Snow!

Okay, maybe it was my fault it snowed on Monday! I planned to talk about and play with snow this week and if we didn't have any on the ground, I would have gone to the ice rinks and picked up the zamboni shavings, so maybe my wish for ease of snow access was granted! Sorry!!

This week we are playing with snow and listening for the sound of Ss.

Our table activities include making snow flakes with cotton balls and Qtips on sticky paper, painting snow inside, playing with pretend snow made of baking soda and hair conditioner and a snow flake tinker tray.

Our small group activities are painting a melted snowman with puffy paint made of shaving cream and glue and making a name snowman.

KDIs of the week are-

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.- Ss sound and Ww sound, we'll be looking and listening for letters and sounds more as the year progresses.

Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world. - Talking about snow and how it forms. Six sided snowflakes, no two exactly the same. 

Jesus Time- This week we see Jesus call his first disciples after he gives them a huge catch of fish. Jesus is preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and when the crowds are pressing in on him, he asks some of the fishermen cleaning their nets if they could take him out to speak to the crowds in their boat. They do so. When he is finished speaking, he tells them to let their nets down. They reply that they hadn't caught a thing all night, and now is not the time to fish. He insists. When they let their nets down, they catch so many fish, their boat begins to sink. They call for help from their fellow fishermen, and they have two boats filled with fish. When they return to shore and and get the fish out of their boats, Jesus asks them if they'd like to be fishers of men instead of fish. They agree, so Peter, Andrew, James and John, fishermen of Capernaum, become Jesus disciples.

Our next field trip is on Thursday, February 22nd. We are going to the Belle Isle Aquarium at 9:30. There is no school the Tuesday before that, we have teacher's conference. So attendance slips for that will go home next week. The cost is just a dollar.

Have a safe and healthy week!
Mrs. Schneck

Blog for January 23 and 25

It is wet! Inside and out!
This week we are playing with water! And we are looking at and listening for the Ww sound and letter.

Table activities- Water tubs with boats and balls, painting and play with colored water and pipettes, watercolor painting.

Small group activities- We drew pictures with markers and then used spray bottles to spray water on them so it looked like they were rained on. We'll do some other water experiments on Thursday.

KDIs of the week-

Experimenting: Children experiment to test their ideas.  - We tried different colors, large and small water blobs, we'll do more experimenting with water on Thursday.

Predicting: Children predict what they expect will happen. - Simple scientific question. What do you think will happen if you do...?


Jesus Time- In this week's story we see Jesus at the wedding of a friend. It was the custom in those days to have a wedding celebration that lasted longer than a day, more like a week. Usually the best wine was served first, but enough food and wine was purchased to feed everyone for the entire time. They had run out of wine at this wedding and Jesus' mother let him know what had happened. He told her that it wasn't quite time yet. She told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Jesus quietly called the servants to him and told them to fill the jugs up with water. He then told them to take a cup of it to the master of the feast. When they did, the master said, "Why did you save the best wine until the end of the feast?" Jesus had turned the water into wine. He didn't want the servants to tell anyone what had happened. Every miracle that Jesus did, he did out of love for others, never to show how great he was! He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead and told them not to tell anyone, he calmed the storm to calm his disciples, he helped them catch a good deal of fish, all out of humble service to others! As we get to know this Savior better and better, may we see his love in dealing with us all the time!

Books of the week-"Over and Under the Pond" by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal and "In the Rain With Baby Duck" by Amy Hest, illustrated by Jill Barton.

The weather is predicted to be warmer again by Thursday, so we will most likely be outside and we will most likely be wet! So if you have rubber boots and maybe even rain pants, they would be great!!

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Schneck

Blog for January 16 and 18

Happy Birthday to you!! Happy Birthday to you!! Happy Birthday to the three year olds, happy birthday to you!

This week we are playing birthday. None of our three year olds have birthdays this week, but several of them have half birthdays and one birthday is at the end of the month.

Table activities are playdough birthday cakes, birthday bin, decorating a giant birthday cake and making birthday cards.

Small group activities are wrapping and unwrapping a present and making a birthday cake puzzle.

KDIs for the week are-

   Reflection: Children reflect on their experiences.- We relate the birthday celebration to our own birthday, how old we are and how old we will be turning, what gifts we'd like to receive and what games we'd like to play.

   Writing: Children write for many different purposes.- This week we will write to make birthday cards for others!

Jesus Time- This week we are learning about Jesus' baptism, when he began his earthly ministry. Jesus went to his cousin John the Baptist to be baptized, even though he didn't really need to. John was baptizing for the forgiveness of sins and Jesus had no sin. He was baptized to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies that said he would be. When He was baptized, the heavens opened and a voice called out, "This is my Son, who I love. Listen to Him." and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove appeared. We will get to know Jesus better and better as we hear stories of his ministry this year!

Books of the week- "Arthur's Birthday" by Marc Brown and "Corduroy's Birthday" by Don Freeman.

See you tomorrow at the Westland Library at 10am if you can make it! 

See you Friday night for some hot cocoa, bedtime snacks and books from 6:30-8:00!

Have a terrific week!

Mrs. Schneck

Blog for January 9 and 11

This week we are journeying through the jungle!

Table activities are jungle play box with grass, bark, rocks and jungle animals, jungle play dough, jungle prints and jungle animal play.

In small group we are making rain sticks and putting our first letter in our journals, Jj is for jungle.

Our KDIs this week are-

Use of resources: Children gather information and formulate ideas about their world- How can we use what we have to make what we want to make? 

Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds. - We have talked about letters and sounds before, but this week we are taking it one more step.

