Christmas Party

Theme: Christmas Party

Choosing Time: Little People Village

Science: Today we baked Gingerbread Men Cookies! After we all had washed our hands and gathered in the kitchen I announced that today we would be cooking. Spencer exclaimed, "You mean we get to use a fire? Seriously?" When I answered, "We will be using the fire inside the oven" all the boys chimed, "Cool!"

Everyone helped to make the dough, roll out the dough, cut the dough out, & make the frosting. We took turns smelling Molassas, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, & Cloves. After the smelling, we weren't sure that we would even like these cookies. I explained that eating these spices individually wouldn't be too tasty, but mixing them all together might make a difference. I know that a few children were believers as they snatched dough bites as often as possible :)
Frosting our cookies was also a fun treat. We have some amazing artists!
Snack: Thank you Grace for bringing delicious graham crackers today! Thank you also for offering to sit by me & remind me that you would do anything I might need help with :) Really sweet!

Art: We had a great time stamping our "wrapping paper" for our Christmas Presents. Daniel was so careful & methodical in his pattern :)

*We had a fun morning together! Thank you for accommodating the time change for me today! I was able to see my daughter be a cow in her school play of the Gingerbread Boy. I appreciate each one of you! Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Mini Class

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Choosing Time: Little People Village

Snack: Thank you Grace for yummy Cheez-It crackers & Fruit Loops. We practiced our colors while we ate. Some of us had fun putting the Loops on our eyes to try out a new look :) Hyrum noticed that the Cheez-Its also have holes in the center and so we tried out square orange eyes too!

Art: Sh! Today we worked on our Christmas Presents. We loved stamping the envelopes!

Music & Movement: Ring-Around-the-Rosy, Jingle Bells, Once there was a Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Science: We discussed the properties of glue. There were woeful cries of panic as the glitter was poured onto our project today. And then smiles returned to discover that glitter only stays on the glue. Hurray!

Dear Santa: These are the items that some of the children are hoping Santa will bring to them...
Noah--A "new truck" because my "dump truck is broke"
Hyrum--"Thomas Trains"
June--"A Baby-Dolly"
Grace--"A Present :)"
Nathan--Everything everyone else suggested

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

Christmas Secrets

Tuesday, December 14, 2009

Theme: Christmas Secrets

Choosing Time: All of the Fisher Price Little People came out for some fun imaginative play.

Lesson: I expressed my opinion that at Christmas Time it is OK to keep a few secrets. We like to keep what we are giving as gifts secret so we will have a surprise on Christmas Morning. I hope that if you ask them what they did today they respond, "Christmas Time is Secret Time." :)

Snack: Thank you Leo for a yummy snack! We enjoyed Cheese & Crackers & Fruit Snacks. Leo is a great helper!

Movement: The Hokey-Pokey

Music: Pipe Chime Bells: We Wish You A Merry Christmas!
Thank you for all coming in and being a great audience! It is a bit intimidating to perform in front of adults. I am so very proud of each child today! We really worked hard and I hope each of them is feeling good & excited about his/her success in playing an instrument :)

Letter "K"

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Theme: Letter "K"

Choosing Time: Star Wars, Kinex, & Cars

Snack: Thank you Mitch for a yummy snack! We had whale crackers & clementines!

Lesson: The letter "K" is tricky. It sounds just like the letter "C" sometimes. It even helps letter "C" a lot when it snuggles close at the end of lots of words like "quick." We jumped like Kangaroos, purred like Kittens, laughed like Kris Kringle, & practiced being Kind with loving words. We were happy to find another letter whose lower case is so similar to its capital. :)

Music & Movement: We added some big Kicks & Quick little Kicks to our exercise countdown today for letter "K". We sang Santa Claus is Coming To Town.

Game: "I Spy With My Little Eye..." To become the "King" you had to be the first to guess it correctly.

Writing: We practiced a lot of letters today. We practiced so much that we ran out of time for art, but we will make up for it next time :)

Mini Class

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Choosing Time: Mini Star Wars, Balls, Cars, Pegboards, & Ponies
Snack: Thank you Noah for bringing a yummy snack of vanilla & chocolate Teddy Grahams! We also loved the raisins. Thank you!

