Some Overdue Pictures

I was going through iPhoto and found several pictures of the kids that I'd planned on posting on the blog, but never got around to.  Thought you might want to see some of them.  :) 

These were taken during Zoo week.  It's hard to see, but the kids are standing on an "elephant tightrope."  We'd sing:

One elephant went out to play,

On an elephant tightrope one day.

He (or She) had such ENORMOUS fun,

He (or She) called for another elephant to come.

More kids would get added on until we got to the end:

Six elephants went out to play,

On an elephant tightrope one day.

They had such ENORMOUS fun,

Then the tightrope broke, and they all fell down!

Gavin obviously didn't seem to be as excited about falling off the tightrope as the rest of the kids were!

And here are some pictures of our cookie decorating party:

And on to the decorating:

And finally the "my tongue has more stuff on it than yours" contest:

And the week before Christmas we made peppermint bark (yes, we did do other things, but this is what I got pictures of):

Gavin was a little freaked out by the noise generated by everyone crushing candy canes!

Groundhog's Day!

Today, January 29, 2009 we learned all about Groundhog's Day. It happens every February 2nd. These groundhogs all saw their shadow when they popped out of a tunnel. . .so according to us there will be 6 more weeks of winter.

Perhaps Punxutawny Phil will have a different forecast.

We talked about how the sun (or any light) can help us make a shadow, we made groundhogs that pop out of holes, we ate groundhog holes (doughnuts) after that feisty groundhog popped out, and generally had a great time. We also read some groundhog day books and had free play. They did great transitioning between school time and playtime. What a great group of kids!

I am a Child of God

Thursday, January 22 was a day to talk about how special each of us are. We made crowns and talked about how all of Heavenly Father's children are princes and princesses in His Kingdom.

We also had a fun time displaying some of our talents! We sat in a circle and passed a beanbag around. If you were holding the beanbag you showed one of your talents. There was a lot of jumping, spinning, dancing, and bouncing that came out of this.

We learned that even when we are having a bad day. . . we can remember that we are all children of God and that he loves us. That can help us feel better-- especially if we sing "I am a Child of God." The kids were great and we all had a fun time!

Rhyming Preschool Lesson

By Andrea: Today we started with free play and the kids played really well together. Different groups interchanged to play our Fishing game, dinosaurs, a remote control airplane, and our new Hyperdash game.

For circle time we talked about the letter "R" and words that rhyme. We played a game standing if two words I said rhymed and sitting if they did not. We tried to think of a rhyming word for everyone's name and then we went through the six nursery rhymes I sent home and listening for the rhyming words in each nursery rhyme. We then proceeded to make a nursery rhyme bag to as a reminder of the verses that we practiced. The kids all did a good job working independently on each of the activities - gluing for the teddy bear, drawing a face on the Humpty Dumpty egg, stamping a fish, wrapping a foil rain drop, and pulling the cotton ball apart for their lamb. They were most fascinated with the stars and we went multiple times into our storage room to see them glow. Their should be enough adhesive to pull the stars apart and put them in your child's bedroom if you want to.

On Thursday we will be talking about the letter "G" and goals. I have a story about President Heber J. Grant and how he set goals when he was younger that we will talk about. I am going to have the kids set a group goal to learn "Families Can Be Together Forever" (CS 188) and then give the kids a sheet to set an individual goal at home and work on that with you independently. I will pass along the visual for the Families Can Be Together Song so we can work on that throughout the month.

Setting Goals Preschool Lesson

By Andrea: Today in preschool we talked about the letter, "G" and goals. We watched a reading of the story, "The Little Engine that Could" and then we talked about what goals area and how we need to work hard to achieve our goals--like the little engine that could.

We talked about President Heber J Grant and how he worked on his baseball skills, his handwriting, and his singing while he was young. Then we practiced the same skills by throwing a ball at a target on the wall, completing some tracing sheets, and practicing a new song, "Families Can Be Together Forever".

Each preschool session we will be working on this song until we master it. We have a big chart to mark off as we learn the song. Also, I have sent home an individual goal chart and some stickers you can use as parts o the goal are achieved. It is up to each individual family to pick a goal for their child to work on. Good luck!