P Is For Palmetto Pride

P is for Palmetto and our art project this week was to paint the Palmetto Flag. The children did a wonderful job painting our state flag. ...I salute the flag of South Carolina and pledge to the Palmetto state -love, loyalty and faith.

Did You Know That We Love School?

Our class is so much fun - really. This is the best job in the world because Mrs. Laurie and I get to see your children at their very best. They try their best and share God's love - most of the time - they don't even know it. They take care of each other and have grown so very much since September. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with your beautiful children. We see your hard work reflected in them and say "Great Job."

Taking Care of Your Heart From The Inside Is Important Too!!!

Part of our healthy lifestyle discussion included ways that we can take care of hearts from the inside. The children best understood this as "having a bad day or being grumpy." I think everyone understands that those feelings don't feel good and that God helps us feel better by loving us all of the time. The church season of Lent is all about "heart health" and making our hearts ready for the good news at Easter. The cross outside of our room is easy way for the children to see how much their hearts mean to the Easter story and that, by Easter, - we won't be able to see any of the sad black cross anymore. Heart health & God's love - now that is really good news.

Heart Health & Fitness

Don't be surprised if your children have become health conscious this week. We spent lots of time talking about the importance of taking care of bodies - inside and out. We had a special fitness instructor come by and teach us how to exercise and enjoyed a delicious fruit smoothie at snack. (The children were delightfully surprised at how tasty this treat actually was.) We also learned about how our heart works and the very important job it does for us every second of every day. I apologize in advance for any meal controversy that may occur in your home - because the children became quite expert at "policing" their lunch. Good foods make us grow and helps our brains learn so much better. The children have it all figured out - going to kindergarten will be so much easier - all we need to do is "be healthy."

Thank You Dental Hygienists

Thanks so much to our special guest speakers today. They came to teach us about how to take care of our teeth. We appreciate you coming to visit with us today.

Beautiful Smiles

Taking of our teeth is one of our most important jobs. We eat healthy and brush and floss regularly. Our baby teeth are so beautiful and shiny. Here are some of God's most precious smiles.

The Best Snack Ever

Can you believe the one time I didn't have my camera in hand - we had the very best snack ever? We are focusing on dental health, heart health and fitness this week AND as part of this unit, we are enjoying healthy snacks. Since Monday was rainy - we did a little cooking project and made our own "personal" healthy snack pizzas. The recipe is really old and was probably invented by a teenager - but the children in our class went crazy over this delicious treat. The recipe is as follows: one half of a wheat English muffin, 1 tablespoon heart healthy spaghetti sauce, 1 tablespoon low fat shredded cheese and three/four pepperoni. You put this under the broiler just until everything melts and voila - you have the "best snack ever."

Olympics, President's Day & Lent - All In One

Can you really put this all together? Well we did. Here is how we did it...1. The Olympics show everyone how to try their very best and keep trying - even if they fall down. (No one pouts, cries or quits.) Athletes in the Olympics get right back up and keep on going. The teams work for a long time and say "good job" even if they don't win. (and they don't laugh at you when you mess up.)2. Our President provides us with a country that is free and ensures that everyone is given equal opportunities to pursue their dream (like going to the Olympics.) President's Day means there were a lot of very brave men who did not give up and made the United States a great place to live. Thank you George Washington for being brave enough to take this job for the very first time and thank you to all of the Presidents that have been willing to take this really hard job. Also we say are proud of Abraham Lincoln for making everyone free - even though a lot of people didn't want him too. 3. Lent - well that means working hard to share God's love and getting our hearts ready for the Easter story. It means sharing His love even when we don't feel like it or don't want too - God stays with us and helps us get right back up.
So I guess we decided that we should always try our very best -even when we it isn't fun and that we should be overly crazy excited that God is with us every single step of the way. It also means that we can mess up a lot and God will still love us. Hooray for "keeping on - keeping on." If you come into the school next week - take a minute to read some of the gold medal achievements the children envision for themselves. Some of us anticipate being great athletes and some of us envision ourselves as great cheerleaders. My personal favorite is from a little girl who said "I would get a gold medal for clapping." That is the best - all we really need to do is clap and cheer for each other. I think I can really do this one.

