photos

XD did Bubble solutions for Science

Each child made a bubble wand.

Wrapping with Student Council

Time is flying by...

Last week we were very busy.  We have been spending a lot of time discussing the Christmas story in almost all of our subjects.  Our program on 12/19 at 6pm tells the story as well.  We have been practicing this and doing a great job.  I hope all children are able to attend to show you our hard work.  If your child will not be present, please let me know as soon as possible.  This week we focus on the travel to Bethlehem and the shepards! Be sure to ask your child about this. 

Student Council came in and we wrapped presents together.  They took the money we all collected at both campuses and bought presents for St. Cyprian children, children who do not have a lot.  It was a great learning experience for them to hear about this and then to be a part of wrapping to give away some gifts to children in need.

We talked about other symbols of Christmas last week like Christmas trees and The Nutcracker.  We made a large class "shape tree" as well as our very own individual trees.  We even listened to parts of the Nutcracker ballet.  The children are familiar with the music from other movies or bits of songs. This week we will be talking about LIGHT! Why? Because Jesus is the Light of the World!!  Our centers and subjects will also revolve this new subject.

Our letter this week is Ii and our color is pink.  Pink is the color of the 3 candle in our Advent Wreath.  If you can, try to reinforce the use of the advent wreath or an advent calendar at home.  We are anxiously counting down the days of the birth of the Christ Child, not just present day!  "For unto us, a savior is born"Luke 2:11.  This is on our bulletin board and we will truly focus on the verse this week and next as we "travel" in our story to the stable in which Christ was born. 

You will be getting a notice about our party which is Dec. 21.  The notice will ask for a class food/drink donation and if you are interested in helping out that afternoon.  ALL students, including part-time, are invited to stay the whole day.  We will have the party after lunch followed by a whole school sing a long at 2:30!  Wear Christmas colors indeed that day!

NEXT SATURDAY is our GROOMING FOR TECHNOLOGY EVENT!!! This is to benefit your child in the classroom.  We have several bookings, so make sure to make yours OR have someone you know make an appt!!! Reservations are preferred so there is no waiting!  We want a full house.  There will be a spot in the school to sit and wait along with bathroom useage if needed. 

This is the last blog of the year.  I will pick it up right before school starts again.  I want to thank you for an amazing start to my time at LUSA.  I love all of your children and I hope they are truly enjoying their days in school.  I also appreciate the help with classroom activities, requirements, communications too.  It really does make for a great school year. 

Many blessings of joy to you and your families on this Christmas and for this next NEW YEAR!
Tanya Boyle and Kim Hoffman

new photos

Comfort Dogs

We all got to meet 4 comfort dogs

This was Magic!

Here is our tree that we decorated.

Fun with Magnets with LH and parents

Teaching us about the North and South poles

Hark The Herald Angels Sing...

Advent has begun.  We start this season with ANGELS obviously! We talked a lot about Advent as the time when we get ready for Jesus' birthday.  We have a class advent wreath similar to the one that was sent home.  Also, feel free to color the stars of their advent calendar on their folders for the days we are not in school.  Angel Gabriel has also been a focus this week.  Ask your child what good news he brought Mary!

Gg and Hh were introduced this week.  Although we will primarily focus on the hard g sound as in gum, they were introduced to soft g because we have a couple of Gianna's so we needed to explain that.  As we do these letters, we are doing the beginning sounds.  As always, during dinner, story times etc, ask them for words that start with that letter of the week or ask them to find the letter on a box or in a book etc.

Our room is beginning tolook a lot like Christmas.  We put our tree up together yesterday.  The kids were very excited.  As the season continues, we will add our own decor to the room.  It is a time of preparation and that is indeed what we shall do.  All of our books and projects will revolve around this most blessed season. We have also begun preparations for our parts in LUSA's telling of the birth of Christ on Dec. 19th at 6pm. 

By now, their spanish is getting much more accurate.  We know Please, thank you , hello, goodbye, sit down, stand up, black, white, brown, yellow, blue, red, orange, purple!! I know I am missing some more we use daily too.  I am very proud of how they are reminding me of different words each day.

