Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Newsletter 5/21/14

Important Dates to Remember: 
May 22nd - Last day of Preschool; 11 a.m dismissal with picnic immediately following and going until 12 p.m (Please note the time change for dismissal)

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"This Is Not My Hat" by Jon Klassen
"Buzz" by Janet Wong
"Spring Is Here" by Will Hillenbrand

Afternoon Books
"Franklin and the Hero" by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark

PLANNING & RECALL
For planning time this week we use train tracks and trains to indicate when it's our turn to plan. Each child adds a piece of track and a train car as they share their work time plans.

BIBLE LESSON
Our Bible lesson this week teaches us about a man named Philip, a believer in Jesus, who shared the good news of what Jesus had done with a man from Ethiopia in Africa. Working through God's Word, the Holy Spirit created faith in this Ethiopian's heart, so he too became a believer in Jesus and was baptized.
Bible verse: Matthew 28:20b "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Bible song: "Surely I Am With You"

MUSIC
Music Time this week is a great opportunity to review our vast repertoire of preschool songs that we've learned throughout our year. Some of the favorites include "Itsy Bitsy Spider, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, This Old Man, Twinkle Twinkle, Pop! Goes the Weasel" and many many more. 

MOVEMENT
We end the school year by learning a silly movement song called "Fandagumbo". We learn what gumbo is - a thick, chunky soup which is often spicy - and try to think of some ways to cool our gumbo off. One idea is to fan it with some paper plates to cool it down. We "fan da gumbo" in a variety if ways - up, down, left, right, and around and around.

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicator (KDI) Natural and Physical World. Aspects of the environment and events that capture a young child's attention and curiosity are virtually unlimited. So much of the world is new to young children - they are constantly collecting data about their natural and physical environment, taking in a vast amount of information every day. Some of the things we do to explore our world this week include taking magnifying glasses outside to look at flowers, rocks, trees, bugs, and grass. We collect natural materials to make a collage, and also make rubbings of different natural materials with wax crayons. 

As we prepare to break for summer vacation, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all parents and families of our preschool this year for the wonderful year we've had. I have really enjoyed getting to know all of your children and your families throughout this school year. I pray you have a blessed and safe summer! 

Enjoying the beautiful day outside as
 we create nature rubbings.














Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Newsletter 5/14/14

Important Dates to Remember: 
May 17th - Reading Rendezvous at the Loussac Library; 12-4 p.m
May 22nd - Last day of Preschool; 11 a.m dismissal with picnic immediately following and going until 12 p.m (Please note the time change for dismissal)

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"The Pigeon Wants a Puppy" by Mo Willems
"Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" by Eric Litwin
"Bear Feels Sick" by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Afternoon Books
"Bears in the Night" by Stan and Jan Berenstain 

PLANNING & RECALL
This week we bring back an old, familiar jingle for planning time which focuses on rhyming words. "Jingle, jangle 'Jax', it's your turn to plan if your name is 'Max'". This planning and recall game works on identifying rhyming sounds, while children enjoy anticipating which child will be chosen next.

BIBLE LESSON
Before ascending into heaven, Jesus promised to be with his believers always, to the very end of the age. Jesus also promised to send the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples, to give them power to tell others about him.  Jesus fulfilled his promise by sending the Holy Spirit to his disciples 10 days after his ascension. As they were gathered in a room in Jerusalem, the sound of a loud wind, and flames of fire appeared over their heads. All the disciples were given the ability to speak in other languages, and many crowds of people who had come to Jerusalem were able to hear and understand the good news the disciples shared about who Jesus is. Many people came to faith in Jesus as their Savior that day.

Without the Holy Spirit working in our hearts, we would be powerless to come to faith on our own. We thank God for sending the Holy Spirit - through baptism and God's Word, to create faith in our hearts so that we too can confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:11)
Bible verse: Matthew 28:20b "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Bible song: "Surely I Am With You"

MUSIC
We learn two new songs this week during Music Time. The first one is called "Ritsch, Ratsch", which uses silly words to capture children's attention. We add pounding movements to the song as we practice keeping a steady beat and working on body awareness. The second song, "Pat Your Chin and Not Your Hair" focuses on similar curriculum concepts, as we feel and express steady beat and act upon simple movement directions.

MOVEMENT
This week we warm up to a song called "Letter Movements", which focuses on the letters H, L, S, F, G, and B as we walk high and low, move slowly and move fast, gallop and balance. We then practice some yoga poses, working on balance, body control and stretching. Some of the poses we practice include the butterfly, dog, tree, bridge, cat, and mule kick. We end movement time with the song called "Farmer's Garden" where we reach to pick bananas, squeeze oranges, thump our fingers on a melon, stretch to weigh the lettuce, peel and shuck corn, bend town to pick tomatoes and reach back to grab the berries. 

