5, 4, 3, 2, 1… BLASTOFF!  The Robins enjoyed their second week of our Solar System unit.  We colored rocket ships and made a starry background.  We talked about the different planets – their names and colors.  We also talked about astronauts and how they fly into space in rocket ships.  For a little extra exercise, we put on our helmets, crouched down on the ground and counted backwards from 5 to 1 before jumping up and blasting off.

Pastor Amy told us the story of how the tiny mustard seed grew into an enormous tree!  We talked about planting the seed of love for God in us as well as others. 

We rocked music as usual.  We love how far your kiddos have come with singing.  This was beautifully evident as two of our kids spontaneously started singing “Deep and Wide” on the playground yesterday.  So sweet.

As we head into our last week, sniff sniff, we will continue to review our colors, shapes, alphabet, and numbers 1-10 in English and Spanish,

For our last week of school, our Unit of Play will be all about summer. 

Wednesday, May 23rd is Water Day!  There will be different “water” stations set up on the playground including a bubble station and a shaving cream station.  Please dress your kiddos in swimsuits and water shoes, and provide a towel and change of clothes.  We will have sunscreen for them.  There is a sunscreen form that will need to be signed so that we may apply the sunscreen.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana

What an amazing week!  The Robins had fun learning about the Solar System. We talked about the Sun being the biggest star and we pretended to be the planets and orbit around the Sun, shiningly played by Ms. Shannon. They also worked really hard on painting a glow in the dark moon and star, which are now proudly hanging in the hallway. 

In Chapel, Pastor Amy taught the children that God gave us curiosity, which allowed us to discover the other planets. We also sang a favorite song, "I am Amazing."

We enjoyed singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in music with Mrs. S.  It’s always so much fun to get our wiggles out during music! 

Our Garden Party is this Saturday, May 12th, from 5-7pm.  We hope you will join us for the fun!  Bring your family, a picnic dinner and a blanket and come enjoy fresh squeezed lemonade, home baked goodies, and tunes from Joe McDermott!  It’s sure to be a great way to spend your Saturday evening. 

Thank you so much for making Teacher Appreciation week extra special.
We appreciate all that you do for us!
Have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend. 

Love,
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana

On land or in the water?  This week while we studied the Ocean, we played “On land or in the water?”  We would ask:  “Where does a chicken live?  On land or in the water?  Where does an octopus live?  On land or in the water?”  This fun game helped the Robins sort through different sea life.  We talked about how big the oceans are, and how we must keep them clean for our fish friends.  A water table with ocean animal toys was set up outside. The kiddos had so much fun exploring the blue water!  There were many exciting animals to play with including sea lions, whales and crawfish.

For our art process we made an ocean collage.  We started with blue paper for the water.  We then glued green string on for seaweed.  We painted fish and shells and cut them out, gluing them onto our blue paper. The Robins have really improved their fine motor skills! 

During chapel Pastor Amy reminded us that God's love and guidance is wider than the ocean.  God has always been, and will always be with us and therefore we are never alone. 

During music we sang and danced.  We are rocking our finger play songs like “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.  The Robins love their weekly dance party. 

We continue to study the alphabet, the numbers 1-10 in English and Spanish, and our shapes and colors.

Thanks you for signing up for our Parent/Teacher Conferences.  We will send a reminder email this weekend with your scheduled time for Monday, May 7th.  Remember to arrive a few minutes early, especially if you are checking your child in to the provided nursery care. 
Have a wonderful weekend! 
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana  

The three Rs used to be:  Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.  This week we talked about the Earth, Earth Day and the new three Rs:  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  We talked about how important it is to keep our world clean.  Pastor Amy reinforced this sentiment in chapel.  She surprised us by throwing trash on the floor!  She threw plastic bags and papers around the altar.  She then took us on an imaginary trip through the planets in search of a new planet for us to live on since ours was full of trash and pollutants.  When we couldn’t find a new planet, we had to return home to Earth and clean it up.  Pastor Amy put the paper in a recycling bin and planned to take the plastic bags to HEB for recycling.  She said us talking about keeping the Earth clean reminded her of the story of creation when God looked at the Earth and declared “it is good”.

We have now made it through the entire alphabet!  We turned over the last letter this week to discover the letter “Z”.  The rest of the year we will continue to study all of the alphabet, the numbers 1-10 in English and Spanish, and all of our shapes and colors.

