Kk is for kitten

This week we are listening to and looking for the letter Kk.

Table activities include threading buttons on pipe cleaners, playdough mat cats, Pete the Cat slime, making cat faces, cat coloring pages and making kitten toys.

Small group activities include coloring a cat with Craypas (oil pastels) and learning to blend colors, painting  a wooden cat and adding Kk is for kitten to our journals.

KDIs for the week are-

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.- Kk and Cc can make the same sound, even though they are different letters.

 Art: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through two- and three-dimensional art.- This week we use different media to make art.

Sense of competence: Children feel they are competent.- We are trying to build this more and more as we encourage independence.

Jesus Time- This week we hear the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. Leprosy was a devastating illness in Jesus' day. You were separated from your family and friends because of the danger of contagion. Ten men cried out to Jesus for healing and he had compassion on them and sent them to show themselves to the priest to show that they were cured. As they ran to the priest, one turned around to go back. He sought out Jesus to thank him for the miracle of being healed. Jesus asked, "Weren't there ten men that I healed?" 
How often we forget to thank God for the miracles he does for us every day! Remember to thank Him!!

Books of the Week- "Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons" by Eric Litwin, "Millions of Cats" by Wanda Gag and "Cat's Colors" by Jane Cabrera.

Unfortunately, our field trip for this month did not work out due to scheduling conflicts. We will see if we can get a cat visitor sometime this month!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Schneck

Nn is for Noodles

This week we are playing with and listening for Nn and noodles!

Table activities include playing with various cooked noodles, putting angel hair and spaghetti in colander holes, searching for treasure in dry noodles and making noodle sculptures on pipe cleaners.

Small group activities are making a noodle necklace and adding the page Nn is for noodles to our journal.

KDIs of the week are-

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.- Where is the word is the /n/ sound? 

Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles. - Still working on this as we thread noodles on yarn and pipe cleaners and try to slide angel hair into tiny colander holes with out breaking it.  

Jesus Time- This week we hear about Jesus feeding a great crowd of people. Jesus had been teaching people as he walked around the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Now as it is getting close to meal time, they are all far from home or any town and they are starting to get hungry. When a disciple points this out to Jesus, he instructs him to feed the crowd. The disciple balks- "Me? Even if I had an entire years salary, it wouldn't be enough. Not to mention, there is no town nearby that would have enough food for this crowd." There seems to have been about 15,000 people in the crowd. One disciple takes Jesus seriously and sees what he can find. A young boy is willing to share his lunch which is 2 small fish and 5 small loaves of bread. Jesus instructs the people to sit down and he blesses the food. Then he begins to break of pieces and hand them out. The food stretches on and on. He tells the disciples to collect the leftovers once everyone has had their fill and there are 12 baskets left over! The crowd is amazed and wants to make Jesus their "Bread King", they'd never have to worry about food again. But Jesus did not come to be their "Bread King", he came to be their Savior! He disappears from their midst and they return home. How often we seek to make Jesus our bread king, praying for what we want, physical needs, when forgetting to thank him for blessings already received and the faith and trust we really need! And the forgiveness he so freely gives for our misguided priorities. Jesus is our Savior!

Books of the week- "Noodles" by Sarah Weeks and David A. Carter, "Wednesday is Spaghetti Day" by Maryann Cocca-Leffler, and "Today is Monday" by Eric Carle.

Don't forget, Wednesday is Career Day and NO SCHOOL Friday as we cheer our Panther basketball team on to victory in their tournament!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Schneck

Ee is for experiments!

This week we are looking and listening for the letter Ee and experimenting as scientists and researchers. Asking questions, making guesses, looking for answers.

Table activities include exploring with magnets, experimenting with oil and water, a non-Newtonian fluid, and static electricity.

Small group activities are experimenting with oil, water and an "Alka Seltzer" type tablet to make a lava lamp or volcano. Oil is lighter than water, because the seltzer tablet binds with the water to create carbon dioxide, it lifts the water higher than the oil, creating "bubbles" of colored water. Friday we will experiment with colored water, milk and dish soap on Q-tips. As the fats and proteins of the milk molecules interact in different ways with the molecules of detergent and water, they attract and repel them to make interesting color swirls in the milk.

KDIs for the week are-
Experimenting: Children experiment to test their ideas. - Every morning they can try things out and test how things work together.
Predicting: Children predict what they expect will happen. - During small group we ask for a prediction or hypothesis, and then we test to see if we are right!

