Have you seen us on Facebook?

I did set up an account on Facebook. I am just more familiar with it, so, hopefully, I can use this as a way to share things about our days, etc. and Facebook will be for pics and dates and times and announcements.

We are really enjoying our talks about Christmas! I was really impressed that, when I asked my class if they knew why we celebrate Christmas, I got a few different answers, but none of them were Santa Claus or presents!! A few said that it was Jesus' birthday, and some said to be with family, and some said decorations and Christmas trees. I thought those were pretty cool answers. Now, they probably all will tell you that it's to celebrate Jesus' birthday! We do enjoy talking about Santa Claus and other traditions, but we do make a point to be sure they understand that none of those things would have ever come about if not for the birth of Jesus.

Today, in my class, we had a talk about children who do not have all of the things that we have. It was a GREAT discussion! I asked them what they thought that Jesus would do if he walked down the street and saw someone who didn't have the things that they needed. One child said that they thought He would make sure they had heat. One said, (this one melted my heart) "I am not sure what Jesus would do, but I think that we could look at our toys and bring some of them to those kids who don't have as much!" I loved that, since I was working on a discussion about our family we are helping. I have to share my one little cute story, because it was very sincere!! He thought about it for a long time, and then he said, "I think Jesus would call Santa Claus and tell him to bring them some toys!" Isn't that precious? Anyway, we talked a lot about it, and the kids all agreed that we should help some people. We have 3 little girls to help this year. They are 5, 4 and 2. I don't have sizes here, but I'll send them tomorrow. They asked for clothes, shoes, and toys. The oldest needs school uniforms. If you have gently used clothes or toys in good shape, we will certainly take those. If you would send $10 or so, it would go a long way toward making sure these kids have a great Christmas. We do this project every year, and it is a really meaningful and special time for the kids.

I went to an overview today for a training that I learned about through some of my Meriwether Co. teacher friends. It is expensive, but it seems like an amazing method of teaching reading. I am planning to attend the 30 hour training in Feb.. We will probably have a dinner or something in order to help pay for it (along with the materials I will probably need), but I think we will all be pleased with the results. I am going to begin to try a few of the techniques they discussed in the next couple of weeks, but I;m so excited about the ideas I will learn. I voiced my concern about training as late in the year as Feb. but she assured me that I will still be able to make amazing gains with the kids in the spring! It is offered through the Institute of Multi Sensory Education, and it's called the Orton-Gillingham approach (I think that is right). I look forward to sharing it with each of you once I complete the training.

Have a great night!

Cute Story!!

Hi everyone!!

I am hoping that I am going to have internet long enough to set up a Facebook page that will be simply for pictures and disseminating information, and I can use the blog to share great stories with everyone! I just had a couple of things to mention really quick.

First, thanks to everyone who helped, rode in, drove, etc for the parade. It was much fun!! I was terribly disappointed that the generator ran out of gas, but, live and learn! The kids didn't seem to notice, so that's what matters!! It was a fun time!! We got some of the trailer "undecorated" today, and we will finish tomorrow. If any of you can help, that's great! Just grabbing a trashbag full of snow will help!

If you have not paid for your shirt, please do that asap. They were $6.50. If you write a check, just make it to Sideline Sports please, so that we can just pay him directly. Also, please send the shirts back so that we can get them ready for the next thing!! Thanks!!

Now, onto the cute story. I hope that the mom who told me this will not mind my repeating it. I just think that it is so cute that these kids have developed such a neat friendship! Here is the story made up by one of my girls for her mother:

"Once there was a witch and she had some girls, and Charlie and Ben and Landen came to save the day and they saved Aashvi and Jahnvi and Beth Ann from the witch!!"

I am sure that there was more to the story, but that was the main idea of the story. Isn't that precious??

December's Here!!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I did. It was very busy, with travel to south Georgia and SHOPPING, along with a couple of Thanksgiving meals closer to home! It's time to get back into the swing of things, so here we go. As I look, I realize I have a month's worth of pictures to upload. I will be very busy today!!

Thanks for helping to make our Thanksgiving feast a success! We did have PLENTY of food, and I am thankful for that. I learn a little more each year, so next year, we won't have quite as much, but it was much better to have plenty than to run out! I thought the kids did a great job!! I need to give a special shout out and a HUGE thank you to Jeff Renner and Dean Castile, who returned all the chairs to all of their various places all over the church (even to the 3rd floor!!) and got the fellowship hall back in order. Also, I think we'd still be in the kitchen cleaning if not for Hope Mitchell and her sister Diane!! They stepped right in to help and we got it done by 2:00. I can not tell you how much I appreciate your help!!!! I could not have gotten it done without you!

As December begins, we are going to begin to learn about Christmas and why we celebrate it. We are also going to learn about how different families around the world celebrate at this time of year. If you or someone you know has some unique traditions you would like to share, please let me know. This can include traditions right here in America or from around the world. This is not going to be a time that we discuss different religious beliefs, as we are a Christian preschool, and we will be focusing on the meaning of Christmas being the birth of Jesus. Instead, this will be a time to learn about different customs - Santa Claus, toys left in shoes, the Mexican celebration (I can't remember the name) that ends with a pinata celebration, etc. Please help make this fun by sharing your customs with us.

The parade is right around the corner!! We will be working on this a good bit this week. Robbie's dad has a trailer, and Caylin's dad is building a frame for us to use with it. We will be hanging lights from this as well as covering everything in snow! The best idea I can think of now to keep all of these lights lit is to use a few battery chargers. There may be a better idea. I'm open to suggestions! I have one charger (the kind that you can use to charge a car battery). If you have one we could use, please let me know. Also, we need lots of white lights. If every family sends one or two we should be in good shape. Also, we are going to need LOTS of white fiberfill (snow). I bought some at WalMart for $3 and $4 this weekend. I'd appreciate every family sending a bag or 2 for this as well. Also, I'm hoping you got the note that told you this on Tuesday, but my internet was down, so I didn't send it in email. The kids need white sweatsuits, at least white sweatshirts. I understand that this can be hard to find. I will check with Sideline Sports Monday morning to see if we have time to order some and get them here. Please let me know if you bought one or if you need one. I am not sure how much they will cost. I will check with him and let him know. I think they are $5 or $6. We will use these for the parade and then, I think we will keep them to make our Christmas sweatshirts. Please let me know as soon as possible whether or not your child will be in the parade. I think it is at 6 pm, but I will confirm that Monday morning as well. There is not a while lot we can do ahead of time, but we will need some help putting this all together. I am thinking it makes the most sense to work on this Friday afternoon/evening, but please give me your input on this. I figured that, by doing that, if I needed to run to get anything else, I could do that Friday night or Saturday morning.