Science was fun with magnets.  The kids learned about the north and south poles and how different things attract each other and some repel or fight each other. It was a really fun and easy experiment to try at home too.  Photos are coming. 

Finally, the grooming fundraiser has great potential for success.  Please pass on the information to those who have dogs. Encourage them to make appointments.  We are very excited that Bark Chicago is doing this for us. 

Until next week, have a blessed weekend!
TB

LET'S SPREAD THE WORD!!!!!

Lutheran Unity School West

Preschool Technology Fundraiser

Help Preschool get an interactive projector

for their classroom

just by getting your dog groomed!

When: Saturday December 17

Where:  St. Paul Lutheran Church Parking lot (5650 N. Canfield Chicago)

Times:  15 minute intervals starting at 8am through 4pm

Cost: $25(check or cash) for a bath, blow dry, brush and nail trim **

Reservations are preferred!  Call the school 708-867-5044 or email Tanya: tboyle@lutheranunity.com and she will return your email with a time.

**If your dog is particularly matted, or is in need of a serious detangling, the price will go up slightly.  Please let us know when you make an appointment.

Add-ons are available:

$3/Aloe re-moisture treatment, $3/Nail filing (after trim), $3 PAW Bath (makes pads soft & supple), $3 Teeth brushing, $6 De-Shed solution (add on for bath, get's more hair out!)

All proceeds go to LUSA’s West Campus Preschool towards the purchase of interactive technology which will be a great asset to their education. 

Mahalo!

Gracias, Mahalo, Thank You and ! These were some focus words this week.  The children learned a new song called "Mahalo" by Laurie Berkner along with some actions.  We used the 4 ways of saying thank you in a variety of situations all week. Ask your child to respond using one of these ways. We said thank you God for many of the people and things we have in life. 

We are spending a lot of time on family.  The children all brought in family collages and shared them with the class.  They are hanging up until the last day of school next week.  We learned about cousins and siblings and grandparents and most importantly, how all families look DIFFERENT!  It is important to explore the different types of familes out there as our children are exposed to so many different people.  I told them I would send their posters home next week and they could hang them up at home, so don't be shocked to hear that. haha. 

In small groups we have been working on a lot more math skills.  We are doing number identification along with writing some numbers.  Some groups are working on matching along with identifying same and different.  A few children have begun some sight words!  Our letter focus was still Ff.  With the short week next week, we will be reviewing A-F and sequencing.  G, H and I will be covered before Christmas.  As you practice these things at home in anyway that you choose, please reinforce the lowercase letters as those tend to be the more difficult ones.  Also please teach all names in proper fashion of Uppercase followed by lowercase.  This is the way they will learn in here and throughout school.  All uppers is a hard habit to break.

Today, we talked about quilts.  We watched a video of The Patchwork Quilt.  This is a picture book about a grandma who teaches her granddaughter about why she makes a patchwork quilt.  The book takes an engaging approach to teaching the importance of family and tradition.  After, we made our own "SCHOOL FAMILY" quilt.  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and therefore a family of our own! 

If for some reason your child is going to be out next week, please email me or send a note prior so we plan accordingly.  Obviously if your child is sick, a phone call to the office is fine.  In any case, do notify us in some way.

Finally, many children were prepared for the cold weather today.  I would like ALL children weather ready by tomorrow.  I will admit I forgot my gloves too, but I am not running about, my hands were ok in my pocket.  Some could not be outside for more than 5 minutes today due to the cold.  We should be outside for a good 15 minutes on days like today.  They need the fresh air!  So please send them in pants, WINTER coats, hats and gloves.  No need for boots until it snows. 

I will not blog next week, but I will be posting photos later tonight or tomorrow! I wish you many thanksgiving blessings~!  Enjoy your families and enjoy your food! Be thankful to God!

TB :)

Many Thanks....

First off, thank you to all that not only purchased books for your children, but also for our classroom.  The children LOVE them.  The school raised quite a bit and now the school library will be all the better!

