December Photos...

Helping to prepare presents for St. Cyprian's

Getting ready for our Christmas Program....

Our popcorn, pjs and Polar Express party

Our last day of school.

Playdoh and parents make for one great party.

A great end of the year all school sing along!

A Great Ending to 2012!

December was full of recapping our letters A-H, practicing our numbers 1-5, making presents and cards for our adopted grandparents and our parents.  We were also super busy learning about and telling the story of Christmas.  We had a beautiful program on the 19th that allowed Prek-4th grade to share the Good News about the birth of Christ.  Prek did a GREAT job and I was super proud of them.  They all looked quite adorable too!

We collected cans and non-perishables for St. Cyprian's food pantry and I was happy to say that PREK collected a ton of items.  Thanks to their parents and honestly to their own diligence for remembering other people who need food.  The pantry is low this time of year.  If you are looking to donate, let me know and I will gladly continue taking donations to them.

We also collected money to purchase Christmas presents for families of St. Cyprian.  Student Council organized the event and then went shopping. Prek was lucky enough to join student council in wrapping and preparing the gifts for delivery.  It was a great intergenerational experience.

We had a special morning we called Popcorn, Polar Express and Pajama Party! We did all things train and Polar Express that day.  We made a shape train, decorated popcorn bags and even got special "BELIEVE" train tickets.  They really enjoyed the morning.

Our year ending with a wonderful party that was lead by Mrs. F! She organized treats and several parents came to help.  The children made peppermint playdoh (recipe below) and a couple of foam crafts.  They all brought goodies to share and at the very end of the day we had a whole school Christmas sing a long.  Everyone was awesome.

While you are home, have fun, but also have fun learning.  Don't feel the need to do worksheets.  Have some time reading books, singing songs, playing with playdoh or have them draw a picture of their favorite part of vacation.  These are all engaging and exciting ways to learn and build on basic school skills.

I thank you all for the kindness you have shared with me thus far.  I look forward to 2013 with you and your children!

God Bless you and have a GREAT NEW YEAR!

Mrs. Boyle

PEPPERMINT PLAYDOH

• 1 cup cold water
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• peppermint extract
• red food coloring
• 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar (This ingredient helps keep the dough for about 3 months, so do not omit)

Directions:

• 1. In large bowl mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar until well mixed.
  2. In a separate bowl mix water and oil.
  3. After the dough has a good solid and soft texture, add a couple of drops of peppermint extract and mix that.  
  4. Add red food coloring and knead it until it swirls like a candy cane. 
  5. Store in an airtight container, i.e. plastic Ziploc bag.

Recent Photos

CSO came to prep us on our trip downtown.

Once Upon a Symphony...what an experience!

Even our class was split!

Prismatic show!

Pumpkin the hamster came for a visit.

Blessings are everywhere!

We are learning about how much God loves us and how he is always with us in our hearts.  It is important that they feel that and that they don't just think it is just during Church.  They are very sweet when they explain this concept.  Ask them about it.

The next couple of weeks, we will be tying up The Elves and the Shoemaker.  This was a great unit.  It was filled with all kinds of new concepts.  The best concept is top, middle and bottom.  We have been able to apply this in our play centers and our work centers.  We have even been able to use it while working on writing our letters.  Right now we are up to Hh! We will just review our current letters, concept and position words from now through Christmas. Continue to review and even practice write these over break. We will pick up our next unit after New Years.

We are working on number identification.  If you have an ipad/ipod or other tablet device, there are many free prek number games that will help them.  Rote counting is DIFFERENT than number identification.  Many can count, but the identification is the harder lesson to learn.  Practice this at home in a variety of ways.  You can do tablets, point out numbers on menus, porches or even in books and magazines.  This will be perfect for over break.

In December, we have 2 awesome dates to share. The 16th, we will be joining Sunday School students singing for their Lessons in Carols program.  This is a 10:45 service.  Please be in attendance with your child in their best clothes.  On the 19th, Prk-4th will present: Jubilee: A Christmas Program.  This takes place in church at 6pm.  We will be working hard learning songs and practicing with the big kids for this program. Please be at school at 5:30 with them in their best clothes.

Don't forget to order those Christmas books and presents online from Scholastic.com.  Our classroom code is K23RT.  You get a $5 coupon and the class gets a $3 coupon. The Christmas deadline is Dec. 10.

Finally, please continue to work with your child on controlling little buggy germs.  'Tis the season for illness.  We practice 1st thing hand washing before the bell in the morning as well as after blowing noses and coughing into their hands.  We also want to continue going outside at least once a day until the weather is below 20 degrees.  This will help them get some fresh air which is essential for health.  Make sure they are dressed appropriately.  I would discourage a lot of dress/skirt outfits at this point unless they have pants underneath.  It gets chilly.

I will post some recent photos.  I apologize for being a bit delayed this month.  They will be up by Friday.