Next week, please sign up for one of our 30-minute parent/teacher conferences, all of which will be held Monday, May 7. Free childcare will be available that day. We can't wait to show you how much your children have grown, and all they have learned this year.
  
We hope you will join Grace Garden's teachers on the playground on Saturday, May 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. for our Garden Party fundraiser! Joe McDermott is performing, and the teachers will be baking their favorite treats to delight your families. We hope you will pack a picnic dinner and come enjoy each other, while considering a donation to new playground equipment.

Lastly, please remember that drop off and pick up times are 9 o’clock and 1:30 respectively.  Our nursery is closed promptly at 2:00pm.  If you have made arrangements to utilize our nursery, please be respectful of the pick up time. Also, if you drop you child off after 9am, PLEASE make sure that one of the teachers visually sees you and your child.  This is for the safety of your child and all of the children in the classroom.  Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Have a wonderful weekend! 
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana  

What a beautiful week to study weather! While it was cool and sunny outside, we had fun making rain and thunder sounds inside. We talked about rainbows, the wind, sunshine and rain. We made kites, rain clouds and a rainy window for art.  We are up to the letter “Y” and continue to study our shapes and colors. We have been counting and counting the numbers 1 through 10 in English and Spanish.  The kids are doing so well with this!

We had a special speaker join us for chapel. Pastor Paul had the kids engaged while telling the story of Jesus and his disciples riding in a boat during a storm. We made wind sounds by blowing and rain sounds by tapping our fingers together. We also learned that with God, we can weather any storm.

Ms. S, kept the fun going in music. We sang to weather songs and worked on a fun finger play called "Here is the Bee Hive, Where are the Bees?"  We love singing and dancing.

With the beautiful weather we are having, please mark your calendars and save the date for Saturday, May 12th from 5 until 7 p.m.!  It’s a Garden Party!  Grace Garden would like to raise money to improve the playground and buy new equipment for the children, and therefore we will host a benefit concert starring the fabulous, nationally recognized children's musician Joe McDermott!  Home baked goodies, hot popcorn, freshly squeezed lemonade, and beautiful photos of your children will be on sale that evening!  The concert is free, so please bring a blanket and picnic dinner, and come enjoy the evening while you consider donating specific pieces of playground equipment.

Next week we will talk about Earth Day and Recycling.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana 

On the street, in the water or up in the sky?  While studying Transportation this week we discussed where different modes of transportation belong.  Cars and trucks drive on the street.  Boats and submarines go in the water, and planes and helicopters fly up in the sky.  We read books about trains, tractors and trucks.  We also counted the wheels on our different toys.

Our art projects included a helicopter flyer and a hot air balloon.  We enjoyed coloring our helicopters, then watching them twist and float to the ground.  For the balloon part of our hot air balloon project, we glued bits of tissue paper to a paper plate.  We will hang the balloons in the hall next week.

We are up to the letter “X” and continue to study our shapes and colors. We have been counting and counting from 1 – 10 in English and Spanish.

During chapel, Pastor Amy told the story of Jesus wanting a moment of peace and quiet.  We all need to rest and take breaks from the stress in our lives.  She also taught us a new song, "Michael Row the Boat Ashore, Hallelujah!"

In music, Ms. S. had us rocking as usual.  We sang verses of “The Wheels on the Bus” and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."  She also taught us "Down By The Station!"  These were all big hits.  

Next week our unit will be on Weather. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana  

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easter’s on its way!  The Robins hopped, laughed and giggled as we talked about Easter and pretended to be bunnies this week.  We made bunny ears, Easter bonnets and an Easter bag for egg collecting.  Excitement grew as we readied for our egg hunt. Watching the joy on their faces as they found the hidden eggs was a sweet moment.  After this practice round of egg hunting, they will be ready for the real thing on Sunday. 

In chapel we sang “This Little Light of Mine” and Pastor Amy talked about how we all have light and love inside us.  Just as God’s love is everywhere, we should let our light and love shine on all.

Ms. S. kept us singing and dancing with “The Bunny Hop” and “Little Bunny Foo Foo”.   We also sang our usual repertoire.  The kiddos are starting to remember the words to the songs and really participate in the singing.  They also enjoy the different hand motions to some tunes, like “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”.

We have worked our way almost through the entire alphabet and are up to the letter “X”!   We sing the “A, B, C” song often, and are always pointing out letters and making their sounds.  We are also continually counting and talking about the different colors in our room and in our world.

