Let's build!

 We are building this week! This week was planned as an emergent week. We look at what the children have been choosing to play and we intentionally plan activities that include it. Lots of kids have been building, so here we are!

Table activities include building with different kinds of blocks, making paper houses and building with playdoh and popsicle sticks.

Small group activities are building with sugar cube bricks and glue mortar- so don't eat them! On Thursday we will build bridges and see which one holds the most.

KDIs of the week are-

Engagement: Children focus on activities that interest them. - We are intentionally focusing on an activity that seems to interest most of the children. Everyone built with something today!

Problem solving: Children solve problems encountered in play. - How can I get my tower to stay up? What kinds of blocks can I use together? How to build my bridge? We had frustration sometimes today, but it's okay! Frustration can lead to innovation! That's what we encourage!

Jesus Time- We skip ahead in our Bible stories. We are still in Egypt, where we left Joseph and his family, but now there is a Pharoah who doesn't remember Joseph. This Pharoah is threatened by the number of Jacob or Israel's family who live in Egypt. He decides to curb the growth of these people by having the baby boys thrown into the river to drown. One Israelite mother, Jochabed, saves her little son. She cares for him for three months, hiding him and trying to keep him quiet, but then he just grows too big! She makes a basket-boat for him and with his big sister watching, sets him to float down the Nile. An Egyptian princess sees the basket and asks one of her servants to fetch it for her. She is surprised to see it is a baby. She wants to keep it and immediately, the baby's sister is there, offering to find someone to care for it for her. She runs to get her mother, who gets to take care of the child until he is about 5 years old. The princess names the baby Moses, which means drawn from the water. At 5 years of age, Moses goes to be raised by the Egyptians in the palace.

Books of the week- "The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig" by Eugene Trivizas- led us to building with flowers today and "This is the House That Jack Built" by Simms Taback.

This Thursday is PICTURE DAY!! You should have received a picture pamphlet, if not, you can still order even after you get the proof of the pictures.

Also- this Thursday and Friday are Parent Teacher Conferences. I only have a few more who haven't signed up! I will include the link in the email.

Have a fabulous week!
Mrs. Schneck

We are rockin'!

This week we are using rocks to help us listen for the letter Rr and classify!

Table activities this week are looking at and classifying rocks, playing with rocks and water, using rocks to follow lines and stacking rocks.

Our small group activites are painting rocks and using glue, sand and gravel to make conglomerate rocks.

Our KDIs of the week are-

Vocabulary: Children understand and use a variety of words and phrases.- Vocabulary to use when talking about rocks and that rock has different meanings, like rock music!

Classifying: Children classify materials, actions, people, and events- we are classifying rocks.

Jesus Time- This week we are finishing the story of Joseph. After Joseph was thrown into prison for something he did not do, he was able to help out two workers in Pharaoh's palace who were also in jail. They had some strange dreams and Joseph told them what they meant and they came true. When Pharaoh also had some crazy dreams, his servant told him about Joseph. Joseph came before Pharaoh, told him his dreams and what they meant and Pharaoh put him in charge of half the kingdom. There was a famine that swept through the land, but they were prepared. Joseph's brothers weren't. They came to buy food in Egypt, from their own brother. They didn't recognize Joseph, but Joseph recognized them! He put them through several tests to see if they had changed. When it was clear they had, he invited them and their families to move to Egypt. What they had meant for harm, God used for good!! Joseph forgave them for all they had done to him and their family was reunited!

Books of the week- "Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse" by Leo Lionni and "These Rocks Count" by Alison Formento.

You should have received an email instructing you to sign up for next week's parent-teacher conferences. Sign up!! :)

This coming weekend is Fall Fest at Camp Killarney! If you enjoyed our field trip there, you'll have fun at Fall Fest!!

Trunk or Treat is taking place in the Peace parking lot from 10am-12noon on Saturday, October 27! Come and fill your bags! Invite your friends!

Have a week that rocks!!

Mrs. Schneck

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a cloud!

This week we are taking a look at clouds and the letter Cc!

We read about all sorts of clouds in "The Cloud Book" by Tomie dePaola, and "Now I Know Clouds" by Roy Wandelmaier.

Our morning activities are making clouds on sticky paper, squeezing the "rain" out of cotton balls and watching them get filled with water again, playing with cloud dough and finding treasures in the cloud sensory bin.

Our small group activities are watching it rain- we used a clear container, filled it 2/3rds with water, made a cream cloud on top and used food coloring to see the colorful rain pass through the clouds. On Thursday we will paint puffy clouds.

Our KDIs of the week are-

Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment.- looking at clouds and how they look when it's about to rain.

Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world.- what do different kinds of clouds mean? What are clouds made of?

