Monday, October 16, 2017

Blog for October 16, 18 and 20

Leaves are falling, leaves are falling to the ground, to the ground, red, orange and yellow, red, orange and yellow all around, all around.

This week we are looking at leaves and the letter Ll.

Table activities this week are painting with leaves, making button trees, leaf rubbings, leaf matching, continuing leaf patterns and leaf exploring with magnifying glasses.

Our small group activities are making leaf people, autumn leaf absorption (using leaves made out of coffee filters to see how food travels through leaves) and adding a journal page, Ll is for leaf.

Our large group activities are making a bark rubbing and leaf toss and pick up.

Patterns: Children identify, describe, copy, complete, and create patterns.- We do this every day in calendar. We will look at the patterns of leaves, the pattern of seasons and the patterns in numbers this week.

Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment. - We are looking for leaves on the trees and on the ground. We look at different parts of the tree, branches, trunk, leaves, bark. What do they do?

 Reading: Children read for pleasure and information. -Two of our books this week are fictional and one is talking about a leaf collection. We can read to be entertained and to learn.

Jesus time- This week we hear the rest of Joseph's story. When we left Joseph last week, he had just been made second in command of Egypt and helped to plan the storehouses of food that would last through the seven years of famine. Egypt wasn't the only place that was experiencing a famine. Joseph's brothers had no food either. So, when Jacob heard that there was food that could be bought in Egypt, he sent his sons. Joseph's first dream was about to come true. Ten of his brothers approached him seeking to buy food. He knew them, but they had no idea who he was. He accused them of being spies and imprisoned his brother Simeon. He told them he would keep Simeon in prison until they brought their youngest brother, Benjamin, along with them to Egypt. He then gave them their food, placing the money they had paid for it back inside the bags of grain. When they returned home and told their father what had happened, he didn't want to send Benjamin, he had already lost Joseph! Finally, the brothers convinced him. They went back to Egypt along with Benjamin to purchase more food. When they arrived, Joseph had them escorted to his home where he had a meal laid out for them. They were told which seats to sit in and they were arranged according to age. As the portions were passed out, Joseph's servants gave Benjamin more than the rest. Joseph was listening behind the scenes to see if there was any jealousy or hatred of Benjamin because he was favored. He heard none. To give the brothers one final test to see if they had really changed, Joseph sent them back home with sacks full of grain. He placed the money back in their sacks, but in Benjamin's sack, he placed his own silver chalice. He let the brothers get a head start, and when he caught up with them, along with his soldiers, he accused them of stealing the silver cup from his home. The brothers reassured him that they had not stolen anything. The bags were searched and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack! The older brothers spoke up, offering to take Benjamin's punishment, no matter what it was. Then Joseph finally revealed himself to them and told them that God had placed him in this place to accomplish the saving of many lives. He also assured them that he forgave them for what they had done to him. Joseph asked them to go get their father so that they could all live in Egypt and have all the food they needed. So Jacob and his family settled in the land of Egypt in a place called Goshen. God has a plan for us! To get us to be in heaven with Him, along the way we can share what He has done for us and keep our eyes focused on Him and hopefully others will see that trust and ask us why. And we can share our journey with them!

Have a fantastic week!

Look for an attendance slip for the zoo and a sign up genius for 1st quarter parent-teacher conferences coming your way this week!!

Mrs. Schneck

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

For the week of October 9, 11 and 13

One more week for camping in this beautiful fall weather. We are looking at and listening to the Tt in tent this week!

KDIs we are concentrating on are-

Cooperative play: Children engage in cooperative play. - Two tents and lots of kids, we figured out how to play together. Friends also grouped up to do the Nature Scavenger Hunt. We'll be working together a lot this week.

Reading: Children read for pleasure and information.- Great books for pleasure and information! Kids love to be read to!


Morning/Tabletop activities are tent play, a wilderness scene to play with playmobile in, campfire art, forest playdoh and camping play.

Our small group activities this week include making a triangle shaped tent, a lantern craft and adding a Tt for tent to our journals.

