Faith Lutheran Preschool eNews: Newsletter 10/22/14

Important Dates to Remember:
October 24th - Faith's Harvest Carnival; 6:30PM-8:30PM
October 30th-November 2nd - Scholastic Book Fair at Faith
November 23rd - Preschool students sing in church at Faith at 11:00AM

Special Notes:

The PTF is still asking for donations for our upcoming Harvest Carnival.

Candy donations can be brought at any time and left in the school office. Cakes, cupcakes, caramel apples, and any creations fit for our Cake Walk can be brought to school from Tuesday, October 21^st and left in the kitchen. Please label items left “For Cake Walk”.

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"Time to Sleep" by Denise Fleming
"Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina
"Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes" by Eric Litwin

Afternoon Books
"Franklin's Canoe Trip" by Paulette Bourgeois

PLANNING & RECALL
This week we use a variety of colored, plastic animals to plan and recall. Each child is given an animal, and when their animal is called they put it in a cup and then share their Work Time plans.

BIBLE LESSON
Joseph became a very important ruler in Egypt, the man in charge of gathering and storing enough food for the years of famine in the land. Joseph's family lived in a land where there was little food to eat during these years. One day they traveled to Egypt to buy some food. Joseph immediately recognized these men as his brothers, but instead of revealing his identity, he wanted to see if they had changed. He gave them some grain, but made them promise to return with their youngest brother Benjamin if they ever wanted to buy more grain. Before long, their first supply of grain ran out. They returned to Egypt with Benjamin to buy some more. This time when he sent them away with more grain, Joseph planted one of his silver cups in one of the brother's sacks of grain. He sent his servant after the brothers to get the silver cup. The brothers denied having the cup and vowed that if it was found, the brother in whose sack it was found, would die and the rest of the brothers would become Joseph's slaves. Sure enough, the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. The brothers threw themselves on the ground before Joseph, willing to work for him the rest of their lives. They realized their wickedness in selling their brother Joseph many years ago. When Joseph realized that his brothers were truly sorry for what they had done, he could no longer keep his identity a secret. He told his brothers who he was. After overcoming their fear of him, the brothers realized that it really was him and were overjoyed to be reunited. They returned home to get their father Jacob and bring him back to Egypt so that he too could be reunited with his son Joseph.

Bible verse: Romans 8:28 "God works for the good of those who love him."
Bible song: "Consider How the Birds Above" (We'll be singing verses from this hymn for quite a while because we're learning it to sing in church on November 23rd)

MUSIC
This week's music songs continue to explore the fast and slow tempos. "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" provides a chance for children to sing while they move their bodies quickly and slowly around the bush. We also sing songs such as "The Hokey Pokey", "Here are Grandma's Spectacles", and "Slippery Fish". The children especially LOVE the song "Slippery Fish".

MOVEMENT
We open Movement time with our review song "Toss and Catch". By the second week we do this song, the children know it pretty well and can anticipate what actions come next. We catch our scarves on our backs, hair, foot, arms, and with our hands. We also clap and catch, and spin and catch. After a few rounds of Simon Says and trying various scarf challenges, we close with the song "Animal Action". Children move around the room like elephants, snakes, birds, frogs, and cats. The scarves help us get into the characters of the different animals - especially the bird!

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during small group time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicator (KDI): Fine Motor Skills. In activities that focus on fine motor skills, children have the opportunity to practice and demonstrate dexterity and hand-eye coordination in using their small muscles. Fine motor skills such as writing, drawing, and cutting with precision can be difficult for many preschoolers, so young children are encouraged to explore materials and practice skills according to their own expectations and internal motivation, not to meet the possibly unrealistic standards set by adults. On Monday we used our fingers to pinch tacks and pin them into a pumpkin. On Tuesday we played with a partner in the new sensory bins that were gifted to us over the weekend. Some of the bins had corn, beans, or rice with different themed activities in them like cars, gardening, puzzles, treasures, or farm animals. The children really enjoyed these! On Wednesday we threaded beads onto string to make necklaces that we'll send to children in Africa. On Thursday and Friday we work with pumpkins again as we pound golf tees into the pumpkins and then cut them open to dig out the insides.