Jesus time- This week we see how Jesus grows up too. When Jesus was 12 years old, he accompanied his parents to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival. No doubt they traveled with friends and family. When the festival was over and they were returning to Nazareth, Jesus wasn't among their friends. Mary and Joseph were worried, where could he be? They retraced their steps and looked for him for three days in Jerusalem. They found him in the temple talking to the teachers and answering and asking questions. They were amazed at his wisdom. Mary and Joseph were upset, they told Jesus how worried they were. He replied that he was where he needed to be, doing His Father's work! He returned home with them to Nazareth. Jesus never had to wonder what he would be when He grew up. He was our Savior his whole life, he never sinned, he did what he needed to do right from the moment he was conceived. It was a life He chose to live so He could save us! May our children grow closer to Jesus as they grow!

Books of the week are- "Welcome to the Green House" by Jane Yolen, "Verdi" by Janell Cannon and "The Umbrella" by Jan Brett.

Next week Wednesday we have a field trip to the Westland Library that is located at 6123 Central City Pkwy, Westland, MI. We will be meeting there from 10-11 am. The librarian will talk about how to treat books, read books to us and share what programs the library has to offer! An attendance note will go home on Thursday to return next Tuesday to give us an estimation of how many will come! Hope to see you there!

On Friday, January 19th, we will be having a literacy night at Peace Lutheran Preschool!! Come in your jammies or comfy clothes to hear why reading aloud is so important for your kids!! It's one of the best things you can do for them. Free books and bedtime snacks like hot cocoa and cookies! From 6:30-8:00 pm!! A Flyer will be coming home on Wednesday! Share with your family and friends, all are welcome!!

Have a great week!

Blog for January 8-12, 2018

We finally got a thaw and I hope we will be able to get outside and play this week!!

This week's theme is Growing Up. What do we want to be when we grow up?

Table activities involve a lot of dramatic play- on Monday, you could pretend to be a doctor or veterinarian or a construction worker, on Wednesday you can pretend to work in a restaurant or store or be an artist, on Friday you can pretend to be a police or firefighter or work in a flower shop.

Small group activities include making a full sized picture of yourself into what you want to be when you grow up, placing a picture of yourself in the place you'd like to work and adding a "When I grow up, I want to be..." picture to our journals.

Here is a photo of what we wanted to be, at least for today!!

(The first words are what they planned to play with, the second is what they want to be when they grow up)

KDIs of the week-

Cooperative play: Children engage in cooperative play.  - Children take on different roles and work together as they pretend.

Pretend play: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through pretend play. - We are doing a lot of that this week, they do what they think each profession does.

Community roles: Children recognize that people have different roles and functions in the community. -They can see how each role interacts with each other, too!

Jesus time- This week we see how Jesus grows up too. When Jesus was 12 years old, he accompanied his parents to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival. No doubt they traveled with friends and family. When the festival was over and they were returning to Nazareth, Jesus wasn't among their friends. Mary and Joseph were worried, where could he be? They retraced their steps and looked for him for three days in Jerusalem. They found him in the temple talking to the teachers and answering and asking questions. They were amazed at his wisdom. Mary and Joseph were upset, they told Jesus how worried they were. He replied that he was where he needed to be, doing His Father's work! He returned home with them to Nazareth. Jesus never had to wonder what he would be when He grew up. He was our Savior his whole life, he never sinned, he did what he needed to do right from the moment he was conceived. It was a life He chose to live so He could save us! May our children grow closer to Jesus as they grow!

Books of the week- We are reading from the "I Want to Be"series from Sesame Street about wanting to be a pilot, teacher, doctor and fire fighter.

On Friday, January 19th, we will be having a literacy night at Peace Lutheran Preschool!! Come in your jammies or comfy clothes to hear why reading aloud is so important for your kids!! It's one of the best things you can do for them. Free books and bedtime snacks like hot cocoa and cookies! From 6:30-8:00 pm!! A Flyer will be coming home on Wednesday! Share with your family and friends, all are welcome!!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Schneck

Happy New Year!!

We are welcomed back to school in the cold wind and low temperatures! Thanks to everyone who joined us for our first day back!

We treasured our time together today!! We found treasure in rice and played with treasure in golden slime this morning. The slime did get on some articles of clothing. It is made of glue, water and borax, so it should come out!

We decorated a treasure box and chose some treasures to put inside, we hunted for our own special treasure and added that to our box also.


KDIs of the week-
Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds- we are working on knowing our letters and the sounds they make.

Experimenting: Children experiment to test their ideas. - We did a lot of experimenting with slime this morning.


We even learned about the treasure that the wise men brought to Jesus and who the true treasure is- JESUS!

Jesus time- This week we hear the last story that takes place while Jesus is still an infant. We linked this story to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that we heard earlier. Someone who was from Israel told people in the East about the promise of a Savior. When these wise men studied the sky, they saw a bright star which meant that the promised Savior was born. They packed up and began to follow the star. When they reached Judah, they naturally went to Jerusalem, the capital city. If there was a new king, isn't that where he would be? As they began to look for him, King Herod heard about them. King Herod was a very bad king. He invited the wise men under false pretenses and shared what he knew about the birth of a king. He directed them to the small village of Bethlehem, just a few miles outside Jerusalem. He told them to return once they had found the child so he could go and worship him too. That was not his plan, he wanted to get rid of Jesus. He would be the only King. 
The wise men went and saw Jesus in a house where the star stopped. They gave him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They were warned in  a dream not to go back to see Herod, but to return home another way. Joseph was also warned in a dream to wake Mary and the baby and flee to Egypt until Herod was dead. God protects his children, Jesus and us! He sends his angels to protect us! Psalm 91:11 says "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;". 

Books of the week- "Grandma and the Pirates" by Phoebe Gilman and "What Star is That?" by Joseph Slate.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!!
Mrs. Schneck