Covenant Christian School Preschool Blog

Valentine's Day Is Over, But I Just Wanted To Share This Picture of Love For An Unexpected Visitor

2012-02-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

Party, Party, Party, Party! Happy Valentines Day

2012-02-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

Giselle our helper when Mrs. Brown is gone read Eve Bunting's book The Valentine Bears.

We set the buffet table ourselves before everyone came, and knew just what to do when story time and our prayer was over.

There was lots of fun foods to eat.

Then we shared our love with each other by passing our our valentines.

More and More and More Hearts

2012-02-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

Over the course of a few days the first thing we did after signing in and answering our question of the day was to cut out symmetrical folded construction paper hearts. Giselle and Mrs. Brown helped us out.

At first it was hard but it got easier and easier.

Some of our moms stayed to help.

After we had enough hearts we used them to decorate empty Kleenex boxes for our Valentine Mail boxes.

We also did a bit of stamp art using hearts, and red and white paint. We soon discovered that blended together these two colors created a whole new color......

We blended red and blue to make lavender hearts.

After they dried we sewed all the way around them with pink yarn.

This took a lot of concentration and sometimes we needed a little help.

Success!

We also decorated a plain paper table cloth for our Valentine's Day party by drawing and decorating hearts on it.

Shaving Cream Rainbows

2012-02-17T15:03:00.000-08:00

Using eye droppers, food coloring, and water we exercised the muscles in our fingers every time we squeezed a different color into the shaving cream.

Evaporation Painting

2012-02-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

Using a mixture of food coloring, water, and salt we painted pictures. When the water evaporated and the paintings were dry we were surprised to discover the gritty feel of the dried salt on the surface of our picture.

More Fun With Absorption

2012-02-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

Filling sponges with water by hand

Filling sponges with turkey basters.

Working by ourselves.

Or together with a friend.

Putting animal sponge capsules in water and watching what happens as the water is absorbed.

Waiting for something to change.

Taking a close look to see if anything is happening.

Discovering other uses for magnifying glasses.

How fun!

Weather Words: Saturation and Absorption

2012-02-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

We used eye droppers filled with water to slowly saturate coffee filters we first colored with multiple markers. As the water was absorbed we watched the colors bleed together in a rainbow effect. It was so much fun we couldn't avoid saturating the filters. Just like clouds heavy with evaporated water the filters became heavy with water and what couldn't be absorbed dripped out. .

Speaker of the Week Schedule

2012-02-11T13:56:00.001-08:00

February 20^th and 22^nd: Emerson

February 24^th,27^th & 29^th : Alex

March 2nd : Zach

March 5^th & 7^th: Ella

March 9^th : Zach

March 12^th, & 14^th: Connor

March 16^th; Zach

March 19^th, & March 21^st: Joseph

March 23^rd: Kylee

March 26^th and March 28^th : Jackson

March 30^th: Kylee

April 11^th Kylee

April 13^th,, 16^th, & 18^th: Avenn

April 20^th, 23^rd, & 25^th: Katie

April^h, 30^th, & May 2^nd:May 4^th: Nicole

May 7^th, 9^th,:11^th : Juriette

May 14^th, & 16^th, , 18^th: Nolan

Speaker of the Week

2012-02-11T13:34:00.001-08:00

Speaker of the Week is another fun addition to our preschool schedule. Beginning next week your child will be scheduled for two or three consecutive days to be the Speaker of the Week. (Depending on whether your child comes two or three days)

When your child is the Speaker they can bring something from home that they can talk about to the class. Oral language development is a very important skill to develop and taking a turn at being The Speaker of the Week is the perfect opportunity for your child to organize their thoughts and articulate in organized fashion (think beginning, middle and end) information that is significant to them.

Topics for this activity can include any of the following:

A favorite toy

A picture of a vacation

Description of a favorite hobby

Demonstration of a skill (playing an instrument, preparing a recipe, building something etc…)

Pets

Family members can come in and be introduced

Reading a book (can be memorized)

When your child is not the speaker they will have the opportunity to ask the speaker questions learning the difference between a story and a question.

The Speaker of the Week Schedule will be posted separately,

Upcoming Events

2012-02-11T12:28:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day Party

When: Wednesday Feb. 15th at 10:30AM
Who is invited: Everyone who is able to come and who wants to come...the more the better.
Donations are always appreciated and needed. The kids always seem to like anything that includes cheese, crackers, pretzels, fruit, and veggies. (Fruit kabobs, olives, cream cheese ranch dressing, hummus, are also favorites) Just let me know if you are planning on donating so I can keep track of any duplications.

Also....
We are passing out valentines at the party, so send in your child's cards on Wednesday morning so they can pass them out to their friends at the party.

Also please send in an empty Kleenex box for your child by Monday. We will be decorating them on Monday with the construction paper hearts that they have been cutting out the last two mornings.

