Grace Garden Preschool

It has been busy in the Bees classroom this week! Our theme was Texas' Birthday. We have enjoyed making “dot-to-dot” cowboy boots, learning cowboy songs, and creating a pretend “cowboy bonfire” to tell stories around as well as some great art work.

We kicked off the week on Tuesday by making thumbprint bluebonnets. We learned that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas. On Wednesday we made our very own buckaroos by coloring the different features of a cowboy and pasting them together. Their creations are hanging outside the door of the classroom and are so cute!

On Thursday, each child created a cactus out of a potato, green paint and toothpicks. They had a great time doing this project! We also practiced writing our names. Encourage your child to do this at home as it will build great confidence for their beginning stages of learning to write. 

For gardening this week we watered our class plants. Next week, we can plan to get our hands dirty in the outside garden! In chapel this week, Pastor Amy talked about how cowboys used to be out on the open range sleeping under the stars but longed to be home. She talked about how home is such a wonderful and safe place.

Ms. S had some great cowboy and Texas songs for everyone to enjoy in music on Thursday. Chapel and music class have become some of our favorite activities!

Next week our theme is 'Spring.'  We are hoping for some great weather so we can enjoy a picnic lunch before the break. 

Have a wonderful and restful weekend,
Ms. Andrea and Ms. Melissa

What a terrific week we have had in the Busy Bee room! We have been talking about Dental Health and started on Tuesday with our Question of the Week:  Did you brush your teeth this morning? 

We made a graph to show us how many people had brushed and how many did not. That led us to discussing how important it is to brush twice a day to take care of those pearly whites! We made a Tooth Fairy book and enjoyed painting with water colors. On Wednesday we read Little Critter Goes To The Dentist by Mercer Mayer. The class loves his books. They are simple stories with wonderful illustrations. After the story the children enjoyed talking about their own experiences going to see the dentist. We made paper toothbrushes with charts on them so we can keep track of our brushing every morning and night. They had a great time painting yellow teeth white with puffy paint made out of glue, paint, and shaving cream. We also painted with dental floss and talked about how important it is to also floss your teeth after brushing.

The Bees really enjoyed a new camping center that we made. There were lanterns, camp cookware and an actual tent!

For gardening this week we took a nature walk. We had duct tape around our wrists and when we saw something of interest we were able to stick it on the tape. These are hanging up in the classroom for you to see.  We will probably do this again as it was a big hit!

For chapel, Pastor Amy taught us the importance of taking care of our bodies. She demonstrated how we take good care of our special things and that our bodies are the most important thing of all that we have.

In music, Ms. S had some great and funny songs about teeth!
The kids love dancing, singing and shaking the maracas.

Please remember to bring in an extra set of clothes for your child to keep in their cubby. 

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Ms. Andrea and Ms. Mellissa

Dear Busy Bee Families,

What a friendly week we have had!  Our question of the week was: How can you be a good friend? The children had amazing responses, such as "taking turns," "saying no thank you instead of yelling" and "giving hugs."  We had a great Valentine’s Day with our yummy Red Lunch.  Afterward the children were able to match their friends’ names with their valentine cards. We also enjoyed using heart cookie cutters with play-doh. Many of the children were making “cookies” to give to their friends.  On Wednesday, we created a friendship quilt that we decorated with shapes and compliments.  It is wonderful to witness the love they have for each other. Thursday, we were delighted to welcome back Ms. Andrea and we enjoyed the day making a friendship tree with our painted handprints. Since we had a few sick friends last week, we talked a lot about germs.  We discussed how to stay healthy by washing our hands and covering our sneezes.

Pastor Amy helped us continue the theme of love during our chapel time. She taught us that we can wear invisible clothing of kindness, just as Paul wrote in one of his letters. We "tried on" these invisible socks, shirts, and pants of kindness and sang a new song about love.

In music we sang about love and friendship. Mrs. S even wrote our own song about our friends to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:"

We love our friends, they are so neat
When they come over, it’s such a treat!

Next week, we will be covering a new unit on dental health. We can’t wait to talk to your little ones about keeping their beautiful smiles nice and clean.  As always, if you have any questions please let us know. Thank you for sharing your precious child with us!

Have a restful weekend,
Ms. Andrea & Ms. Melissa

Love was in the air this week in the Busy Bee room! We talked about how special Valentine's Day is and what it means. The children agreed with each other that it was all about love. Love for moms and dads, brothers and sisters, friends and even our pets. We shared how we show love for one another, such as, reading together and giving hugs. On Tuesday we made a special hand print valentine and decorated a picture frame with hearts. On Wednesday the kids had fun water coloring with an eyedropper to make the petals of a flower bouquet. Some had the patience for the slow process and others moved on to another center after a few tries at it. On Thursday their little hands had a workout trying to put beads on a pipe cleaner as we made friendship bracelets to give to our special friends in class. This was a great activity for honing fine motor skills. 