Jesus Time- This week our story is about Joseph. Joseph was one of Jacob's sons. When Jacob fled to his Uncle Laban's house, he ended up marrying both of Laban's daughters. This wasn't how God intended things to be. His favorite wife was Rachel and Joseph was Rachel's son. Rachel's sister Leah had 10 of Jacob's sons. Joseph was his favorite and he showed it. The older 10 sons were responsible for taking care of Jacob's hundreds of sheep and goats. Joseph would be sent out to make sure they were doing their job. Joseph also shared some dreams he had that he felt meant they would one day bow down to him. The last straw was a gift of a multi-colored coat that Jacob gave to Joseph. It was a sign that he was the overseer, the boss, over his older brothers. One day, when Joseph was making his way out to check up on his older brothers, they saw him and began to plot to get rid of him. They threw him in an empty well, took his beautiful coat and thought about killing him. When a merchant caravan came their way, they decided to sell him. Joseph was on his way to Egypt as a slave. They took his coat, ripped it up, dipped it in the blood of a goat they had killed and told their father that they found the bloody ripped up coat on their way home. Joseph must have been killed by a wild animal. Their father believed it and was very sad. Joseph meanwhile, was made a slave to Potiphar in Egypt. He worked hard and was made the head of Potiphar's household.  
Joseph had some pretty bad things happen to him, worse are yet to come! But through it all, God was with him always- in the pit, as a slave, everywhere he goes! God is with us too, always!

Next Tuesday is our field trip to Camp Killarney! I look forward to playing in tents and hoping for a beautiful day with some cumulus clouds! If you haven't gotten your slip in, it's not too late! Bring it Thursday or even come on Tuesday and give it there!

Next week we DO NOT have school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

We will be in Stevensville, MI for a teacher's conference!

Have a fantastic week!
Mrs. Schneck

Tents!

This week we are listening for the Tt sound and playing with and around things connected with tents.

Morning table activities include playing with and in tents, playing with nature items (wooden discs, pinecones, bark, etc), playmobile camp play and using scissors to snip natural items.

Small group activities are using scissors, ripping skills and glue sticks to make a campfire, and making a tent.

Our KDIs this week are-

Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles.- Lots of scissors skills, ripping and fine motor this week.

Cooperative play: Children engage in cooperative play. - Only two tents- we have to learn to play together.  

Jesus Time- This week our story is about Abraham's grandchildren- Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were twins born to Isaac's wife Rebekah. Even in the womb, she felt these babies wrestling with each other and Jacob was born holding on to Esau's heel. As they grew older, their rivalry continued. Esau was an outdoorsman, hunting and bringing back game for the family to eat. Spending nights away from home on his excursions. Jacob was a shepherd who stayed close to home, keeping his family's sheep. God had promised that Jacob would receive the blessing of the elder son even though Esau was the oldest. When Isaac was very old and close to blind, he instructed Esau to go and kill a game animal and make him the spicy stew that he loved and he would give him the blessing. Rebekah and Jacob overheard and decided to trick Isaac. She told Jacob to kill one of his sheep, dress in Esau's clothes and put sheepskin on his arms so they would feel hairy like Esau's. She made the spicy stew and Jacob served it to his father, pretending to be Esau. He received the blessing.

When Esau returned and brought the stew to his father, he found out that Jacob had stolen his blessing and was furious!! 

Rebekah told Jacob to run away to her brother's house and he did. That night in the middle of nowhere as Jacob laid down with a stone for a pillow, he had a wonderful dream. In the dream there were angels going up and down a staircase and God was at the very top. Even though Jacob had sinned, God still loved him and was with him! 

When Jacob woke up, he anointed the stone and every time he passed that place, he remembered how God was with him. 

He is with us everywhere, too! God loves us no matter what! 

Books of the week are- "A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee" by Chris Van Dusen and "Curious George Goes Camping" by Margret and H. A. Rey. We also had a guest book this morning from Felix- "Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster" by Michelle Nelson-Schmidt.

Our next field trip is coming up quickly! It is Tuesday, October 9th  at Camp Killarney in the Irish Hills. The address is 1200 Chisholm Rd, Onsted, MI 49265. 

We plan to meet there at 10:00 to have some fun in tents and trees!! We will be done with the formal program at 11:30, but you are welcome to stay and adventure on your own!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Schneck

Apples, Apples, Apples

This week we are concentrating on the letter Aa and apples!

Table activities include apple printing, apple orchard sensory bins, using unifix cubes to make apples and apple trees and apple pie playdough.

Small group activities are comparing and contrasting apples- we tried 8 different kinds, and using ripped paper to make an apple tree.

Our KDI of the week is-

 Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world-Looking at how apples grow on trees and how apples make more trees- the cycle that God put in place to keep making apple trees!