Jesus Time- This week we hear a sad story with a very happy ending. In our story a young girl is very sick. Her parents have tried everything to help her get well, doctors, medicine. She just keeps getting worse, feverish, not eating. The little girl's father is even a government official and tapped into every resource he has to no avail. Finally, the father decides to try to find this man, Jesus, that they have been hearing about. He heals people, maybe he can heal his daughter. The man, Jairus, scours the city and finds Jesus. He begs him to come with him to his home to heal his daughter. When they arrive, they are told they are too late, the little girl has died. Jesus tells Jairus not to worry, she is only asleep. The mourners laugh in derision and Jesus asks them to leave. He takes Jairus, his wife, Peter, James and John into the room where the little girl does indeed lie dead on her bed. Jesus takes her hand in his and says, "Little girl, get up." AND SHE DOES! He has healed her, completely. He tells her mother to get her something to eat and drink and tells all those present to keep this miracle a secret. Jesus wants people to follow him because of the words he speaks, not the miracles he performs. Jesus loves and cares for his people!

Books of the week- "The Magic School Bus Gets Cold Feet" by Joanna Cole, "Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein" by Don Brown and "Ada Twist, Scientist" by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts.

Tomorrow is the Field Trip to Ann Arbor Hands On Museum- Meet you there at 10am!

Next week is Spirit Week and we have dress up days and NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, MARCH 1!

Monday is Hat Day- wear your craziest or favorite hat!
Wednesday is Career Day- What do you want to be when you grow up?

Have a terrific week!!!
Mrs. Schneck

Vv for Valentines!

This week we are listening for the Vv sound and looking for Vv for Valentines!


Table activities include coloring wooden hearts, making Valentine volcanoes, drawing hearts, playing in a Valentine sensory bin, making bead hearts and decorating foam hearts.

Small group activities include making our bag for our Valentines, handing out and receiving Valentines and adding a Vv is for Valentines page to our journals.

KDIs for the week-
Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles.- Lots of peeling stickers, coloring, stringing beads in our activities this week.

Art: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through two- and three-dimensional art.- creating Valentines for those they love this week. 

Jesus Time- This week we hear the miracle of Jesus calming the storm. Jesus had been preaching, teaching and healing all day. He and the disciples were crossing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus fell asleep on a cushion in the back of the boat. A storm blew up, and the disciples became frantic. Keep in mind that at least four of his disciples were fishermen who had experienced storms before. They thought they were going to drown, and Jesus slept on. Finally they woke him up and asked, "Don't you care that we are about to die?" Jesus shook his head, their faith was still so weak. They had seen miracles and heard his teaching, and still didn't trust him! He stood at the front of the boat and with three words, "Peace! Be still!" calmed the storm. He stands with us in the storms of life and calms them for us. Trust him, don't worry! He is with us always!

Books of the week- "Pete the Cat: Valentine's Day is Cool" by Kimberly and James Dean, "I Love Hugs" by QEB publishing, "How Spider Saved Valentine's Day" by Robert Kraus.

We will hand out Valentines on Wednesday of this week.

Field trip to Ann Arbor Hands on Museum on Thursday, February 21st! Return slips by this Friday.

NO SCHOOL next Monday for Presidents Day and Pastor/Teacher conference.

Have a fantastic week!

Mrs. Schneck

Ll is for all our letters

We are hoping to have a normal week of school and finally finish our review of all the letters we've covered so far this year!

Table activities for the past three weeks are magnetic letters, letters in bubbles, matching foam letters, ABC activities, paint dot letters, letter coloring pages, hole punch letter match, catching magnetic letters with magnet wands, making pattern block and duplo letters and matching lettes with clothespins.

Small group activities are letter/sound match, painting the letter that begins our name, circling the letter and adding our letter to our journal.

KDIs for the week are-

 Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds.- We are working hard on this every day!

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. - which sounds are the same? 

Jesus Time- This week we hear about a man who couldn't walk. His friends heard about Jesus and the miracles that he could do and they heard the great news that Jesus was visiting their town. So they took their friend on a stretcher to see Jesus. The house that Jesus was teaching and preaching in was so crowded that they couldn't fit. They weren't about to give up. They carefully carried their friend up to the roof, once there, they moved some tiles and lowered their friend down, right in front of Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said,"Be happy, your sins are forgiven." When the leaders who were there grumbled about Jesus forgiving his sins, Jesus showed that he was God by telling him to rise up, take up his mat and go home. People were astonished, Jesus had healed a man who was paralyzed completely! 

Books of the week are "Animalia" by Graeme Base, "Eating the Alphabet" by Lois Ehlert and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. The last two weeks we read "R is for Robot: A Noisy Alphabet" by Adam F. Watkins, "alphabet adventure" by Audrey Wood and "Amazon Alphabet" by Martin and Tanis Jordan.

We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Wednesday, February 13th. I will send a list of names via email. We may have some cookies and punch, but most of the time will be spent passing out Valentines!

