best wine until the end of the feast?" Jesus had turned the water into wine. He didn't want the servants to tell anyone what had happened. Every miracle that Jesus did, he did out of love for others, never to show how great he was! He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead and told them not to tell anyone, he calmed the storm to calm his disciples, he helped them catch a good deal of fish, all out of humble service to others! As we get to know this Savior better and better, may we see his love in dealing with us all the time!

Books of the week- "Extra Yarn" by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen, "The Mitten" and "The Three Little Dassies" by Jan Brett.

Have a fantastic week!!

Wear the rain boots if this weather keeps up!

Mrs. Schneck

Happy New Year!!

We are starting off the new year right with lots of wind, cold and snow!

Our theme for the week is Snowmen!

Table activities- Real snow to build snowmen with, along with button and stick and orange foam noses, paper snowmen to create, snow clay and sticky paper cotton ball snowmen.

Small group- Making a snowman out of Model Magic and adding Ss is for snowman to our journals.


KDIs for the week-
Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. - These kids are amazing- when asked what snowmen starts with they said "C" when I asked what other letter makes the "sss" sound, S was said right away, they know their letter sounds!

Community: Children participate in the community of the classroom.- We had a break, but are quickly learning how to relate to one another again.

 Building relationships: Children build relationships with other children and adults. It is wonderful to see the friendships that are built with each other and some of them even missed their teachers!


Jesus time- This week we hear the last story that takes place while Jesus is still an infant. We linked this story to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that we heard earlier. Someone who was from Israel told people in the East about the promise of a Savior. When these wise men studied the sky, they saw a bright star which meant that the promised Savior was born. They packed up and began to follow the star. When they reached Judah, they naturally went to Jerusalem, the capital city. If there was a new king, isn't that where he would be? As they began to look for him, King Herod heard about them. King Herod was a very bad king. He invited the wise men under false pretenses and shared what he knew about the birth of a king. He directed them to the small village of Bethlehem, just a few miles outside Jerusalem. He told them to return once they had found the child so he could go and worship him too. That was not his plan, he wanted to get rid of Jesus. He would be the only King. 
The wise men went and saw Jesus in a house where the star stopped. They gave him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They were warned in  a dream not to go back to see Herod, but to return home another way. Joseph was also warned in a dream to wake Mary and the baby and flee to Egypt until Herod was dead. God protects his children, Jesus and us! He sends his angels to protect us! Psalm 91:11 says "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;".

Books of the week- "Snowmen at Christmas" by Caralyn and Mark Buehner, "Frosty the Snowman" by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins and "The Biggest, Best Snowman" by Margery Cuyler.

Stay warm and have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Schneck