Tuesday night is our Family Fun Night at Destination Book Fair. I hope you will all plan to come for this. We will have some games, storytelling, snacks and shopping! If you would like to volunteer to bring a snack or to read a book, please let me know. We can use anyone who is willing. This is a fun way to have some family time and get to know some of the other parents as well. Please invite your family and friends to come out and enjoy this as well. The time for this is 6-8 pm. You can come and stay for as long (or as short) a time as you'd like to. We have allowed the kids to go to the book fair and put some books on a wish list that might make your shopping easier, but there are also LOTS of books that they haven't even seen, which is why I encourage you to come look around. There are books for all ages. Also ,we have created wishlists for the classrooms. These are books that we will purchase with the profit from the book fair sales. However, if you would like to purchase one or more of these for us, then we would love that, and your child's name will be in a book at Preschool for a long time to come. This helps us in a few ways. 1 - We get a book we'd like to have for our classroom. 2- We can use the $ we would have used to buy that book to buy other books or resources instead. 3 - This adds to our overall sales, which is how our profit is determined. It helps you by 1 - allowing your child to give something to their class 2 - adding to your child's classroom library and 3 - if you keep up with this, it can be a tax write off!! So, everybody wins! The book fair will be open all week for you or others to come in and shop. If you have friends with young children who may not have been able to go to a book fair, please invite them to come anytime this week.

The last week of school brings lots of fun celebrations. Thursday, Dec. 17 is our Christmas program and party. The program will be in the sanctuary, followed by a party downstairs, where, hopefully, Santa will make an appearance. (This only happens if the kids do their best upstairs!;-) The following parents are responsible for the party afterwards. 1. Amy Johnson 2. Angelia Davidson 3.Mandy Anderson 4.Heidi Amundson 5. Joni Taylor 6. Jennifer Leebern. There will be a lot of people at this party. I would suggest keeping snacks simple. These parents will need to be responsible for setting up for the party, making any plans for something to go on while kids wait to meet Santa, goody bags for the kids and clean up. Thanks! I understand that we are already running into a scheduling conflict on this evening, so I am working on figuring out what time we will have our program, so as to cause as little trouble as possible.

On Friday, we will have a birthday party for Jesus. The parents on this party are 1. Jessica Mitchell 2. Cathy Maddox. It seems like I added another parent to this list, but I don't have the paper copy at home. I will check when I get to school. If you know I added you to this party, please let me know. This is a small but very important party. This is when we remind the kids one more time the real reason we celebrate Christmas. We will have cake and ice cream, sing some songs, read the story of Jesus' birth and exchange gifts. The kids drew names on Tuesday. If you did not get your note, please pick it up Monday morning so that you will know whose name your child drew. I am not sure about the younger class, but in my class, girls drew girls and boys drew boys. We have decided to ask that the kids exchange books this year. I'd like for everyone to get a book for around $5, but I ask that you PLEASE do not spend more than $10 for this. I like for the kids to enjoy giving to each other and to understand the value of a book.

Assuming that the weather will be nice, we will go caroling down Main Street. This is a fun time, and we just hope hope hope that it is not too cold!! The kids will wear their Christmas sweatshirts for this.

Any of you are more than welcome to join us for any and all of these events.

Well, I think that's all I can think of for now. Check back this week for LOTS of pictures! See you Monday!

Rain, Rain Go AWAY!!

Goodness gracious!! We are seriously getting wet!! Even in the rain, we had a good day today. We are enjoying learning all about the Thanksgiving story and why we celebrate! I visited in the younger class today for a while. Devon's youngest son, Logan, has been sick again, so keep them in your prayers. I hate for her to be out, but it is fun to spend time with the little ones. When I first walked over, I couldn't get ANYONE to hug me, but then along came Mara. Once she hugged me, it was "cool," so they all had to get in on it! I know that lots of people think I am crazy for loving my job like I do, but I will tell you, there is nothing like all those little people just loving you and sharing such fun times with you! I wouldn't trade it for anything! Of course, I often tell people that mine is the only job short of a professional athlete in which it is a routine occurrence that I get a round of applause and cheers just for walking in the door in the morning! Thanks for allowing us to get to know and love your child!

We are getting ready for the Thanksgiving feast! It's going to be such fun! We will begin our program at 11:00 am. It will last about 30 minutes, and then we will eat. The meal can last as long as you'd like it to, but if you do need to go back to work, that is the time frame we are working in. I have 2 people signed up to help with clean up on that day - Hope Mitchell and Dean Castile. If there is one more person who might be able to stay and help with clean up on that day, please let me know. It is a HUGE job for a couple of us, but, with some help, it could be MUCH easier!!

Today in the 3 & 4 year old class, I was just so proud of the way they are improving in every area. I have to share this tidbit. Our block center has been closed for a week, because of some problems following directions last week. We made a big deal of opening that back up today, along with the science center and the writing center, with dry erase boards and markers. Do you know that 10 of the 14 that were here today chose writing?? Then, I was incredibly proud when they were all actually writing and drawing, not just banging markers. I walked next door, and when I came in, I saw that Landen and Charlie were in the Housekeeping center, which was closed. I said to them, "Boys, that center is closed. Why are you over there?" They very proudly answered, "We're looking for words!!" They were walking around, like the Pre-K kids do, looking at labels and trying their best to write them down!! Isn't that great?? I just wanted to share!!

We are working on the letter B this week, and on Friday, we will have a Beary Special Day with our Bears. Please allow your child to bring a teddy bear on Friday. We have lots of fun activities planned. Before you ask, if your child doesn't have a teddy bear, another stuffed animal is fine. It will be fun!!

Finally, our Square One Art is in! I want to thank Noelle for doing this with our kids! They are so cute!! If you didn't already get it, the packet is in the pockets or with the 2 year old teachers. There is a sheet of stickers made from your child's artwork inside! You may order any number of items that are personalized with your child's art. These are great gift ideas! These orders need to be in by Nov. 18. Noelle is allowing His Kids to receive the proceeds from the products that we buy, so you help us and get neat stuff!

I hope everyone stays dry and has a great Wednesday!

Happy November!

It's hard to believe that November is here and in full swing. I love this time of year!! It is SOOOO beautiful! I say this as there are flash flood warnings everywhere! We are having lots of fun learning all about Thanksgiving. For the parents in the older class, ask your child to tell you about the story of Thanksgiving. It is fun to listen to them retell it! We have also been talking about miracles and the story of Moses. It's fun to listen to them give their versions of these stories. I am so proud of the progress they are making in their handwriting skills as well as so many other things. They are using great interpersonal skills as they work out their problems more and more without tattling as much. (I said as much!! They haven't totally quit!!)