Our large group activities this week include a nature scavenger hunt, playing in a real tent, and the action song "Going on a Bear Hunt".

Our Jesus Time this week includes a large portion of Joseph's life. Joseph was Jacob's favorite son, born from his wife Rachel. Joseph was one of his younger sons, but he was put in charge of the elder sons, in fact Jacob often sent him out into the fields to make sure his older sons were doing a good job watching the sheep and goats. Joseph also had dreams that he shared with his family. One dream was that Joseph dreamed each brother was a sheaf of wheat, all the brothers sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. He also had a dream where he was standing in the night sky and 11 stars and the sun and the moon all bowed down to him. His father showed his favoritism by gifting Joseph a beautiful, multi-color coat. This time, when he went out to check on his brothers, they decided to get rid of him. Some of them even thought about killing him. When he arrived, they grabbed him, pulled off his beautiful coat and threw him in a pit. When traders on their way to Egypt passed by, they pulled him out and sold him into slavery.
 Meanwhile, they ripped up his coat, killed a goat or sheep and dipped the coat in its blood. When they returned home, they showed their father the coat as proof that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. 
Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt where he works hard and is made head over the slaves, until his owners wife accuses him of doing something wrong. Then Joseph is thrown into jail, where he again works hard and becomes the one in charge of the prisoners. At one time, there are two prisoners in jail who both worked for Pharaoh. They have strange dreams and heard that Joseph could interpret dreams. He prays and asks God to give him the meaning to their dreams and when what he says comes true, he asks the former prisoner to remember him and tell Pharaoh about him.
Time passes and Pharaoh has some crazy dreams about cows and wheat. Finally, his official remembers Joseph and they get him out of prison. Pharaoh demands that Joseph tell him his dreams and what they mean. When Joseph is able to tell Pharaoh and gives suggestions to solve the problems the dreams foretell, Pharaoh makes Joseph second in command of all Egypt.

An Amazing Story!! God is with us wherever we go and whatever happens to us!

Our books this week are "Charlie Goes Camping" by Carrie Weston and Tim Warnes, "Explorers of the Wild" by Cale Atkinson, "Don't Blink" by Tom Booth and "Duck Tents" by Lynne Berry.

Have an awesome week!!
Mrs. Schneck

Monday, September 25, 2017

Blog for September 25. 27 and 29

Welcome to dog week!! It does feel like the dog days of summer! Very hot and humid, hopefully we'll be getting some relief soon!

This week we will be learning about dogs, listening for the Dd sound and doing activities that are dog centered.

Our KDIs for the week-
Pretend play: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through pretend play. - like pretending to shop at a pet store:)

Community roles: Children recognize that people have different roles and functions in the community.- What is your role as a dog owner?

Empathy: Children demonstrate empathy toward others.- they also demonstrate empathy towards pets who can't care for themselves.

For table activities this week, we have printing with bone shaped cookie cutters, playing "pet store" , having a pretend dog wash, making a dog house, and coloring/decorating dog bones. Role play is an important part of preschool development. In the pet store you can pretend to be a customer, groomer, cashier or even a dog :)

Our small group activities are tracing dog bones in a bowl, cutting and gluing yarn fur on a dog and our Dd is for dog page to add to our journal.

Large group will be acting like a dog to the tune of "My Dog Rags" and using our stuffed dogs in a relay race.

Our Jesus time story this week is about Abraham. Abraham was an old testament believer who was born years after Noah and the ark. God planned to set apart a special people from whom the Savior would be born and Abraham was the beginning of that people. God gave Abraham a promise that he would have more offspring than the stars in the sky or the sands on the beach. When God gave Abraham that promise, he was 90 years old and his wife Sarah was 80 and they had no children. 
Finally, when Abraham was 99 and Sarah 89, two angels and the Angel of the Lord (which is the Old testament name for Jesus) came to visit Abraham. He shared a meal with them and they informed him that at this same time next year, he would be holding a baby in his arms. Sarah overheard this and laughed. When the men asked her if she had laughed, she denied it. They told her that her son would bear the name Isaac, which means laughter. Sure enough, Isaac was born within the year! 
Even when it seems impossible, God keeps his promises! We can trust Him!