God's blessings on your week!
Tanya Boyle

Sorry for the delay

November 12 already...wow!
Well there is a lot to report.  We finished our 3rd Happily Ever After unit on La Tortuga.  The children really enjoyed the story, but also enjoyed the concepts that went with it.  We practiced in, on, out, over, circling items.  They became quite good at these new concepts.  Along with new concepts, we began some basic polite Spanish words.  Hola, adios, por favor and Buenos Dias are just a few that we are working on right now.  They are now familiar with letters a-f.  Practice identification at home during fun time.   This week we will begin The Elves and the Shoemaker along with learning new concepts about ordering and the letters Gg and Hh.

Last week we had our wonderfully exciting trip downtown.  We pulled up in front of Orchestra Hall and the children's eyes opened wide!  We walked through the grand hall and eventually made our way into the performance space.  We were very blessed to have CSO come out on Halloween to give us a musical preview and so the children were ready to sing and dance.  They were well behaved and made great choices to listen and have fun.  I was very proud of them.

In Religion, we learned about David and Goliath and Daniel and the Lion's Den.  We talked a lot about trusting and having Faith in God and that God is always with us.  From now until Thanksgiving, we will be talking more about family and giving thanks.

Finally, please work on the homework square with your child and turn it in by Wed.  We will be reading Patchwork Quilt and talking about our class family quilt.

I wish you all a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving celebration.  Enjoy the food, the family and remember to give thanks to God for all!

TB

The October fun continues!

Last week we talked all about Fire Safety! It was quite exciting.  Mr. C made a big loud impression on our class.  He talked about the importance of not being afraid of fire fighters who are there to help. He had all his gear and made an awful lot of noise to prove his point.  He was nice enough to bring hats and SMOKE detectors for each child.  THANKS FIREMAN MARK!
(If you have a talent you would like to share throughout the year, let me know what it is because the children love guests!)

For the last 2 weeks of October, we will be exploring NOCTURNAL animals and Spiders. I know, I know! You are all dying to come in and see what creepy stuff we will be doing,but I promise nothing will be too scary! Ask your child about the word Nocturnal and hopefully by Friday,they will be able to list a few types of nocturnal animals.

We had Science with DF and his assistant Mrs. F.  I missed it, but I hear that it was great fun.  They made bubble art.  It was actually so neat, it is hanging in the hall.  This week,we have Science with JA.

This week in religion, we switch from Moses to Jonah and the whale.  The children will be learning about how even though some people are not the nicest,God reminds us we are all His children and we should do our very best to help, even when it is hard.

I am sure your child has mentioned wearing pjs to school.  Those that brought in pennies for pies by Oct. 26th will get a note with jammie plans for Halloween.  Thanks for helping!

Finally, last week, we decorated our annual ornaments that will be hung up at the HIP! They are penguins and will go up Nov. 17.  I will let you know our approximate location when I know. This week for our artist, we will be talking about Toulouse-Lautree.  He was famous for large event posters.    I can't wait to see what prek comes up with for their signage! 

Until next week, stay warm and check in with your child about their day!
Tanya Boyle

Want to help but don't know how?

Adopt a Classroom is a way for parents,grandparents, businesses etc to help out 

local schools. I would like to add another Ipad for the classroom as well as 

add some apps that are not free to add to the already awesome technology 

that is the interactive board and current Ipad.  We are also looking for good 

headphones as ours are not very reliable. Please pass along this link to 

anyone thatmight be interested in helping us out.  We would even take Itunes 

cards for the apps. 

Now on to the classroom! Speaking of Ipads...I downloaded the CD's for 

books on tape and cd onto the Ipadso the children can read along 

without the messing up the buttons on the cd player.  They LOVE it.

We have started La Tortuga, a Mexican fairy tale.  The children are beginning 

to learn basic Spanish words and this will continue all year long.  So far we 

have learned La Tortuga: the turtle, Hola: hello and Adios: good bye.

They enjoy using their new words! Yellow is our new color and we are starting 

the concept of circling answers.It seems so basic and yet it is such an 

interesting concept to learn for a young one. Ee is our letter of the week,

so start pointing it out during reading time or while looking at tv etc. I am 

sending home a note tomorrow with some cool technology ideas that will 

help you help your child practice at home without even realizing they are

practicing school work!

This week is fire safety week.  We did have a fire truck stop by last week, 

but this week, we will be able to get upclose with a real fire fighter.  Mr. C 

will be showing us his equipment and explaining all about his job 

and how we can be as safe as possible. 

In Religion, we finished talking about forgiveness and what it actually means.   

Talk to your child about this. We learned how Joseph was able to forgive his 

brothers, because God is able to forgive us for all we do.  This week, we are 

talking about Moses and how he was one of God's most important helpers.   

Finally, housekeeping: 

1. FIELD TRIP MONEY AND SLIPS DUE THIS WEDNESDAY OR BEFORE.

 Part time and half days are encouraged to come! 

