It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Week of December 1-4

Sound of the Week - G

Book of the Week - Jacob's Gift

Habit of the Month - Responsibility

Mom of the Month – Megan Maloney

I hope you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your family!  Did you add any leaves to your Thankful Trees?  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast at school!  Thank you to Aubrie Crais  for helping us that day and all of November!

There’s a LOT going on this month… more than we can cover in a regular newsletter!  SO… here’s a little more scoop:

This month, all month, we’ll be learning about the birth of Christ.  We’ll be studying each part of the amazing truth that God came to Earth in a little baby born in a manger.  We’ll read from Scripture, study each part, learn what it means… and how those truths are represented in our current traditions of Christmas.  Our letters are tied to what we’re studying also…

Dec 1-4  - G – Jacob’s Gift – we can give a gift to God… by serving/loving others.  What are our gifts?  How can we use them for Him? 

Dec. 8-11 - J – The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey – seeing the individual parts of the Christmas account… and that the gift of Jesus can change our hearts… 

Dec 15-18 – The Scripture account of Jesus’ birth – with new eyes and new appreciation, we hope! 

It is a fun and meaningful month!   We really want them to understand God’s Great Gift is Jesus!  

In light of our focus on Christ’s birth and the VERY short time available to us, we have asked the children (and we need you to help us with this) to keep the focus on Jesus birth.  We have asked them to keep our Christmas conversations focused on Jesus.  We won’t be discussing Santa, elves, gifts we want, etc. at school.  I’ll guide all those conversations back to you at home.  I know each of us celebrates in different ways… but we all know that Jesus’ birth is the true focus, so let’s keep focused right there!  Thanks!!!

We’ll be sending home a variety of things to help in the celebration of Jesus’ birth…

An Advent devotional .  The devotionals will parallel our study in class.

Monday you will receive a daily scripture reading for each day in December… each one is a name of Jesus!  It’s our prayer you’ll enjoy this calendar for years to come. 

The children will make a “countdown to Jesus birthday chain.”  Each night they can cut off one more link.  We will work on ABAB patterns, writing numbers, and counting backwards as we prepare these chains! 

The children will be making two ornaments… a Holly Wreath and a Candy Cane.  Each will have the Christian meaning behind the symbol attached to it.  (These are great projects if you want your kids to make something meaningful for grandparents, friends or relatives this Christmas.  Once you see them, you’ll know how to make them… we got all the supplies at Hobby Lobby.  I have the wording in a Word file if you want it.)

Throughout the month, the children will be creating a book of Christmas.  It will come home December 17t^h… so be looking for it then!  It will be the culmination of our whole study this month

There are several special events this month:

THURSDAY, December, 11^th  is our Kindergarten service project (we won’t be here the 20^th to do it with the rest of the school.)  Meghan Grubbs and helpers Aubrie Crais and Megan Maloney will lead us as we share His love with those who serve us each day on the security staff here at the church.  Look for more information to come. 

We’ll be having a Christmas Pageant Thursday, December 18^th in the Fellowship Hall.  All Kindergarteners will participate (in costumes) as we tell the wonderful story of Christ’s birth in word and song.  This is a sweet, special time… and you won’t want to miss it.  If there are grandparents or “adopted grandparents” or others you want to bring, feel free!  There’s lots of space!  Bring cameras… we’ll meet you in the Fellowship Hall at 11!

Thursday, Dec 18^th, just before the Pageant, we’ll be having a Birthday Party for Jesus.   Megan will be getting information to you about food (HIGH protein, NO sugar!) We’ll make a gift for Him… after all, we give gifts to the birthday boy/girl, not all their friends!  This is not a Christmas party… it’s a celebration of Jesus’ birth… and preparation time for our hearts as we get ready to tell the story of His coming to YOU!  No gifts to friends, please.  We’ll be excited enough about the Pageant… we need to keep our hearts, minds, and bodies focused on His birth and His STORY!  THANK YOU!!! 

I think that’s it for now!     PLEASE make this a wonderful month by helping us to have our:

FOCUS ON JESUS

GOOD NIGHTS’ SLEEP… every night!

PROTEIN BREAKFAST… every morning!

NO/LOW SUGAR… every day!

LOTS OF EXERCISE OPPORTUNITIES… every afternoon! 

THANK YOU!!!

Looking forward to a FUN and FAST month celebrating Him!  

"X" Week, Thanksgiving and Celebration!

November 17-20

Sound of the Week – x

Book of the Week – Ox Cart Man

Habit of the Month – Courtesy

Mom of the Month – Aubrie Crais

I am very glad that so many of you were able to attend our Veteran's Day program.  As always, it was a wonderful day!  I was so very proud of the way that your children spoke to Veterans we met and thanked them for their service to our country!  Thank you to Andy Crais for helping us on that day!

