Many, Many Thanks To You All

Well these past few days have been so much fun. No planned activities ... just fun. We wanted to thank everyone who donated their time and brought goodies, etc. We could not have done it (and stayed sane) without you all.

We also wanted to say "thanks" for the many thoughtful gifts from ALL of "our" kids. You all were so kind in your gift giving and it is very appreciated. We have been blessed with a great group of kids and a great group of parents in our three's AND our four's classes this year. We are so grateful. We enjoy our days so much that we are already dreading the end of the year!

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Rest and fun for you all.

Sorry. Missed Friday's Post

Sorry. We missed Friday's post. We had a super day except there were six kids out! Today, there were three out. Apparently, there is a stomach "thing" going around. Mrs. Eastman and Mrs. Sapp even began to feel a bit queasy on Friday afternoon. Lots of rest and relaxation over the weekend helped us. So, keep in mind the holidays are coming up and we don't want anyone to be ill. We are washing hands like crazy (and asking the kids to keep their fingers out of their noses). Please help reinforce this message at home!

Our letter this week is "K". It's a tough one for these guys to write but all did super today with our practice sheet. So proud.

Our Big Event involved finding a construction paper kite that had a number on it and then putting it in order on the dry erase board. We absolutely were blown away that these kids were recognizing the printed double-digits and knew which went were. While this was done in a group on the rug, each child worked independently to identify which number came next and locate it on the table. A-MAZE-ING.

Ollie is currently in Australia. These kids are so excited to discover where he is next. It makes the entire lesson very fun for us, too! They totally "get" that he is "far" and they can't wait to see him again. Many are saying "I miss Ollie". These children are so special they are very grateful when Ollie "sends" them gifts from his locale. Today, it was a coloring page of a kangaroo. Ollie explained Aboriginal art and we mimicked this in the art room today. We instructed the kids to use only the tip of a Q-tip to make "dots". While it was a challenge to do so (and not "drag" the Q-tip across the page cuz that is the tendancy) they did a great job. Their art turned out sooooo cute.

We know you won't believe this, but they are reading now too! At the end of the day, we got out some scrabble-like letters and just put them on the rug asking the kids to name the sound they make. When we discovered how easy that was for them, we moved on to word "families". Mrs. E. explained last week that a word "family" is kind of like their family. For instance, everyone in Mrs. Sapp's family has the same name "Sapp". But, each individual person has their own name. So, in a word family like "an" the ending stays the same. However, when you change the first letter, the word changes. We did this on the rug with "at" and "op". They totally got it!

We sure hope Santa is good to these guys this year because they deserve it. They are so well-behaved and very, very smart. They all work very hard to perform well and we couldn't be more pleased with each and every one of them.

J is for Jelly

We started the day with some jelly! Mrs. Sapp gave each child a piece of bread with grape jelly spread on top. The kids got to use their finger to make the letter "J". They did a super job. Very excited when they did it! Then we had a little treat for our tummies!

We went to the art room and read a story called "This Is Not A Box". It's a cute tale about a little bunny who comes upon a cardboard box. Only with his imagination, he turns the box into all kinds of things like a spaceship, a boat, a car, etc. So we followed up the story with our own activity. The kids were instructed to glue a construction paper box on their paper then use oil pastels to "embellish". We discussed our imaginations and how they can make up stories in our heads. Many kids came up with cute things. One gal changed her box into a polar bear! Nicely done!

We practiced our cutting and scissors skills with a cute santa xerox. Santa's beard had some dashed lines that the kids were to cut on. We demonstrated the proper grip and how to "chomp" the paper. Many kids went back to their desks and you could tell they were thinking hard. Their little hand muscles are not quite developed yet. But, by continuing to practice, and playing with playdough, etc., we will get there.

We finished up the day by making some patterns with little 1" cubes. At this age, kids are still trying to grasp the concept. However, a few really got it today!

Middle Of The Week

Our site word this week is "TO". The kids said, "that's easy". They are right. We introduced them to the "other" "to's". There is "two", and "too". It's likely we confused them totally ... on second thought, they are such a smart group ... maybe not!

We also celebrated the number "2". As luck would have it, we used our handy-dandy number of the day board and that's what popped up! We did two jumps. We discussed all the "two's" in the room. Mrs. E even discussed the notion of "pairs" with the kids. We have a pair of eyes. A pair of noses, etc.

Our science lesson focused on gravity and air. We made helicopters from construction paper and discussed how to fly them. The problem was we had to be somewhere that was up fairly high. Some suggested getting on the roof of the building. Naah. That wouldn't really be feasible. Oh. We could stand on the playhouse in the indoor gym. We could. But could be dangerous. We could stand on each other's shoulders. May not be high enough and Mrs. Sapp is getting old. Oh. Someone came up with the idea of standing at the top of the steps and tossing them down! Sure. Let's try it. Guess what? It worked and we had so much fun flying them. Mrs. E stood at the top and the rest of us sat down below and watched them float to a stop. So much fun, we did it twice!