THis week we have been talking about fall and how the trees react.  We learned a bit about photosynthesis and why the leaves change.  We have done some projects with impromptu paper leaves since we were washed out and could not go on a good leave hunt.  We did however make it outside Monday to do a fall scavenger hunt and they LOVED that.  They took it very seriously!

Hannah and Samuel are the 2 people we talked about this week during our Jesus Time.  We talked about who Samuel was and who his teacher was.  Today, we finished with Samuel as an old man who became a teacher/minister of God just like his teacher Eli was.  Next week will focus on Thanksgiving and families.  We will thank God for families and differences.

Our letter is Ff, color is brown/cafe and we have moved on to ovals.  Different children are working on different levels of these areas.  Some are learning to write the letter, some are using the letter to find words and some are sounding out and trying to spell the words that start with Ff.  The same is true of the colors and shapes we are using in class.  We are all introduced at the same time, but many of them are in different groups to help them learn and grow at their own pace.
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Today, we talked about Veteran's Day and why it is important.  We talked about the men and women who work and soldiers to keep us safe.  They read a Scholastic together which would be a good tool for you to review with them at home. 

Science with EP was super awesome.  Today, he and his mom created glitter globes, like snow globes.  The children learned about solutions and weights of different liquids.  WTG! On a side note, she also brought in a SQUARE EGG! That's right, a square egg! ASK your kiddos.

I know I asked for the family collages this week.  I hope you did not stress too much.  I will be hanging these up today, but they are encouraged to still bring them on Monday if they have not yet done so.  All week through thanksgiving, we will talk about family.  Your help is much appreciated. 

Finally, please dress your child with hats, gloves and winter coats.  Boots are not necessary until it really starts to snow.  As the weather gets below 35, I will be keeping children with siblings inside so you can pick them both up at 3pm.  If your only child is a prek student, still be here promptly at 2:50.  Anyone after 3 will be taken down to extended care.

Many thanks and more photos are on their way.
Tanya

Photos from recent past

famous flubber

Huge success

Using your own imagination is the best tool!

Time out for a dress up break.

Bible stories are an important part of our week.

Fantastic Fall

I hope you are all enjoying these last few days of warmth.  It has been so up and down that no one knows how to dress.  My suggestion for the kids is send them in layers so we have the warmth if it is needed.

We have finished our discussions about Moses.  We briefly talked about the 10 commandments.  Since they are a bit more complex, we keep it simple in prek.  I call them God's special rules for us to live by.  The rest of November will revolve around family.  I am asking that you work on a family photo collage with your child.  It should have at least 3 photos.  If you can bring the collage in sometime before Nov. 10th, that would be great.  These will be posted and families will be discussed.  If you have blended families, feel free to use as many photos as needed to share family members.  The collage will be put on paper I am sending home tomorrow 11/3.  Thanks for your help with this.

In math, we have been working on circles and ovals now.  Next week, we will be doing some shape word and symbol identification. Some children are even starting some basic addition and subtraction using manipulatives. The colors they have focused on are blue, red, yellow, orange and black.  They know them in spanish too!

As we finish off our Harvest unit, we discussed corn.  I brought some items to show that their are many uses nd products made from corn.  Feel free to show them some things at home that you know might be made from corn.  We painted with corn syrup, we ate popcorn, we looked at and counted kernels and we even made corn stalks that you will see this week.

The children have been working on rhyming words.  So far our focus words are -at and -op.  Next week we will move on to -it words. Practice these at home.  We do not discourage made up words at this point. We want to encourage the understanding of the word patterns. 

There was no science this week, but I know they all LOVED the flubber.  Next week is science with EP!  The friend of the week next week will be XD!

Finally, don't forget to sign up for the Thanksgiving feast on the 18th.  I believe resevations were already due, so get it in tomorrow if you did not.  Space is limited.    

I will see you all this week!
Tanya Boyle

some of my own!

updated photos

our first time singing in chapel

our pumpkins are as different as we are!

the bravest goo remover!

they all tried it

he was pretty brave too.

our SHAPE OLANTERN!

the pumpkin carvers 

Look for our ornaments at the HIP in late November

Friend of the Week

Blubber fun

Thanks Mrs. B and RB

creepy crawly spiders

The end of the 1st Quarter is here!

