Seeing Red....

 It was another color day... can you guess which one?????  You are right... red!!! But not like the angry red...the red that means LOVE.  Happy Red Day 2016!

Guess Who?

 Guess Who?  These are our paper dolls ... but they are more like a self portrait.  We made them last week when we talked about how God made us all special and different.  It is kind of like a guessing game and we put them over the stairs for all of our friends to see.  The awesome part is that when I held them up in our classroom, our friends had no problem guessing who it was... and they were totally right!  Each doll was made by each child, faces, hair, etc.... and I love them all!  We truly are "fearfully and wonderfully made" and I am so blessed to get to see these bright faces learn in God's love.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream....

Here is our very first painting project... the beloved ice cream cone.  This was part of our "letter I" week and I think they are great!  Each child completed their own painting... holding the paint brush and forming the shapes on the paper ... and boy can I tell you that was pretty big news!!!  Most of them asked "can I really paint all by myself?" So if you have a minute stop by our room and take a look at your child's very first artistic masterpiece, they are super proud and I am too. Way to go boys and girls!!!! 

Bookmobile!!!!

 Hip, Hop Hooray... it was Bookmobile Day!!!  And just by walking on the bus... our brains grew about ten times!!!!!  So many books to choose from and so little time to make the perfect selection.  I am sure by now you have heard your child say, "Mrs. Laura says reading books makes my brain grow" and yes I believe that.  There are books about silly & scary stuff... and books that teach us facts... but no matter what, by listening to books and practicing reading - we are giving our brains the fuel it needs to really grow and learn.  We are learning the job of the author and illustrator and we will learn the parts of the book.  We will also learn what books are fiction and nonfiction... and yes some of us may actually learn to read!!! BUT... it was only our first visit from the bookmobile for this year... we're just focused on showing off that perfect selection from today.

Fun Times

 Fun times in our classroom... it is week number four and we're still figuring this whole thing out... BUT it is really FUN!!!  We are so thankful to God for bringing us all together.  It is still pretty loud and crazy and the whole "raising your hand" thing is impossible... but we are LEARNING. 

Our Bible verse this month is Mark 10:14... "Jesus said, Let the little children come to me."  Pretty cool that we are children and there are children all over the world.  (That, in itself, is overwhelming for most of us in our classroom.)  So we looked at some pictures of boys and girls from near and far away... This was part of our Olympic celebration.  And we looked at pictures of children in Tanzania.  (The Lutheran Synod of South Carolina supports the Lutheran Church in Tanzania.)    Yes they look very different, but yes they also look so much like us... we all have big beautiful smiles to say hello!  Soooo we learned a fun song from them and it is about thanking Jesus.  (If you have heard your child singing in something that appears to be a different language... they aren't making it up.  I know we are learning Japanese too... but this is something else.)    The words translated are "I am thanking Jesus, I am thanking Jesus, I am thanking Jesus with my heart.  Oh I am thanking Jesus, I am thanking Jesus, I am thanking Jesus with my heart."  But in their native language the words are "Asante sana yesu, asante sana yesu, asante sana yesu moyoni, Asante sana yesu, asante sana yesu, asante sana yesu moyoni."  The song is so happy and fun and I find myself humming it all of the time... but it is true... I am thanking Jesus with all my heart for these beautiful children.

Music & Movement

To make our day even more exciting.... we had music with Pastor Josh!!! If you didn't know... we LOVE Pastor Josh.  He shares God's love with us at chapel when he is available, and he shares His love through music too!!!  The songs might be a little crazy and yes we crawl all over the floor... but who doesn't do this when they are four!!!  "Be still and know that I am God..."  That little chapel was buzzing with laughter and dancing and singing ... but when we heard "be still and know that I am God"  we all stood still as a statue and got very quiet.  And it is in the quietness that we hear God the most.  Of course these sweet angels don't get this big picture... they just sing and have fun...but as adults we get it!!!  Time goes faster than ever... so enjoy the quiet and still.  God is with you.

Book Character Dress Up Day

What a great day!!!!  We came dressed as our favorite book character and it was soooooo much fun!  We wanted to listen to all of our friend's books but there just wasn't enough time.  We had a book character parade for our friends in other classes and it was a blast.  It makes this teacher smile to know that books are still alive in your homes.  Thank you so much for reading with your children.  Reading is a skill that will help your child succeed in years to follow... so they will thank you later.