MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Now that we have learned about Christmas in other parts of the world, it's time to focus on how we celebrate Christmas! The children are so anxious for Christmas!  We all enjoyed all the festivities and fun in getting ready for a wonderful Christmas!

Such a cute Santa!

Making a beautiful candy cane!

 We had two different cooking projects going on this week! Some classes made Peppermint Bark and others made White Chocolate Pretzels.  They both looked delicious!

Pretty excited about his Peppermint Bark!

Carefully drizzling the white chocolate over the pretzels!

 This week, we also had a Christmas Open House.  The children did a precious Christmas Program for their parents.  Afterwards, we enjoyed refreshments and visiting with one another!

Singing some Christmas carols!



The Pre-K class performed a skit to spell out Christmas.  They memorized their lines and everything but some how I didn't snap a picture!

On our last day at school before Christmas break, we had a surprise visitor!!  The children were so shocked that most of them froze and were speechless!

Santa's here!

Santa brought bells and candy canes for the children!

I guess Ms. Joice has been a good teacher this year!!  :)

 At the end of the day, we had a Christmas party!  The children enjoyed yummy snacks and treats, played games, and made crafts!  I think everyone had a great time!

Looks like it's yummy!

Time to break open the Pinata!

It FINALLY broke!

WHEW!!  It was a busy, jam packed week but a wonderful one at that!  We hope you have a Merry Christmas!!

KP3 (Kids Pajama Pizza Party)

We started off our KP3 nights with such a fun time!  KP3 was on a Friday night and gave parents a chance to attend a Christmas party, do some Christmas shopping and wrap presents, or just have a few hours to relax!  Some of our parents got to enjoy a nice date night for the first time in a while!  While the parents were out and about, the children played with board games and toys in the rooms, went bowling, enjoyed the parachute, and watched a Christmas movie!  We of course had pizza for dinner!  YUM!  Here's some pictures of all the fun we had!

Christmas Around the World

We took a trip around the world to learn about how people all over the world celebrate Christmas!  The children "visited" the Philippines, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Ireland, Australia, Russia, and Switzerland!  WHEW!! It was quite a busy week!  There were so many unique traditions and activities for us to explore!

In Russia and Switzerland,
they gather around the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols.

In Mexico, they make Pinatas to break open!

In Nigeria, they make masks to wear at a big parade!

In Ireland, people light candles in their windows if they would have been willing
to make room in their homes for baby Jesus.  These boys are making their own candles!

In Germany, they make gingerbread men and houses. 
For our cooking project, the children made the gingerbread dough
and then cut out the gingerbread men.

Once they finished cooking, they of course had to decorate the gingerbread men!

Our letter for the week was S.  Some classrooms made "S is for Snake" and some made "S is for Santa"!

S is for Snake

We can't hardly wait till Christmas! 
S is for Santa!

 The children (and the teachers) had so much fun this week!  It was so exciting to learn how others celebrate Christmas and compare it to what we do!

Winter

BRRRRR....It's getting cold so it must be time to learn about Winter!  The children enjoyed learning about snowflakes, snowmen, and everything related to Winter.  This week we focused on the letter R, the number 8, the color white, and circles.

R is for Rabbit

OR- R is for Reindeer!

Making a cute white, fluffy bunny!

For our cooking project, we made Snowman Biscuits!

After cutting out all her circles,
she is putting them together carefully to look just like a Snowman!

The children had so much fun playing a game of Freeze in the classroom!

The thought of Christmas has us all so excited that we had to go ahead and start decorating for Christmas!

 We hope you stay warm this winter!!!

Ecosystems

Last week, the children learned about the different Ecosystems.  They focused on the rain forest, desert, and tundra.

The Pre-K class learned a song about the different layers of the rainforest.  The children also talked about the large amounts of rain in the rain forest.  For a science lesson, they discussed using a rain gauge to measure the rain.  The children also made rain sticks to use during music and movement time.

Decorating his rain stick

Listening to the sounds of rain!

 The children figured out the differences in temperatures in each of these Ecosystems.  They decided that the frozen tundra was definitely the coldest!  They named the clothing they would wear if they were to visit each one.  In the hot desert, very few plants can grow so the children made cacti for an art project!

Our letter of the week was "Q".  They made "Q is for Quilt" and yummy Cheese Quesadillas for a snack!

Such a beautiful "Quilt"!

Making Cheese Quesadillas!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

As Thanksgiving arrived, we all thought about the many things that we have to be thankful for.  A big part of my thankful list is having such wonderful children and parents to work with each and every day.  The children touch our hearts on a daily basis and they always make us smile. 

This week we had a Thanksgiving Lunch and invited all of our parents to join us.  We absolutely loved having them share such a special memory with us.  Thank you to all the parents that came, even in the pouring rain! 

To help with the Thanksgiving lunch, the children made Cranberry Pineapple Salad for their cooking project.  The parents got to taste their hard work for dessert after a delicious Thanksgiving meal!

Making the gelatin protion of the Cranberry Pineapple Salad

Stirring up the yummy topping!

 Two of our teachers prepared our Thanksgiving Lunch which included turkey, dressing, green beans, sweet potato casserole, and a roll.  They did a fabulous job!  One parent even asked if we had it catered!!!  Here's a look at a few of the families enjoying lunch together...

Ms. Senchal and her son got to enjoy lunch together too!

Ms. Britney's family came to eat lunch with her and her son!

We hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

Pilgrims and Indians

To get ready for Thanksgiving, we spent the week learning about Pilgrims and Indians.  The children did several activities for each, throughout the week.  They also talked about the First Thanksgiving and how it become a holiday that we celebrate each year.

Creating a Mini-Book about Pilgrims

Making a Totem Pole like the Indians
while practicing shapes and colors

Sorting feathers by colors before making their Indian Headdress.

Working on his Indian Headdress

Of course, we had to have a Pow-Wow!
 It sounded pretty funny to hear "Indians" throughout the school all week!

Creating an Indian vest to complete the Indian outfit

The letter of the week was "O".  The children made "O is for Octopus" and made Oatmeal Bars for snack. 

Mixing the ingredients to make Oatmeal Bars

 Now that we have learned all about Pilgrims and Indians and made our outfits, we are ready for Thanksgiving week!