Can you believe it? Here we are the end of the 1st quarter.  I have seen such growth in your children.  I hope you have seen it too. They are feeling confident and proud of their work too.  I simply LOVE this age.  You see so much in such a little time.

We have been continuing our work in integrating some basic Spanish.  They love to throw in a color or quiz me on occassional words.  We will do this all year.  By then end of the year, they should have quite the phrase vocabulary.

Ee, Black, rhyming patterns of -at and -op words have been this weeks focus.  If you have 5 minutes each night, play the rhyming game.  Ask them to tell you rhyming words for those patterns.  They can ABSOLUTELY be made up at this age.  I have been really proud of them these last 2 weeks. I do write them too so the older ones in particular pay attention to the rhyme pattern.

Nocturnal.  Ask your child what that means.  They should not only KNOW the definition, but be able to tell you 3-4 animals that fit into that category.  They love talking about this subject.  They love learning BIG new words.  Embrace and encourage vocabulary at home. They can and do understand and learn to use these words correctly.

We have been talking about Moses this week.  This will carry over into next week when we talk about Moses and the 10 commandments.  As of now they know he had to be hidden because the Pharoah declared NO baby boys to be born.  We discussed why as well.  We continue to practice the Christian pledge.  After Christmas we will be doing Luther's Morning Prayer.  Some have already begun reciting from listening to the prayers in the am. 

Science was Flubber today.  Pics of that will go up later.  The kids LOVED it.  Anything goey is great fun.

Next week is P/T conferences.  If you have not signed up, please do.  They are Thursday afternoon and evening and Friday morning until 1:45.  If you cannot make it, email me for a different morning before 8:30. 

Finally Monday we will wear pajamas.  We encouraged all children to donate a few coins for our pennies for pies collection.  Since we are doing so well, we decided to reward them/you with a pj day.  It is halloween and we are not "celebrating".  We will have a small fall fest on November 15th.  More info to come.

I think that is all for now.  Until next week....
Tanya

Does your child have allergies? Check this out!

I think this sounds really amazing for children with food and bee allergies!
http://www.allerbling.com/

Spiders, Spanish, circles, blubber and rhymes oh my!

We have been busy learning about spiders.  They should be able to tell you some important facts.  Ask them how many body parts? how many legs? how many eyes? what do they use their silk for? 

We started shapes today.  Those that can already ID a circle are working on DRAWING and cutting circles and labeling them with the word.  Those not yet ready are tracing and learning to ID.

Although preschool does not have a specific Spanish program, I am teaching them words and phrases.  We have been doing this for a few weeks.  You may hear them say some random words at home.  They know YES, THANKS, VERY, GOOD, HOT, COLD, SIT DOWN, STAND UP, PLEASE, RED, BLUE, YELLOW AND ORANGE.  Ask them to fill you in!  Send them on a Spanish color hunt. 

Rhyming is always fun.  We have started -at words.  Right now this is all oral.  I want them to hear the sounds.  I write the words they say so they can see the same ending letters.  Try a fun game of rhyme at home. 

RB and his mom did "Blubber Glove" today in Science.  It was really cool and Mrs. B did a great job including God into this project.  She was able to explain to the children that God gave cold weather animals blubber to protect them.  Then she and RB showed a great experiment on how well that blubber works.  Ask your child if blubber floats or sinks!

Saturday night the children will be singing in the choir at St. Paul.  We hope to see you there.  They will be singing what they sang yesterday in Chapel.  They did very well.  If you can not make it, we understand.  By the way, we are continuing to work on the Christian pledge and some are also catching on to Luther's Morning Prayer.  We will focus on ALL memorizing that prayer after Christmas.

HOUSEKEEPING:
It's cold.  Please dress your child in appropriate weather.  If your child is not dressed warm enough, he or she will miss out on recess.  Also, remember to try and stick to wearing gym shoes until it snows.  After Thanksgiving or about, I will send home info about shoes/boots situation. 
Don't forget that change for our "Pennies for Pies" fund! Let's teach the kids a lesson about giving. 

