TTh Preschool News - Weeks of May 3 & May 10

Hello Tuesday-Thursday Families,

We've been busy the last couple of weeks celebrating Moms and Dads! Our May character trait of "Wisdom" is intentionally planned for this time of year, because you parents really do have so much wisdom to share with your children. This would be a good time to talk with your children about the importance of "Honoring your Mother and Father" (Exodus 20:12). Let's also remember to honor all of the elders in our lives! (it might also be a good time to think about what the word "Honor" means. The Greek word for honor means “to revere, prize, and value.” What does it mean in your family?)

We had so much fun recently making special gifts for our Moms and Dads (we didn't want Dad to feel left out after Mom got her awesome flower pot gifts from us last week!) The Dad "creations" will be sent home with your child this week. We just wanted to enjoy them on our preschool wall for a little while :)





We also had fun learning about color mixing when we mixed shaving cream with red and yellow paint. Each child had their own ziploc baggie so they could see what happened from start to finish.


For large motor fun, we've been playing outside on the playground when possible. Inside, we've been having just as much fun playing Musical Chairs or Duck, Duck, Goose. (I know many of you parents had a chance to peek in our window to watch Musical Chairs in action - pictures on Shutterfly will be coming soon, too!) We play a special preschool version of Duck, Duck, Goose where we have the same number or chairs and children. We did explain to them that at parties, it may be done a little bit differently, but here at preschool, we want everyone to feel included in our fun games!

Speaking of Duck, Duck, Goose....watch your step when you come in through the preschool entrance. I've had some friends visiting lately in the afternoon, and sometimes they leave...um...surprises for me! :) So watch your step!!


We are looking forward to these final two weeks of preschool with your children! It has been such a wonderful school year, and we are so excited that ALL of the Tuesday Thursday class will be returning in the fall for another year of learning and fun!

Blessings to all of you,
Miss Jean, Miss Pat and Miss Lacy

MWF Preschool News - Week of May 3 & May 10

Dear MWF Families,

We have finished all our A thru Z Weeks and we are almost at the end of our preschool year! With May we began to teach the children the song "May There Always Be Sunshine." Then they choose something that is special to them and they recite it with the song. It has been a lot of fun and it seems to be one of their favorites! May has brought some beautiful weather so we have played outdoors and it has also brought some wet and rainy weather in which we played in the gym with the entire group. Of course we played "Duck Duck Goose", as it was one of their requests. One of our parent helpers contributed a lovely butterfly kit in which we have been watching five caterpillars each transform into their very own chrysalis. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of five butterflies! Some of our board members have graciously joined the Arbor Day Foundation so they could donate seedlings of oak trees to each of our families. It has been a lovely spring. We are looking forward to our end of the year field trip to a nearby farm and petting zoo with a train ride. One of the fun things about being a teacher is you get to be a kid again! See you there!

Here were some other highlights of our past weeks...

Made surprise handprint drawings as a gift to our parents.
The children made Mothers Day cards with pink construction paper. The teachers helped them write little notes to their moms.
Painted Paper Flower Petals and paper plates. You will see our flowers soon hanging over the cubbies.
Practiced our fine motor skills and strengthened our hand muscles by using paper punchers and strips of paper.
Played with our new animal counters and practiced sorting and counting to 100...


Read What Moms Do Best/What Dads Do Best by Laura Numeroff, and
The Surprise Garden by Zoe Hall
We even went outside to take pictures of our shadows, and played with bubbles and sidewalk chalk.




We are enjoying this wonderful spring. Please come out and celebrate the very last day of school with us as the children prepare for their preschool graduation! Pizza party to follow!


Your Team,
Miss Lori, Miss Donna, Miss Pat and Miss Jean

A Poem for Arbor Day

In llinois, Arbor Day is celebrated the last week of April. In honor of Arbor Day, three of our preschool board members joined the National Arbor Day Foundation just so they could each get 10 free saplings - enough that each of our students could take one home to plant. We hope that all of you have planted those tiny saplings that were sent home with your child recently. They may just look like little sticks, but within each of them is amazing potential (kind of like us, in a way, when we start out!)

