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Please come and enjoy our Holiday Show on Thursday at 10:30!

A Trip To The Singing Bears

Learning About Santa's Job!

Today we started the day with letters and numbers.  The kids were spelling their names, putting numbers together to make larger numbers like 80, and matching letters with words around the room.  The best part....we didn't direct any of that.....it was what they chose to do! 

When we finished our calendar, and practiced our holiday songs, you can hear the rain falling outside, so our trip to the playground was cancelled.  We set up some sensory centers and the kids thought it was a special treat.  Animals hiding in rice, dump trucks and pasta, lacing and tracing, building with modeling clay, and, a class favorite, Mr. Potato Head!  We did make it out for a quick walk around the block once the rain stopped and that was a big hit....because of the puddles!  We jumped and splashed our way through the neighborhood while we talked about the decorations we saw!

Our story today was How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky.  The story starts when Santa was young and needed a job, no one was looking for a man in a red suit to deliver gifts on Christmas. So Santa tried just about everything in the community-- from a chimney sweep to a postman to a circus performer. But none of these worked out. It wasn't until he met a group of elves who helped him use all his special talents, that Santa was able to find his dream job.

For our language activity, we discussed all the jobs we have talked about recently during our Community Helpers theme.  In order for the community to work, everyone has to do THEIR job.  In order for Christmas to work, Santa has to do his job, the elves have to do their jobs, and the reindeer have to do their jobs.  The reindeer can't make the toys.....they don't have hands.  Santa can't pull the sleigh....he can't fly and wouldn't be strong enough.  The kids all had something to add about the kinds of jobs that they want to one day have.

During art, we pretended to be elves.  We were going to "build" a picture frame for our families.  The kids each selected colored Popsicle sticks and made them into the shape of a square.  We hot glued them together and added some buttons for decorations. It's hard work to build something simple.....we will definitely leave building bikes and airplanes and dolls to the elves.....they are so much better at it then we are!!

Mailing Letters

We started the day with colored packing peanuts in the Touch and Feel Pool.  The kids described them and found matching pairs.  We even made some simple patterns. 

After our calendar and morning circle, we learned the words to some holiday songs that we will be singing during our Christmas Performance later this month.  We will practice them MANY more times between now and then....but the kids were excited to hear about the "show" for parents!

Ms. Abby was here today and, even though the ground was wet, we still went outside.  The lesson was all about tee ball....and that's kinda difficult to practice inside!  First, the kids had a relay race.  There were two balls and the starting point, and when Ms. Abby said GO, they had to run to a second marker with one ball, leave it there, and run back for the other ball.  We have some very good sportsmanship in our class....that or maybe they don't yet grasp the concept of a "race".....either way, it's so super cute!  The next activity was to practice hitting a tee ball with a bat and running the bases.  The kids were all good hitters.....but again....I'm not sure they completely understand because many of them hit the ball and ran to pick it up before running the bases!  One more session with Ms. Abby this year.....and then we take a break from Young Athletes until it gets a little warmer!

 

Our story today was Dear Santa:  The Letters of James B. Dobbins by Bill Harley.  James begins early in December writing letters to Santa.  From an aquarium (with a piranha), to earplugs for blocking out his little sister, to a full-size hockey rink, James wants a lot for Christmas. This series of letters to Santa follows James from his first outrageous requests, to apologizing for all his mishaps and misbehaviors, to a final Christmas Eve surprise where Santa actually reads his last letter!

What better way to learn about letters than to actually write and send one?  During our language activity we talked about the parts of a letter.  I wrote a sample letter to Ms. Tiffany (with some of the kids help) to tell her what I wanted for Christmas.  You need the "Dear" part first, so that you can know who is supposed to read it.....you need the sentences in the middle that tell what the letter is about.....and at the end we say "Love" and who the letter is from.  The kids were paying close attention because they wanted to get the letter to Santa just right!!

We moved to the table and used a template to write our letters.  The kids used pictures of toys, games, and activities instead of sentences to describe things they wanted for Christmas.  We glued those down and signed our names at the bottom.  Once the letters were in the special red envelopes with Santa's address, we stamped them.....and headed off to find a mailbox! 

We walked down East Boulevard to the blue mailbox.  The kids each took turns putting in their letters and watching them disappear!  The highlight was on our walk  back to school we saw the actual, real live, mailman delivering mail.  We stopped and told him about our letters, and he said he would go pick them up right away.  It takes mail a long time to get to the North Pole where Santa lives.....and we don't want it to get there late!

Your children may receive a special surprise in the mail in a week or so.....so be on the lookout.....sometimes Santa writes back!!

The Post Office

The kids were so excited to see each again today.  It feels like forever since we last had school!  Everyone was excited to share all about their Thanksgiving....the foods they ate, the places they went and people they visited.....and there was even some talk about some Christmas decorations going up!

Ms. Michele was so excited to hear about our wonderful Thanksgiving meals! She had the kids take off their shoes for our first activity. Who knew that this would be so EXCITING???  For they whole body warm up, they crawled through a short tunnel, jumped on bubble wrap, and then jumped in and out of a circle.  Next we worked our muscles with a special tension band. The class had to pull the band, push the band, move it up and move it down.  And lastly, for our finger fun today the kids made "turkey soup". They used a variety of tweezers, tongs and chopsticks to pick up the different ingredients including packing peanuts, beans, and beads.

 

Our story today was "Send It" by Don Carter. In the story a boy sends a package to a friend far away. It travels on a truck, ship, airplane, train and finally the mail truck. Then the mail man delivered the package to another boy. Inside the package was his birthday present! After reading the story we talked about things we find in our mailbox. We get letters, magazines, cards and packages. We also discussed the different ways mail can travel before being delivers...it can go by truck, train, ship and airplane.

For art we made a special gift and wrapped it up like a package so we could deliver it. First, the kids used beads to make a bracelet. Once the bracelets were finished the kids used paper to wrap it  up into a package. We used tape to make sure the package was sealed tight. Then they had to address the package so that it would be sure to make it to the right person. They couldn't wait to deliver them at the end of the day!  We may have some future mail carriers in the bunch!!