Making memories…

This week we talked about all the things we have learned in preschool. It was quite a list! We will include this list in our special books that we will take home the last week of school. Though it’s nearing the end of the year we have been enjoying some new activities, particularly using iPads and making a piñata…

Messy!

On Friday we met with Mrs. VandenBosch’s class and read a book about a piñata maker. It showed how piñatas are made and all the different ways they can look. We are going to be working on our own piñata next week that we will enjoy during our end of the year party.

This week we talked about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit coming to the disciples. Even those Jesus went back to heaven he sent the Holy Spirit to guide us. The preschoolers thought it was especially interesting that the Holy Spirit helped the disciples talk to people about Jesus in many languages. This is something they will be able to do with their Spanish!

We hope that you will celebrate all of our hard work this year with us on our last day of preschool (Friday, May 31) from about 10:30 – 11:30. (There will even be a piñata!) Check out our sign-up if you’d like to bring something: click here

Important Dates:

May 27 - No School, Memorial Day

May 31 - Last day of Preschool, Party 10:30 – 11:30

¡Feliz Día de la Madre!

We had a great week preparing our classroom for our Cinco de Mayo Party and making gifts for our moms. The children worked hard to cut out papel picado and were so excited to see all of their handiwork hanging in our classroom during our party on Friday. This week we also worked on our special dance and really enjoyed sharing it with our guests. Be sure to check out a video of it here.

I can’t believe there are only 3 weeks of school left! We will be reviewing all of the Spanish vocabulary we have worked on this year as well as finishing up various projects and revisiting some of our favorite activities during the next couple of weeks. We hope that you will celebrate all of our hard work this year with us on our last day of preschool from about 10:30 – 11:30. (There will even be a piñata!) Look for more information on this next week.

Important Dates:

May 27 - No School, Memorial Day

May 31 - Last day of Preschool, Party 10:30 – 11:30

Surprises…

This week the preschoolers have been working on many special surprises. We talked about how we never keep secrets from mom and dad but when it’s about a gift it’s okay to keep it secret for a little while. We are working on a special dance to show our moms and other special guests next Friday during our Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. We read a couple books that explained Cinco de Mayo. The history of the holiday comes from a Mexican victory against the French. Nowadays, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexico and the pride of the Mexican people about their people and their heritage. We look forward to celebrating with some Mexican music, food, and a craft next Friday.

Making “papel picado”

This week as our flowers have gotten taller and taller the preschoolers have been using their new plant vocabulary to talk about what we are seeing:

sprout – brote, seed – semilla, roots – raices, stem – tallo, bud – capullo, leaves – hojas, flower – flor

In Bible we continued to hear some of the parables that Jesus shared with his followers. We heard about the lost sheep. Sometimes we are like lost sheep, we make bad choices and lose our way. But Jesus will always be there for us and welcome us back with open arms. And a “fiesta” as one child put it

We are looking forward to seeing moms, grandmas, aunts or other special guests on Friday as we celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

A note from PTO:

Please consider volunteering to help out at Family Fun Night on Friday, May 17.  Many volunteers are needed to make this event happen!  Click on the link for the sign up sheet.  Click here for online signup sheet.

Also – your donations of gently used or new stuffed animals &/or individually wrapped candy will be used as prizes.  Look for bins near the offices on both campuses.

 

Important Dates:

May 10 – Cinco de Mayo Party – We’re inviting moms, aunts, grandmas, etc. to join us

May 27 - No School, Memorial Day

May 31 - Last day of Preschool, Party 10:30 – 11:30

Spring!

This week the preschoolers spent time putting together all of their zoo pieces into a display. We decided on more animals that we needed to make and painted the maps that we made last week. Come into our room to see the zoo maps and animals that the children have created.

Name the parts of the plants

We have also been eagerly watching our flowers grow. Each day the preschoolers check on their growth. We read many books about flowers, planting things and gardens. We also are learning a lot of vocabulary about plants. Ask your child if they can name the parts of the plants in this picture. Here’s a cheat sheet for you:

sprout – brote, seed – semilla, roots – raices, stem – tallo, bud – capullo, leaves – hojas, flower – flor

This week in Bible we heard the parable of the Prodigal Son. We talked about how God loves us even though sometimes we stray from him. He will always welcome us with open arms.

Hopefully you received the red card inviting moms, aunts, grandmas or other friends to join us on May 10 for a Cinco de Mayo party. Hope to see you there!

Important Dates:

May 10 – Cinco de Mayo Party – We’re inviting moms, aunts, grandmas, etc. to join us

May 27 - No School, Memorial Day

May 31 - Last day of Preschool, Party 10:30 – 11:30

Zoo crazy

This week we continued our interest in zoos in a couple of ways. In the studio the preschoolers used clay to make zoo animals. We made fish, snakes, tigers, elephants, giraffes and more! During our gathering time we read about the zoo and even saw some short clips of a zoo in Columbia. We then looked at some zoo maps and a couple groups of children made a map of their own zoo.

Luke: (Talking about the parking lot) There’s big spots for the trucks that bring food to the animals.

Caden: If you don’t know where the lions are you need a sign that leads to them.

This week the preschoolers have been excited to check on some seeds that we planted last week. The sunflower seeds have already sprouted and some of the leaves are starting to open up. We drew pictures of how are seeds are growing and will update those pictures as they get bigger.

This week in Bible we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan. We talked about how we should be like the Good Samaritan and help out others when we notice that they need help. We can do this on our own playground when we notice that a friend is hurt – even though we sometimes have to stop what we are doing to help we are called to be like the Samaritan and lend a helping hand.

Next week we are going on a field trip to see the play, The Little Engine That Could at East Kentwood High School Auditorium. There is a sign up for drivers outside our classroom door if you are able to come with us. We still need a couple of drivers to be able to go on the trip.

Important Dates:

April 24 – Field Trip to Circle Theatre – The Little Engine that Could

May 10 – Cinco de Mayo Party – We’re inviting moms, aunts, grandmas, etc. to join us

May 27 - No School, Memorial Day

May 31 - Last day of Preschool

Zoos and Clay

It was great to see everyone again this week after our break. I can’t believe we’re already in the middle of April – the year is flying by!

This week the preschoolers were very interested in zoos. On Monday, several children began creating a zoo in the studio together. This quickly grew and turned into a large mural that we attached to the door and everyone had the opportunity to add to it. We also pulled out some books about zoo animals and learned a little more about lions and snakes.

This week we also had a new experience in the studio: clay! On Wednesday we all sat down together to explore clay with our hands. We rolled, patted, smacked, pinched and had a lot of fun exploring. This is now available for the preschoolers in the studio and they are beginning to make animals out of the clay that we would like to put together to make a zoo.

In a couple weeks we are going on a field trip to see the play, The Little Engine That Could at East Kentwood High School Auditorium. There is a sign up for drivers outside our classroom door if you are able to come with us.

Important Dates:

April 24 – Field Trip to Circle Theatre – The Little Engine that Could

May 10 – Cinco de Mayo Party – We’re inviting moms, aunts, grandmas, etc. to join us

May 27 - No School, Memorial Day

May 31 - Last day of Preschool

He is Risen!

This week we really enjoyed sharing the Easter story together. We topped it off with an amazing chapel on Thursday. The preschoolers really enjoyed worshiping with the whole school.

A big thank you to all of our guest readers this month. We really loved having you!

Important Dates:

April 24 – Field Trip to Circle Theatre – The Little Engine that Could

May 10 – Cinco de Mayo Party – We’re inviting moms, aunts, grandmas, etc. to join us