Mrs. Wahoff came in to read a Christmas story to us. They were quite interested and very well behaved. Course that's no surprise!

We also visited with Mrs. Erikson and learned about collages. We made our own Christmas tree collage!

Finally, Ollie was in England. He sent us a package! Inside was the traditional "cracker". We also practiced being British soldiers with stone faces. Mrs. E even tried to spook us ... it worked. Then we dressed our own paper doll. So cute.

Also, just wanted to let you know that next week is our last week before the holiday break. On Friday, we will have an "Open House" of sorts. Mrs. McCarthy has planned some fun activities for us. We will eat pizza together and parents are welcome to join us. We will dismiss early to begin our restful break. Just wanted you to know that the rest of the school will be having a sing-along with the Music Lady on Wednesday. We opted to have a celebration on Friday instead. First, we thought it might be a challenge for parents to drop off in the am, come back for 20 minutes (fight parking lot traffic), sing and go home only to come back and pick them up again. We hope you feel the same. Still, you are welcome to come Wednesday if you like. Check with us on times.

The Letter J

Boy did they blaze through that letter writing exercise. We are gonna have to step-it-up. These guys are getting so good at writing their letters! You all must be working hard at home! We are so proud.

Today we made jellyfish out of construction paper in honor of the letter J. We also began some work with patterns. Some kids are aware of the concept and working hard to reproduce their own. Others are still working to understand what a pattern is. In fact, at this age, it's quite amazing they are willing to try. They are such hard workers and such intelligent little guys and gals. This notion of patterns will be our focus for several weeks ahead.

Mrs. Eastman worked with the kids in a group today. She read a story about Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel and the christmas lights on their house. We followed up with our own lights (beads) and house. We made a pattern using red and green beads on a pipe cleaner. This became the lights on our house. Many did very well. Some started out well and lost it. No worries. It's a difficult concept at their age.

Also, letting you know that next Thursday will be our last day before the holiday break. At 10:40 we are asking you to join us in a sing-along with the Music Lady. We will then head downstairs to the Undercroft room for cookies and snacks. The children will be dismissed after the treats.

Look for a note to come home soon.

Friday With The Four's

Today there were five children out sick! Keep and eye on those little guys 'cuz something is going around. It's a good time to remember that these little infections spread quickly through our class and that staying home when we are worn out or have drippy, green or yellow stuff from our noses is probably best!

We finished up our "MY" sight word with our sight word page today. Not only are the kids writing their beautiful letters these days, but now they are trying to "read" the sentences on these pages! Simply thrilling to watch.

Ollie is now traveling in Mexico! Right off the bat, the kids noticed this was not really far from home. Yes. It took him some traveling to get from Japan to Mexico, but Mexico is relatively close to Ohio. Ollie wrote to the kids all about the traditions in Mexico at Christmastime. Ollie told the kids about the legend of the Poinsettia. (And we read a book by Tomi DePaola) He told them all about the Nativity. He told them about the Mexican flag and he told them about pinata's! He included a small gift for the kids ... a coloring page with kids hitting a pinata. One sweet boy suggested we make a gift for Ollie since he has been sending us such fun stuff! Can you believe these little hearts?! So at the end of the day, we did just that. We colored pictures that we will put together to construct a Welcome Back sign!

Later in the day, we made a cute poinsettia out of construction paper and tissue paper. They did such a wonderful job and made some pretty pics! We also learned a few songs. One about the 7 continents and another about the compass rose!

Finally, the kids made a gift for their families a few weeks back. They were ready to come home today so we packaged them up and sent them home. The kids know they are for Christmas and most want to wait to give to you all then. Course, if you open it before, that is fine ... but they really will be excited to have something for you on Christmas morning! BTW, they are fragile!

Its was a great day. Now we are ready for the weekend!

A Fun Thursday With The Threes

Our Thursday was fun! We celebrated the letter "X" by making an "X" with some bumpy paper and then doing a crayon rubbing. They loved seeing the surprise pop through.

We read a cute book called "Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash". The story starts with a women washing her clothing and hanging it on a line to dry. Soon, though she begins to wash everything in sight! Including the dog! And, a bat! She even washes the Christmas wreath! The boys and girls laughed and giggled. Afterward, we did a little art project about the story. The kids colored "wash" then hung it on the line.

We also sent home some writing sheets with your child's name. We are hoping you will continue to practice reciting and writing the letters in your child's name. This really helps to reinforce the desire to "read". We are working hard in the classroom with name recognition.