Newsletter 5/6/15

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
May 16th - Reading Rendezvous at the Loussac Library; 12PM-4PM
May 20th - End of the Year Preschool Program and Pizza Party; 6PM
May 21st - Last day of school; 12 noon dismissal; End of year picnic starting at 12PM

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"A Funny Little Bird" by Jennifer Yerkes
"The Bear Who At Your Sandwich" by Julia Sarcone-Roach
"The Way I Feel" by Janan Cain
"Pete's a Pizza" by William Steig

Afternoon Books
"Reptiles and Amphibians" by Simon Mugford

PLANNING & RECALL
We continue our use with the white boards during planning time. Children have the opportunity to practice fine motor skills, as well as letter recognition and formation as they write the letter Miss Z. or Miss W. gives them. 

BIBLE LESSON
The Holy Spirit had worked in the disciples heart at Pentecost, giving them strength and power to go out and tell others about Jesus and what he had done for them by dying on the cross to wash away their sins. Other people besides the disciples were eager to go out into the world, sharing their faith and the good news about Jesus. One of these faithful believers was named Stephen. He was bold in proclaiming the good news and also performed all kinds of great wonders and signs among the people. Some of the leaders of the church began to oppose Stephen and the things he was saying, stirring up the people - including the elders and teachers of the law. They demanded Stephen to be brought in to them, where they then accused him of speaking out against the church and the law. Ultimately, the leaders led Stephen outside the city where they stoned him to death. Even in his dying hour, Stephen prayed to his heavenly Father to forgive these men for what they did. Stephen looked up and saw heaven opened with Jesus standing at the right hand of his Father.

Stephen was a bold and faithful follower of God's Word, who was not afraid to tell people about Jesus. How often are we afraid to tell others about what Jesus has done for them? Let us use Stephen as a wonderful example of how to be bold, even if we face persecution for sharing our faith. As God himself promises: "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown."

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 and MOVEMENT
Music and Movement time are combine this week as we begin to practice for our Spring Program on May 20th. We review the ten songs we plan to sing for our families, as we introduce props and other materials we'll use for the performance. 

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 unifix cubes as we create towers of varying heights, we count bears when we play "Bears on a Boat" and we go outside to count and collect a variety of items into baskets.