MONEY IN A FISH--GOOD BYE

As you can see, from all our fun water week pictures, it was very tiring for the kids.  We are sad that this is our last week of preschool for the year, but we are looking forward to some fun activities.  For opening time, we will decorate a picture frame to add your child's class picture and send home.  We will have music and movement time with streamers and bubbles, and squeeze in some board puzzle time too. 

Our Bible story this week is "Money in a Fish" where Jesus told Peter to go fishing in order to pay the temple tax.  We will sing "I Will Make You Fishers of Men," "Praise Him," "I've Got the Joy," and "Jesus Loves Me."  We will have an encore presentation this week of "Slippery Fish" with all his little friends.  For art time, we will either finger paint or paint with a brush on a canvas.  When they are finished, we will place their handprint stamp in the middle for a nice picture to take home.  For snack, we will have Goldfish and fruit snacks.

Storytime this week is a toddler version of "Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister about the beautiful fish who learned to share and gained a lot of friends.  I have taken the words from the toddler version of this story and typed them to read with the older child book because the pictures are larger and more vibrant to see.  We will also read, "My Mommy and Me" by Laura Trayser a lift-the-flap book for Mother's Day and all the ways our mommies help us.

We will play outside and play our color fishing game at the end of the day.

Thank you so much to all our families for making our year at preschool so fun and memorable.  It has been such a blessing to be a part of your child's life and watching them grow and change and blossom.  Have a wonderful summer.
Mrs. Shelly



WATER WEEK 2012--Was so much fun this year.  We were so thankful for the warm weather and that the storms stayed away.  Enjoy the pictures from the 1-2 year old room!

 

WATER WEEK & JONAH & THE WHALE

 

Our year is winding down as this week is WATER WEEK. Please read through the blue paper that was sent home last week for all the details. Along with water week, our Bible theme is "Jonah and the Whale." I have some beautiful pictures ready this week to tell the story of Jonah. We will be gluing a "lift-the-flap" praying Jonah onto the whale's belly before we paint him a bluish gray for our craft time. We will sing "I've Got Peace Like a River," "My God is so Big," and "ABC Song." We will also be singing a new song about Jonah and the Whale that goes like this:

Come listen to my tale

Of Jonah and the whale. Where?
Way down in the middle of the ocean.
How did he get there?
Whatever did he wear? Where?
Way down in the middle of the ocean.
A preaching he should be
In Nineveh, you see -
He disobeyed, O what a foolish notion.
But God forgave his sin.
Salvation entered in. Where?
Way down in the middle of the ocean.

We are planning another new song called "Slippery Fish" with felt board characters of slippery fish, octopus, tuna fish, great white shark, and humongous whale.

SLIPPERY FISH

Slippery fish, slippery fish, slding through the water,

Slippery fish, slippery fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It's been eaten by an ...

Octopus, octopus, squiggling in the water

Octopus, octopus, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It's been eaten by a ...

Tuna fish, tuna fish, flashing in the water,

Tuna fish, tuna fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It's been eaten by a ...

Great white shark, great white shark, lurking in the water,

Great white shark, great white shark, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It's been eaten by a ...

Humongous whale, humongous whale, spouting in the water,

Humongous whale, humongous whale,
Gulp! ... Gulp! ... Gulp! ... BURP!

Pardon me!

A couple weeks ago, the children decorated coffee filters which have now been turned into flowers which we will be attaching to a Mother's Day card. During opening time, they will decorate the card by stamping silk flowers using water color paints.

Storytime is a fun book called "Tickly Octopus" by Ruth Galloway about an octopus who is really good at tickling his friends until he tickles Oyster and causes her to lose her pearl. How will they find it?  "Just Me and My Mom" by Mercer Mayer is about Little Critter's adventures spending his day with his Mom.

Have a blessed week!

