A Beautiful Fall Day

Today was such a beautiful day. The breeze was perfect, it wasn't too hot - just a wonderful fall day to enjoy the playground. I think the faces in these pictures show you just how much fun running & playing can actually be. We, as adults, sometimes forget to just take some time and let everything else go. (The children are experts at this.)It is obvious that we are growing in God's love. The best advice for this weekend is to follow the example set by these sweet boys and girls. Talk a walk, sit in the sunshine and just thank God for His many blessings.

Community Helpers

Today was all about community helpers. Our room felt very safe with the medical and safety personnel all around. We had doctors, a surgeon, police officers, a sheriff, firefighters & a dentist. We were so lucky to even get a new toothbrush from our child friendly dentist. (You know - I never thought of this but after today - I really think this would be a great idea for a real dental office. If they could somehow arrange for "child greeters" to show other children around the office - the whole idea of the dentist might not be so scary.)
Our firemen were prepared for anything. From special boots to the breathing operator. Talk about planning for everything.
As you see below, we also had a zoo keeper, a naval officer & a chef - complete with cookies. The zoo keeper even brought some animals to share and they were so cute. The children said these animals didn't smell as bad as the animals at the real zoo.
Thank you parents for making this such a great day for us. We also had a friend dress up as a teacher - but there is no picture available today. It was a really good day for everyone. We each took turns "presenting" our information to the class and shined with good public speaking skills. I can't wait to see what these boys & girls grow up to be. Whatever the case - God will go with them where- ever & whatever path they follow.


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Do We Have To Go Home?

Each afternoon as carpool begins, we have some "down time" to visit and socialize. Although we have lots of time during the day to play & work together - nothing beats a few minutes to just "hang out" with our friends. Even at our young age, it is important to have time to talk and share. All to soon they will be on cell phones - so this time is priceless.

Alphabet Pages

You should be finding alphabet pages in your child's folder each week. Have much patience with this because it will get better. Each child does his/her own cutting & pasting. The alphabet page is is a tool that I use to help "pull" things together for each letter, while practicing cutting, phonics and a little bit of art. I encourage you to keep them to make the set at the end of our alphabet study- it is a really fun tool to review. (and the children are so surprised at their own progress with skills development.) This week "t is for truck." Our past letters have been: "I is for ice cream;" "L is for ladybug;" & "F is for fish."

T is for Team

This week, we are learning about the letter Tt, transportation & community helpers. (That is a lot of ground to cover.) If you look outside our classroom door, you will see our preschool football team. It was a really fun art project that the children completed for the letter Ff, but it tied in so nicely with our theme this week. Being a team means that we all work together to follow the rules to learn and grow - right here in God's house. Being a team player means that we help our friends and always do our best - the best news is that Jesus is our coach. Go Team PCP!

More "Puzzle Professionals"

Today it happened again...two more classmates took the "ABC puzzle challenge." It wasn't nearly as hard as they imagined and from the smile on their faces I think they were quite proud of themselves.

"Yellow"

What fun and bright pictures. Today was "yellow" day and it was so cheerful (even more than red was last week. ) When some parents came up at the end of the day they commented about how much fun this color day was. Yeah for sunny yellow and sunny smiles!

Don't Give Up

One thing that your child should recount to you with total accuracy is our classroom rule about "not giving up." We just don't do it. Today was one of those days where it was tempting to just give up - but with some words of encouragement - there was success. I am talking about this puzzle. Sure it looked really hard when all 26 pieces were spread out on the floor, but with some logical thinking - these two finished it. Although there were many other attempts by friends, these two thought about the order of the alphabet and worked their way from A to Z to complete it. Great job!!!!Stay tuned for more success stories from our room. Puzzles seem to always be the last great obstacle and now that some friends have shown everyone that it isn't impossible, the rest of us will give it a try.

We Welcomed Fall With Apple Pie

Happy Fall! Even though it still feels like summer, we welcomed autumn with homemade apple pies. It was part of our Johnny Appleseed celebration. Mimi, our "apple pie baking expert", came to help us each make our very own apple pie - starting with rolling out the crust. (No kidding we made 18 mini pies - an extra for Mrs. Becky's birthday and a treat for Mrs. Laurie.) Some of us had never made or tasted apple pie, but it became very obvious that all of us LOVED the sliced apples that made our pies so yummy. My mom actually picked the apples for our pies from an orchard in North Carolina on Tuesday and we loved seeing them turn into this yummy creation. The smell of the baking pies in the Fellowship Hall had all of the classes thinking Fall. It was really fun to have the children think the whole "pie making" process through. We talked about what we needed to complete this cooking project staring with butter and flour - right down to the warm oven to finish the process. These boys and girls are so smart. "Oh the Lord's been good to me and so I thank the Lord. For giving me the things I need - the sun and the rain and the apple seed." Happy Johnny Appleseed Day! (PS - There really was another Mimi scheduled to help my mom but she did have a dental emergency and couldn't help us. The children were really sad that another Mimi wasn't with us. So if they recounted this story to you - it is all true. Mimi #2 had to go the dentist and miss our apple celebration.)

Apple Taste Test

It is almost Johnny Appleseed Day and to help us get in the spirit we had an apple taste test. As you can see green was the class favorite, however, in our sister classes the winners were red and yellow. Whatever the color, an apple is a delicious and healthy snack.

