Blog for May 21, 23 and 25

What word starts with "A" and contains all the letters? Some of our preschoolers got this riddle correct this morning, the alphabet!! And that is what we are talking about this week!

Table activities are matching foam letter stickers, playing with magnetic letters, washing letters in soapy water, finding letters in a sensory bin, ABC coloring sheets and making letter shapes with our wax sticks.

Small group activities are listening for initial consonants, today each child was given a letter and had to find an item in the pile that started with that letter, Wednesday we will do the same in reverse- given an item and find the letter it begins with, Friday will be tracing upper and lower case letters for our journal.

KDIs for the week are-

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.- We are listening for letter sounds.

Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds.- Lots of this going on this week.

Reading: Children read for pleasure and information.- Stories go along with our ABC books- just having fun with words and sounds.

Jesus Time- In this week's Jesus time, we review the stories we have heard throughout the year and talk about how Jesus is our good shepherd.  We are the sheep, sometimes not very smart, moving along as a group, sometimes we leave those in trouble behind, we go places or do things that can get us into trouble, just like sheep. I talked about seeing a herd of sheep being chased by wild dogs, the sheep didn't fight, just left the weaker ones behind and ran away. Jesus comes are chases off the dogs and helps those in trouble. He leads us in the right way to go, places that are safe that will keep us close to Him. He goes to great lengths to save us, even giving up His own life! What a shepherd we have who will never leave us or forsake us!

Books of the week- "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom" by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, "Alphabet Adventure" by Audrey and Bruce Wood, "Eating the Alphabet" by Lois Ehlert and "A was once an apple pie" by Edward Lear.

This Friday is Literacy Night! Come read in a hammock or in a tent. Pick out some different books, get information on Summer Reading programs at your local libraries and have a snack! From 6:30-8:00 pm.

Next Wednesday, May 30th, is Preschool Graduation. It will start promptly at 6:30 and be over, cake and all, by 7:30. If children could be here by 6:15, that would be great. It will take place in the church, so come to the entrance by the flagpole at the big school!

Hard to believe our preschool time is so quickly coming to an end!! I have loved having this year with you!!

Mrs. Schneck

Blog for May 14, 16 and 18

Welcome to the world of dinos!! This week we are looking at dinosaurs and what they left behind.

Table activities include playing with dinosaurs, an invitation to create a dinosaur scene, making dinosaurs out of paper, making dinosaur fossils and dinosaur pattern blocks.

Small group activities are trying to remove a dinosaur fossils out of plaster, playing with dinosaurs and vinegar lava and creating our own dinosaur.

KDIs of the week are-
Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world. What did dinosaurs eat? Where did they live?

History: Children understand past, present, and future. - Dinosaurs lived a long time ago. What did they leave behind?

Ecology: Children understand the importance of taking care of their environment. - Dinosaurs are extinct. How can we take care of animals today so they won't go extinct?

Jesus Time- This week we are hearing  about Philip and his sharing of the Gospel with a man from Ethiopia. Philip was also one of the helpers that the disciples chose to help them. He was sent to go to the desert road by the Holy Spirit. As he was waiting there, a man rode by in a chariot and he was reading a book of the Bible on a scroll. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The man asked, "How can I understand if no one explains it to me?" So Philip sat and explained it to him, he then asked to be baptized as they passed by a pool. Philip baptized him and then the Holy Spirit wisked him away to tell someone else about Jesus. May God help us to take the opportunities he gives us to tell others about him.

This week I am in Alaska for my son's graduation. Next week I will be back and next Friday is our literacy night!! Check out some fun places to read for the summer!!

Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Schneck

Blog for May 7, 9 and 11

We are talking about camping and the two sounds of Cc this week, the hard /k/ sound and the soft /s/ sound.

Table activities are dramatic play with camping gear, camp coloring pages, painting with nature's paint brush and building with natural things.

Small group activities are personalizing a backpack to take hiking or camping with us and adding Cc is for camping to our journals.

Wednesday is our field trip! If you are coming, meet at Camp Killarney 1200 Chisolm Rd, Onsted MI at 9:45. We will have a fun day outdoors!

Friday we have school, but K-8 does not, so there is no aftercare for that day.

Next week, I will be attending my youngest's high school graduation in Alaska, so Mrs. Dostal and Mrs. Oetzel will be teaching. We will be talking about dinosaurs!

KDIs for the week are-

 Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world.- We will be outdoors and experiencing it!

Geography: Children recognize and interpret features and locations in their environment- Hills, lakes, meadows, beaches, all at camp.

Ecology: Children understand the importance of taking care of their environment. - Take only pictures, leave only footprints!

Jesus Time- This week we hear the difficult story of Stephen. Stephen was a helper in the early church, there were so many new Christians, the disciples appointed some men to help them take care of those who needed help and Stephen was one of those men. He was full of the Holy Spirit and boldly told about his Savior. Some of the church's enemies threatened him if he did not stop sharing the news about Jesus. They had him arrested and he boldly went point by point through the Old Testament showing them where they were wrong and that Jesus was the Messiah. They did not like what they were hearing and they got so angry that they took Stephen out to be stoned. As they were throwing rocks at him to kill him, God gave him a glimpse of Jesus sitting at God the Father's right hand. The enemies of the church certainly didn't want to hear about that! Stephen also echoed Jesus words when he asked for his enemies to be forgiven. He was bold and courageous in his faith and stayed faithful to Jesus even in death. 

Books of the week- "Fred and Ted go Camping" by Peter Eastman, "Curious George Goes Fishing" by Margret and H. A. Rey, and "The Berenstain Bears Go To Camp" by Stan and Jan Berenstain.

Have an awesome week! Thanks for all the appreciation! I appreciate you also! I have a wonderful group of parents!!

Mrs. Schneck