Jesus said, "I am the light of the world"

What an exciting week! We were blessed to have a visit from the Alaska Zoo on Tuesday. They taught us all about the Sitka black-tailed deer. The students got up close and personal with this animal! They were all very excited to see the deer in person. On Wednesday we celebrated our 100th day of school! Students got to play games and activities in the morning followed by a special movie day before our half day students left. It has been a very exciting week. Tomorrow we will have a half day of school! Enjoy a slightly longer weekend with your family.

Morning Stories:

The Ugly Duckling by Mara Alperin

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Are Pirates polite? by Corinne Demas

Max the Brave by Ed Vere

Animals Animals! by Eric Carle

Bible Time (One in Christ Curriculum):

Our story for the week is about Jesus healing the blind man. In our story, a man named Bartimaeus was a poor, blind beggar. He didn't seem important to most people. He was able to show his faith by calling out to Jesus for help. He requested that Jesus help him recover his sight. Jesus was able to heal Bartimaeus. Can you imagine being able to see for the first time? The first thing he saw was his Lord and Savior! What a blessing. There are times in life when we feel small and unimportant. Maybe you feel like your requests are not being heard! We know that one person will always find us to be important - that is our Savior, Jesus. He wants us to come to Him with all our troubles. Sometimes he will answer our prayers, other times he may say no. We need to understand that He knows best. He will provide for us no matter what, even when we do not see His helping hand. Our passage this week is John 9:5, 'Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.'" The students have been working hard to learn sign language to go with our song, 'Shine Jesus Shine'.

Shine Jesus Shine

fill this land with the Father's glory

blaze Sprit blaze

set our hearts on fire

flow river flow

flood the nations with grace and mercy

send forth Your word

Lord and let there be light

Movement Time (SPARK Curriculum):

For the week, students have been focusing on side-sliding. We have been playing several different games that involve the move of side-sliding. They are able to demonstrate this to one another. We continue to do our warm up activity songs for the students to get their bodies moving before focusing on one given concept. We have also reviewed other movements this week such as: galloping, running and walking.

Music Time (Sing and Make Music Curriculum):

Our concept this week is timbre. Students are using bells while learning a new song, "Ring and ring the jingle bells, jingle jingle jingle jingle, ring and ring the jingle bells, jingle jingle jingle." They will be using several different instruments and their voices this week as we review other songs from first semester.

Small Group Time (HighScope Curriculum):

Our KDI (Key Developmental Indicator) this week is shapes. Children identify, describe and name shapes. We have also been looking at the letter P.

Monday- Students used triangles, squares and rectangles to fill up their upper and lower case P.

Tuesday- students were able to sort out shapes by their brown bag

Wednesday- Due to the 100th day of school, students did several activities and games dealing with shapes: memory, sorting and classifying.

Thursday- using pattern blocks, students were able to create a variety of pictures.

Friday- the students will be looking at the letter P. We will be painting a picture for our families.

Afternoon Table Activities:

Students can choose between snack and one of the table activities.

Monday(Math): muffin tins with numbers and buttons, numbered popsicles and gears.

Tuesday(Fine Motor): white boards with markers, connectors, mini legos and geoboards.

Wednesday(Manipulatives): Boggle Jr, Jenga, wooden blocks.

Thursday(Art and Literacy): coloring, sort it out (books), chalk boards

I trust in You, O LORD

A short week already! I hope you all enjoyed an extra day off of school. What a blessing to see all your children back and ready for school once again! They continue to surprise me with their knowledge of concepts and their manners. Thank you so much for letting me get to know your children each day!

Morning Stories:

Pirates don't need tucking in! by Robin Liberty

We're in the wrong book! by Richard Brynne

Little Red Riding Hood by Mara Alperin

Peanut Butter and Cupcake by Terry Border

That's NOT mine by Anna Kang

Bible Time (One in Christ Curriculum):

Our story this week is Jairus' Daughter. The students are able to hear a sad but miraculous story about the power of God. A man came to Jesus begging for help. His daughter was sick. On the way to the man's house they were stopped in the road by a man with horrible news. Jairus was told that his daughter has died. As he was filled with emotions, Jesus reassured the man and said - "Don't be afraid, just believe." As they came to the house, Jesus took the daughters hand and spoke to her, telling her to get up! The people in the room were amazed! Jesus spoke these words and Jairus' daughter came back to life! It is amazing to see the work of our Lord in the lives of those around Him. He was able to bring someone back to life, which seems impossible! We know that we can trust in the Lord, as it says in Psalm 31:14, "I trust in You, O LORD." We too can feel at peace knowing that God is control of our lives. He will continue to show us love and mercy.

Movement Time (SPARK Curriculum):

In movement, they are focusing on galloping. This can be a tricky concept, especially for those younger students. We have been playing various games to help the students solidify this. It will take practice but the students will review throughout the year. Our older students are able to demonstrate their knowledge of galloping to those who are struggling. What a blessing it is to have students working together to help one another! We have also brought GoNoodle back for the students! They enjoy being able to dance and be introduced to new songs as well! This is a free website you can use at home. I always watch the videos before introducing them to the students to be sure that they are age appropriate.