We visited our garden this week and started to see some growth! We even pulled two radishes, roots and all. The children were amazed at how long the roots were and how the roots "fed" the vegetable.

This week in Chapel Pastor Amy talked about love. She illustrated to the children that you can be big and strong, powerful and generous; however, none of these things are important without love in your heart.  She read the story of Paul's letter to the Corinthians with the emphasis on verse I Corinthians 13:3. 

As always, Ms. S engaged the Bees with dancing fun during music time. We sang all about the love that is shared with our families and friends on Valentine's Day!

Next week we will continue sharing our love and friendship with each other. We will exchange valentine cards and enjoy our Red Lunch on Tuesday. Also, please be sure to send your little one dressed appropriately for the cold weather. They love the fresh air and we go outside as much as possible in the mornings when it is most chilly. As always, if you have any concerns or suggestions don't hesitate to let us know.

Thank you for sharing your child with us each week,
Ms. Andrea & Ms. Melissa

The dinosaurs roamed through our room again this week! The Busy Bees had so much fun learning more interesting and exciting facts about these prehistoric creatures. On Tuesday they chose their favorite dinosaur and made a fossil print necklace. Their favorite part was mixing the plaster together and getting their little hands dirty. We also did some painting with glitter.  The Bees loved seeing the glitter shimmer through once it was dried. On Wednesday we worked on our matching skills with a worksheet as well as an alphabet board in our writing center. The Bees also put together a dinoaur from horn to tail using nothing but colorful shapes. They were quick to recognize each and every shape!

This week in our sensory table the Bees were archaeologists, digging for fossils in sand using brushes and spoons! Through our story time we have learned how the dinosaurs lived, whether they were carnivores or herbaivores, and how they protected themselves. We've started talking about the parts of a book, for example the spine and the title page. Ask your child what part the author and illustrator have in the book. The Busy Bees have been loving every minute of story time!

In chapel, Pastor Amy taught us that everyone and everything has a special gift, even the dinosaurs. For example, the Triceratops' gift was his three horns, maybe used to keep himself safe from other dinosaurs. She talked to the children about two great gifts they have, which are Love and Words. She reminded us how  love makes us feel special and how important it is to use our words to show our love with our friends and family.

The Busy Bees always look forward to music time with Ms. S. She had our bodies moving and our voices singing along to great dinosaur songs. The children also love to hear old favorites, like The Silly Apple song.

We had a dinosaur fun-filled week! Thank you for sharing your precious children with us. It is truly a blessing to watch them grow and learn. If you have any questions or concerns please let us know.

May you have a restful weekend!
Ms. Andrea and Ms. Melissa

This week we have been discussing a favorite topic - Dinosaurs! The Bees can't seem to get enough information about these amazing prehistoric creatures. On Tuesday we enjoyed making dinosaur fossils by tracing dinosaur bones in Elmer's glue. We also had a great time making dinosaur prints in Play Doh with the many plastic dinosaurs we have around the room. On Wednesday we made dinosaurs hatch out of an egg and then did a  counting worksheet that helped us with our matching skills. On Thursday the children painted their Elmer's glue fossils white to look like the real deal. We completed another matching worksheet that challenged them to match the fronts and backs of different dinosaurs together. They did a great job! 

This week in the sensory table we have rice, funnels and cups, and of course, dinosaurs. We stretched out a tape measure to see how big some of the dinosaurs were and stood next to it to get an idea of just how large these creatures would have been standing next to us. We also enjoyed some very informative and creative books on dinosaurs. The list of names of the types of dinosaurs seems endless!

In gardening we watered our bean plants that were planted last week, and then put them in a spot where they would get rained on. The storm we had on Tuesday night watered them well and was a big topic of conversation on Wednesday. (The Bees learned that even teachers can be a little scared of loud thunder!)

In chapel on Wednesday, Pastor Amy taught us a lovely lesson about the 7 days of creation. She used beautiful oil paintings to signify light, water, and the living things on Earth.  She talked to us about how it is important to take time to rest and reflect on what a wonder this world is, as well as all of the things in it - even dinosaurs!

In music on Thursday, Ms. S had the perfect dinosaur songs for us to sing and they were very action oriented. 