Can You Wash Your Heart?

"God, create a pure heart in me. Give me a new spirit that is faithful to you." Psalm 51:10

Today I sent home a heart coloring page to help count down the days until Easter. It really works well with today's chapel lesson. Mrs. Becky talked about our Bible verse for the month and how we can get a "clean heart." It was fun to hear the children talk about how they wash when they are dirty but get totally stumped when asked how they could "wash" their heart when it was dirty with hurtful words or feelings. They were all so relieved to know that all it takes is prayer and Jesus forgives us. We decided that by coloring one heart per day, we would be washing our heart and starting with a clean heart each morning. (Except for Sundays - because going to church washes our hearts for us.) The church season of Lent seems so very long and sad...but the great news of Easter comes quickly. My hope is that this little countdown sheet makes it a little easier to explain.

President's Day

Happy President's Day! We had lots of fun learning about our forefathers this week. The children are most impressed by how funny they look. (and about George Washington actually using a hatchet when he was little boy. They said - that is too dangerous for little children to play with.) We made a George Washington/Abraham Lincoln and talked about what we would do if we were President. Our children are really very wise...

Mardi Gras? Shrove Tuesday?

Today was a special day for our class. We celebrated Mardi Gras and learned about the Christian tradition of Shrove Tuesday. Although the children are young and this concept is really big - I think it is important to mark the end of the church season of Epiphany and celebrate big time before lent begins tomorrow. (The season of Lent is so sad and solitary and having a fun day to prepare for it kind of makes it easier for the children to understand.) It was lots of fun as we made crazy Mardi Gras hats, enjoyed King Cake for our snack, got crazy beads and earned some chocolate coins. The three year old boys and girls from Mrs. Margie's class came up for a Mardi Gras parade and even enjoyed some chocolate coins too. These are our best silly faces to match our equally silly hats. (I'm still not sure why silly translates to opening your mouth.) Happy Fat Tuesday!

Is This Really Snow?

After countless days of praying for snow during our circle time, the children finally got their snow. It is so beautiful and bright. It is so amazing how everything becomes so still when it snows at night. Have fun playing in this fluffy white valentine's day gift from God ... and maybe even make some snowcream too.

Can We Open This, Please?

These decorated boxes, (of course re-cycled) contain lots of sweets and treats from friends. The boys and girls did a great job decorating them and could not wait to see what was waiting inside.

Love Is...

Love is ...saying nice things and having fun...sharing God's love...smiles. These heart collages were done by the children. They free painted hearts and added other fun things for texture. We also made up a poem with some favorite valentine words....

Love, candy, flowers and treats,
We love mommy & daddy
and we will give you some sweets.
Happy Love Day!

Valentine's Day

We had such a fun day on Thursday. It was nice to have lunch on Tuesday and our sweet treat as part of lunch on Thursday. (Sometimes a big party is just too much) The children were crazy with excitement, but our room was actually very good. We finished our valentine cards for our parents and did a fun math activity with conversation hearts. We were most anxious for the valentine delivery and hated that we had to wait to open our heart covered boxes until mom or dad gave permission.
These parent valentines are my favorite. The children cut out their own faces and made their own hair. They also wrote "I Love You." The envelope contains hands attached to yarn that should "accurately" represent their arm length at this age. (For hugs when everyone grows up.)

Will You Be My Valentine?

It is almost here and we just can't wait!!!!!Today we finished our valentine mailboxes..and now all they need is the delivery of deliciously sweet treats. As you can see we finished our mailboxes on the big rug and had lots of fun adding hearts and stickers.

Hello Valentine....

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and the language of love abounds in our classroom. We have done some valentine's patterns and talked about love - but the real madness begins as we start making boxes for those special sweet treats that will be delivered on Thursday. We learned that you can show valentine's love all year long, especially at home by helping with chores and using good manners. Here are some pictures of valentine's friends in our loving classroom.