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Schneck

Uu is for upside-down!

This week we are experimenting with upside down and listening for the sound of Uu.

Table activities include stacking upside down cups, coloring on an upside down table, weaving on upside down table legs, coloring upside down pictures and turning cups and bowls upside down in water play.

Small group activities are using our muscles to put large rubber bands on upside down chair legs making squares, triangles and x's, and then taking them off again and adding a Uu to our journals. On Wednesday, our visit from the Leslie Science Center from 9:15-10:00 will take the place of our small group.

On Wednesday we will learn about how animals get ready for winter! Parents are welcome to come watch. Still drop off and pick up at the usual times.

KDIs of the week are-
Body awareness: Children know about their bodies and how to navigate them in space.- We tried turning our bodies to look upside down at our names written upside down on the board, hung upside down on a chair to throw a ball, weird ways our bodies may not have moved before.

Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world. - Leslie Science Center will help us with this concept! 

Jesus Time- Now we move ahead until Jesus is twelve years old and attending Passover in Jerusalem with his parents for the first time. Jesus and his extended family travel from Nazareth to Jerusalem to spend a week worshiping at the temple and visiting with each other. When it is time to return to Nazareth, Jesus is not with Mary and Joseph, but they assume he is traveling with family or friends making their way back home. When night comes and Jesus still isn't around, they become worried and return to Jerusalem to find him. They searched the city for three days. When they finally find Jesus, he is sitting in the temple fielding questions from the scribes and elders, who are amazed at the knowledge of this young boy. Mary and Joseph ask him why he worried them by disappearing. He stated that he had to be about his Father's business. Jesus was reminding them who he was and why he came, not to be a carpenter in Nazareth, but to be the Savior of the world. He went home with them and the Bible tells us that he grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. Jesus does what he needs to do to accomplish our salvation, living a perfect life and dying an innocent death. He was both true man and true God.

Books for the week- "Round-trip" by Ann Jonas, "Silly Sally" by Audrey Wood and "Upside Down Day" by Julian Scheer.

Wednesday we have our visit from Leslie Science and Nature Center from 9:15-10:00 and on Tuesday, January 22nd, all are welcome to join us at Airtime on Warren Rd from 9:45-12:15 for a school wide field trip on the trampoline!

Have a super week!

Mrs. Schneck

Jj is for the jungle!

This week we are learning about Jj and what lives in the jungle!

Table activities this week include creating paper animals with animal print paper, stamping with animal feet, creating a jungle scene with stamps or playdough, figuring out where in the jungle certain animals live and jungle sensory play.

Small group activities are creating a jungle rain stick, a snake paper plate and adding Jj is for jungle to our journal.

Our KDIs of the week are-

Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world. As we learn about animals and the climate of the jungle, we learn about the world.

Classifying: Children classify materials, actions, people, and events.- Which animals live in a jungle? Which do not?

Jesus Time-
This week we hear about the Wise Men or Magi who come from so far away to praise and worship the Savior of the world! When Jesus was born a large, bright star appeared in the sky. Several wise men from the east saw that star and decided to follow it where ever it lead. We can only guess that they heard the promise of a Savior perhaps from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego or maybe Daniel in the Old Testament. They followed the star for almost a year when they reached Jerusalem. It made sense to them that if there was a newborn king, he would be in the capital city. They asked around seeing if anyone knew anything about a king. Word of their arrival reached King Herod, who was a very wicked king. He certainly knew nothing about a new king and was not about to lose his throne. He called the wise men before him and asked what they knew and what they were looking for. Through his own wise men, he found out that the new king was to be born in Bethlehem, not far from a Jerusalem. Herod asked them to go worship the newborn king and then return to tell him exactly where this little one was. He was not looking to worship Jesus, but to get rid of a challenger to his throne. The wise men continued to follow the star to Bethlehem where it stopped over a house where Jesus and his family now lived. They entered and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. When they were sleeping, an angel appeared to them and told them to go home a different way so they wouldn't run into Herod again. Then an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, urging him to wake up and take Mary and baby Jesus and flee to Egypt. So God kept Jesus safe and sound, ready to do the job of being our Savior.

Coming up- Next Wednesday, January 16th, Leslie Nature Center will be presenting "How Animals Get Ready for Winter" from 9:15-10:00. We will have regular school besides that presentation, so still arrive at 8:30, but if you'd like to see it too, you are more than welcome.

Also, an all school field trip is taking place on Tuesday, January 22nd. There is no school for us on Monday, January 21st since it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We are invited to go to Skyzone from 9:30-noon. I will let you know more details as soon as I have them!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!! Happy 2019! The kids were as amazed as I was that next year will be 2020 and they will all be in kindergarten!

Mrs. Schneck