I also wanted to share this poem by Ilan Shamir with you as well, Enjoy!

Advice from a Tree

Dear Friend,

Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of a greater source
Think long term
Go out on a limb
Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter

Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night.
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures
Earth, fresh air, light

Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots

Enjoy the view!

Click HERE if you'd like some history on Arbor Day!

Preschool News - Week of April 26

Letter Z Week! Who remembers the story of Zacchaeus? If you don't know it yet, visit Luke 19 verses 1-10 to read about Zacchaeus. There's even a song about him...

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed him by, He looked up in the tree,
And he said, "Zacchaeus, you come down from there;
For I'm going to your house today, for I'm going to your house today"

(Click HERE to hear it sung by the Cedarmont Kids on Youtube)

Here's what we've been up to for letter Z week:

Tuesday-Thursday Class...
Heard the stories "The Zoo I Drew" by Todd Doodler and "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" by Eilene Christelow
We all brought a favorite stuffed animal in for Zoo Day!
We practiced our fine motor skills as we used animal stencils
At circle time, we tried to think of an animal for EVERY letter of the alphabet.
Miss Lacy and I were pretty impressed with all of the animals that the children thought of! Here's what we came up with just during our circle time:

A: Alligator
B: Bird and Buffalo
C: Crocodile and Caterpillar
D: Dolphin and Duck
E: Elephant
F: Fish
G: Giraffe and Gopher
H: Hippo
I:
J:
K: Kangaroo
L: Ladybug
M: Monkey
N: Narwhal (Miss Jean told the children about this REAL animal, when someone mentioned the Unicorn!)
O: Octopus
P: Penguin and Peacock
Q:
R: Rabbit
S: Squirrel, Snake and Spider
T: Turtle and Tiger
U: Unicorn (they're make believe, you know!)
V:
W: Whale
X:
Y:
Z: Zebra

Maybe someone at home will think of some animals with the letters we missed!

MWF Class:


We made amazing watercolor Zebras!
We played the A B Seas Alphabet Fishing Game (one of our favorite games made by Discovery Toys)
Played with our Barrel of Monkeys
Made thank you notes for friends and teachers
Painted long strips of paper with green paint (you'll see why soon!)
Heard the song/story "The Green Grass Grows All Around"
Had a special outside Chapel Time with Pastor Greg. We sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" while we walked outside on a very windy day. We all got to see a beautiful bird's nest that will soon have some baby robins in it!


Can you believe we already went through the entire alphabet! We did!
See you next time!

Preschool News - Week of April 19

Happy Earth Day! Just a little behind, but better late than never I suppose!

For letter Y week, let's remember this verse from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount...

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14

A perfect time to sing the familiar children's song "This Little Light of Mine."

Here are some of the things we were busy with for Letter Y week:


Tuesday-Thursday Class:
Painting a picture of our earth, and then adding animals to it
Playing the "All Around the Town" game
Looking at books about our earth
Hearing the stories "Bluebird's Nest" by Jo Parry and "What a Wonderful World" illustrated by Weiss and Thiele
Playing Duck Duck Goose in the Gym
Matching plastic egg halves and finding foam letters at our exploration station.

MWF Class:
Painted "Earth" pictures and created some beautiful sunshine pictures
(see above)
Worked on our letter recognition skills and fine motor skills while we played with our Magnetic Learning Letters
Developed our pincer skills by using tweezers to pick up animals and sort them in muffin tins
Played with our mountain and animal set at the exploration station
Heard the stories "For the Love of Our Earth" by PK Hallinan, "The River" by Sheri Halpern and "My Favorite World of Color" by Margaret Wise Brown.
Played on the playground and with balls in the gym



Till next time, remember to be kind to our earth!