“Cold Hands, Warm Hearts” has been our theme for January in room 5. We are learning about the Golden Rule and exploring the components of winter! While our young two-year-olds are developing their social-emotional skills like empathy and purpose, we are supporting them with the words of God. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12-14 (NIV)

We are also learning new vocabulary, cause and effect, and creating beautiful winter art. Cold weather and wintery themes allow for a great opportunity to integrate all of these concepts like sharing, showing love, and togetherness.

We read “The Mitten” and talked about making room for others, and sharing even when we may not think there is enough to go around. God will provide for us, all we have to do is share his love.

So stay warm and share the love, friends!

Our littles in Room 4 have been discovering all things winter (well, some things…) complete with actual snow (well, manufactured…). Hey,we’re Californians! At least we can see snow on our mountains….

SNOW!!  
  
Clouds

Legos

Introducing our newest Room 4 teaching team member…Ms Alex! We love her!!

So many stories about Gingerbread cookies were read in Room 2! The children enjoyed comparing and contrasting the differences between them. For example, the children noticed that in both Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Bear the cookies escape because of the oven being opened by impatient children before the time was up. One theme that came up in all the stories was teasing. The cookie taunted and teased the other characters into chasing it, resulting in a negative consequence in most stories. Those that concluded with  a happy ending had an element of sharing.

The children enjoyed making edible gingerbread men, girls and bears. They rolled out the pre-made dough and used different cookie cutters to make the cookies.

Then Ms. Daisy was patient and didn’t open the oven door while they were cooking. We would have had to chase lots of cookies out in the yard!

Then the children got to decorate them and eat them!

The children also enjoyed decorating their own paper Gingerbread cookies.

Staying in town for Christmas? You can continue the gingerbread fun at the Discovery Cube LA. They have an exhibit called, “The Science of Gingerbread,” until January 3rd.

It’s our last day on the “Big Field” before our Christmas Break so we’re going out with a bang or more accurately a parachute. The Room 3 kids love our “Big Field” days and all the myriad of activities we can do there. We’ve had wonderful times playing “Duck, Duck Goose,” having races, chasing bubbles, balls, paper airplanes and each other but today was especially exciting. The kids got a chance to use our enormous parachute and they loved shaking it as well as going underneath and on top of it. We can’t wait until next year when we get to go back and use it again!