I hope you are all making plans to attend the Thanksgiving feast on Monday before Thanksgiving. If you have not signed up to bring a dish, please do that. The signup sheet is outside the 2 year old classroom. Also, please let us know as soon as possible how many people are coming on this day. We usually have a big crowd, which I LOVE, so I just need to know how many to prepare for. I want everyone to plan to come and share this time with your families. I would like to ask, if possible, if your child will have more than 4 guests, if you would mind bringing more than one item. I just want to insure that we have plenty for everyone. If this is a problem, please let me know. I don't want this to prevent anyone from coming.

Also, if you have not picked up your feather for the family project, please ask us for it. I hope to have one for everyone on display for the feast.

The kids in the older class also need to send a picture of your family by Monday. I just need one, and you can decide who you consider family for the picture. This is going to be a class book that we will keep on display all year.

Just a reminder - tuition will be late after tomorrow
candle orders need to be turned in no later than tomorrow


Have a great day!!

One more thing

Of course, there is one more thing!! We have a project coming up where we will use the clear plastic cups (like pudding or jell-o comes in). If you use those, could you please save them for us and send them in? We will need 30-40 of them.
Thanks!

Latest News

Hi everyone! I had a few things I wanted to be sure to share with you as soon as I could, so here goes!

We have a field trip scheduled to Rock Ranch on Tuesday, Nov. 17. This is always a fun field trip, and I hope everyone will be able to go. The cost for this trip is $8 per person. Two year olds will need a parent to accompany them on this trip. Please let me know as soon as possible if your child will be able to go, and if a parent will be accompanying them. We will leave around 9 and be back around 2. The children will need a sack lunch for this day.

Candle orders have been sent home. These are due on Friday, Nov. 6. I hope that you will all try to sell as many as you can. We have samples of all of the scents at the church, if you would like to try them out. Also, if you would like to take the samples to work one day, you are welcome to pick them up in the morning and bring them back after work. Sometimes, giving people the chance to smell them makes a difference.

We will be having our Scholastic Book Fair from Nov. 30 - Dec. 4. On Tuesday evening, Dec. 1, we will have a Family Fun night for all of you to come and shop the fair while enjoying a fun night with your family. This will be a great opportunity to get to know some of the other families as well. I will be asking for some help with this event. On Friday, Dec. 4, we will have donuts with Dad. Dads, granddads, uncles and other important men in your child's life are invited to stop in for a quick bite and a few minutes to share a book with your child.

Months ago, we were asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and sing at the Veteran's Day luncheon on Saturday. I have not heard more about it. I have put a call in to them to see if they still want us to do this or not. With such short notice, it is not required, but anyone who can be there is certainly encouraged to be here for this, if we are still on the "agenda." I'll let you know.

Monday, Nov. 23, we will have our annual Thanksgiving program and covered dish feast. This is a fun tasty event, and I hope you will all plan to come. We are asking for RSVP's by Nov. 18 so that we will know how many we will have. By the way, if anyone out there wants to volunteer to smoke a ham or turkey or both, please let me know. We can always cook it here, but I just figured I'd ask!!

Finally, I am sending home a large feather with each child. Please let this be a fun family project. You and your child can decorate your feather in any way you'd like to tell about your family and/or what your child is most thankful for. We will need these back by Friday, Nov. 20.

I think that's it for now!!
Thanks!

Can you believe November's here??

Wow!! We had an exciting last week of October! Our field trip was lots of fun, and our party was awesome!! Thanks to Asa's mom, Katelyn's mom, Arley's mom and Caylin's mom for a great time!! We had fun Halloween music playing. First, we made the cutest little handprint bats you have ever seen!! Then, we ate and ate. We had hot dogs, cheese puffs and spooky green punch. The kids loved it! We had the best time jumping for donuts!! Don't worry, I have LOTS of pics to help explain that one!! Everybody played that game. It was great! Powdered donuts are a hit with everybody. Everytime I looked up, another child was sneaking into the bag!! We finished up with popcorn and cotton candy! Amazingly enough, almost all of the kids still took a nap after that!!
It's time to get November started. We will begin talking about the Early Settlers this week. Go ahead and mark your calendars. On the Monday before Thanksgiving, we will have our annual Thanksgiving program and covered dish feast. I will have the list to sign up for that this week. It is always a wonderful time for everyone. Everyone is invited!

We are beginning something new in our older class, and I can't wait to begin to see the results of this effort. A couple of parents and I have looked into the idea of Philosophy for children. I have looked into a program created at Mt. Holyoke University, and I am FASCINATED! They use children's literature to create question sets that encourage deeper thinking, philosophical thinking. I am interested in seeing changes in children when they are taught to look beyond the simple answer, to find deeper meaning in things. We started this week with my favorite book, Harold and the Purple Crayon. It was interesting to me that the children, across the board, answered that the moon in the story was not real, because it was a different shape than the moon we see, but if it had been the same shape, it would have been real. They also said that he almost drowned because the water was deep, and the reason he didn't was because he had a boat. If you are not familiar with the story, I have it at His Kids for you to see. It's about a little boy who basically creates his world with a purple crayon. It will be interesting to me to see if they answer differently at the end or the school year.
I am enjoying a long weekend in North GA with my family, but I will be back on Tuesday. I hope to have Halloween pics added soon. I look forward to a great week!

Just SOME of the pics from Pumpkin Patch trip

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pumpkin Patch!!

Wow!! Did we have fun today!! I had never been to that pumpkin patch before. We just found it researching the internet, but I am so glad that we did! Thanks to all the parents and grandparents that went. The weather couldn't have been better, and we had a wonderful time!!
I am working on pics now. I'll add them ASAP. I just wanted to remind you all that our party will be Friday at 10. Your child can wear or bring their costume. Parents are invited and encouraged to dress up as well. The parents working on this party have been working hard, and it sounds like MUCH fun!!
I am so sorry I have been so out of it with all of my family being sick. I appreciate your understanding.
I'll talk to you soon!!

Railroad Days

Hi everyone!! I hope hope hope that I will be back tomorrow. Josie is feeling better. No fever since the middle of the night last night. Marlowe is out of town, so I'm my only option!! I do apologize for having to be out. I never like it when I am away from my babies!!
I know the girls have made every effort to let you know about Railroad Days. I want to do that one more time, so that I can know that all of our bases are covered. If you have things you can drop off tomorrow, that is awesome. Otherwise, I will be there part of the day Friday, and you can drop them off then. If you know you will be coming Friday, please let me know, so we can coordinate. Of course, if you are coming Saturday morning, you can bring items then. Here is what Devon gave me. PLEASE let me
know asap if you will not be able to bring what you are listed as bringing so that someone can cover it. Thanks
If you are bringing a batch of sweets, please wrap them or put them in baggies 2 small or 1 large to a bag. There are not many people working, and they will not have time to sort these on Saturday.