Mrs. Shelly

 

NOAH'S ARK, & RAINBOWS

 

Our Bible story emphasis this week will be Noah builds an ark and God's promise through a rainbow. We will sing "Mr. Noah builds an Ark" (sung to "Old McDonald Had a Farm,") "Rainbow Color" song, (sung with a brightly colored rainbow on a stick)."

RAINBOW COLORS

Tune: Hush, Little Baby
Rainbow purple, rainbow blue
Rainbow green and yellow, too.
Rainbow orange, rainbow red.
Rainbow smiling overhead.
Come and count the colors with me.
How many colors can you see?
One, two, three, down to green,
Four, five, six can be seen.
Rainbow purple, rainbow blue,
Rainbow green and yellow, too.
Rainbow orange, rainbow red,
Rainbow smiling overhead.

Other songs we will sing include "I'm in the Lord's Army," "5 Little Ducks," "Twinkle Star," and we will have a story/song on "Noah and the Mighty Ark," that we will look at the pictures and sing "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory." Our craft activity should be fun as we have pudding in red, orange, yellow, and green to make hand print pudding rainbows.

During our opening activities, I have purchased dot paints in five different colors the children can use to color a rainbow pattern to take home.

 

Storytime this week includes "Planting a Rainbow" by Lois Ehlert about planting seeds and bulbs in the ground and the rainbow colors that emerge when the flowers bloom.  Our second book is "Llama, llama Red Pajama," by Anna Dewdney, a favorite of the children, about little llama overcoming his fears to go to sleep.

 

We're looking forward to a fun week.

Mrs. Shelly

 

SAUL BECOMES PAUL--BUTTERFLIES

 

This week, our Bible story is about the conversion of Saul, God speaking to him through the bright light that blinded him, and leading him to Ananias who prayed with him to receive Jesus. We will sing "2 Little Eyes," "Be Careful Little Eyes," and "Jesus Loves Me." We have two new songs about butterflies (listed below) and a picture of a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and a butterfly to show the changes as we sing. 

 

Storytime this week includes a favorite "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle about the cycles of a butterfly's life and all the food he ate to grow so large. Also, we will read "Wee Little Chick" by Lauren Thompson about a tiny chick emerging from her egg into the large barnyard.  She soon found out that even though she was tiny, she could do great things.

The Fuzzy Caterpillar

(Tune: Itsy Bitsy Spider)

The fuzzy caterpillar

Curled up on a leaf,
Spun her little chrysalis
And then fell fast asleep.
While she was sleeping,
She dreamed that she could fly,
And later when she woke up
She was a butterfly.

The Butterfly Song

(Tune: Up on the Housetop)

First comes a butterfly and lays an egg.

Out comes a caterpillar with many legs.
Oh see the caterpillar spin and spin,
A little chrysalis to sleep in.

Oh, oh, oh wait and see!

Oh, oh, oh wait and see!
Out of the chrysalis, my oh my,
Out comes a beautiful butterfly!

During our opening time, we plan to use bug stamps to stamp patterns onto a large flower pattern. During our music time, big colorful flowers will be taped on the floor, and we will pretend to fly around like butterflies. When the music is paused, the children will quickly run to stand on a flower and identify the color of the flower.

For art time, we will sponge paint one butterfly wing with blue, purple, and pink paint. We will then fold the wing over and press to show symmetry in the butterfly. Then, they will add the antennae and the body. These turn out so pretty and each is unique!

 

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Shelly

 

 April 10-12, 2012--Crossing the Red Sea--Wind & Kites

This week, we will decorate our brightly colored kites with tails using colored shapes to glue to our kites.  Our Bible Story this week is about Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. I made a display (pictured above) of water and waves that pull apart so that Moses and our Bible friends can walk across on dry land. The Bible says in Exodus 14:21 that Moses stretched out his hands over the sea, and God caused the wind to blow all night, which caused the water to be divided. We will also play with our parachute by lifting it up and down to feel the wind it creates.  Our snack will be Goldfish and a crunchy mix.  Our songs this week include "I've got peace like a river," "My God is so big," "Whole world in His hands," "ABC Song," and 2 kite rhymes and songs listed below:

I'm a Little Kite

Sung to: I'm a little teapot

 

I'm a little kite up in the sky.