Jesus Time- Our story this week shows how God keeps his promises, even though sometimes it seems impossible. We are learning about God choosing Abraham to be the beginning of the line that Jesus would be born of someday and the beginning of our family of faith. God instructed Abraham to move to a place that he would show him. He and his nephew Lot followed God to the land of Canaan where they set up their tent homes. They kept sheep and goats and cattle and camels and waited for what God had in store next. God told Abraham to go out and look at the sky and count the stars. God promised Abraham that he would have that many children. Abraham was 90 years old and didn't even have one child yet, but he believed in God's promise. Years later, three men came and visited Abraham, he served them a meal Sarah, his wife, had cooked. They told him that next year at this same time, he would have a child.  Abraham was 100. Sarah who was 90 at this time, laughed, overhearing them in the tent. She would have a baby??!! But she did, and God kept his promise. Generation after generation of Abraham's children and grandchildren followed God. Not always perfectly and not always all of them, but enough, that when the time came for his promise of a Savior to be born, he was born of Abraham's family. And we who believe in Jesus as our Savior are also children of Abraham- more that the stars in the sky!!

Books of the week- "Under the Apple Tree" by Steve Metzger and "The Little Mouse and the Big Red Apple" by A.H. Benjamin and Gwyneth Williamson

We will see you Wednesday at Plymouth Orchard, 10685 Warren Rd. at 9:30 am- our tour leaves at 9:45, but please be there at 9:30!

Have a apple-tastic week!!!
Mrs. Schneck and Mrs. Oetzel

Blog for September 11 and 13

Magnets and how they work is the theme of our week this week, along with the sound and shape of Mm.

Table activities include attracting pipe cleaner one eyed monsters with magnets, finding the metal in our construction rice bin with magnets, painting with magnets and using magnetic letters to make our own Chika Chika Boom Boom tree.

KDIs of the week are-
 Experimenting: Children experiment to test their ideas. - What is magnetic? How far will my magnet's power reach? 

 Drawing conclusions: Children draw conclusions based on their experiences and observations. - Like magnets only stick to some metals, or one magnet is stronger than another.

Small group activities are building a magnet tower to see how high our magnetic field goes and testing what is magnetic and what is not.

Jesus Time- Our story this week is the flood. We reviewed creation, how God made everything perfect. Adam and Eve chose to not follow God, their children wander farther away from God and a relationship with Him, their children farther yet, and so it went, until only one family was left that had a relationship with God. That was Noah's family. God told them to build a huge ark to carry them and at least two of every kind of animal and keep them safe while he destroyed the world in a flood. It rained for 40 days and nights, covering the world with water to the tops of the mountains. Then it stopped and for 150 more days, Noah and his family and the animals waited for the waters to dry up. When they finally did, the first thing Noah did when he left the ark was to build an altar. He thanked God for keeping he and his family safe during the flood. God placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign of the promise that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood again. 

Books of the week are "Magnet Max" by Monica Lozano Hughes and "Press Here" by Herve' Tullet.

A reminder that this Wednesday is the Preschool Parent meeting- learn more about our K-8 school, finish up any remaining paperwork and get your sign in code for the Ipad. It is at 6:30 pm, should be over by 7. If you cannot attend, just shoot me an email and I will let you know if you have any paperwork outstanding and your code for the Ipad.

Field trip papers due this week for next Wednesday's field trip to Plymouth Orchards!!

Have a fun filled week!
Mrs. Schneck

First week of Preschool

Welcome, welcome to our first week of preschool!! So far we are having a wonderful time!!

This week we are talking about summer and the letter Ss.

Our table activities in the morning are decorating ice pops, collecting bugs, water play with boats and watermelon sensory bags.

Our Key Developmental Indicators of the week are-

Planning: Children make plans and follow through on their intentions. - We all chose what to play this morning, and did follow through on our plans. We did change our plans, especially this first week, there is just so much to explore!! But we did follow through to begin!

Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles.- Ripping paper to make a slice of watermelon and using our pincher grip to pick up sequins and peel stickers and foam are great exercises to get me ready to write!

Our small group activities really concentrate on summer fun and fine motor. We all ate a piece of watermelon and then used ripped paper to make a slice! On Thursday we will use our pincher grip to peel paper off the foam stickers to decorate our summer sun visors.

Jesus Time- This week we are hearing the story of creation. How God created the world with his word in six days. Day one was light, day two water was created, day three plants were created, four-sun, moon and stars, five- fish and birds, six- all land animals and people. We read a big book with wonderful illustrations and simple rhyming text that ended with, "It was good." 


Books of the week- "Summer Days and Nights" by Wong Herbert Yee and "Summer is Summer" by Phillis and David Gershator.

Next Wednesday, September 12th, there will be a parent meeting for the parents of the preschoolers. At this meeting, Pastor Kieta will be explaining about a program that could make enrollment in our day school something to think about. I will also be giving parents their individual codes for when we switch to our Ipod sign in and collecting any paperwork I am missing at this point. It will be held at 6:30pm at the church! Thank you in advance for your attendance.

On Thursday, I am sending home a slip about our first field trip which takes place on Wednesday, August 19th at Plymouth Orchards- all are welcome to attend!!

Have a fantastic week!
Mrs. Schneck and Mrs. Oetzel


Photos from Day One! -