Pp is for pumpkin!

 This week we are experimenting with pumpkins and listening for the letter Pp.

Table activities include pounding golf tees into pumpkins, making paper jack'o'lanterns, pumpkin playdoh, pumpkin play sensory bin, pumpkin coloring pages and making a pumpkin with beads and a pipe cleaner.

Small group activities are dissecting a pumpkin, decorating a pumpkin and adding a Pp is for pumpkin page to our journal.

KDIs of the week are-

Gross-motor skills: Children demonstrate strength, flexibility, balance, and timing in using their large muscles.- Pounding in pegs, bowling with pumpkins, lots of strength and timing used in our play this week.

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. - Picking out the p's in our speech and making the sound. 

Jesus Time- This week we move forward over 40 years. We quickly went over what the Israelites went through in the desert. The parting of the Red Sea when the Egyptians were chasing after them, sending 12 spies into the promised land only to have 10 of them come back and admit defeat and two spies saying that with God's help, they can defeat them. God made them wander in the desert for 40 years because they didn't believe that they could conquer their enemies with his help. Finally after 40 years is over, the Israelites are ready to enter the promised land. 
Joshua, one of the believing spies, is in charge now. He shows the Israelites one of the first cities they are going to conquer, Jericho. Jericho is surrounded by a wall as thick as a house. Two spies are sent in to see if it has any weaknesses. They can't find any, but God has a different plan to defeat Jericho. The Israelites will walk around Jericho's walls once a day for 6 days and then on the 7th day, they will walk around it 7 times, blow their horns, shout and the walls will tumble to the ground. They do exactly as God says and it happens!! God gives them the city of Jericho!

Books of the Week- "Inside a House That is Haunted" by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, "Too Many Pumpkins" by Linda White, "Pumpkin Heads" by Wendell Minor and "Pumpkin Pumpkin" by Jeanne Titherington.

Remember that Wednesday we can wear our costumes!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Ii is for Insect

This week we are listening to the short sound of Ii and learning about insects.

Table activities are playing with rubber bugs, making bugs out of paper, painting bugs and color matching bugs.

Small group activities are making a model of an insect- three body parts- head, thorax and abdomen and six legs. Hopefully they came away with some information. On Wednesday we will add an Ii is for insect page to our journals.

KDIs of the week-

 Empathy: Children demonstrate empathy toward others.- One of our books puts us in the ant's place and we are encouraged to think of how it would be for someone else if we were in their place.

Book knowledge: Children demonstrate knowledge about books.- Different kinds and formats of books- this week we are reading fiction or pretend books. One is written like a diary.

Jesus Time- This week we are learning about the 10 plagues that God sent to Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. God changed water into blood, sent frogs, tiny flies, sickness to the animals, sores, hail, darkness and locusts. Finally God sent the worst plague of all, death of the firstborn. But the Israelites were kept safe through it all. God gave them directions on how to avoid the final plague so the angel of death would pass over their families. 

Each time, Pharaoh promised to let God's people go and each time, he changed his mind when the troubles were past. How often we do the same, "God just get me out of this mess and I promise I'll go to church more or read my Bible more." Trouble passes and we forget. God's love for us is constant, it's our love for Him that needs work. Keep trying, don't turn your back on God, he is always there!

Books of the week- "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin, "Diary of a Spider" by Doreen Cronin, "Some Bugs" by Angela Diterlizzi, "Hey, Little Ant" by Phillip and Hannah Hoose and "How Many Bugs in a Box?" by David A. Carter.

There is no school this Friday because of Parent Teacher Consultations! Surprise!! I forgot to include that on the calendar! Sign up for a time slot if you haven't yet.

Picture Re-take day is this Thursday, October 25th. If you would like a retake, bring your old photos and meet over at church around 8:45.

Next week students can wear their costumes on Wednesday for Halloween and we may even trick or treat at the big school so they can see us! Join us for Trunk or Treat on Saturday from 10-12noon!

Have a super week!

Mrs. Schneck

Rr is for reptile!

This week we are learning about reptiles and the letter Rr. We had a reptile visitor today, Stubby, the leopard gecko and hope to have another visitor later in the week!

Our table activities are looking at models of reptiles, pulling snakes out of jello slime, making noodle snakes, alligators in a bubbling swamp, and coloring pages.

For small group, we are making paper plate snakes with lots of scissors skills,  a turtle with a mosaic shell and adding the letter Rr to our journals.

Our KDIs of the week are-

 Vocabulary: Children understand and use a variety of words and phrases.-We are introducing words that have to do with reptiles- don't be afraid of using "big" words with small children- it greatly enriches their vocabulary and understanding!

Communicating ideas: Children communicate their ideas about the characteristics of things and how they work.- Why is something a reptile? How are reptiles different than other animals? What are their characteristics?