If any of you have a big cooler we could use for that day, please let me know. We need at least 4.



Grayson Anderson____2 cases water and 60 hot dog buns_______________________________

Aden Castile______2 cases soft drinks_____________________________

Robbie Dorman_____3 cases water_______________________

Peyton & Landen Dyer_______work 2:30 - 4, crockpot of chili, sweets___________

Sadie Hancock_____2 cases soft drinks_____________________________________________

Charity Hanlon______500 coffee cups, crockpot of chili___drinks?_____

Arley Harbin____sweets, 1 case soft drinks_____________________

Caylin Johnson ___sweets, 1 bag of chopped onions, 2 bags of hot dog buns___________

Anna Grace Keller __500 ketchup packs, work early shift, sweets____

Joshua Mitchell __sweets, 1 large can coffee_______

Mara Schilke____sweets, 60 hot dog buns_________

Christoffer Amundson ___work 10 - 4

Zach Baskin ___sweets, 1 case water, 1 case soft drinks__________

Harrison Brooks ___300 hot dogs, work all day, large coffee pots____________________

Christal Davidson____sweets, 1 case soft drinks___________

Katelyn Dean ____chili, sweets_____________

Charlie James __chili, cups, sweets_____

Brooks Leebern ___3 cases soft drinks, 60 buns_____

BethAnn Maddox __work early, big coffee pot, extension cords,i batch of sweets_____

Asa Massey_1000 napkins, sweets____

Aashvi & Jahnvi Nakrani _coffee, creamer, cream, sugar - individual packs_____

Drew Renner _chili, a case of DR. Pepper and a case of Sprite_____

Emma Smenner _200 pks. of Hot Choc, 300 individual bags of chips__

Braden Smith __2 cases water, 300 foil wraps_

Ben Taylor __sweets, 2 cases of water and a case of Coke, big coffee thermos __

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DO!!

Getting ready for a short week!!

I hope you all had a great weekend. I keep forgetting to tell you that I have all of the pics on Snapfish! I will try to remember to put them all into a group and send an invitation to view. I know you can see them on the slide show, and, if you're on Facebook, you can see them there. However, if you have them on Snapfish, you can order any of them that you'd like to.
I wanted to remind you that Thursday and Friday are our Fall Break, so we will not have school those 2 days. However, Saturday is the day we are working for Railroad Days. I know that many of you will not be able to work, but I hope all of you will help with this. If you have not signed up to send anything, please check with the teachers in the morning to see what you have been assigned. Even if you are going to be out of town, there are ways you can help. We need cases of drinks, water, coffee, mustard, buns and more. There are lots of ways to help.
Don't forget book orders. If you want to order, please send your order in by Wednesday of this week, so we can send those in.
We are going to talk about Christopher Columbus tomorrow, and we will continue our fall unit as well. I have a conference in Atlanta Monday, but I'll be back on Tuesday. Have a great week!!

October

It's time for jackets!

I am SOOOO excited that Fall is here, and it has brought this wonderful fall weather!! Let this be a reminder to change out the extra clothes for your child at school. If you sent shorts at the beginning of the year, please exchange these for a pair of long pants. It never fails that a child will wait for the coldest day to spill something or wet their pants if the only ones they have are shorts!!

I am so proud of the kids and all they are learning. We have been doing lots of stuff with apples. We are also continuing to learn how to control our handwriting and fine motor skills. Tomorrow is Pastor Stephen's birthday, and we made cards for him today. I was so proud to watch them cut out different things to glue on the cards.

We are talking about capital and lower case letters, and they are beginning to recognize more and more. It's so cute to see the younger ones begin to recognize the letters that are in their name.

My older kids are working on color words. It is pretty neat to watch them really beginning to read!!

Yay!! Shirts are in. Be sure to check in cubbies or pouches to get yours.

Well, I guess that's it for now!

Almost forgot - Please send jackets or sweatshirts for your kids so we can enjoy the outdoors every day!! PLEASE LABEL EVERY JACKET WITH YOUR CHILD'S NAME!!

Have a great day!1

Tylenol

TYLENOL
Children's and Infants TYLENOL News

September 24, 2009

You may have heard that McNeil Consumer Healthcare (the makers of TYLENOL®) is voluntarily recalling certain lots of Children's and Infants' TYLENOL® liquid products that were manufactured between April, 2008 and June, 2008. All products manufactured met internal specifications. However, the company is implementing this recall because during this period, an unused portion of one inactive ingredient did not meet all quality standards. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it was decided to recall all Children's and Infants' TYLENOL® liquid products listed below, which were made during this time.

Parents and caregivers who have questions or concerns should contact their child's health care provider or our consumer call center at 1-800-962-5357 (available Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time). Consumers can find the lot numbers on the bottom of the box containing the liquid product and also on the sticker that surrounds the product bottle. The lot numbers of the affected products are listed below.

These actions do not apply to Children's TYLENOL® Meltaways and Junior Strength TYLENOL® Meltaways. The voluntary recall applies only to select lots of Children's and Infants' TYLENOL® liquid products.

Recalled Products - Full List
Lot # Product Description
SBM041, SBM067, SCM037, SDM027, SEM109 Children's Tylenol Plus Cold MS Suspension 4 oz. Grape
SBM042, SCM015, SCM036, SDM034 Children's Tylenol Suspension 4oz. Grape
SBM043, SBM044, SCM029 Children's Tylenol Suspension 4oz. Bubble Gum
SBM045, SCM011, SCM030, SDM035 Children's Tylenol Suspension 4oz. Strawberry
SBM064, SCM033, SDM020 Infant’s Tylenol Grape Suspension Drops 1/4oz.
SBM065, SCM005, SCM006, SDM032 Infant's Tylenol Suspension 1/2oz. Cherry
SBM066, SCM068 Children's Dye Free Suspension 4oz. Cherry
SBM068, SCM035, SCM070, SCM080, SDM005 Children's Tylenol Suspension 4oz. Cherry
SBM069, SBM070, SCM081, SDM006 Children's Tylenol Plus Cough & Runny Nose 4oz. Cherry
SCM012, SCM067, SDM007, SDM068 Infant's Tylenol Suspension Drops 1/2oz. Grape
SCM013, SCM014, SCM069 Children's Tylenol Plus Flu 4oz. Bubble Gum
SCM016, SFM024 Children's Tylenol Plus Cold Suspension 4oz. Grape
SCM017 Children's Tylenol Plus Cough/ST Suspension 4oz. Cherry
SCM082, SDM039, SDM040 Infant's Tylenol Suspension Drops 1oz. Grape
SCM083, SCM084, SDM008 Infant's Tylenol Dye Free Suspension 1oz. Cherry
SDM064 Children’s Tylenol Pediatric Suspension 1oz. Cherry
SDM038, SDM009 Infant's Tylenol Suspension Drops 1oz. Cherry
SDM033 Children's Tylenol Plus Cold/Allergy 4oz. Bubble Gum
SDM078 Infant's Tylenol Drops 1oz. Grape
SCM034 Infant’s Tylenol Grape Suspension Drops H/G 1/2oz.
SDM028 Children's Tylenol Suspension 4oz. Cherry, Hospital Govt.