See me flying, oh, so high.

When the wind begins to blow and blow.

I twirl and swirl, just watch me go.

5 Little Kites

 

Five little kites just beginning to soar,

The wind blew one away and that left four.

Four little kites so colorful to see,

The wind blew one away and that left three.

Three little kites waving high for you,

The wind blew one away and that left two.

Two little kites flying in the sun,

The wind blew oneaway and that left one.

One little kite having lots of fun,

The wind blew it away and that left none.

 

During our opening time, we will decorate coffee filters with markers.  When the child is finished, we will spray the coffee filter with water and watch the colors bleed into eachother.  When they dry, we will form these into flowers using colorful pipe cleaners.

For storytime this week, "It's Raining, It's Pouring," by Kin Eagle is a fun story/song about the "old man" and his adventures with different kinds of weather and trying to get to bed without "bumping his head."  "Seymour and Henry" by Kim Lewis are two ducklings whose antics take them farther from their Mommy and how they find her again.

 

Have a blessed week!

Mrs. Shelly

EASTER--JESUS IS ALIVE

 

This week, we will continue with our Easter emphasis with "Jesus is Alive!" Our Bible story will be about Jesus' death and resurection. We will paint paper crosses by stamping silk flowers into pink, purple, and blue paints.   Our songs this week include "Alive Forevermore," "Praise Him," "I've Got the Joy," "Baby Bumblebee," and "Jesus Loves Me."

During our opening music time, we are bringing out our flowers cut-outs to play "musical flowers." This time, we have bumblebee masks the children can wear and pretend to be bees flying around. When the music stops, all the little bees will find flowers to stand on. During opening time, we will make Easter eggs on a stick. First, the children will color the eggs with a white crayon. Then, we will have four cups (with a sponge in the bottom to soak up the water color) filled with water colors to paint the eggs. Where they colored with the white crayon, the water color will not show, and this creates a pretty design.

For storytime this week, we will read "The Story of Easter" by Patricia A. Pingry about Jesus' death and resurrection told in a simple manner.  We will also read "The Runaway Bunny," a Margaret Wise Brown story about a little bunny who keeps trying to run away from his mother and her steadfast love in finding him every time.

REMINDERS: 
1.)  This week is picture week for our class.  If you would like to place a picture order, please turn
       these in to the UCCPA office.
2.)   We will also have our Easter Egg hunts.  The children were sent home with six empty eggs last
       week to fill and return with toddler friendly treats.

Last week, we planted grass seeds in a meat tray and plan to check on the progress this week to see if the seeds have grown.  Each child will be able to water the seeds.

Have a Happy Easter,
Mrs. Shelly

EASTER, PART 1--TRIUMPHANT ENTRY (PALM SUNDAY)

 

This week begins our emphasis on Easter beginning with The Triumphant Entry and Palm Sunday. I have this Bible story on seven leaf shaped pages. As the story is told, each leaf will be attached to a yard stick and form a palm branch at the end that we will wave and say Hosanna. For craft time, the children will create their own scene of "Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem."  We will use a palm branch imprinted in green paint on their papers.  Then they will add pictures of Jesus on a donkey, the people shouting "Hosanna," and crepe paper cut-outs of tunics that the people lay down on the street.   A new song we will sing to the tune of "Farmer in the Del" is:

Jesus is my King

Jesus is my King. Jesus is my King.

That is why I love to sing that Jesus is my King.
Jesus is my Lord. Jesus is my Lord.
I learn of Hi-im in God's word. Jesus is my Lord.
Jesus is my King. Jesus is my King.
He leads me in everything. Jesus is my King.
Jesus is my friend. Jesus is my friend.
He stays with me-e until the end, Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is my King. Jesus is my King.
That is why I shout and sing. He'll always be my King.