A reminder that next week there is only school on Monday and a field trip on Tuesday. We will be in Bay City at a state teachers' conference the remainder of the week.

One of our preschoolers has been diagnosed with a more severe peanut allergy than previously thought. Just a heads up, we do have an allergy to peanuts and an allergy to blue dye in this class, so when it is time for birthday treats, please keep that in mind. Also, I know that preschoolers love to share! But, it is not a good idea to share snacks because of allergies. When we see a child trying to share, Mrs. Dostal and I remind them that we all eat what our parents pack us, because that's what's best for us. Encourage them to share things other than snacks! Thanks so much!!

Have a terrific week!



Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Nankin Mills field trip

I will be sending a hard copy of this home on Friday, but just for your information-


On Tuesday, October 3, 2017, preschool will meet at Nankin Mills Interpretive Center, located at 33175 Ann Arbor Trail, Westland, Michigan 48185.

We will meet at 10 am for a program called “Fall Frolic”. I will supply each preschooler with a plain, white t-shirt for a leaf print craft. The cost is $6/child and $2/adult. The field trip includes a program that lasts for about an hour. We will be outside and walking the nature trails, so be sure to wear appropriate gear!

Feel free to stay and play anywhere at Hines Park after our program is over!

Please fill out the bottom of this slip and return it and the payment by Friday, September 29th.

Thanks!

Mrs. Schneck
----------------------------------------------------------------

My child, ____________, will be attending. ___ children total ___ adults

My child, ____________, will not be attending.

____________________

Signature

Monday, September 18, 2017

Blog for the week of September 18






We are taste testers this week!

This week we are looking at the letter Ff and fruit. Today for table activities we played in miniature apple orchards or did fruit prints. On Friday we will make fruit sculptures and sort fruit.

On Wednesday, we hope to meet all our friends at Plymouth Orchards and Cider Mill at 9:15 am.We hope to have a great day learning about apple trees, having a wagon ride and picking an apple.

This week we are learning about the different parts of fruit like the skin and the seed, exploring different fruits with all of our senses, including taste. We are also listening for the letter Ff and making it's sound.

Some of the KDIs we are emphasizing this week are-

Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment.- We looked for seeds in our fruit, looked at the skin and saw what skin we eat and what skin we don't. Investigated whether the color on the inside of the fruit was the same as the color on the outside.

Pretend play: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through pretend play. - Children had the opportunity to pretend they were in an apple orchard and pick apples and put them in little baskets.

Planning: Children make plans and follow through on their intentions.- We plan for play daily and the children have remembered what they played and remembered what their plan was!

Our Word of God story this week is the story of Noah. After Adam and Eve were made to leave the garden, people just became worse and worse until there was only one family left who believed in God. This was Noah's family. God told Noah to build an ark and get ready to be onboard for a long time. It took Noah 100 years to build the ark, the other people on earth were given 100 years to come to faith. Instead they made fun of Noah as he built a giant boat nowhere near the water. God had animals come to him, at least two of every kind, to be saved on the ark. When God was ready, he closed the door and it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. The whole earth was covered with water. Finally, after many days, the ark came to rest on top of a mountain. Noah and his family and the animals came out of the ark when there was enough dry land to support them. The first thing Noah did was to build an altar to give thanks to God for keeping them safe through the flood. God placed a rainbow in the sky as a symbol of the promise that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood. 

The books we are reading this week are all apple books- "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall, "The Biggest Apple Ever" by Steven Kroll and "Under the Apple Tree" by Steve Metzger.

Also, first change field trip wise- The field trip to Nankin Mills originally scheduled on October 10th will now take place on Tuesday, October 3rd. More information will be coming home later this week!


Have a terrific week!!

