This Is Jesus

We continue our preparation for Easter by reading Benjamin's Box by Melody Carlson. Each day we add something to our special box to remind us of the Easter story. Today we talked about Jesus and how special he is to us. The children do not take listening to this story lightly and it is so very hard to read. (especially now that we are so close to the very sad part of the story.) As I have mentioned in previous posts the children cannot bear to discuss the Easter story without saying "but Jesus escapes the cross on Easter." Today we took the time to paint a picture of Jesus. It was so inspirational to listen to the children as they painted. We each took our time and were so comforted by the fact that there was absolutely no wrong way to paint this picture. I was completely led to do this art project by an anthem from my church. It was written by David Haas and the lyrics are posted in the top photo. The children exhibit the words to this song, because they just believe with their whole heart. Enjoy these Easter photographs and thank you so much for instilling God's love in your child's heart.
Here are our comments about Jesus.

Ann said "He is wearing a gown. I want him to share what he wants me to do. You can even play with God. Me and my sissy do."

Ashley said "He loves everybody, my mommy, my daddy, and he lives up in heaven. That makes me happy."

Cannon said "He gets away from the cross. He lives up in the heaven."

Cohan said "He has blue eyes. I know that. He keeps people safe and he loves all of us."

Colin said "I think about loving him & giving him kisses."

Jackson said "He helps people."

James said "I don't really know what he looks like because I have never seen him and neither has my mom."

Kylie said "This is Jesus."

Lauren said "He has powers."

Mya said "He lives in the sky."

Noah said "He is always with me and he helps me feel better."

Preston said "He is happy and plays with toys."

Reid said "He died on the cross for real and he might have a dog."

Rishi said "He escapes the cross. Jesus has wings and has no hair."

Shane said "I wish he would not have to die on the cross."

Trapp said "He is powerful, strong and smart. He is cool and I love him a lot. I saw him when he was dying on the cross."

Resurrection Biscuits

What a wonderful treat! Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." We learned that story today through a fun cooking project. We made resurrection biscuits and rejoiced that the tomb was empty on Easter morning. As you all know, everyone loved this project so much that the children asked for the "constructions" to be sent home. They really enjoyed making the biscuit with the marshmallow and were so surprised when it was gone after baking. Glory to God for sending us this easy way to teach the miracle of Easter.

Signs of Spring

Our class has been taken over by a nest of robins. As part of our study of Spring's arrival and the letter R, we made a bird house and cute little robin. The children were very creative in their composition of papers and colors. They are so bright and make room feel like Spring.

Nursery Rhymes Are Still Cool

This week included our unit on nursery rhymes. This type of rhyme is different than our Dr. Seuss nonsense rhymes and we had lots of fun talking about silly times saying these rhymes. If you take a minute to look at your child's folder of nursery rhymes you will see a christian verse to correspond with the traditional rhyme. My favorite was "Jack, be loving, Jack, be kind: Let your love for Jesus shine."
On our 100th day we talked about "twinkle, twinkle" and added 100 tiny stars to our papers. We all did a good job and were proud of this milestone. It was an awesome thought that our sheet had 100 stars and that was a lot, but more awesome is the fact that no one really knows how many stars are in the sky except God. We also talked about "Jack& Jill" and "Jack be nimble." We even acted out jumping over a candlestick.
We ended the week with "hickory, dickory, dock." The children seemed to most enjoy talking about times when they heard this rhyme from family and friends. It was simple, but it was a great unit. We played with our nursery rhyme art projects and sang lots of silly songs. This is childhood at its very best.

Friendship

Look at these precious faces. It is obvious that God is lighting our hearts to share his love with everyone around us.

We Are So Smart

These are some cute photos of recent achievements in our classroom. Some of us are working puzzles without any help and some of us are perfecting our building skills. It is no surprise to see this much growth since we have almost reached graduation. It is with smiles and tears that we talk about making the big step out of our little preschool classroom into the big doors of kindergarten. Thank goodness we have all learned that God will go with us wherever we go and that we have made lasting friendships in our room. These boys and girls have proven to be great friends and cheerleaders. Yeah for our children.