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicator (KDI) Experimenting. Young children experiment for two basic reasons. They investigate materials and processes out of curiosity, and they also experiment to solve problems they encounter in play. They try one or more ideas as they look for a solution that works. In both cases, children are actively engaged in handling materials, observing the outcomes of their actions, and forming ideas about the world. We explore and experiment by blowing bubbles with a straw in a pan filled with water and dish soap, we mix paint in "squish bags", we use eye droppers to drop water on different types of paper - paper towel, wax paper, regular paper and tin foil to see what happens, we create baking soda volcanoes using vinegar, and we create unconventional birthday cakes using shaving cream, water, flour, and food coloring. 


Counting the bears on the "boat".

Blowing bubbles!

Experimenting with straws, water, and soap.

Look how big my bubble pie is!

Our "tree" pose.

Our "bridge" pose.

Unconventional birthday cakes

Mixing flour, water, shaving cream and corn sprinkles!

I'm a hands-on baker!









Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Newsletter 5/7/14

Important Dates to Remember:
May 9th - Parent's Night Out; 6-9 p.m 
May 17th - Reading Rendezvous at the Loussac Library; 12-4 p.m
May 22nd - Last day of Preschool; noon dismissal with picnic immediately following

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"The Foolish Tortoise" by Eric Carle
"Interrupting Chicken" by David Ezra Stein
"Are You My Mother?" by P.D Eastman

Afternoon Books
"This Old Man" by Pam Adams

PLANNING & RECALL
We tie this week's planning and recall time to the KDI for the week, which is counting. We use a white board on which the teacher has written numbers. When it is a child's turn to plan or recall, the teacher asks them to circle one of the numbers before sharing their plans. This activity works on number recognition, counting, and fine motor skills as children draw on the board.

BIBLE LESSON
The risen Jesus spent 40 days on earth after rising from the dead. In that time he continued to appear to his disciples as well as many others - proving he really was alive. He continued to teach his disciples so that they would be ready to go out and tell others about him. Jesus told his disciples that God would send the gift of the Holy Spirit to them - giving them the strength to go out into the world proclaiming the good news of what Jesus had done for all people. As Jesus was blessing his disciples, he began to ascend up into the sky until he disappeared from sight. Jesus was returning to heaven. Two angels then appeared to the disciples and asked them, "Why are you standing here, looking up into the sky? Jesus has gone to heaven, but someday he will come back, just as you have seen him go." After this, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy, waiting there for the gift of the Holy Spirit, eager to tell others about Jesus.

Even though Jesus left his disciples to go back to heaven, he promised to be with them always. We too, even though we cannot see Jesus with our own eyes, have the same promise he gave to his disciples. Jesus is with us wherever we go and whatever we do. That gives us great comfort as we wait to see him face to face on the last day.
Bible verse: Matthew 28:20b "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Bible song: "Surely I Am With You"

MUSIC
We sing a new song this week called "The Wiggle Song", which has short, distinct sections called phrases. Children learn to put different actions to each phrase in the song to help differentiate between the 4 phrases. For variety, we also change dynamics between phrases, which allows for a clearer distinction. Some other new songs we learn during Music Time this week include "Pop! Goes the Weasel" and "The Cobbler".

MOVEMENT
This week we warm up to a song called "I Can Jump Like A Big Green Frog". We jump like frogs,bunnies, monkeys, and kangaroos, walk like puppies, and crawl like inchworms. We also revisit an old favorite this week as we pull out the balloons again. We use the balloons with homemade plate paddles - trying to balance the balloon on our paddle as we walk around the room, move the paddle above our head and down to the ground. We finish with the song "Keep It Up!"

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicator (KDI) Counting. Psychologist Howard Gardner had this to say about young children and counting: "Often with surprising speed and ferocity, preschoolers see the world as an arena for counting. Children want to count everything--facial features in a drawing, beads, blocks, candles, holes, tires, letters, lights." This week we count dot markers and work on one to one correspondence with dot cards, we count pom poms as we drop them into bags, we count bears when we play "Bears on a Boat" and count beads as we thread them onto string. 

Thank you to all families who came to last week's Spring Musical at the UAA Fine Arts Hall! I have received many comments from elementary school and church families about how great it was to see the preschoolers participate and how cute they all were!


We loved the shaving cream!



Getting ready to sing "Go Down Moses".






Lowering the balloons to the floor on our paddles.

 


 

 




Monday, May 5, 2014

14th Annual Reading Rendezvous

When: Saturday, May 17th, 12:00-4:00p.m

Where: Z.J Loussac library; 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage

Fizz... Boom... READ! You're invited to check out all the FREE FAMILY FUN at the kickoff to the Anchorage Public Library's summer reading celebration. There will be lots of entertainment including giant bubbles, a petting zoo, live music & dancing, a magician, and 30+ community organizations hosting booths with games, activities, and prizes for kids and families. And kids of all ages can sign up for the summer reading program! It's outside on the lawn of the Loussac Library. See you there...

Another successful licensing inspection!

Part of being a licensed child care facility means we are subject to unannounced inspections by the Municipality of Anchorage. Our most recent one was last Thursday, May 1st. If you're interested in the results, check out this link: http://hhs.muni.org/cac/InspectionDetail.aspx?id=6669