Art: We made fun Nativity Necklaces & Jingle Bell Bracelets

Letter "J"

Theme: Letter "J" for Joy, Jingle, & Baby Jesus

Choosing Time: Mini Star Wars Toys & Playmobile Nativity Set

Snack: Thank you Jake for bringing chocolate animal crackers. It was a fun snack!

Lesson: We practiced drawing the letter "J". Jake, Jodi, & J.T. :) both start with "J". We guessed some "J" words and came up with some on our own. I read a story and asked them to listen for another special "J" word. It was "Jesus".

Music & Movement: Countdown Exercises, Jingle Bells, & Rudolph...We had fun dancing like a jingle bell as we sang :)

Books: The First Christmas: An ABC Book, retold by Laura Derico
There was no Snow on Christmas Eve, by Pam Munyuz Ryan

Art: We made "Jewelry": Nativity Necklaces & Jingle Bell Bracelets

Ornaments

Theme: Ornaments
Objective: Christmas Ornaments can help us to remember Jesus

Choosing Time: Trains, dolls, & water drawing mat
Snack: Thank you Spencer for a delicious & fun snack today! Thank you also for being a TERRIFIC helper. I really put him to work today & he was a super help!

Lesson: We compared Santa to Jesus as we read a sweet children's book. As we found an ornament hidden in the pages of the book we took turns hanging them on our Christmas tree. We also sang a song with each ornament.

Book: I Believe in Santa Claus by Diane Adamson

Music & Movement: "Countdown Work-out", Jingle Bells, Christmas Bells, Snow is Falling, Once Their Was A Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jesus Wants Me For A Sun Beam, The Shepherd's Carol, & Fire Truck
We used a lot of energy today singing & moving! I also passed out some pipe bells for the children to play. We will play them again to learn a song :)
Art: Marbled Christmas Ball Ornaments--The children had fun watching the paint swirl around inside of their ornaments. It was fun to see what colors each child chose and how the colors mixed together.

Mini Class

Choosing Time: Trains, Balls, Water Drawing Mat
I thought it was quite clever of June to start tracing the other children's feet on the mat. Then all the shoes & socks came off to do a wet foot print on the mat. Great idea! I wish I'd thought of it :)

Snack: Nathan shared a yummy mix of pretzels, candy corn, raisins, & peanuts. We also munched on some plain white bread.

Books: Max's Christmas by Rosemary Wells
Caillou Merry Christmas by Johanne Mercier

Art: We had a fun time making special Christmas Ornaments today! It was interesting to watch the paint swirl around the inside of the ball. We added a bit of magic sparkle too!

Songs: Jingle Bells & Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Nathan insisted that we get the parachute out. We shared many giggles!

Letter "I"

Theme: Letter "I"

Objective: To recognize the letter "I" and learn its two sounds. To use our imaginations to create a sticker story. To gain confidence in our abilities.

Choosing Time: "Popcorn" Names, Peg Boards with rubber bands, Construct-a-vehicle, & Puppets
Snack: Thank you to Daniel for a yummy & healthy snacks of orange slices & raisins! Even the most picky palette commented, "Mmm, these oranges are tasty!" I added some insect crackers just for fun to celebrate the letter "I".

Music & Movement: We practiced our Countdown Exercises to release some Indoor Wiggles

Book: A Merry Little Christmas by Mary Englebreit

Lesson: We guessed some "I" words. We practiced drawing "I's". Ask your children to show you the lower case "i". Did they make a fun noise as they drew it? :)

ABC Christmas Game: We used our Imagination to pack Santa's Sleigh using the ABC's. This was a fun way to practice our letter recognition as well as the letter sounds. One child to pack an Ax. This concerned another child. She wanted it to be a pretend one. I reminded them that it was a pretend game and so it would be okay to include a real ax. She wasn't too sure. :) Since we put a real zebra in the sleigh we sprinkled magic on it so Santa could pull it.

Art: Stickers, crayons, & paper were the mediums we used to invent a wonderful picture story. I hope you have a moment to hear your children's stories.
Our imaginations were exercised & stretched today!