Our Family Trees

In case you haven't been in this week, our family tree art project is displayed above our names. Don't be surprised to see the names of our friends along with family members because we know that we are all part of God's big family. This is always a really fun art project and it changes slightly every year. This year the children did almost all of it without much assistance. Teacher help was required when the apple stamping started because it was too much fun to "splat" the apple and see the paint drops fly.

F is for Fabulous Feet

This week we decided that F means "fabulous feet" because you need feet for everything you do...running, walking, dancing, standing, skipping and serving God. With our feet we can travel around and share His love with everyone we meet - just by smiling and sharing "shalom."

God's Love

We had chapel on Tuesday with Pastor Karen. She reminded us of our new word for God's peace, Shalom. She also talked about how much Jesus loves us and shared her secret way of knowing who Jesus loves. She said that Jesus gave EVERYONE He loves a belly button. It was so fun to watch the children check under their own shirts for a belly button. They were so excited to hear this good news. Check your belly button today? Does Jesus love you? "Yes, Jesus Loves Me...."

Red

Our color this week was red. It is such a happy color. Don't we look so cheerful in our color of the week?

Reading Is Fun

Our book fair is this week and boy do we love our books? I am so appreciative of you wonderful parents because it is obvious that you place a high value of reading in your homes. The boys and girls in this class love to listen to stories and read books. You don't need new books, just share what you have or check them out from our classroom. Reading is fundamentally fun!

Class Snapshots

These are random pictures from today. Even though I am in the classroom all day with the children, I miss out on a lot of great conversations. While Mrs. Laurie & I work with the children at the table, lots of "stuff" happens around us in play centers. Most of the time, if I even try to sneak up to listen to these sometimes deep conversations - the children stop talking. Imagine yourself here, what do you think the children are talking about? On occasion, I do get to participate in childhood conversations and have learned lots of amazing things. For instance, did you know that hot weather can take your superpowers? Or that a daddy really can paint fingernails? I also learned that one student really wants a cat, but can't have one because her mom is "electric to them." These are all things that I did not know - so I'll keep you posted with more amazing information when I get it.

A Really Fun Book

This is one of the class favorites. Every year I read this book for the letter Ff. It is a silly story about a little fish that is really "fidgety" (hence the title.) The book has fun pictures, but you'll have to ask your child about their favorite part. It also has a CD that the children love to listen to. It has the best sounds that make you want to be a fish playing in the deep blue sea.

A Very Important Question

Do your children have lots of important questions? Most of which cannot wait? Well that was the case on Monday at the beginning of our circle time. It is the usual routine that we come to the rug and sit quietly (as we can) while the "cookie" is being drawn for the helper of the day. This was one of those occasions where it was completely impossible for one of us to hold our question or comment. This precious child repeatedly raised his hand and kept asking if he could just ask ONE question - it was too important to wait. Of course I acknowledged him because this happy, inquisitive energy could not be ignored. (You get the picture... child wiggling with his hand in the air - looking positively perplexed.) Here was the most important question...."do lions purr?" I love it! We haven't talked about lions or cats - but we did learn about the letter Ll last week. The children all talked about this very important question and agreed that lions probably do purr - because another of our wise students replied "if you pet a cat in a spot where they really like it - they purr." Childhood curiosity is such a wonderful thing!

Piano Players

Our church had a talent show on Sunday night. Of course as a proud mom I must show off. These are two of the participants, one of which belongs to me. Emerson played two duets with my sister, "Pete." It was his first performance and he wasn't even nervous. (How can you get nervous when "chopsticks" is one of your songs?) Great job!!!!

Tired Faces - We Can Do That One!

These are our "after the playground" faces and they are legitimately tired. Can you believe that our season is about to change and it still feels like summer? You can see it in these shiny faces. We can do"tired" with no trouble at all.

Feelings Faces

Since we are learning about the letter Ff this week, we continued to talk about our feelings a little bit more. There is a class book that is nearly finished with each child's feelings faces, but I love to do these pictures. The group below represents happy.

The group below is scared... but they don't really look that scared to me. It is the moment of the picture that speaks for itself. It isn't that easy to make a "scared" face in a classroom full of friends.
You guessed it, these guys below represent the "mad faces." Even at their "maddest" they still are so cute.
Finally, we have the sad faces.
Feelings faces all around, but a what a great day we had. Life is definitely great when you are in preschool.

L is for Love

Our letter of the week was Ll. There are so many fun words we could have used for this picture, but love sums it up. No matter what the dilemma in life - love is the word that guides us all. If you answer any situation with love - then everything will be resolved. We spend so much time talking in our classroom about God's never ending love for us. No matter what kind of feelings we are having or how "ugly" our behavior may be - He never gives up His love for us. There is a simple little childhood song..."love one another, love one another, love one another as Jesus does..."

Thursday Smiles

Thursdays are always fun. (Actually every day in preschool is.) We spent this week learning about family, feelings, and fun -but of course this type of learning happens over the course of a lifetime. The boys and girls in this class are so wonderfully made by God because they share His love with everyone. There are always smiling faces and positive words for friends who are sad or those who are frustrated with a learning task. Our prayer time is a reflection of this as well. They so innocently pray for friends and family. (and for "boo-boos" from bicycles & scooters.)

These pictures show friendship in our class, as well as family. I find myself humming "Asante, sana Yesu..." I am truly thanking God from the bottom of my heart.