Fall is here!!

We are loving this fall weather! Now, I've just got to take care of the weeds that grew right through the 12 inches of mulch with all of the rain. Between that and the mushrooms, it's crazy out there! We are finishing up our unit on apples with some apple games and Johnny Appleseed stories. Yesterday, however, you probably heard about our "science lesson." We have a spider that lives outside the 2 year old classroom. Well, I don't know exactly how a small worm got into its web. (Okay, I'm pretty sure Casey put the worm there, but ANYWAY . . . ) So, the spider immediately began to EAT the worm. Casey called us all out to see it. It was amazing. Then, Casey got another little worm (I know, this is pretty cruel, but it was FASCINATING!) and puts it on the web. The spider dropped what it was doing, ran over to the worm and immediately spun it into a little "cocoon" to save for later. It was an amazing thing to see!!

It's neat what we can see when we just look around a little bit! Thursday, Mr. Ricky Smith came to trim our pecan tree and to chip up the limb that had fallen. We LOVED watching that! If he had come at 9 rather than 12, I wouldn't have had to do anything all morning!

I am working on details for Railroad Days, so I will have sign up sheets for the various shifts we'll need help. Please plan to help with this. Besides being there, we will need help getting donations - hot dogs, chips, buns, plates, napkins, condiments, etc. If you can not be there, please help us with getting some donations. We also need a couple of big coffee pots. Please let me know if you have one of these we could borrow. Finally, we will need some sweets, as well as some chili for the day. Let me know how you can help.

Thanks!

September - with a few new pics!

Apples, Apples and More Apples

We are doing lots of cool stuff with apples this week! Today,we painted with apples. Tomorrow we will make stained glass apples, and Friday, we will taste lots of different kinds of apples and learn about Johnny Appleseed.

We are also talking about the concepts of Same and Different. It seems so basic, but this can be a tricky concept. Please use these words often with your child, and help them to see how things are the same and how they are different. This is a part of the TouchMath curriculum. The younger children have been learning to recognize the numerals 0, 1 and 2. They really enjoy this part of the day! The older kids are beginning to understand addition. Right now, they are working on horizontal equations. We talked about the word horizontal today, and they thought they were big stuff using their new word!!

The younger children are working on identifying the letters we are reviewing. They are also beginning to write them, Today, it was time to practice the letter F. Several wanted to draw firetrucks, so we all did it together. I gained a whole new respect for art teachers!! They did great though!!

The older kids are beginning to work on recognizing color words red, blue, green and yellow. Today, they wrote them and sang songs using them. We will continue to work until these become common for them,

I have toasted my laptop apparently, so, until it gets better, I am pretty limited to when Marlowe can share!!

Have a great day!!

Catching up

Hi everyone~
Sorry I have been a bit "out of touch." I am having technology problems, and I am sending you this really quickly from my husband's computer, before he goes to work. Unfortunately, technology problems are a common part of my life!!

First, I want to say WOW!! I am so proud of my kiddos that were able to be there on Sunday. I have received SO MANY compliments on their behalf. They did a great job!!

We are studying apples this week, finishing up with Johnny Appleseed on Friday! We will have an apple tasting and do lots of fun apple stuff this week! We are reviewing the letters we have worked on so far.

I need some input from you. We have a great opportunity for a quick and pretty easy fundraiser. We have been asked to sell food at Railroad Days. It's on Oct. 17. We did this last year, and it was great!! However, the snag is this. I, for the 2nd year in a row, can't be there on that day. That is the day of my son's football tournament out of town. I would like input from you to let me know if you'd be able to help on that day. We will have some setup, 2 hour shifts, then clean up. Please let me know if you'd be able to help that day. It is a great fundraiser for us, but I don't want to commit if we won't have enough help.

Also, I sent home some Scholastic Book orders. There is NO obligation to buy books. They just offer high quality books at great prices. If you choose to order, please have your orders in by Friday, Oct. 2. They now offer an easy way to order online. I will see if you can do that directly, but, if not, please make checks payable to His Kids, and we will order all together online.

Marlowe's got to go to work, so have a great day!!

FLU Prevention Tips

I got this today, and I thought I would pass it along. These are great easy and effective tips that we can all do!!

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official

communications).





2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to

touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).





3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if

you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in

the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic

symptoms.





4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every

day with warm salt water.

*blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds

dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral

population.*





5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in

Vitamin C (citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement

with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost

absorption.





6.* Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. *Drinking warm

liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction.

They wash off viruses from the throat into the stomach

where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.


For anyone who did not get the note today - I am reserving some seats in the balcony for His Kids parents on Sunday. This is not because I want you banished upstairs, but we tried lots of options, and that is where you get the best view of the kids. You do not have to sit there, but these will be reserved, if you'd like to sit there. Please let me know, if you haven't already, if your child will be there or not.

Thanks!!
Alicia

Thankful for the TRUCKLOAD of Mulch!

On days like today, when it rains like it did, I am SO thankful for the fact that we have a super thick layer of ground cover. By this afternoon, the playground was dry enough for us to go outside. Yay!! We had a great day today. We actually were able to get to every bit of my plans for the day! Hot dog!! We are so glad Ms. Wanda is back. Her husband got home yesterday. He still has some things they are watching, but at least he is home. Now, Devon's house is sick, so keep praying. One of these days, we will all be healthy and at work! Logan got the flu Monday. Gavin started last night, and he is really sick!! As all of you know, having a sick baby is the worst, so Devon needs our prayers!!

I hope that the older kids are going to be in the paper this week, so check it out! I hope to get us in there some this year. I am not good at that, but I hope to get better! We will feature the little guys next time!

I wanted to let you know a little more about the upcoming plans. We have been invited to sing in church on Sunday during the 11:00 service. This is not going to be the major performance that it was last year (that will happen, just a little later), but we will have both classes together to sing a couple of songs. I know that some of you may have your own churches, but if you can miss this one Sunday, that would be great. Of course, if not, I understand. For those of you who do not have a home church, I hope you will plan to come to check us out. We have a new pastor, who is awesome!! We have great kids' Sunday School classes, as well as adult classes. We are starting a new young adult class this Sunday. I keep insisting that I am a young adult, but I guess it's time to admit that there is another generation between myself and the college kids!! We will plan to meet in the preschool at 10:40. Please let me know if your child will be able to be here. I am trying to figure out where to put them to perform, and it helps to know how many we will have. Also, if any of you would like to come for Sunday School, let me know, and I will help you figure out where to go.

