Merry Christmas! 

We had a fun day of school today! 

Look at the friends cooperating this morning!! They are learning valuable social skills.  Research shows that children who have strong social skills will perform better academically later in life! 

Making presents together! 

We then went to the gym this morning! 

Back in the classroom, we read some of our favorite Christmas books! 

We enjoyed our snack in the classroom! 

After snack, we spread out around the room to catch flying popcorn!!  (We were sure not to ear the popcorn.)  The friends had so much fun!! 

Once we cleaned up the flying popcorn game, we made a tent for our movie time!  We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas.  (There are three times in the movie when the word "stupid" is said.  We talked about how we do not say that word because it is not nice.) 

During the movie, we enjoyed some popcorn!  (We made a fresh batch. :) ) 

After the movie, we had time for more free choice! 

We then went to the gym.  (without the iPod... :(  There are no pictures from the gym.  I apologize.) 

During Jesus time, we reviewed the Christmas story together with props.  We remember that the BEST part of Christmas is Jesus' birth!  Our Savior was born on Christmas! 

Welcome to the gift making workshop!  :) 

This morning the friends were very excited to begin making and wrapping presents for their family and friends.

The friends also had a lot of fun playing together in the block center! While they are playing together, they are learning valuable social skills including problem solving, cooperation, and versatility. 

We had some time to play in the commons before chapel. 

Mrs. Helmkamp led our chapel today!  She shared a birthday invitation with us!  We set up the church for the party, but we forgot to see who is the guest of honor.  Many of the children guessed that it is Jesus, and they were correct!  Mrs. Helmkamp reminded us that the best part of Christmas is Jesus' birthday!  Jesus is our Savior! He was born so that He could live a perfect life, die on the cross, and rise again to take away our sins.  What better reason to celebrate?!

During small group time we played a roll and decorate the Christmas tree game on the SMARTboard!  This game helps children practice counting and quantifying! 

We also played another roll and decorate the tree game with Mrs. Buchholz! 

We practiced writing Christmas words in our journals.  As I have said before, just as each child is unique, success for each child is also unique. Writing success for some children is using correct pencil grip and pressure.  Success for some children is writing upper and lower case letters.  Writing success for some children is exploring lines and curves to make letters.  As you know, we celebrate each child's individual success and work to scaffold each child's writing abilities. 

During second free choice time, the children once again worked together to create their own games.  They worked to assign roles to one another, plan their play, and then act it out.  This mature play promotes cognitive development and it a large reason why free choice play is so important. 

After free choice, we danced to some fun songs on the SMARTboard! 

Happy Party Day!

This morning the friends worked together in the blocks to create some intricate structures! They are learning problem solving and cooperation!

Avery worked hard on her "good junk" creation.  She is learning persistence and creativity! 

We went out to the big playground today! 

Mrs. Mudd came and led our party today!  Thank you to Mr. Brauchle who helped with the party today! 

We made a Christmas tree snack! 

Mrs. Mudd then read us a book- The First Night.

We made a gingerbread man ornament.

We also played a fun toss across game! 

Mrs. Mudd helped us play Christmas BINGO.  

We also played pin the nose on the snowman! 

After the party, it was time for second free choice! 

Gym time!! 

During Jesus time, we reviewed the Christmas story together with props.  We remember that the BEST part of Christmas is Jesus' birth!  Our Savior was born on Christmas!