Finally....
We have a field trip scheduled to visit the Public Library in Mishawaka. We will be leaving school on Monday March 5th at 9:45 AM arriving at the library by 10:15 for our visit. We will be returning to school by 11:30. Permission slips will be sent home next week.

Weather Begins With Ww.

2012-02-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

We have been talking about seasons and regular weather for about a week. Today we began to learn about extreme weather..draught, floods, blizzards, a hurricane that begins over water, and finally a tornado that begins over land. We looked at a 3D model of a hurricane and made a tornado in a bottle. We moved our arms like whirling wind and spun around like a tornado. Then we talked about how to be safe in a storm especially a tornado and had our own practice tornado drill.

Then we painted wet Ws on our chalkboard.

Making Mosaic Rainbows

2012-02-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

We were introduced to the proper sequence of the colors of the rainbow.... Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet (Roy G. Biv).

Color Mixing ...Yellow and Blue Makes????

2012-02-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

Kneading, squeezing, pushing, smashing together primary colors to make secondary colors.

Making Playdoh

2012-01-31T17:49:00.000-08:00

2 cups of flour

2 cups of water

1 cup of salt

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon of creme of tarter

Mix and cook

Pretend Play

2012-01-31T17:41:00.000-08:00

Making our own video games discs. We cut circles out of paper, decorated them, and used envelopes for their cases.

Working Together We Created Our Own Puppet Shows

2012-01-31T17:16:00.000-08:00

We made our own puppets.

Then we put on our shows.

We watched each other.

The boys did a ninja show.

The girls did a ballet show.

We made lots of puppets.

Snack Schedule Reminder

2012-01-31T17:05:00.000-08:00

Joseph: Wednesday Feburary 1st.
Katie: Friday February 3rd, 6th, & 8th.

Letter Symbol Visual Discrimination Activities

2012-01-31T16:57:00.000-08:00

Playing Letter Symbol Bingo

During our morning message we take turns finding and circling letter letters.

Playing "Go Fish" we catch letter fish and match them to the letters in our ponds.

Prayers For Mrs. Brown....She started chemo last week and has eleven more sessions.

2012-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

Another New Routine

2012-01-29T07:11:00.000-08:00

"Reading" Letter Sound Books in small groups introduce us to skills such as finger to print, letter sound and symbol recognition and book concepts. ( top, bottom, cover page, author, numbers at the bottom of the page, front, and back )

New Routines Has Been Added To Our Morning

2012-01-29T06:57:00.000-08:00

Emergent writers progress through specific stages. Drawing a picture is an example of early writing..... you can tell a story with one picture. (i.e wordless picture books like "Carl") The following are the stages that children navigate through in this process we call writing.

Marks and squiggle lines.
A series of unrelated symbols letters and numbers
Beginning letter sounds
Child invented spelling or phonetic spelling
Conventional spelling

In preschool we celebrate all of these stages.

We have begun journaling every morning which is a surprisingly complex activity that involves a multitude of skills from a variety of domains. (Cognitive, language, and fine motor) Oral language and vocabulary development, the ability to articulate an organized thought, story sequencing, and hand eye coordination and pencil control necessary to draw pictures are factors that come into play during this activity. Mrs. Brown and I take dictation, and (the stories) dependent on the child, can be as short as a one sentence one page, or multiple pages and complete stories. I do not give my students any ideas about what to write. Research has shown if children are allowed to write about what they are interested in then they will want to write. Aditionally I could never come up with the imaginative stuff they come up with.

Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow

2012-01-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

Q-tip painting a winter wonderland.

Making Snow Flakes And Semetrical Snowmen

2012-01-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

Using scissors requires concentration, and can be both challanging and a little scary. It is hard to hold them and coordinate opening and shutting the blades....not to mention directing them where we want them to go.

We used puffy paint to paint our snowmen. (shaving cream and glue)

The more puffy paint the better.

Once they were dry we personalized them with buttons and yarn.

Making Clean Mud Was Another Fine Motor Skill Development Opportunity

2012-01-29T05:46:00.000-08:00

We took turns scraping and shaving bars of ivory soap into a fine powder.

We had fun unrolling toilet paper.

Then we added the soap shavings, and water, before mixing and kneading all the ingredients. Our efforts were rewarded in the end with a mallable substance that looked like snow, didn't melt, and wasn't freezing. Additionally it smelled clean and fresh.

Winter Is Finally Here And So Is The Snow....Send Your Child To School Prepared!

2012-01-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

We plan to go outside to play as long as the temperatures do not dip into the teens. We also will be sledding most days. So make sure your child has all the necessary clothes to go outside, for without snow pants or boots they will have stay indoors :(.

We have been practicing the following sequence for putting on our clothes.