Next, on Sept. 27 from 2- 3:30, we will have an Imagination fair for kids from birth - 5. (Siblings are welcome too!) The theme for this will be Balloons, Bubbles and Books! It is a free event for the kids to give parents a chance to mingle, and also to register everyone up for the Imagination Library program. It's a great FREE program, through which your kids will receive a free book EVERY MONTH until their 5th birthday! We will have inflatables, games, songs, stories, and all sorts of creative ways to use their imagination. Please tell everyone you know about it. This is a community wide event, free to all!

I want to share with you some of what I heard at lunch. What fun!!
Ben said, "Ms. Alicia, when I grow up, I'm gonna be firefighter, a police man, and a race car driver!!" I said, "Wow Ben, you're going to be busy!!" Well, that got them started!! I wrote them down at work, but I am going to try to remember what they told me!

Christal - Hula Girl Rock Star!
Landen - Rock Star
Harrison- Police
Brooks- Race Car Driver
Emma - Barbie and a Pizza Man
BethAnn - Rock Star
Braden- Fire Man
Katelyn- Dancer
Asa - Rocket and a cowboy horse
Chris - Police man
Aashvi- Doctor
Jahnvi- Rock Star Doctor
Charlie- Dragon
Drew- Dinosaur

Remember when those were our dreams?

Have a great day!!

His Kids September

Flags and Lemons and Birthdays . . . Oh My!

We had quite a day on Friday! We started our day by going out to see the flags we made on Thursday. They were on display for a little while, until the drizzle started!! We talked a little about the events of 9/11. We followed that with our tasting party. It was so funny!! First, we tasted lemons. It was neat to watch them, without preconceived notions of how the lemons would taste. The teachers were much more hesitant than the kids. It was really fun to see the different reactions. Harrison would have eaten as many lemons as I could give him, while Chris couldn't stop trying to wipe it off of his lips! It was awful for him! Then we tried Soy Sauce. Emma LOVED it!! Most of them were scared to try it, but once they tried it, most of them liked it. Ben tried to convince me that he tried it, but he wasn't going anywhere close to that stuff!! Finally, we tasted powdered sugar. Needless to say, they LOVED it!! Landen was the first to discover that the lemon wasn't so bad if you dipped it in sugar first. They all asked for more sugar, but I am not THAT crazy!! When it was all said and done, the sugar was the favorite of 10 kids, 3 liked lemons best, and 2 liked soy sauce best. Landen said they were all his favorite.
Finally, we had a wonderful afternoon celebrating Aashvi and Jahnvi's birthday. Everyone enjoyed Molly the Clown. The balloon swords were their favorite!!

This week, we will talk about friends and friendship. We will talk about how to be a friend, how to treat others, and how to choose friends wisely. We will also add our C Bible verse.

We have been invited to perform during the 11:00 service on Sunday at our church. This is for both classes. They will sing 2 songs during the service. I hope you will all plan to come on that day. Please let us know as soon as possible if your child will be able to perform. We will have a nursery as well as children's church available for siblings, and for the children after their performance.

Have a great week!!

They loved the GARLIC!!

We had a fun time today, with our SMELLING party! It was wonderful to have Ms. Wanda back with us today! Donnie is still in the hospital, and they are doing some more tests, but she just needed a change of scenery today, so she worked this morning, and then went to Lagrange after school. When Drew left, she said, "Ms. Alicia, I'm going to give Ms. Wanda an extra hug, because she hasn't been here in a while!" I just love that our kids thinks hugs can make it all better!! Today, we smelled lots of scents. We smelled Peach, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Fish Food (YUK!!), Lemon, and Garlic. Now, personally, I love garlic, but I love the smell ONLY because I love the taste! I could not believe that the kids LOVED the smell of the garlic. After we smelled that, the kids thought everything smelled like garlic! They were pretty funny!

We also started making Smelly Books today! We made orange paint to paint oranges with, and we made red paint to paint strawberries with. We added flavored gelatin mix to the paint to make it smell. It seemed like a great idea at the time. Well, live and learn! 1. the pictures are so sticky, they may NEVER dry completely. 2. They had the fruity scents for about 5 minutes. Now, they just smell like glue! However, the kids LOVED painting the fruit, and we will paint the others tomorrow. They may never make it to a book, though!

We had several out sick today too. I am ready for this bug to move on!!!

Have a great night!!

Time for a Smelling Party

Hello all! I only got to see the kids for a few minutes today, but they had a good day. We did have several kids out sick today. We are continuing to emphasize handwashing, and I hope that will help to keep the "bug" from spreading. Thanks for your help with this.

We will have a smelling party tomorrow. Thanks to all who are sending items in for this. It will be interesting to see how the kids respond to the different smells! It should be fun!

Friday will be a big day at His Kids! Aashvi and Jahnvi are celebrating their birthday at school on Friday afternoon, and you are all invited. We will have cake at 3:00, followed by a visit from Molly the Clown! This should be a really fun time for everyone. Those of you who usually leave after lunch are invited to stay or come back for the party. THe school kids will be able to enjoy this as well! Molly will be here for fun, games, balloons and bubbles from 3:30 - 5:00. I hope everyone will plan to stay for that on Friday!!

Time for a New Week!

Hello Everyone!
I hope you have had a good holiday weekend. I enjoyed a break, but I have had a sick child the whole weekend. Jake had bronchitis, and he's still not 100%. He has run fever in the middle of the night every night since Thursday, so, here's hoping we're finished with it! I am keeping him home in the morning, and I will be in once my mom can "tag in" to keep him in the afternoon. Wanda's husband is still in ICU in Lagrange. He had a "filter" put in today to prevent the clots from traveling into his lungs. Tomorrow, he will have more tests. PLEASE continue to pray for them.
Okay, with that out of the way, let me tell you what we have in store this week. The three and fours will be learning all about our 5 senses. We will have fun with this all week. Check your email, as I will be asking some of you to help me out with some of this. We will have a smelling party, play with scented playdough, a tasting party and more!! It should be such fun!
I have added a few things to our "dates to remember." October 10, we will begin our annual candle sale. These are Heritage candles, and they are wonderful!! I have not received our samples yet, but I know what they usually have. They ordinarily have a wide variety of "jar" candles that smell wonderful. They also have four or five decorative candles that are a little " fancier," but also have wonderful scents! I think they will sell for $11 and $15. Go ahead and begin to tell your friends and family about this, and it will be a great success. I usually have people ask me when we will be selling them again. They sell themselves. I hope everyone will be able to sell at least 10 candles.
Also, we will have our annual Scholastic Book Fair after Thanksgiving. I am not sure of many details, but we will have a family event during this, and it always proves to be a good time. I will ask for several parent volunteers for this.