Next week our unit is on Transportation.  Vroom! Vroom!

Have a wonderful Easter and a fun weekend,

Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana

Animals are always a fun subject to study, and our unit on insects and birds was a big hit.  The Robins enjoyed making different bug sounds.  We practiced buzzing like bees and chirping like crickets.  We learned that bees make honey by taking pollen back to their home, also known as a beehive.  We also tweeted like birds and talked about how birds use their wings to fly in the sky. 

Our art projects included a coffee filter butterfly and bunny ear hats. We also worked hard on a special project.  We glued sequins onto paper Easter eggs to make Easter cards for our homebound friends of Saint John's UMC.  

We are up to the letter “W” and are going to add a blue triangle to our shape wall next week.  We have been counting and counting from 1 – 10 in English and Spanish.  Your children are so smart!  

Passover was discussed during chapel.  Pastor Amy told the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, showing us that he was a loving and caring leader.  She told us that even though Jesus was not a proper king, he was treated as royalty.  He was gentle and kind and took care of his friends.  

In music, Ms. S. had us rocking with our all time favorite songs, as well as "If I Were a Butterfly" and "Sing."  

Next week our unit will be about Easter.  Ms. Susana decorated our door putting your “chicks” in an Easter basket.  Please be sure to find your little chick peeping out of an egg.  To end our unit on Easter we will be having a traditional egg hunt.  Our Easter egg hunt will take place Thursday, April 5th.  A detailed note also went home today.  We are asking that parents provide 8 plastic eggs filled with appropriate non-peanut treats.  Some examples of treats include:  stickers, band-aids and tattoos.  The eggs should be filled and taped around the sides.  This way the goodies have a better chance of staying in the eggs until they are opened at home.  Please drop off the filled eggs by Wednesday, April 4th.

Thanks so much for all you do!  We appreciate you all!

Have a beautiful weekend, 
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana

Welcome back from Spring Break!  The kiddos had an amazing week.  They jumped right back into the routine of washing hands upon arrival, cleaning up after playing and finding a letter on the carpet before transitioning to other activities.

Our lesson was all about birds and bugs this week.  We practiced making different bird and bugs sounds.   Birds say "tweet tweet", bees "buzz" and crickets "chirp."  Our art projects included a coffee filter butterfly and a paper plate peacock.   We are almost at the end of the alphabet at the letter "U."  We continue practicing our numbers 1-10, while also learning new colors and shapes.

Pastor Amy taught us in chapel that we have nothing to worry about and that God gives all his creatures what they need to live. She read us a book about the metamorphosis of butterflies and encouraged us to grow up to be beautiful and wonderful, just like those fluttering insects.

In music Mrs. S taught us the songs "If I Were a Butterfly" and "The Ants Go Marching."  We love dancing and shaking our maracas.

On a personal note, Ms. Susana would like to thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes and treats.  Your thoughtfulness and your children's kindness made her day extra special.  Including the wonderful surprise of lunch being delivered!  

Much gratitude, 
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana

Spring has sprung in the Robin room.   This week we learned that Spring is one of the four seasons.  It follows winter and precedes summer. It is a time of renewal.  With the spring rains, flowers and plants are sure to follow.  And all the animals that stayed safe and warm in their homes for the winter begin to come out and play.  We talked about going on picnics and flying kites.   We also touched on St. Patrick's Day.   Wear your green on the 17th!

Our art projects included beautiful wind socks which are hanging from the ceiling in our room.  They truly make the room brighter and happier.  We made butterflies out of coffee filters, clothes pins and pipe cleaners.   And to get ready for St. Patrick's Day, we made green leprechaun hats and ears.

Pastor Amy talked about new beginnings in chapel.  She told us a story about forgiveness.  When we forgive and are forgiven, it's like a starting over with a new beginning.

In music we sang songs about Spring and flowers.

We have been working really hard on fostering independence and self help skills with your kiddos...sitting on the potty is at the top of the list.  Your kids are amazing and really enjoying potty time.  We like to call it "bathroom business".  We keep it fun, but it is still a time to take care of business.  Other things we've worked on include:  cleaning up after ourselves, taking our place mats to the sink area, washing and drying our hands, pushing in our chairs when we leave the table, wiping our feet before coming inside, and using our words.

Next week is Spring Break.  We hope you enjoy the time off with your family and friends.  When we return, our unit will be all about insects and bugs.

Have a wonderful break!
Ms. Sasha and Ms. Susana.