1st: snow pants
2nd: boots
3rd: coat
4th: hat
last: gloves or mittens

Please help to reinforce this routine at home so your children can become independent as quickly as possible.

Puppet Shows

2012-01-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday Harold and Jamie Wilson visited our school to put on a puppet show for preschool through 3rd grade. Harold is a Christian author and illustrator who writes both theological text books, and children's books. ( His children's books are written under the pen name Double Doubting Thomas.)

Inspired by Harold's puppets we put on our own show taking turns at being the puppeteers and the audience.

Second Semester Snack Schedule

2012-01-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

Just like last semester each child/family will be responsible for bringing in a snack periodically (usually but not necessarily on consecutive days) If for any reason you would like to switch with someone on the schedule you may do so... just let me know who you have switched with so I know snack is covered.

Snack time is a great time for fine motor skill practice. My plan is for the kids to prepare, and serve their own snacks each day. (this includes setting the table.)

Drinks: We only serve water at snack time as each child fills their own cup, with no harm done if a spill happens. (Additionally friends help each other by holding the cups for each other.)

Oral language development is a very big deal in preschool........... so every opportunity I have to encourage your child to speak purposely, and in complete sentences I am going to take advantage of. So whoever brings in the snack also explains what the snack is and how to prepare it.

Birthday Snacks: If you would like to send in a birthday snack and it is not your week for snack contact the family who is bringing in the snack and let them know that you will be sending in something special so we do not have double the snacks on that day.

Birthday party invitations: We are happy to send them home only if everyone is invited.

Snack Schedule

January 23^rd, 25th, & 27^th: Juriette

January 30^th, February 1^st: Joseph

February 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th : Katie

February 10^th, Avenn

February 13^th, 15^th : Ella

February 17^th: Avenn

February 20^th, February 22^nd: Jackson

February 24^th: Avenn

February 27^th, 29 th, March 2^nd: Nolan

March 5^th, 7^th, 9^th: Kylee

March 12^th, 14^th, 16^th: Zach

March 19^th, 21^st: Jackson

March 23^rd, 26^th, 28^th: Alex

March 30^th, April 11^th, April 13^th: Nicole

April 16, 18^th: Emerson

April 20^th: Juriette

April 23: Joseph

April 25: Katie

April 27^th: Avenn

April 30^th : Ella

May 2^nd: Jackson

May 4^th: Nolan

May 7^th: Kylee

May 9^th: Zach

May 11^th: Nicole

May 14^th: Connor

May 16^th: Emerson

May 18^th: Alex

May 21^st: Joseph

May 23^rd: Juriette

May 25^th: Katie

Going Green:

Plastic plates, cups and utensils used on the day that it is your scheduled snack will be sent home to be washed. Please have your child wash the dishes...another good motor skill, and return the the dishes when they return to school.

It Takes Lot Of Apples To Make Applesauce

2012-01-16T10:31:00.000-08:00

Preschool Applesauce Recipe: Peel lots of apples. Put in a cooker pan.. Pour in sugar in cups in the pan. Cook the apples until they get mushy and hot...let them get cold and then you eat them.!

lots of

Peeling Apples In Preparation For Making Applesauce

2012-01-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

Spring Hope Apple Orchard Field Trip

2012-01-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

Progressive Self Portraits

2012-01-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

Watch for the fine motor development evidence throughout the year as your child becomes more adept at contolling a pencil. (Located in our classroom for your viewing pleasure)

Christopher's Christmas...Lets Go To The Show!

2012-01-16T08:27:00.001-08:00

More Christmas

2012-01-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

Painting giant Christmas Ornaments.

Cutting out count down to Christmas bells.

All Things Christmas

2012-01-16T07:38:00.000-08:00

Making Christmas cards.

Cutting out old Christmas card and creating Christmas ornaments.

We Made Butter Cream Frosting. Then We Added Green Food Coloring And Spread It On Icecream Sugar Cones At Our Christmas Party To Make Personal Edible Christmas Trees.

2012-01-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas Chapel

2012-01-16T07:04:00.000-08:00

Our class along with the Spanish Immersion class hosted a Christmas Chapel in December.

January Is A Great Time To Look Back

2012-01-16T07:01:00.000-08:00

Break-In At The School

2012-01-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Last week Monday a patient from the psych ward at St Joseph Hospital broke into the school, and barricaded himself in the computer room.....the result being extensive damage to the school. He entered through the art room and evidence of time spent in the preschool room was unmistakable. The entire school and all surfaces including the carpeting were professionally cleaned and no one was allowed into the building without rubber gloves due to possible exposure to blood. Our room was in shambles and in the process of being cleaned on Wednesday. I came back on Thursday with the hopes of putting the room back in order but unfortunately signs prohibiting entry into the building made that impossible. So we shall just have to wait to put things right on Monday.