That's it for now!
Have a great week!
Alicia

Prayers Needed

Guys, I need to just let you know real quick that we canuse some prayers. Wanda's husband has been admitted to ICU. They found a blood clot in his lung, after he had been really sick for a little over a week. I am leaving now to take her back to the hospital in Lagrange. PRAYER WORKS!! PLease keep them and the doctors and family in your prayers!!

Quick Post!

Hi everyone! Sorry, this is the first chance I have had to sit down today, and I AM tired, so this will be quick! I just wanted to share that we did have a great day today. Even being short-staffed, we were able to get everything pretty much accomplished, so YAY!!

I wanted to share something with you that you may hear from your child. As you know, we say a blessing each day before snack and lunch. Ben taught his friends his favorite blessing today. It's the "Superman Blessing," that some of our kids learned at summer camp this year. I will give you a few days to see how much of it you can understand before I video it!

I just wanted to mention that we will have our annual candle sale coming in October. These are great candles that make great gifts. You may want to go ahead and mention it, so that people will be thinking about ordering from you when we get ready for the sale.

Have a great night!

A few more things . . . .

I forgot to mention that the fellowship hall will be used tomorrow for a morning meeting, so the children will not go in there at all until lunchtime. Just plan to bring your child directly into the classroom.

The Two Year Olds will be doing an All About Me unit in September. They are asking that each child bring a poster that is "All About Them!" Pictures are great. You can tell about family, favorites, anything that is an interest for your child. These are favorites for the kids to have up for quite some time. Please try to send those in within the next week.

On that note, the Three and Four Year old celebrates a different child each week, with our Student of the Week! During the week that your child is the SOTW, he or she enjoys many special privileges at school. He can also bring something to show and share EVERY DAY of the week. I'd love it if they were things that tell us more about the child, but, it can be anything that is not dangerous. He can also send a special snack one day during the week to share with the class. I have a poster that I will send home the week before your child's week. It can be filled in with words, drawings, photos or anything you'd like. You can do more if you'd like, but I hope that you will all help your child to complete this poster to bring in on Monday of their week.

Thanks so much for helping make school a great place for your child!!

We had a pretty good Monday!!

Well, the concensus is that there is no way to send updates when I update the blog, but I am going to try to remember to send a quick email to let you know when updates are made.
Things went well today. We are beginning our unit called, I am special. We started circle time asking each child to tell us something about them that was special. This was kind of tricky for them. They all wanted to tell us something that they HAVE that is special. I hope that, by the end of the week, they will be able to verbalize that they are special just because they are who they are!
We also started talking about the letter F. The kids did different things to work on the letter F. Some wrote it, some circled it, to recognize it, and some played games with the letter F and the sound that F makes. Our "Pre-K" kids worked on the "an" family today - fan, can, van, pan, etc. They also are learning to answer questions as a sentence, rather than just a word. It was exciting to me that they could do that.
We welcomed Brooks back today. He was a little late starting because he has a new baby brother. We were all glad to see him!

I went to visit the two year olds today. It was such fun!! They are learning the color yellow and the circle shape. When I went, they were painting yellow with sponge circles. They were having a ball!! Most every one of them found it nexessary to try it on their lips! They are so funny!!


If you have not paid your registration fee yet, please do that as soon as possible. Also, I will order t-shirts this week. Shirts are $6 for kids and $7 for adults. PLEASE let me know as soon as possible what sizes you will need for your child, as well as for yourself if you want ont.

Thanks! Have a great night!

Olympic Day

Catching up!!

Hello all!
Sorry there was no post Friday. We were so busy with Olympic Day, that, once I got the notes out, I was DONE! Anyway, we had a great time!! I am going to post pics and maybe, if I can figure out how, some of the video for the day! I loved that the kids were all cheering for each other! They wanted everybody to win, and they never worried about who got the points or anything else. They had such fun!!

I have to tell you this before you see the picture - Anna Grace fought a nap really hard. She sat up, nodding off, for about 15 minutes. She snuck over to her cubby to get her purse, which had cookies in it. She would nod off, take a bite of her cookie, then nod off again. So, finally, Casey laid her down, put her cookie on her purse, and patted her back. A few minutes later, they came to get me, and there she was - sound asleep with her cookie in her mouth!! It was precious!! After we took pictures, we DID remove the cookie from her mouth, but we had to get our pictures first!!

I need to ask your help with a couple of things.
1. Your kids really don't use sippy cups at school. If possible, please leave them in the car. IF YOU HAVE TO SEND THEM, they must be marked with the child's name and the date each day. Please help us with this, since we'll have to toss cups that aren't labeled every couple of days.
2. Please keep in mind that our hours are 7:00 am - 5:30 pm. The teachers are not paid to be there after that time. As listed in the handbook, there will be a fee assessed for any time that your child is there after 5:30. We will allow a five minute grace period, but after 5:35, the fee is $5 per 5 minutes that you are late. This needs to be paid directly to the teacher that is still there with your child. I don't want this to sound like I am being harsh, but my teachers plan their days around the schedule that I provide them, and it's not fair to them to have to stay late without pay. If you are not going to be there by 5:30, please try to find someone that can get your child. If not, please call Devon and let her know what time you will be there. Please be prepared to pay when you pick up your child.

I hope you all will plan to be at church with us on Sunday, Sept. 20. The kids will perform a couple of songs, and you will have the opportunity to meet our new pastor, Stephen Soulen.
I look forward to seeing you in the morning!

Countdown to Friday - WACKY OLYMPICS!

We spent today getting "pumped up" for tomorrow! Our Red Runners and Blue Bears are excited about our activities for tomorrow!! Before making signs and Olympic rings, we did have time for some of our normal routine. In calendar time today, we continued talking about the months, days, and seasons. The younger kids are beginning to understand how calendar time works. The older kids are ramping it up a bit with discussion of ordinal numbers, patterns, and looking for clues. The younger kids are working on gripping their pencils and recognizing their names. I was really excited to day that the older kids were able to write sentences today! They used some word cards to help with some spelling, but the sentences the 3 older ones that were there today came up with were: "I see a box." "I eat a donut." and "I lock things with a key." Not bad for four year olds!!

In small groups, the kids painted Olympic rings, decorated Olympic banners and worked with shapes to make patterns. Prepare yourself - your children may use words like hexagon, rhombus and trapezoid!! Cool, huh? I hope I can figure out how to post videos to the blog. I took some CUTE ones today!

We are excited about our fun day tomorrow!!

