Jesus Loves Me Party

Our “Jesus Loves Me Party” was a Valentine’s celebration centered on God’s love for us! We are so thankful for God’s unwavering love! He loves us when we make good choices and when we make bad choices as well. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Understanding the truth about God’s love not only strengthens our relationship with Him but also strengthens our relationship with others.

“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Room 1 friends shared why they love Jesus…

At Morning Meeting, a few friends helped lead our Bible verse song:

“G-O-D is L-O-V-E” John 4:16

We made valentine cards…

…and worked with strawberry play dough!

A couple of our fabulous Room 1 Moms read some books about love!

We ate yummy yogurt parfaits topped with graham crackers, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries! Mmm!

After our special Valentine’s Day snack, we sang songs about God’s never ending love.

We passed out the Valentine’s we made for our friends.

Most importantly, we spent the day LOVING each other!

Thank you to all the parents who helped make this celebration possible. We LOVE you!

Clear Skies Ahead!

Weather has been the focus of our discussions, experiments, and art projects for the month of January.

In our science small group and in our classroom library, we have been learning what clouds are made of.

To really understand these systems as a whole, we created our own demonstration of the water cycle.

We also graphed our favorite weather…

We checked out rain clouds…

…and experimented with rainbow rain clouds!

We created a cloud in a jar (using hot water, hairspray, and ice)…

…and were AMAZED!

We wove our clouds together…

and created our own storms!

Even in our very mild Los Angeles winter, we are so thankful for God’s sovereignty over the weather EVERYWHERE.

“When He gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, when He made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then He saw it and declared it; He established it…” Job 28:25-27

Core Concepts in Baking Fun!

Last week in Room 5 we baked chocolate chip cupcakes. While our activity began as an extension of the new “bakery” dramatic play center we installed, it was also meant as a real-world experience to put the early math and literacy foundations they learn each day into some very productive practice!

We began by working together using our literacy skills to decipher the recipe on the box. We read our list of ingredients, and found the correct size of measuring cups we’d need for this baking project. Then we showed off our math skills using addition and subtraction to count how many eggs to add to our batter, and how long to stir it.

We used one-to-one correspondence, counting out the number of mini-cupcake holes we filled in our tin. Then finally, we completed our project by adding our own personal flare to our lovely finished cupcakes. Each child chose how much icing or sprinkles they wanted to add, and decorated their own delightful creations!

Now THOSE are some happy bakers! 🙂

Boosting Self-Esteem

5 Principles of Boosting Self-Esteem

(Excerpt from: Self-Esteem for Tots to Teens, by E. Anderson)

“It has been demonstrated that a sense of self-worth is critical to learning and growing and living. Children who believe they are competent and worthy develop an “I can do it” attitude for coping with the problems and frustrations of life. Their positive concept of self helps them develop into strong, caring, responsible, compassionate human beings. On the other hand, children who are unable to view themselves as competent and worthwhile are prevented from living fulfilled and meaningful lives, and they also have difficulty helping others do the same.” (p.ix)

You can help your children develop positive self esteem by following these principles:

Listen and Acknowledge

I listen to and acknowledge the thoughts and feelings of my children.

Structure for Success

I structure the environment of my children so they will experience feelings of success, not failure.

Reasonable Control

I give my children a feeling of reasonable control over their lives.

Reinforce

I reinforce my children as lovable and capable.

Model

I model a positive view of myself to my children.

Memories to Last a Lifetime…

Room 5 is all about hands-on projects which nurture a wealth of developmental areas. What better way to boost our young 2-year-old’s self esteem, creativity, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination than with a big project to conclude our big winter theme? We made real glass snow globes this week, and the results were fabulous!

Our excited friends took full control of this project. They picked their own decorations, poured the jar full of baby oil, and chose their own sparkles to shake into their snow globe. When the finished product was flipped over and ready to go they went home with a timeless craft of their own design which they can enjoy for years to come- and know THEY MADE IT!

Way to go Room 5!

A Snowy Day!

The cold weather in January brought a discussion of snow!! In Room 2 we had fun reading the book The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. This beloved Caldecott Award winning book is about a little boy Peter who goes out and has adventures in the snow. Our dramatic play was transformed into a snowy day scene so our children could reenact it. They even had snowball fights!

They also had fun making Snowmen in different forms: art, sensory, and food.

We had so many different sensory/science activities; we made snow men with shaving cream and baking soda on trays. In the sensory bin we had fake insta-Snow.

They painted snowmen and snow girls (some children put long hair on their snow person) with white paint as well as puffy paint. We used paper collage and “bleach snow” and made snowmen as big as our name!

Art studio goes outside to paint…

Day two: Room 3 children painting outside with paint balls. It’s been fun seeing them fly across the air and watching the different marks they make against the light blue back drop.

Painting with Paintballs!

Room 3 had an awesome time exploring unconventional ways of painting with paintballs. Using their gross-motor skills, they used the paintballs to create a snow-like backdrop. (In the picture provided, Jay is shown participating in the activity.)

Food For Thought – Food Dyes

Over the past few years, I have heard more and more parents talking about the negative behavioral effects that certain foods such as gluten, casein (the protein in milk), soy, and eggs have on their children. One of the less known elements that may be attributed to negative behavior are artificial food dyes. In addition to having strong links to cancer and other adverse health effects, behavioral associations are also common and may include hyperactivity, tantrums, crying, moodiness, irritability, and more. I have personally met several parents who would claim this as ‘truth’ for their own children. The Center For Science in the Public Interest published the article Seeing Red today. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

Agree or disagree, it is good to be in the know.

Loving Our Yard and Recyclable Fun

The Outdoor Classroom has been a blast for Room 3. Our kids love being outside and engaging in all the creative learning opportunities that Team 6 provides. One of the areas drawing our focus is the Constructive Recyclabels area. We are having an awesome time stacking and using our imaginations to build everything from towers to fire trucks. Bruce and Samuel are so proud of their creative fire truck that we thought we’d share it!

“Hurry, hurry to the fire. Hurry, hurry drive the fire truck,” they both sang.