Mandeville Weekly News
12/1/08—15/5/08
· Christmas Sing-A-Long is Friday, Dec. 19th. More information will come soon!
· Holiday Community Project—is
PreK/Kindergarten Chronicles
What with Rudolph and Frosty and the Polar Express being spotted everywhere, there is no doubt the children know “Christmas is coming!” They also know it’s a long time before Christmas actually arrives as is evidenced by the Christmas chain that hangs in the classroom. Monday the chain had 24 loops and hung from the top of the door- frame almost to the floor. Each day one child is picked to cut off a loop and all the children get to watch as the chain gets shorter and Christmas becomes closer! Gingerbread men (and ladies) will soon adorn our walls (somewhere), as they are being cut from construction paper, colored and used to decorate the classroom. Ms. Cathy is busy having the children in the afternoon lace their Christmas boot stocking and make their name shiny with glitter! It’s a fun time! Silver Polishing and Baking are on the list for new work to open next week.
In the area of Practical Life many of our younger children are showing significant improvement in cutting work and glue work, as well as in use of the dressing frames for buttons (large and small) zippers and snaps. We are proud of all the children for learning how to put on their jackets by themselves. All the children put on their jacket or sweater before going outside to play this week. Parents, get them to give you a demonstration on how it’s done. The more your child can do for himself, the more secure he feels.
We are seeing some of the children being introduced to the Moveable Alphabet for the first time, to plant/animal work after mastering living/non-living; to the North American continent language; to the Number Rods and cards, to the Snake Game, etc. to Mystery Bag Number game. Christmas coming has not diminished the child’s need to work, in peace and harmony, with his hands. Whether sculpting a snowman, drawing a tipi with a flag in it, writing a story on the story board, or constructing the trinomial cube outside the box or scrubbing a rock, polishing a shoe or signing a song, the child is happiest when he/she is working with his hands!! We look forward to keeping those hands busy in the time that remains between now and the Christmas break!
Preschool Press
The preschool team is happy to see all of our friends back from Thanksgiving break. While everyone was out the class was transformed with holiday cheer!
Our lessons this week have focused on the colors red and green. Our Spanish focus word was December. We are working on Christmas coloring sheets. The children love to spread colored shaving cream on Santa’s picture. All of our Preschoolers are having a great time learning Christmas music. Parents, please join us for our Christmas Sing- A -Long on Friday, Dec. 19th. We will be sure to have lots of cheer!
Toddler Talk
The toddlers have gotten into the holiday spirit this week. We have been busy decorating, singing, and reading stories.
We set up our Christmas tree this week. We decided to make our own ornaments to personalize it. The children had great fun stamping sponges into paint to make stocking and tree shapes. Once they were dry, we laminated them and put them on the tree.
We also completed our family tree project this week. We traced the children’s arms and hands onto brown paper to form the trunk and branches of the tree. Then we cut out the leafy top from green construction paper. We glued the family picture on the top of the tree. The children love to locate and identify the pictures of themselves, family members, and friends.
We’ve been practicing for our Christmas social by singing and playing instruments. The favorite is Jingle Bells. The children think it is hilarious to shout “Hey!” They also enjoy ringing bells, playing the clappers, and using a variety of other instruments to make beautiful music while we listen to holiday favorites on a CD.
We have been reading several winter books. The children love Dream Snow by Eric Carle. The book features a series of animals covered by snow (white transparencies) and the children love to guess what lies beneath the blanket of snow.
We would like to extend a welcome to the newest member of our toddler family. Welcome Giulia! We also want to wish a very happy birthday to Jessie.
- Please remember to label your child’s coats and jackets.