Music Time (Sing and Make Music Curriculum):

The students have been working on rhythm. They have been snapping their fingers and tapping their toes to help them with this concept. We are continuing to review songs that the students are familiar with. They have added another song, 'Hey Betty Martin.' We have been integrating movement and music together in our new flex classroom downstairs. The students enjoy being able to switch back and forth to focus on the concepts and get their bodies moving!

Small Group Time (HighScope Curriculum):

This week we have been focusing on the letter O. The students have been doing various art activities to relate to this letter.

Tuesday: the students worked on tracing their letters once again - this week they practiced their upper and lower case O's.

Wednesday: they created an octopus art project! They used the letter O as the 'head and body' of the octopus and were able to add legs and eyes.

Thursday: they will take the letter O outline and glue pom poms throughout the O.

Friday: they will be creating an Orca art project using a variety of items from our art closet!

Afternoon Table Activities:

The students can choose from one of the activities listed each day or to have snack.

Tuesday(Fine Motor): connectors, Jenga, lacing cards and puzzles.

Wednesday(Manipulatives):numbered muffin tins with buttons, numbered popsicles, number puzzles.

Thursday(Art and Literacy): shaving cream on tables while practicing their letters, books and opposites puzzles.

Friday(Sensory): sensory tubs filled with corn, beans and rice.

God is with you wherever you go.

Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful break and enjoyed celebrating Christmas and the new year with family and friends. It is great to see the children come back to school ready to learn! What a blessing to be able to take some time off of school to enjoy more time with the ones that you love! God is good.

Morning Stories:
The Pirate Jamboree by Mark Teague
The Biggest Snowman Ever! by Steven Kroll
Chicken Little by Mara Alperin
This book just ate my dog by Richard Byrre
Go Away Big, Green Monster by Ed Emberley

Bible Time (One in Christ Curriculum):
In our story this week we hear about how God is present and has assured us that we are loved, forgiven, and taken care of. We have the assurance of His death and resurrection to remind us that He is taking care of us. In this world, we have many worries and concerns about the safety of our friends and family. In our story this week, Joseph and Mary (the father and mother of Jesus) were very worried about the safety of their family. They were scared that someone would find Jesus and try to hurt him. As they were traveling, they feared the worst had come true! Suddenly, they could not find Jesus. He was lost. Their fear quickly diminished when they found Jesus studying in the temple. He had a desire to learn more about God's Word. Just like Jesus, we should have a desire to learn more too! What a blessing to know that we have the opportunity to learn more about Him each and every day. We have focused on Joshua 1:9, "God is with you wherever you go." They have also reviewed the song, 'God Loves Me Dearly'.

Movement Time (SPARK Curriculum):
Since we are just getting back from break, the students are reviewing various amounts of movements and games from before Christmas. They are able to work on their special awareness and review the concept of 'homes' in movement time. The students are working on listening to directions for how fast or slow they should move. Their speed and the type of movement are very important this week. They must listen to each instruction before beginning the activity.

Music Time (Sing and Make Music Curriculum):
This week the students are working on rhythm. They are able to review several songs for this concept. They are working on tapping their legs as well as snapping their fingers to work on rhythm. They have enjoyed being able to sing familiar songs after such a long break.

Small Group Time (HighScope Curriculum):
The Key Developmental Indicator (KDI) this week is numbers. The students are focusing on the letter N as well.

Monday: they worked on using a pencil to trace the upper and lower case of the letter N.

Tuesday: the students were able to color an upper and lower case N. After completing, they used scissors to cut out their letters. You can find these displayed outside our classroom on the tree!

Wednesday: we colored out snowflakes that had various numbers on them, the students were able to place them in a line from smallest to greatest.

Thursday: they had to find the hidden snowflakes throughout the room and place the number in the proper pile on the table. (numbers ranged from 1-10)
Friday: the students created a picture using their knowledge of numbers. They were given a piece of paper with flaps that had a number on the front. They had to draw the correct amount of dots inside the flap to represent the number.

Planning and Recall Time:
This week, since we have a few new students, they are able to stand in front of the group for planning and recall. The students are able to tell us what they would love to do during work time. At the end of work time, they are able to tell us about their plan and if they followed it.

Afternoon Table Activities:

Monday(Math): numbered popsicles, connectors, beads with numbered amount on a pipecleaner.
Tuesday(Fine Motor): puzzles, geoboards, Jenga, mini legos
Wednesday(Manipulatives): Pictureka!, sorting pie with tweezers, architectrix, and connecting beads.
Thursday(Art & Literacy): watercolors, Dr. Suess books, crayons and paper.
Friday(Sensory): kinetic sand, sensory bottles and bags.