Welcome back to a new year filled with love, happiness and many blessings. We hope that you spent the holidays at home or out and about creating beautiful family memories and traditions. On our first day back to school your children shared their holiday adventures; we were excited to hear stories from all the children. Some of their stories were: “I went to church,” “I went on an airplane to the snow,” “The snow was cold,” “I played with Sydney,” “I open my presents,””I have a new jacket,” and the stories went on and on. All the children came back in great spirits and with lots of stories to share, we were amazed by how much their language expanded and how comfortable and open they were with their stories.

Currently, our Bible story is, “The Bright Star and Three Visitors,” Matthew 2:1 – 12. We are talking about the bright star that lead the Wise Men to Jesus, the gifts of gold, the sweet-smelling spices and the King Herod who didn’t like Jesus.

Before the holidays we had fun decorating our Christmas tree with the beautiful ornaments that everyone brought from home. Grandparents Day was a great success! We invited grandparents and special visitors to come see our classrooms and performed our special songs for them. We also enjoyed pajama day with hot cocoa, and a relaxing movie, we had a lot of fun. We are posting some December pictures, we hope you enjoy them.

We want to thank all our parents for being so thoughtful with the cute cards, special dedications, wishes, yummy treats, spa treats and gift cards.

God bless you and watch over you.

.

Flu and cold season is officially upon us and unfortunately, and at times, it seems the only things little children are willing to share are germs!

Please click here to visit the CDC’s “ACTION STEPS” for fighting the flu!

At preschool, we are taking every measure possible to prevent the spread of germs at school such as disinfecting surfaces and toys with an EPA approved, school-friendly disinfectant, washing hands regularly, and as required by law, checking students daily for signs of sickness. Students who exhibit symptoms will be sent home to recover.

We appreciate every parent who has been proactive in checking their child(ren) daily for signs of sickness before coming to school. Please remember to keep your child home if they are exhibiting any symptoms of sickness, including lethargy, fever, vomiting, coughing, sneezing, excessive crankiness, disrupted sleep patterns, etc.

If your child does get sick, please remember that there is a mandatory 24 hour waiting period after the final symptoms of fever, vomiting, or diarrhea without the aid of medication.

Finally, if your child does exhibit signs of the flu, it is highly encouraged to see a doctor right away as your child may be eligible for an anti-viral that will shorten the duration of the sickness.

It is hard to believe that it has been 4 weeks since we started school! You probably have noticed less crying, happy faces, and children engaged in play. It has been wonderful to see so much growth in such a short period of time. Warm feelings and smiles can be found everywhere!

physical development is the way your child moves their arms and legs (large motor skills) and their fingers and hands (small motor skills). Social development helps your child get along with others. Emotional development lets your child understand their feelings and the feelings of others. Language and literacy development helps your child understand and communicate through listening, talking, reading, and writing. Thinking, or cognitive skills develop as children learn to think more complexly, make decisions, and solve problems.

Throughout our school year we will be assisting your child to grow physically, socially, emotionally, develop language and literacy, and thinking/cognitive skills. Through play kids find ways to interact with peers, to negotiate, to express self, to share, to be responsible,  and be a friend.

We have already done lots of observation and documentation to see what our classroom’s strengths and interests are. These are some of the things we have observed so far.

SHARING COMMON SPACELISTENING , FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS, AND LEARNING LANGUAGE THROUGH COOKING.

So far we have done simple short cooking activities that don’t require a long attention span, this will lead us to little expert “Chefs” later on. 😉

On April 2, we started “indoor planting.”  As you know young children lose interest fast, so we thought, “What will grow fast?”  Walaaah! “Beans!”  We read books about plant life cycle,  then planted beans in a zip lock bag and attentively watched for the outcome.  The children saw the different stages in a matter of 7 days.

We also planted many other plants; tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, winter squash, cucumbers, carrots, parsley, basil and chives.  “Come have a look.” We are hoping for the best garden ever.

“Bean”       “Root”                                                                        “Stem”           “Leaf”
                                

           

During the month the of February we shared different Bible stories about how God loves everyone, “1 John 4:8” and “Genesis 37-46.” We also read books such as “Love Monster,” “Llama, Llama I Love You,” and “Valentine’s Day Is Here.” We incorporated a few Valentine’s Day projects like a gift to take home, painting hearts, and making a special bag for valentine cards.For Chinese New Year we talked about Chinese characters, made decorations, introduced Chinese music, small drums and cooked fried rice and California Rolls. We read some great books to celebrate the occasion, “Bring in the New Year,” and “Dragon Dance.”

In addition, we are enjoying our block area and dress up corner and overall, having a wonderful time in preschool!