On our felt board, we have a brown felt donkey and a white felt Jesus. Each of the children can wear heart-shaped sun glasses (instead of blindfolds) and place Jesus on the donkey as we sing to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down:

Here comes Jesus to the town, to the town, to the town.

Here comes Jesus to the town,
Ho-ho-sanna.

Other songs we will sing this week are "Alive Forevermore," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "ABC." Our snack will be a crunchy mix of Goldfish, Cheerios, pretzels, and animal cookies.

Upon arrival, we will make a triangle shape collage with glue and fun cut-out shapes and confetti.

We are thankful for the nice Spring weather so we can play outside.  When we come in, we will plant grass seed in potting soil, water the seeds, and try to find a sunny place for the grass to grow. Each week, we will observe the changes and also water our seeds.

Storytime this week is a Margaret Wise Brown story called "My World of Color" with each page devoted to a specific color and many items of each color.  Our second story is an Anna Dewdney  favorite story called "Llama, Llama Misses Mama" about young llama overcoming his fears and enjoying all the adventures in school.

We're looking forward to a great week!

Enjoy the Easter season.

Mrs. Shelly

CREATION, PART 3--God Creates Man, Woman, & Land Animals

  We will conclude our emphasis on creation this week with "God Creates a Friend for Adam" as our Bible story.  For our craft time, I have prepared personalized Creation mini books for each child to color and take home.  These books tell what God created on each day.  During our opening time, we will continue our Play-doh time with rolling pins, craft sticks, and plastic animals.  This week, I will bring a gingerbread boy mold to press into the Play-doh as we tell the story of God creating man from the dust of the ground and breathing into him His breath of life.  One of our "end of day" activities will be the "Creation Matching Game" which is a shoebox with 12 pictures of things God created.  A smaller version of the pictures is attached to 12 clothespins.  We will hand out a clothespin to each child, and he/she will match their picture to the picture on the shoebox as we talk about all the things God created.  Snack this week will be animal cookies.  On Thursday, we have a birthday boy, Keegin, and will have special treats.
  Our songs this week include "Praise Him, Praise Him All You Little Children," "I've Got the Joy," and "Old McDonald Had a Farm" (with felt board animals).  We will have our creation fingerplay of "God Made Everything."  Also, we will try a new song called "The Bullfrog Song" with pictures of each animal to add to our feltboard as they are introduced in the song (words below):

THE BULLFROG SONG

The bullfrog sang the strangest song, he sang it night and day:
Kerrunk, kerrunk, kerrunk, kerrunk was all it seemed to say.

A duck who liked to sing thought he would give the song a try:
Kerrunk, quack, quack, kerrunk, quack, quack they sang as I walked by.

The spotted cow had never heard a more delightful song.
Right then and there the spotted cow began to sing along.
The frog, the duck, the spotted cow sang out so loud and clear:
Kerrunk, quack, quack, kerrunk, moo, moo was all that I could hear.

The speckled hen, a mother hen, whose work was never done,
began to sing for she knew when you sing your work is fun.
The frog, the duck, the cow, the hen, all sang the happy song:
Kerrunk, quack, quack, moo, moo, cluck, cluck, they sang the whole day long.

  Storytime this week includes "Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up?" written by Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson is a fun, rhyming story about a kitty who should be getting ready for school, but instead she is practicing her purr, looking for her socks, chasing a little mouse, and more.  We also have a counting book called "1, 2 Buckle My Shoe" by Anna Grossnickle Hines to reinforce number recognition and counting.  "Wee Little Lamb" written by Lauren Thompson is our third story about a shy little lamb who meets a new friend.
  Another end of day activity is our "Brown Bear" books that have been completed and made into personalized books for each child.  Last week, we handed them out during our group activity, and they were so excited to see all the animals they had painted.  The most excitement came when they reached the end of the book and found their family picture.  Big smiles and exclamations of Mommy, Daddy, Brother, and Sister were so enjoyable for us.
  Have a wonderful week, and remember NO SCHOOL next week as it is Spring Break.

Mrs. Shelly