Our 100th Day

Yeah!!!!!Our 100th day of school came and went. It was lots of fun with lots and lots of counting. We started our day by completing our counting caterpillar. It is now 100 rings long. Due to the rain, we couldn't measure anything outside and have postponed that for a day when the weather cooperates. The children were beside themselves with excitement to finally take our caterpillar down from the wall and actually see how long it grew to be. It was amazing to see their minds work as our caterpillar grew from day one.
We also went to the gym and had a 100th day celebration with the other 4 day fours. We had a musical parade and did 100 exercises. It was loud and joyful. We concluded our celebration with 100 seconds of dancing and enjoyed our 100th day snack. We each added our 100 items and ate our tasty treat. It was a wonderful day and it was most wonderful to hear the children talk about the approaching kindergarten year. They are almost ready for this transition to big school and can't stop talking about it.

A Fire Drill Is Coming!!!!

Parents be aware that we will have our very first fire drill this Thursday. The children and I have been talking about safety procedures and feel confident that we can complete this exercise without panicking. We reviewed all of the facts that we learned during fire safety week and understand that this is just a practice run for everyone at our preschool. We also talked about the loud alarm that will sound when it is time for us to leave our classroom. Please reassure your children that our school is safe and that this drill will make our school even "safer." Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Our Lenten Cross Is Covered In Love

Here is our Lenten cross. You can hardly see our hand prints. It is so much fun to see the children look for a place to put their heart and laugh when they say that they are just going to stick it over someone else's name. How amazing to see the abundance of God's love. In our small class of 16, the children now see how love grows and becomes overflowing. There is only one more week of school before the Easter break and we are all excited about adding more of our love next week. Thanks to God for all of his endless blessings in our lives, especially in our classroom. These children are certainly full of God's love.

R Is For Rabbit, The Easter Rabbit

This is our week to learn about the letter R and also to begin talking more seriously about the approaching Easter holiday. Well, the Easter rabbit is part of this holiday and we changed our door art to a cute Easter rabbit. They were lots of fun to make and totally child created.

Dogwood Tree Art

As a sign of Spring, we took a look at things that are blooming around us. Although it is still early, there are buds everywhere, as well as, lots of chirping birds. For the letter D last week, we made a dogwood tree. It took several textures to finish our project, with a blown tree base, texture blooms from tissue paper and paint to add another dimension of color. They are really quite beautiful, especially in the context of our class grouping. Part of our discussion of the dogwood was the beautiful bloom that looks our Easter cross. The children did a great job and enjoyed this multidimensional art project. Take a moment to look at your child's newest artistic creation to welcome Spring.

Don't Forget "Book-It"

Parents!!!!! Don't forget to send in your coupons for the books that you read with your child. The children are really excited about our pizza coupons for reading and we need your coupons to give those out next week. Keep on reading!!!!

Dinsaurs Roar

Our week about dinosaurs was loud and fun. We did lots of roaring, stomping and flying. God made all things, big and small and his creation is awesome. To enhance our learning about these prehistoric creatures, we did a variety of art projects . We made our dinosaur skeleton with dog bones, made dinosaur habitats from tracing cards and did a giant dino puzzle. It was a great week to learn about these magnificent creatures. These are some photos of our art with matching dinosaur faces.
Friends working on the dinosaur puzzle. We are still working on the finishing "part" of a puzzle. Some us give up when the puzzle gets "too tough."
Friends making dinosaur habitats with our stencils.

The Weather Is Beautiful...

What a gorgeous day! Who would have expected this after the rain yesterday? We really enjoyed the playground and fellowship with our friends. Thank you God for your awesome creation.

Do You Know This Leprechaun?

It was St. Patrick's Day and it was so much fun. We had a little leprechaun visit our room while we had lots of green fun. We learned about St. Patrick of Ireland, but really loved it when the leprechaun was naughty and messed up our room. He turned over tables and chairs and spread green and gold confetti all around our room, but he also left a treat to make a day extra "lucky."
Here are some friends at the end of the day sharing "green cheer."

Rainy Days Can Be Fun Too

Last week we completed our unit on weather. Although we talk about it every day, we did the whole water cycle and air pressure unit. They absolutely loved it and were excited to have some take home worksheets. (the daily weather chart, the March lion/lamb chart, the favorite weather page.) This rainy day pal was our big art project for the week. It was appropriate because of the rainy weather approaching for the weekend. Each of us said that rainy days aren't bad and almost all of us said that jumping in mud puddles is the best thing to do when it rains.