Grace Garden Preschool

This week the Busy Bees learned about Christmas traditions from Germany, England and Mexico. Tuesday we talked about Christmas trees and how this tradition started in Germany. Wax candles were used on these early trees for decoration. So, we made our own construction paper trees with tissue paper glued on to look like wax candles. The children all worked so hard on this! On Wednesday we talked about how the practice of sending Christmas cards started in England and then we made our own Christmas cards. They glued on a felt Christmas tree with glitter and then had free use of mixed media to decorate these however they wanted. On Thursday we discussed Christmas traditions from Mexico and made poinsettias. On our map, we put a mark on Austin to see where we live. We then put a mark on Germany, on England and lastly on Mexico so they could see how far away these places are from Austin. Many of them decided they could walk to all of these destinations and still be home in time for bed! They have all done a great job this week participating in the art projects and we have witnessed them being very proud of their work. It's great to see!

In chapel we had the opportunity to hear a story from Ms. Sally. She talked to us about the most wonderful gift that God gave all parents - their children! She emphasized this by showing them a "present" as they walked out of chapel. It was a mirror so that they could see themselves and realize that they were the most precious gift of all.  

In music  we sang Christmas songs from all around the world, such as "Feliz Navidad", "Mele Kalikimaka," and "The 12 Days of Christmas".  It was great fun for all!

Next week we will be celebrating our 'traditional' Christmas customs. We will create many fun art projects and will listen to a variety of Christmas stories. If you have any special Christmas books your child would like to share with the class, please feel free to send them to share.  We have a story time in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Please be sure to send a winter coat with your child on cold days. We go outside in the morning and the afternoon, and it's been chilly!