Until next week...God bless you and your children!
TB

Halloween Questions

A few of you had some questions about Halloween.  It has been brought to my attention, that the school in general does not celebrate Halloween.  There will be no candy/trinket exchanges or costumes.  We will allow halloween color shirts or socks.  We will plan a little fall celebration midway between Halloween and Thanksgiving that will be done in our rooms.  It will not be a grand party, but a little treat celebration with some games. 

Thanks for understanding.
TB

PHOTOS!

Reverse Volcano

Computer Time

Pumpkin Exploration

Fireman Mark

Yes, an egg can float

The visit from Norwood Fire Department

The Ear Guitar

"quizzing" each other on sounds

Pumpkin Farm Group

Listening to the farm tour

Feeding the animals.

More Pumpkins and Safety was the theme of this classroom this week.

We continued with our theme of pumpkins this week.  We have had a variety of centers and work centers that revolved around pumpkins.  One was counting pumpkin seeds and matching them to the number symbol. Think about doing this one at home!  We also set up a science station with gourds and pumpkins that were available at all times for observing and recording what they see. Today, we wrote a book TOGETHER as a class.  They came up with titles, illustration ideas and of coarse the words for our book.  It will now become part of our library.  We are carving our class pumpkin tomorrow! Photos are coming!

We were overjoyed when Luther North decided to bring their play Aladin to LUSA.  Both East and West were able to enjoy this in school field trip.  The children were all very engaged and talked about it a lot this week.

Today's Science lesson with Dr. J and Mrs. C went very well.  The kids got a chance to make an egg float AND sink.  They learned about the word SOLUTION and what a solution is.  Ask them about that when they get home.

As I am sure you heard, we did a fire safety unit this week.  We had Fireman Mark come by to give us the basics of what to do when there is a fire in our homes.  The children listened attentively and all received hats, stickers and coloring books.  You even received an emergency booklet too.  Remember to thank Fireman Mark (C) on the black top when you see him.  Tomorrow, the Fire department is coming for a drill and a bit of truck exploration for the children. 

Last week, I did start the differentiated instruction.  You will be seeing a variety of work coming home.  Some children will have more or less and they might not all have the same work.  If you have specific questions, please ask.  This week, for those who already know their colors are moving on to identifying the WORD name of the color as well as spelling it. They are also working on some letter sounds.  Others are working on the importance of Left to Right, lines and color identification.  When you read to your child, you can always show the imporance of left to right by following the words with your finger tip.  It is also a way to keep your child focused and engaged. 

The next friend of the week is MC and the scientist is RB.  Please notice the use of initials.  This will be the process now for all electronic information, even personal emails.  We won't be using your name NOR your child's name in any emails or blogs.  They will be referred to by their initials for their safety. 

Book orders are due Tuesday.  Again feel free to email with questions or comments. Until next week, thanks for sharing your child with us!
Tanya Boyle

AMAZING, ENGAGING and EDUCATIONAL!

That is what this week has been! We had so much going on I don't know where to start.  Let's start with today.  The trip was great.  The children were engaged the entire time.  There were no injuries or bee stings.  They went on a farm tour, hay ride and got to bring home their pumpkins and more.  I hope you ask them about all they learned.  We will continue talking about harvest time, life cycles of different fall foods etc. 

My anticipated future field trips are:
March: CSO Once Upon a Symphony (3 parents)
May: Dupage Children's Museum (ALL parents will be welcome)
Field trips are not just FUN! They are an extension of what we learn in class.  We appreciate the "fun" attached, but it is more important they make a connection between school and these extended activites.

We continue to talk about punctuation each day.  I hope you are asking them at home too.  We have been practicing the Christian Pledge.  They seem to be getting it, so if you are practicing at home, thank you.
Science was all about vibrations.  Remember the old "telephone cans"? Well, YS and her dad presented the ear guitar with fish wire, 2 yogurt cups and paperclips.  EASY BREEZY! The kids loved it. 