This week we will study the sound of “x”.  We will introduce sounds at the END of the word and rhyming words.  Our book of the week is Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall.  It is a wonderful story of a family in the 1800s.  We’ll talk about differences and similarities between now and the 1800s.  We’ll look at Phil 4:12-13 and 19 to see God’s provision.  This is a great lead into Thanksgiving.  We will talk about Col 3:18-20 and family roles and responsibilities and Ecc 3:1-8 and seasons and months of the year.  

We will also enjoy the book Three Young Pilgrims as we prepare for Thanksgiving.  This is a beautiful and tenderly written account of the Pilgrims’ trip to America and their first year in Plymouth.  It portrays the Allerton family and their struggle and triumphs.  The book is carefully researched and filled with factual and interesting information.  

We will have our Kindergarten Thanksgiving feast on Thursday.  It is a fun and memorable event!  Please pray for good weather!

IMPORTANT!!!  In addition to celebrating “x” and Thanksgiving this week, we will also celebrate the birthday of our WONDERFUL parapro, Michelle Ginocchio!  She serves and BLESSES us every day!  We are planning a kindergarten wide celebration to bless her on Wednesday.   Please send in 1 (one) flower with your child on Wednesday.  We will combine them in a beautiful bouquet.  Also please have your child make a simple birthday card for her.  But shhh!  It’s a surprise!  

This promises to be a full, exciting and fun week!  I so look forward to sharing it with your precious children!!

V is for Veteran

November 10-13

Sound of the Week – V

Book of the Week – All Those Secrets of the World

Habit of the Month – Courtesy

Mom of the Month – Aubrie Crais

This week we ate beans and rice – with our fingers – like the children eat at school in Tanzania.  Thank you Aubrie Crais for our taste of Africa!

Thank you Jennifer Stephens for leading us in “mini boot camp” during our rainy day recess on Thursday!

This is a wonderful week in Kindergarten as we study what it means to be a United States Veteran.  We will study the different branches of the military and talk about the commitment and sacrifice in serving our country this way. 

Our book of the week, All Those Secrets of the World by Jane Yolen, is a beautiful story of a little girl whose father goes off to serve in the military.  Everyone learns important life lessons while he’s gone…the little girl calls them “secrets of the world.”  This is a beautiful, tender, meaningful, age appropriate way to introduce what can be a sensitive and difficult topic. 

Please join us on Tuesday at 9:45 for our PCS  Veteran’s Day Celebration.  Every year, this day is one of the most memorable of the school year.  On Tuesday morning, the auditorium will be filled with our students, parents, teachers, administrators and hundreds of Veterans!  Please attend if you possibly can. 

We look forward to having Ben’s great-grandfather who is a WWII veteran, and Lauren’s grandfather who is a veteran, come visit us on Tuesday morning.  If you are bringing a veteran as a guest we would love to have you bring them to the classroom to meet the class before the program.  Please let me know if you would like to bring a guest. 

Veteran’s Day is CHAPEL (DRESSY ENRICHMENT DAY) DRESS! 

Please be sure to return the form sent home on Wednesday and let me know if your child will be sitting with you during the program. 

Z Week and the African Savanna!

November 3-6

Sound of the Week – Z

Book of the Week – Here is the African Savanna

Habit of the Month – Courtesy

Mom of the Month – Aubrie Crais

We had a Wonderful W Week!  Thank you to Kate Wilson for your help all month as our Mom of the Month and for your help on Wednesday for Wacky Wednesday!  Our room was Wacky and we enjoyed Waffles with Whipped cream!

Jambo!!! (Hello in Swahili!)  PCS has a partner school in a little village 7 miles off the end of the paved road.  A local pastor believed God would use it for good when he was sent there…and he began a ministry to widows and orphans.  He didn’t want to just feed poor kids…he wanted to give them a future…he wanted to build a school. This week we’ll learn about PUNCHMI Christian School in the village of Karanse in Tanzania.  We’ll learn about animals we would only see in the zoo but that live free and wild in the African Savanah.  It’s a wonderful week…and I pray your children will catch a vision for children around the world, as well as the amazing beauty of His creation. 

Our book this week is Here is the African Savanna by Madeleine Dunphy.  This is a delightful book written in verse, growing page by page to reveal the beauty and intricacy of life in the African Savanna.  There are lots of wonderful books about Africa:  Mojo Means One, Jambo Means Hello, We All Went on Safari, Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, Bringing Rain to Kapiti Plain, A is for Africa, just to mention a few.  Enjoy a trip to the local library.  Your children will love it!

Fun Z things to do at home include:  learn to zip your coat, make an alphabet zoo (think of one animal for every letter of the alphabet), zoom around the room (or maybe the yard!).

November 11 will be the 20th Annual Veteran's Day Celebration at Perimeter School.  If you have never attended this event before I strongly encourage you to come!  If you have been here before, I'm sure you need no encouragement to attend!  It is truly a wonderful event which honors our country's veterans and teaches our students much about the sacrifices others have a made for them.  Watch this week for information about attending with your child and letting me know your plans.  Also, if your family is inviting a friend or family member who is a veteran, we would love to meet them in our classroom to say thank you before the program starts.  Please let me know if you have a guest coming.