Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween and Reformation! 

Wednesday, November 5th is Muffins for Mom.  Come and enjoy a breakfast pastry with your child in the church basement from 7:00-7:45.  You are also invited to stay for chapel at 8:10. Please plan to be on time (8:00) on this day. 

The marble run has been a popular choice for many of the friends.  The marble run helps children make a plan, test it out, and adapt as needed.  It also helps children develop problem solving skills! 


The listening center was again very popular!  As you know by now, the listening center helps promote the love of reading, the connection between spoken word and written print, and helps tracking skills. 


We also played in the doctor office! 


As you know, we have been making collaborative books this week.  The children today worked to make their own books!  




We then headed to the commons to run and play! 













During morning meeting we played a game called Tricky Mouse.  In this game, the children close their eyes as I hide a mouse under one of the letters.  Then, the children one by one guess which letter the mouse is hiding under.  This game is a great way to practice letter recognition! 




During small group time, the children helped decide what was wrong in various pictures.  (Cat in the refrigerator, wheels of a car are square, etc.) This game promotes cognitive development! 





The friends also measured each other with blocks, and recorded the results on their clip boards.  This activity promotes counting, writing, and number recognition. 







We then each had a chance to write our own book!  As you know, success for each child is different.  Success for some children in this activity is orientating the book correctly.  Success for some children is drawing pictures of their story.  Success for some children is drawing letter like forms to represent the words in their book. 

This activity helps children develop concepts of print (how to orient a book, reading left to right, etc.), symbolic development (applying meaning to pictures, scribbles, and representations), and a sense of story. 





After small group time, we enjoyed our second free choice time! 











During Jesus time, we learned that God has given us each special talents.  Some of us are really good at painting.  Some of us are really good at helping people.  When we use our talents, we can glorify God!  We learned that it is important to glorify God with our talents because He loves us so much!  He sent Jesus to die on the cross and rise again to save us from our sins! 

We love gym time! 








Thursday, October 30, 2014

Well it looks like fall is here!  :) 

A couple upcoming dates:

Wednesday, November 5th is Muffins for Mom.  Come and enjoy a breakfast pastry with your child in the church basement from 7:00-7:45.  You are also invited to stay for chapel at 8:10. Please plan to be on time (8:00) on this day. 

This morning the friends had fun creating with the marble run! They deepened their problem solving skills as they worked to find a way for the marbles to flow on the marble run. 





The doctor office was also very popular this morning!  The children are learning empathy, care, and having fun! 





The friends were very excited for the listening center.  The listening center helps promote the love of reading, the connection between spoken word and written print, and helps tracking skills. 



The writing center is a great way to engage in fine motor development.  Fine motor muscles are the group of muscles that control refined movements such as writing, drawing, and cutting.


Brr!  It was a little chilly outside this morning.  Please be sure that your children have a warm coat.  Even if the temperature is going to reach a higher degree later in the day, it might still be chilly when we go outside at 8:45.  :) 





During morning meeting, we read a funny book entitled Dinosaurs Love Underpants. Before we read the book, we discussed the title of the book.  The title of a book gives us a clue to what the book is about.  We discussed that the illustrations on the page give us a clue as to what the words say.  We are learning valuable concepts of print! 


After snack, Mrs. Stafford, Julia's mom, came and read a book to us!  


During small group time, we worked on our expressive language and storytelling skills.  We started the activity by with a sentence and a picture I gave them. The children then each expanded the story with their own page.  They dictated to me what their part of the story would say, and then they illustrated their story. This activity helps develop expressive language and deepens children's understanding of the connection between spoken word and written print. These books will be in the book nook for friends to read! 






With Mrs. Buchholz, the friends also practiced their descriptive language with I spy boxes.  The children worked in pairs to spy an item in the box.  The other friend had to guess the item without pointing; he/she had to use descriptive words!  What a great way to expand vocabulary!  



The friends then had fun exploring and building with the marble run! 



Then it was time for more free choice! 
















During Jesus time, we discussed all of the things we see in God's house.  We learned that we don't have to be in God's house to pray.  We can pray anywhere and anytime!  God hears our prayers! 

We then went back outside to run and play!