Jesus Time- We skip ahead in our Bible stories. We are still in Egypt, where we left Joseph and his family, but now there is a Pharoah who doesn't remember Joseph. This Pharoah is threatened by the number of Jacob or Israel's family who live in Egypt. He decides to curb the growth of these people by having the baby boys thrown into the river to drown. One Israelite mother, Jochabed, saves her little son. She cares for him for three months, hiding him and trying to keep him quiet, but then he just grows too big! She makes a basket-boat for him and with his big sister watching, sets him to float down the Nile. An Egyptian princess sees the basket and asks one of her servants to fetch it for her. She is surprised to see it is a baby. She wants to keep it and immediately, the baby's sister is there, offering to find someone to care for it for her. She runs to get her mother, who gets to take care of the child until he is about 5 years old. The princess names the baby Moses, which means drawn from the water. At 5 years of age, Moses goes to be raised by the Egyptians in the palace.

God is preparing him for his future!

Books of the week are - "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" by Bernard Waber, "The Mixed-Up Chameleon" by Eric Carle and "A Color of His Own" by Leo Lionni.

You should have received an email about Parent-Teacher conferences. They are scheduled for Thursday, October 25 in the evening and Friday, October 26 during the day. We won't have school that Friday. If you didn't receive the email, let me know. I will send it to you!

Fall Festival at Camp Killarney is this weekend! http://www.killarneycamp.org/ Click on the link for more info!

Also coming up- Trunk or Treat at Peace Lutheran- Saturday, October 27 from 10am-12noon- Come enjoy games and trick or treating!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Schneck

Paint Day!

Since we have only one day of school this week, we made it a paint day!

This morning we could fingerpaint or blow paint, for small group we painted with watercolors and even outside we could paint our preschool with chalk paint!

We hope you can join us on our field trip tomorrow at Camp Killarney, 1200 Chisolm Rd. Onsted, MI 49265. We will meet there at 10am, explore some stations, climb a big hill and have a campfire with marshmallows! The cost is $6 per participant over 3 years of age! Bring your mud boots and extra towels, just in case!

We hope you have a great week!!

Mrs. Schneck and Mrs. Oetzel

Blog for October 1, 3, and 5

This week we are having fun pretending to camp and listening and looking for the letter Cc.

Morning activities include playing with a Playmobile camping set, pretending in tents with camping gear, making a bead necklace with camp charms and camp coloring pages.

Small group activities include using scissors, glue and paint to make a campfire, making a lantern and adding the letter Cc to our journals.

KDIs of the week are-

Pretend play: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through pretend play.- As they play in the tents or with the playmobile figures they are playing out story lines and taking up different roles. Fun to listen and see what they come up with!

Building relationships: Children build relationships with other children and adults. - Along with pretend play, no one is camping alone- the children are getting to know one another and building friendships. 

Jesus Time- This week our story is about Joseph. Joseph was one of Jacob's sons. When Jacob fled to his Uncle Laban's house, he ended up marrying both of Laban's daughters. This wasn't how God intended things to be. His favorite wife was Rachel and Joseph was Rachel's son. Rachel's sister Leah had 10 of Jacob's sons. Joseph was his favorite and he showed it. The older 10 sons were responsible for taking care of Jacob's hundreds of sheep and goats. Joseph would be sent out to make sure they were doing their job. Joseph also shared some dreams he had that he felt meant they would one day bow down to him. The last straw was a gift of a multi-colored coat that Jacob gave to Joseph. It was a sign that he was the overseer, the boss, over his older brothers. One day, when Joseph was making his way out to check up on his older brothers, they saw him and began to plot to get rid of him. They threw him in an empty well, took his beautiful coat and thought about killing him. When a merchant caravan came their way, they decided to sell him. Joseph was on his way to Egypt as a slave. They took his coat, ripped it up, dipped it in the blood of a goat they had killed and told their father that they found the bloody ripped up coat on their way home. Joseph must have been killed by a wild animal. Their father believed it and was very sad. Joseph meanwhile, was made a slave to Potiphar in Egypt. He worked hard and was made the head of Potiphar's household.  
Joseph had some pretty bad things happen to him, worse are yet to come! But through it all, God was with him always- in the pit, as a slave, everywhere he goes! God is with us too, always!

Books of the week- "Curious George goes Camping" by Margret and H. A. Rey, "A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee" by Chris Van Dusen and "Charlie Goes Camping" by Carrie Weston and Tim Warnes.

Going to Camp Killarney next Tuesday will bring our units on trees and camping to a great conclusion!! If you haven't yet turned your slip in, there is still time!!

Next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there is NO SCHOOL!! We will be in Stevensville for Teacher's Conference!