2. Dress for the weather. 

3. If your child brings pennies for pies this week, they will be able to have a 

jammie day on Halloween.We don't' do costumes at LUSA, so the kids 

love that they get to do this special treat.  

4. PLEASE clean folders daily. You will have something to take out daily.   

Until next week, God's blessings on your family and stay warm! 

October is flying by....

I know I say it often, but WOW, time is flying by.  As you can see from our photos, we have been experimenting with a lot of different things.  This time of year provides many wondrous things to explore.  We are taking full advantage of them. We have gone on walks discussing the changing colors, started collecting new leaves, pine cones, acorn tops etc for our science table.  We put magnifying glasses in there for them to take a minute to see the changes. The sunflower got yucky, but we kept a bunch of seeds for the table.

They LOVE the science table.  This is a great thing to do at home! Get a little rubbermaid tub  with a top and change it every other week.  You can go by season or let them choose.  We put rice, corn, pom poms, beads, clothes pins, small boxes, leafs, seeds and so much more in there.  We even put snow.  It might sound messy, but it is sooooo fun and it really gives them a chance to play without their gloves on.

We continue to work on The 3 Bears.  They heard 4 different versions and we compared and contrasted them.  We looked at the pictures but also the stories themselves.  This unit focused on the color blue and the concepts of over vs. under as well as left to right. We incorporated this unit right into our ongoing theme of Fall/Autum.  We discussed hibernation and what it means.  Don't forget to ask them about that word and others you see on this blog.  We want to encourage regular vocabulary at all ages.  They LOVE "big" words.  Later this week we begin La Tortuga, A personal favorite.

In Religion, we finished talking about families.  I love the collages and I thank you for taking the time to do them.  We will have them hanging for a while.  We have been learning some new songs and we continue talking about Joseph.  He is an important part of the Old Testament stories, so we are spending this next week finishing him up.  They are going to learn about forgiveness this week. 

Some housekeeping:
PLEASE turn in your permission slips by the 16th latest.  ALL children are encouraged to come to the performance, even part time children. 

PLEASE remember if it is cold, dress appropriately.  We go out 2 times a day and it is often cooler in the morning.

If your child has an accident, replace the clothing with new warmer clothes and place in a ziplock bag.

We will start collecting Pennies for Pies this week.  Every child that participates will get to wear pajamas on Halloween. (we don't do costumes)

Finally, Fridays are SPIRIT DAYS! School tshirts or blue and gold are encouraged. 

As always, I thank you for sharing your child with me.
Blessings on your week!
Tanya Boyle

Fall Photos Thus Far....

Concentric Circles by Kandinsky

Center Time

Working on Left to Right print concepts

Hullabaloo!!!!

Picasso's Blue Period

VZ Friend of the week and First Scientist of the Year!

Under Water Volcano with his assistant

Goldilock's puppets

Ending our Corn unit by painting with Corn Syrup and food coloring. It's sticky fun. It dries shiny and EXACTLY how it was painted, drips and all.

Reading/ following along with their own copies of The 3 Bears.

Bears, families and things that are blue oh my!

The week was very busy.  We started our new reading unit, The 3 Bears.  4's have been working on the concepts of over and under as well as sizing from large-small.  We have been using big, medium and small.  Ask them to put cans or boxes in order at home.  Change it around and have them sort all the big things in one spot, the small things in another.  They love learning this way.  3's continue to work on scissor skills and writing their names this week. All are learning about similarities and differences, the letters Cc and Dd and the color blue. We even celebrated our artist this week, Picasso, by studying his BLUE period!

In Religion, we have been talking about families.  The children shared their families and we talked about how we thank God for our families.  Next week we will start to talk about Joseph and how important he was in the Bible.

Our unit on corn was a POPPING success! Wait until you see the great things we did.  They watched a harvesting video which showed seeding and sowing through the fall harvest.  It was a great kick off to this season.  Next week we will talk continue our discussions on fall, broadening the subtopics.  Over the next couple of weeks we will discuss hibernation, acorns and pumpkins.

Please remember as the weather gets cooler to send a jacket for recess.  I would also suggest sending pants for "accidents" if you originally sent shorts.  The shorts part of the dress code ends in a couple of weeks. 

There is no school Oct. 4,5 and 8.  Please remember this and enjoy your extra time together!  I will get new photos up this weekend!

Until next week...
TB

Come and see what's we have been up to!

Jackson Pollock

First Friend of the week!

They are so sweet with the babies!

letter identification

Thanks to DF for bringing in the biggest sunflower I have ever seen. What a great impromptu science center it has made.

Taking his time, absorbing Van Gogh's complex colors

Music Class

Our next friend of the week

Johnny Appleseed!

a little apple pie

and a little apple sauce

The Ipad has been wonderful for numbers, shapes and letters!