Mrs. Schneck

Monday, September 11, 2017

Blog for the week of September 11-15, 2017

Week two is off to a great start!

We are looking at and listening for the letter Mm this week as we play with, build with, paint with marshmallows!

Our table activities for the week include- using tweezers to pick up little marshmallows and put them into ice cube trays, sorting marshmallows by size, shape and color, painting with marshmallows, playing with marshmallow playdoh and seeing how high a tower we can build with marshmallows.

We will also be building with marshmallows and toothpicks, making our name with marshmallows, examining marshmallows with all five senses and adding an "Mm is for marshmallow" page in our journal.

Some of the KDIs we are looking at this week are-

Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and hand-eye coordination in using their small muscles. - Using tweezers, poking toothpicks into marshmallows, coloring and drawing all get our fine motor skills going.

Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment.- Observing with all 5 senses, how does it feel, taste, smell, look and sound!

Classifying: Children classify materials, actions, people, and events. - We are sorting or classifying by shape, size and color.

Our Word of God story for the week is about Adam and Eve and the first sin. God created a beautiful world and placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden where all their needs were provided for! They had all the food they could eat, no weeds grew. They had work to do, but it was a pleasure. God had placed two trees in the middle of the garden, The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from those trees. This was a way that they could show their love for God, by doing what he asked them to do. Satan, in the form of a snake, came and tempted Adam and Eve to eat, and they did. 
God removed them from the garden so they wouldn't eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in sin. He told them life would be hard for them from now on, but He also promised a Savior who would come, live a perfect life and die an innocent death for all our sins.


An informational slip went home today about the field trip next Wednesday to Plymouth Orchards and Cider Mill. We will meet at the Orchard at 9:15 and you are free to stay as long as you like! Please return the slip whether you are going or not, so I have an accurate number and know if we still need to wait for someone for the hay ride!

We have had alot of interest in our four year old preschool this year! We are presently full. We have discussed the possibility of adding an afternoon session. It would go from 12noon-3pm. I will be sending out a Survey Monkey to see how many would be interested in an afternoon session. This in no way would make you obligated to be part of an afternoon class. Just seeing what interest is out there!

Thanks!

Have a terrific week!
Mrs. Schneck

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

First Day!!

What a great day of four year old preschool we had!! Old and new friends together and everyone had a great day and got along pretty well!!

Today for table activities we had the choice of making colored bubbles or just playing  and exploring toys. Next week we will be back to our normal choice of table activities to keep us busy before Morning Meeting. 

This week we are looking and listening for the letter Bb. We are having fun with bubbles, blowing them, painting with them, popping them. We will dance on some bubble wrap on Friday and look at square bubbles inside three dimensional shapes.

We will add a page to our journal for the letter Bb and bubbles.

We are also listening to the first Bible story of the year. It is the story of creation. We learned about how God created the world in just six days, what he created on each day, a song and the very first passage of the Bible, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1.

Using the HighScope curriculum, each week we concentrate on or make sure to let the children experience some Key Development Indicators or learning goals for young children. It is not so much that they master each goal, just that they are given opportunity to use and experience them.

Some of the KDIs (Key Development Indicators) we are concentrating on this week are-

Cooperative play: Children engage in cooperative play.- We are learning to play together. After a summer of perhaps playing with older or younger siblings often with different interests, we play with our peers to learn to share and take turns, because often, we all want and like the same things.

Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment. - Watching what happens when I blow too hard or too soft to make a bubble, how can I get more bubbles, experimenting to get the result I want. We try to let our students figure it out and experiment.

Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds.- The letter Bb.

Some of these KDIs we will be working on every week, some will be a specific week. For a list of all the KDIs we hope to reach this year look at - http://www.princetonk12.org/Preschool/Preschool%20Key%20Developmental%20Indicators_chart.pdf

In the books we read this week, bubbles play part of the story- "Harry, the Dirty Dog" by Gene Zion and "Curious George Gets a Medal" by H.A. Rey.

Have a terrific week!
Mrs. Schneck