Have a terrific week!
Mrs. Schneck

Trees

"I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree" Joyce Kilmer

This week we are looking at trees and the letter Tt. 

Table activities are using playdough with tree parts, building and exploring with parts of the tree like bark, pinecones, cut rounds of branches, a Tt letter hunt, tree geoboards and leaf rubbings.

Our small group activities include making a leaf person, painting a tree and adding the Tt is for tree page to our journal.

Our KDIs of the week are-

Use of resources: Children gather information and formulate ideas about their world. - we use what we have to build and stack and investigate it. Using leaves to make a person- how to make it look like legs, arms or a body.

Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world.  - Seeing the different parts of a tree, talking about how trees grow, what they are good for.

Jesus Time- This week our story is about Abraham's grandchildren- Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were twins born to Isaac's wife Rebekah. Even in the womb, she felt these babies wrestling with each other and Jacob was born holding on to Esau's heel. As they grew older, their rivalry continued. Esau was an outdoorsman, hunting and bringing back game for the family to eat. Spending nights away from home on his excursions. Jacob was a shepherd who stayed close to home, keeping his family's sheep. God had promised that Jacob would receive the blessing of the elder son even though Esau was the oldest. When Isaac was very old and close to blind, he instructed Esau to go and kill a game animal and make him the spicy stew that he loved and he would give him the blessing. Rebekah and Jacob overheard and decided to trick Isaac. She told Jacob to kill one of his sheep, dress in Esau's clothes and put sheepskin on his arms so they would feel hairy like Esau's. She made the spicy stew and Jacob served it to his father, pretending to be Esau. He received the blessing.

When Esau returned and brought the stew to his father, he found out that Jacob had stolen his blessing and was furious!! 

Rebekah told Jacob to run away to her brother's house and he did. That night in the middle of nowhere as Jacob laid down with a stone for a pillow, he had a wonderful dream. In the dream there were angels going up and down a staircase and God was at the very top. Even though Jacob had sinned, God still loved him and was with him! 

When Jacob woke up, he anointed the stone and every time he passed that place, he remembered how God was with him. 

He is with us everywhere, too! God loves us no matter what! 

Books of the week- "A Tree is Nice" by Janice May Udry, "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert and "As An Oak Tree Grows" by G. Brian Karas.

Our next field trip is coming up quickly! It is Tuesday, October 9th  at Camp Killarney in the Irish Hills. The address is 1200 Chisholm Rd, Onsted, MI 49265. 

We plan to meet there at 10:00 to have some fun in tents and trees!! We will be done with the formal program at 11:30, but you are welcome to stay and adventure on your own!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Schneck

Apples. apples, apples!

This week we are concentrating on the letter Aa and apples!

Table activities include apple printing, apple orchard sensory bins, sorting apples and apple pie playdough.

Small group activities are comparing and contrasting apples- we tried 8 different kinds

Our KDIs of the week are-

 Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world-Looking at how apples grow on trees and how apples make more trees- the cycle that God put in place to keep making apple trees!

Pretend play: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through pretend play.- Our apple orchards turned into things we never imagined! A lot of role playing this week- superheros in dollhouses, beans turn into tea, great use of our imaginations!

Jesus Time- Our story this week shows how God keeps his promises, even though sometimes it seems impossible. We are learning about God choosing Abraham to be the beginning of the line that Jesus would be born of someday and the beginning of our family of faith. God instructed Abraham to move to a place that he would show him. He and his nephew Lot followed God to the land of Canaan where they set up their tent homes. They kept sheep and goats and cattle and camels and waited for what God had in store next. God told Abraham to go out and look at the sky and count the stars. God promised Abraham that he would have that many children. Abraham was 90 years old and didn't even have one child yet, but he believed in God's promise. Years later, three men came and visited Abraham, he served them a meal Sarah, his wife, had cooked. They told him that next year at this same time, he would have a child.  Abraham was 100. Sarah who was 90 at this time, laughed, overhearing them in the tent. She would have a baby??!! But she did, and God kept his promise. Generation after generation of Abraham's children and grandchildren followed God. Not always perfectly and not always all of them, but enough, that when the time came for his promise of a Savior to be born, he was born of Abraham's family. And we who believe in Jesus as our Savior are also children of Abraham- more that the stars in the sky!!

Books of the week- "The Biggest Apple Ever" by Steve Kroll, "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall, and "Under the Apple Tree" by Steve Metzger.

We will see you Wednesday at Plymouth Orchard, 10685 Warren Rd. at 9:30 am- our tour leaves at 9:45, but please be there at 9:30!- This is school for Wednesday- then we will see you at preschool on Friday!

Have a apple-tastic week!!!
Mrs. Schneck and Mrs. Oetzel