Next week we will move on to the color orange and the letter Dd.  I have begun differentiating more frequently within the week.  You may get some random pages with a note on the top to practice at home.  You do not need to return.  The note at the top will tell you WHY I am sending it home. 

Tuesday we will have the priviledge of seeing Aladin at LUSA West.  It is in the afternoon presented by Luther North HS.  We will then have Mr. C joining us Wednesday after lunch for fire safety chat.  Thursday is picture retake day and Friday afternoon is our visit from the fire department to show us all the important tools and vehicles they use. 

The children will sing at St. Paul on Oct. 22 at the evening service.  Don't forget to add us on FB and share the site with your friends and family.  If you have not picked up a yard sign, you can get that in the office too.  The more you spread the word, the better it is for the school!  We appreciate your help.

I am sure I am missing something and if I remember I will make another post.  Until then, many blessings to you all!
TB
 

The Importance of Art in Early Childhood Education

For those of you that think art is a means to just do "busy work", please read.  There is a valid and extremely important reason!

http://tiredneedsleep.blogspot.com/2011/10/maryann-kohl-discusses-importance-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TiredNeedSleep+%28Tired%2C+Need+Sleep.%29

Please read this article about my friend and her child. It will give new light on parenting!

http://articles.complexchild.com/oct2011/00332.html

Don't forget to ADOPT OUR CLASS!!! See link below

http://www.adoptaclassroom.org/classroomdonation/results_teacher.aspx?ClassroomID=151893&schoolID=110141

October is on it's way!

WOW! Here we are closing up September and getting ready to start the 7th week of school.  The children are amazing.  I have seen such growth in so many of them.  I hope you are seeing it too.

We have been working on many new things. We continue to explore apples in the class through books, actual apples and art. We also introduced farms this week.  The focused color is yellow and the letter is C.  We always review sounds and letters together on the board.  You can do this at home too.  Have them tell you or point out A B and C words.  C is tricky because of the hard and soft C sounds, but what is typical is the hard C like CAT!  We also have been transitioning from just writing and talking about sentences to talking about exclamatory statements and questions.  You can write something down, read it and ask them what should go at the end.  At this point we have done it many times and many can tell you. 

Patterns and sorting continues in our math centers.  We will be working more directly with numbers by mid October.  Science is a huge hit! Tomorrow is our visit with G S and her mom.  I will post pictures and results afterwards.  The friend of the week has also been really popular.  Next week KW is our friend. 

We have been talking about faith and prayer during Jesus time.  We want the children to hear the stories that encourage these ideas, so they understand.  We are just finishing Rachel and Jacob and their new baby Joseph.  Many are starting to understand that faith is something that you can't see, but believe it in your heart.  We do the Christian Pledge as well as the Pledge of Allegiance.  Can you practice both with your child? Here is the Christian Pledge: I pledge allegiance to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the faith for which it stands, one Saviour, eternal, with mercy and grace for all.

Finally, our field trip is Thursday of next week.  The children should dress for outside farm walking.  NO tights or nice shoes.  They should also dress for the weather, hats and even gloves if it is chilly.  We will be outside entirely.  They also need a disposable lunch.  NO containers that are to be brought home.  A Target or brown bag will suffice.  We are excited and so are they!

Until next time, if you have any questions, I am but a short email away!!
Tanya

Assessments are done

Just a quick note:
Now that formal assessments have been done, I am now able to see where children are ready to move on to.  Some may be in the letter recognition stage, some print, some sounds, some colors etc.  This is where I spend more time in the smaller groups and even one on one.  Most of this does take place in the afternoons as morning is more focused on special classes and instruction of new material.  I will try to always have one of my morning centers a "Mrs. Boyle" table center so I can work on this as well, but it may not be every morning.  I will send individual notes home as needed offering information for you to work on at home.
Thanks.
TB

don't forget to LIKE us on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/207063736001213/

Photos of the last week

Reading to each other

Our versions of Goldie Locks

Healthy Apples.  What kinds do you like? In our class, we graphed and found out RED is the favorite followed by green.

Dr. M

Mr. C

bubble bombs!!