The two's are getting adjusted to their routines as well. They really love the bean bags and paint! I brought a prospective grandparent (for next year) in today, and I think she would have stayed all day. The kids were SO SWEET!!

Well, I'm tired, and I have a few more things to do!

Have a great Friday!!

Olympic Day is coming!

Go Red Runners! Go Blue Bears!
Friday, we will have Wacky Olympic Day, and the teams are ready!! The Red Runners are Jahnvi, BethAnn, Charlie, Emma, Ben, Katelyn, Braden, Harrison. The Blue Bears are Aashvi, Asa, Drew, Landen, Christal, Chris, Zach. The Two's will have some fun olympic games too, but they will not be divided into teams. Parents of 3 & 4's, get into the action and send your child to school in their "team colors." Don't go buy something for this, but anything they have that is either blue or red will be great. We will be running, jumping, hopping, etc. so, if possible, send them in tennis shoes or some shoes that they are comfortable running in. We want them all to be safe.

Today, I was really excited that our kids are taking us seriously about the handwashing routine. I had taken the soap dispenser out of the bathroom to refill it, when one of my BOYS went to the bathroom. (I'm sure you know that boys are not famous for clean hands.) Well, he came back in and told me that there was no soap in the bathroom, and he needed it to wash his hands. I was thrilled that he realized it! Then, before I got it filled up, another BOY went to the bathroom, and he came out telling ne he heeded soap! Yay! I am just trying really hard to be sure that we do as much as we can to prevent the spread of germs. Please help us out by keeping your children home if they are sick, as well. So far, we don't have any of the really cruddy stuff that I keep hearing about, so that is good, so let's keep it that way.

I have got to go get kids. I'll post more later.
Thanks!
Alicia

We are learning how preschool works!

We have had another great day at His Kids! It's AMAZING to watch the difference between the classes. It's hard (but encouraging) to believe that most of my class was just starting out in the two year old class this time last year! As one parent left this morning, with her child crying, she said, "I'm ready for that stage!! That's so much better than crying!" I hope it's a little encouragement that most of the ones she saw sitting at the table this morning working away were the same ones whose moms were leaving last year with them screaming. So, the morning was still a little different, since Casey took one more day to fully recover, and Ms. Devon had to run to the doctor this morning too. Thankfully, Wanda and I have worked together so long that I can stop midsentence, and she just picks up where I left off. We had a few that were upset this morning, so I went over to help out on that side for a while. Ms. Paige, Ms. Heidi and I got out the thing that almost always works to make kids forget they were sad - SHAVING CREAM! Sure enough - it worked!! Everybody was happy!! The little guys liked Bean Bag Boogie too!!
Over in the older kids' class, they were talking about these wacky olympics! How exciting. We are also working on the Pledge and God Bless America. We were so excited that Emma was able to tell us right off the bat, what day it was today. This gets to be a challenge sometimes with the kids. As we talk about months, days, years, seasons, etc, they seem to jumble them all up, so we start early talking about what day it is today, what day it was yesterday, and what day it will be tomorrow.
During small group time today, my older kids reviewed all of their letter sounds, and then we moved on to play a game, where the kids tried to match words with pictures. They got them all - donut, vacuum, key, zipper, mitten, box, and rope! I was so pleased! They were too! We are beginning to see how to use clues, along with the beginning letter to figure out words. Then we went onto the hundreds chart. After we remembered the counting by tens song from last year, we were able to count all the way to 100, with just a little help!!
When our younger kids had small groups, they impressed me too! First we sang our letter song, and used our Hooked On Phonics flash cards to review the letter names. We will definitely get there!! Then we went to the table to see how we would do with another M paper. They did fantastic!! All I did today was to show them what I wanted them to do, which was to find and circle all of the M's or m's. They all did it!! Some may have needed a little more help than others, but they were all able to do it. Yay!!
Time to go pick up kids!! Have a great afternoon!!

Happy Monday!!

We have had a great day at His Kids today. Unfortunately, Ms. Casey is out with Strep throat. She started antibiotics yesterday, so keep your fingers crossed! Once in a while, it is good for me to be able to be here at 7, so I can see those EARLY parents that I don't get to see as often.
In the 3 & 4 year old class today, we started on our theme of the Wacky Olympics. They weren't really interested in the Olympic Rings or the Olympic torch, but they LOVED the wacky Purple Pickle song we sang!! Go figure!! We also began talking about the letter M. The younger kids began to identify the letter and to write the letter, and the older kids cut and pasted pictures of words that start with M, and they wrote some M words as well. I was really excited that all of the "Pre-K" kids were able to cut squares along lines with very little if any, assistance. It's so great to see the gains they make during a year! We introduced the Sand table today. It was a hit!! The kids loved it. Landen especially loved the mini broom and dustpan, and he made sure to sweep up every grain he saw!! Aashvi said something cute today. She raised her hand to get my attention during circle time. I called on her, and she asked if I liked her shoes. I told her I liked them a lot. She asked me if she could show them to her friends. "Sure," I told her. She looked at me like I had lost my mind and said, "Ms. Alicia, no I can't! Show and Share is on Fridays!" I guess she was testing me to see if I knew the rule!!
The two's met a new friend and classmate today. AnnaGrace joined us today, and we are so excited to have her. They began their focus on the color Red today. They had a ball painting with Puffy Paint! It seems that the general concensus is, "the messier, the better!!"
Have a great afternoon!!

August!

Still Learning

Noelle came to the preschool yesterday and gave me a quick lesson in Blogging! I am getting there, but I don't know why I keep posting the slideshow over and over. Maybe she will see this and help!! I am adding some things to the page that I think you will find useful. If you think of something that you'd like to see, let me know. I may be able to do it! Have a great weekend!

Giving it a try!

Hello all!!
I've been told that parents really like the notes that I have been sending. Funny how I got that feedback the same day I said I wouldn't be doing daily notes anymore!! I had already gotten the suggestion that I try a blog, so maybe I can do this and keep everyone informed and happy. I will still send paper newsletters home on Friday. I am hoping this will be a quick way to let you know all about the things that happen during the day. Let me know what you think.

So far, school is going great!! Our first day, we had a bit of a surprise. One of the 2 year olds pulled the fire alarm!! Fortunately, we let the fire dept know BEFORE they all came screaming in (like they did the first week we had the alarms and one got pulled!) It was a great fire drill! Our morning snack plan is working really well! The kids are eating great, and the mornings seem to be really smooth. We are leaving the fellowship hall around 7:45 to go to classrooms, and the older kids are able to start circle time around 8:20. It seems like we are able to get a lot more done this way.

I am going to try to figure out how to post my pics that I have taken so far here. Maybe my sweet parent who suggested this might be able to help.

Looking forward to a great year!!
Alicia