winter worship here we come!

We are packing up and heading out very early in the morning to take our youth group to Connect in Tennesee. We are so excited and we are going to get to hear some awesome artists, like Jeremy Camp, Third Day, Toby Mac and Shane & Shane! I'm pretty excited about the line up of speakers too. And to top it all off, we should see some snow! Please join with me in prayer for safe travel there and back and that students' lives will be changed!

christmas 2010

The christmas story has been read from the Bible. Baby Jesus was placed in our manger early this morning. Cookies and milk were left out for santa. Reindeer food was sprinked all over the driveway. The stockings were hung and filled. The gifts have been opened and are being played with. The turkey is roasting in the oven. The yummiest mac and cheese casserole is all prepared and waiting to warm in the oven. The rain has stopped falling outside. And, we are all still in our pjs and santa is taking a nap!

I feel alittle like Mary probably did as she "pondered all of these things in her heart".

The kids have declared that this was the best christmas ever. And I would have to agree!

reindeer food!

Don't forget to feed the reindeer tonight!

non-traditional sledding

This may be the only kind of sledding my kids get to do in South Alabama! And yes, this picture was taken today!

christmas card spoiler!

merry christmas to you and yours from me and mine!

the legend of the candy cane

This week we have been learning with candy canes! We also did a lapbook to go along with The Legend of the Candy Cane. It has pretty much been a light week as I'm sure next week will be a light week as well. We are basically doing just enough to keep the kids from getting bored! I haven't introduced any new concepts last month or this month. Everything we have been doing is a review to reinforce the skills we have learned so far. The Legend of the Candy Cane- "A stranger arrives in town one dreary November and begins hammering and sawing away at his newly rented storefront. When a small girl offers her help, she's in for a childhood fantasy-come-true, as it turns out all the shelves and counters are being built for a candy shop. After offering young Lucy gumdrops and lollipops, Mr. Sonneman launches into the history of the candy cane. With his guidance, she discovers that the upturned candy is in the shape of a j--for Jesus. Right side up it looks like a shepherd's staff. And the red stripes? The blood of Christ from his terrible whipping. Lucy and Mr. Sonneman set out on a quest to share this story with everyone in town." lapbook: front middle components- candy counting bible verse back extras- candy cane counting candy cane size sort craft- pom-pom candy canes *Be sure to check out some other preschool ideas and activities at The Preschool Corner!

foam ornament math

I put this simple math activity together for the girls this morning and they thought it was fun. So, I thought I'd share it with you, too!

materials-
foam light bulb ornaments (Dollar Tree, I think!)
glue
dice

directions-
1. punch out the light bulbs and all the little pieces from the foam
2. have child roll the dice and then add up the number of dots
3. have child glue the correct number of pieces onto the light bulb

It's that simple and inexpensive! A winner in my book!

gingerbread men

This week we had fun learning with gingerbread men! Thankfully, Jolanthe put together a cute gingerbread baby preschool pack that went along great with our week! Just in time, too! If you like to plan in themes like I do, be sure to check out making learning fun. I get lots of activities from their website.

We did:


ryming words with man (an word family)


rhyming words with letter magnets


an emergent reader


handwriting sheets


gingerbread man addition cards


number word recognition


gingerbread man dot-to-dot


gingerbread man size sort


read The Gingerbread Man and had the girls draw a picture and write a sentence about their favorite part

And of course we had to make gingerbread man cookies. Only we went with a sugar cookie recipe instead of the traditional gingerbread man recipe!







*Next week we will be learning with candy canes! For more activities and ideas, be sure to check out The Preschool Corner!

kids' nativity set

Last year after seeing this nativity set at my friend's house, I got one for my children. They love playing with it and I don't have to worry about them breaking any of the pieces.

This year, I have heard them retelling the story of Christmas in their own words and it warms my heart to know that they know and understand the true meaning of Christmas.

Matt hides baby Jesus and on Christmas morning he places baby Jesus in the manger in front of Mary and Joseph, or as my son says, Jo-fess!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

The tree is up and there is a strong evergreen smell in the air! The lights are strung and we've been singing christmas songs for the past week or so! Today, I gave each child there own bag of homemade ornaments that we made last year to hang anywhere on the tree. It was so sweet to hear the girls remembering when we made the ornaments together. As they pulled their ornaments out, I loved hearing their oohhs and awws! I hope these memories will be happy ones for them, because they are for me!

This is what we made last year:










Now, I'm on the lookout for more ornaments to make this year! If you know of any, let me know!

raising rock stars

A few weeks ago, we did the first lesson on Joseph from the Raising Rock Stars curriculum and I thought I'd share how we decorated Joseph's coat of many colors.



materials:
printout of Joseph
tissue paper
glue
paint brush

directions:
1. print out the image of Joseph
2. cut small squares out of several different colors of tissue paper
3. spread a thin layer of glue on Joseph's coat with a paint brush
4. have your kids decorate Joseph's coat with the colored tissue squares

mirette on the high wire

With this FIAR book, we learned about French culture and had fun painting with water colors! Mirette on the High Wire - "In this picture book set in 19th-century Paris, a child helps a daredevil who has lost his edge to regain his confidence. Many traveling performers stay at Madame Gateaux's boarding house, but Mme.'s daughter Mirette is particularly taken with one guest--the quiet gentleman who can walk along the clothesline without falling off. Mirette implores the boarder to teach her his craft, not knowing that her instructor is the "Great Bellini" of high wire fame. After much practice the girl joins Bellini on the wire as he conquers his fear and demonstrates to all of Paris that he is still the best." lapbook- middle left side - color word matching painting with water colors compound words draw a picture and write a sentence about the book

thanksgiving activities

Last week we did some thanksgiving activities and talked about the first thanksgiving.

We read The First Thanksgiving Day by Laura Krauss Melmed.



We pretended that our pirate ship was The Mayflower.



I made story prompt stick puppets to use with The Mayflower.



Ethan worked on matching shapes.





Ella did a dot-to-dot turkey picture.

Gracelyn did turkey math (roll the dice and feed the turkeys until all of the turkeys are covered/feed and then roll the dice and remove the food from the turkeys until no food is left on the mat).



The girls drew a picture of their favorite part about the first thanksgiving story and then wrote a sentence to go with it.




I put together a coloring packet for the girls to color.



We ran out of time before our family started arriving for our Thanksgiving celebration, but I had planned for them to make an indian corn picture using their fingerprints.

*I linked up with the preschool corner and the homeschool village this week. Be sure to check them out to see what other preschoolers have been up to!