Newsletter 3/18/15

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
March 23rd-26th - Parent Teacher Conferences
March 28th - Eggstravaganza egg decorating at Faith; 4-6PM
April 3rd - No Preschool; Good Friday
April 6th - No Preschool; Easter Monday

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"Sam and Dave Dig a Hole" by Mac Barnett
"I Broke my Trunk" by Mo Willems
"Paul Meets Bernadette" by Rosy Lamb

Afternoon Books
"Z is for Moose" by Kelly Bingham

PLANNING & RECALL
This week we use tongs to place pom poms into egg carton tray when it is our turn to plan. Planning time can be a chance to work on problem solving skills as well. Sometimes children will make a plan to play with a friend and other children will feel left out. We often spend a time talking through ways to include each other in our play and how to be kind and loving toward one another.  

BIBLE LESSON
As we continue to learn about the life and ministry of Jesus, we hear about another one of the miracles Jesus performed. In this week's Bible lesson, we learn that Jesus is in the city of Capernaum preaching and teaching. So many people were eager to hear what Jesus had to say that he often attracted large crowds. In Capernaum, he was preaching at a house full of people when suddenly a man on a mat was lowered down to where he was standing through a hole in the roof. This man was paralyzed and his friends had brought him to Jesus, trusting that Jesus could help him. When Jesus saw the great faith these men had, he first turned to the paralyzed man and told him his sins were forgiven. Some of the teachers of the law who were present were furious that Jesus would say that his sins were forgiven. They did not believe that Jesus was God and therefore found it blasphemous that Jesus forgave that man's sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking and proceeded to prove to them that he did have the authority to forgive sins. He said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take your mat, and go home." Immediately the man was able to stand up and walk. He left that house praising God for what he had done. The rest of the people who witnessed this miracle were amazed at what they had seen and gave praise to God. One of the purposes of Jesus' miracles was to show his divine power by doing things only God can do.

Bible verse: 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."
Bible song: "Cast All Your Anxiety"

MUSIC 
This week during Music Time we begin to explore the musical concept of scales - notes moving higher and lower sequentially. We learn a song called "I Know a Little Pussy" to introduce the concept. The song moves up and down the scale, one note at a time. We also use handbells to practice identifying scales going up and scales going down. We also learn a song called "Stepping Up and Stepping Down" while using hand motions to show an ascending or descending scale pattern.

MOVEMENT
This week we will explore hula hoops and how we can use them for various activities. We will learn and practice new ways of moving our bodies with the hula hoops. We will create bridges and tables using our arms and legs. We will also learn a new game where we get to pretend to be frogs jumping on lily pads.

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicators (KDI): Predicting and Experimenting. Children are active learners, curious about their environment, and eager to make sense of their world by experimenting. This week we focus on experimenting using a variety of materials. On Monday we work with colors and mixing colors as we watch water travel down strips of paper towel into a plastic cup. As the blue and yellow colors meet, they make green. On Tuesday we filled a ziploc bag with water and sealed it. We then took turns to poke a sharp pencil crayon into the bag and were amazed to discover that the water didn't leak out of the bag even after the pencil was jabbed through it! On Wednesday we got our hands dirty as we played with Oobleck - made with cornstarch and water. On Thursday we made fireworks in a bottle using water, oil, and food coloring. On Friday we played with "magic milk". After pouring milk into a tray, we dropped dots of food coloring into the milk. We then took a Q-tip with dish soap on it and dipped it into the milk where the food coloring was. The colors magically dispersed!