We have had a great week!  We can see a lot of growth starting to happen in this class as your children are playing and learning.  Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a great weekend!
Ms. Andrea and Ms.Melissa

This week we continued learning about community helpers. We focused on firefighters, doctors, nurses, and teachers. On Tuesday we made firetrucks with ladders that actually move up and down! We also talked about stop, drop and roll. We practiced this over and over again outside! Speaking of outside, the weather on Tuesday was so spring-like we stayed out to do some extra gardening (we planted some beans) and then remained outside for our picnic snack. On Wednesday we talked about doctors and nurses. We had a box full of real items that come from a doctor's office such as tongue depressors, surgical masks, empty bottles of medicine, and bandages. The kids had a great time guessing what these items were for and then used them to play with during center time. They had a great time putting bandages on baby dolls, stuffed animals and each other. We also made doctor dolls complete with a white coat. On Thursday we talked about teachers and how we are all teachers at different times. We then learned how to make one color out of mixing two different colors. Orange was the most popular! 

We enjoyed reading many books this week.  A couple of our favorites were The Fire Station by Robert Munsch and Ms Bindergarten Celebrates the Last Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate. The kids love any books written by Robert Munsch. The repetition of his words guide the children to begin reading out loud on their own. 

Wednesday in chapel Pastor Amy talked to us about communities, helping each other within a community and why this is so important. We learned that we can make a community anywhere there are people and that helping one another makes us feel good. What a great lesson to learn no matter how old you are.

Thursday in music Mrs. S had some great songs about community helpers.  An old Sesame Street favorite was "The People in Our Neighborhood."  Do you remember that song?   

It was a great week! Next week we will begin our unit on Dinosaurs. This unit is a favorite among the kids.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms. Andrea and Ms. Melissa

Our first week back after Christmas break has been terrific! We had a great time being together. On Tuesday we eased back in to school with some simple crafts and a lot of laughter. The Bees enjoyed some new toys in the classroom as well as some familiar ones.  

This week our theme was Community Helpers and we talked about mail carriers, bakers and police officers. They colored a picture that they put in an envelope to be mailed home to them.  They all attempted to write their names on the envelope and then sealed them shut and stuck on a stamp. They made letter carrier bags, as well, and then we were lucky enough to see the neighborhood mailman delivering mail while we were playing outside.  On Wednesday we talked about bakers and had some fun in the sensory table with flour, cinnamon and mixing bowls.  We made chef/baker hats and menus to play restaurant in the classroom. The children were very clever in coming up with names for their restaurants! They carefully chose and then glued pictures of the different types of foods they would serve. They put them to use right away in our kitchen center! On Thursday we continued our discussion of bakers and made mini pizzas! We also talked about policeman and why they are our friends and why they are so important to our communities. The kids had a great time making and wearing police badges. 

We took a break from Chapel this week in order to have a little more outside play time and to make coming back to school an easier transition. We will resume Chapel with Pastor Amy next week.

Please remember to have a labeled, change of clothes in your child’s cubby. Make sure these clothes still fit and are appropriate for the cooler temperatures in the months ahead. 

We hope you enjoyed your time away.  We are so happy to see all of you and your sweet children again. We would like to thank you all so very much for our Christmas gifts!  How generous of you to treat us with gifts. It is our pleasure to teach and help nurture your children and we look forward to a wonderful second semester of school. They will grow so much during this time. Please always let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms. Andrea and Ms. Melissa

The Busy Bees were all about Christmas this week! Tuesday we had a great time getting our little hands painted and making hand prints ornaments as a keepsake. It's always nice to hang this ornament and see how much your child grows each year.  You can look back on these early years fondly. We also made some jingle bells to use with our favorite Christmas carol – “Jingle Bells".

The children had a great time with the sensory table this week. We had a small Christmas tree with ornaments that kept everyone busy for a while. They enjoyed decorating the tree but also sorting the ornaments in to different categories. There was definitely a lot of Christmas spirit in our room!

On Wednesday we made Santa faces complete with white fluffy beards and we enjoyed hanging them up in the room. They made us happy all day long! We also made a paper Christmas tree, decorated ornaments and hung these on the tree. Wednesday in chapel we heard the story of Baby Jesus. Most of the kids were familiar with this story but were so excited to hear it again. On Thursday we had so much fun in music singing Christmas songs.  What a week!

All week long we enjoyed some beautiful Christmas stories. We read about what Santa must be doing to get himself all ready for his big trip. We talked about the magic of Christmas and the wonderful feelings that we feel all through this special holiday. We ended the week with “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” A true classic.

We topped the week off caroling to all the classrooms. We took our jingle bells with us and showed off our singing skills. Lots of fun!

We hope you enjoy your time away from school and will be wishing you a very merry Christmas!

Take care,
Ms. Andrea and Ms. Melissa

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!