Why do we read Dr. Suess books?

Dr. Suess books build a great foundation for a love of reading. His books contain rhyme, rhythm and whimsical imaginative storytelling. These books teach essential phonological awareness, boost vocabulary, and make reading a fun, engaging experience.

This week we enjoyed having special visitors read to us. Our seventh grade students and Mrs. Angela Fox were amazing. Mrs. Fox works in the administration building and she is ready and able to help us with special activities.

A Meeting With Dr. Suess

The 3rd grade classes participate in a biography presentation each year at St. James. We were thrilled to find Dr. Suess on our campus. We learned about his life and his love for books. James Gordon did a fantastic job as he represented Dr.Suess.

Graphing Zoo Amimals

Why is it important to graph in preschool?

Graphing helps children develop foundational skills such as counting, sorting, classification and one to one correspondence. Everyone had a great time graphing the animal crackers.

Our Valentine Exchange

Our valentine exchange was a blast. The children had a great time as they passed out their valentines. This activity was fun and it was a lesson in name recognition. Mrs. Kuhn's help with the party was greatly appreciated.

Big Line, Little Line, Big Curve, Little Curve

Handwriting Without Tears

The wooden pieces in Handwriting Without Tears are used in letter formation through tactile hands on play. Your child is building fine motor strength , spatial awareness, and proper letter structure as they form letters.

Music with Mrs. Allison

This week your child learned about a little seed in music class. Each child was given a scarf as they followed along with the poem. The scarf was the seed that turned into a flower.

A little seed for me to sow

A little earth to help it grow

A little sun, A little shower

A little wait and then a flower

Who Builds Buildings? What tools do they use?

How do you build a building? Mr. Kuhn came to our class to show us how buildings are constructed. Everyone put on a yellow hard hat for this special event. The children experimented with a hammer, tape measure, level and a drill. We learned that the foundation is the most important part of creating a building. A special thank you to Mr. Khun for taking time out of his day to give us a WOW moment.

SENSORY - LET'S MAKE SNOW

We made our own snow this week. Everyone loved watching the chemical reaction as our liquid touched the solid. The snow in our sensory bin provided a unique, cool and soft texture for the children. The students measured , poured and used their fine motor skills to manipulate the items in the sensory bin.

Match My Number

We used cubes and number cards to understand the meaning of numbers. Each child had to say the number and place the correct amount of cubes on the number card. When children consistently count the correct number of objects to match the number they say , you know they understand.

During this lesson your child used their sensory motor skills as they moved objects in one hand to position it for use, placement, or release.

Our social emotional skills were enhanced as we learned to cooperate with other children.

ALL ABOUT LETTER D

A special thank you to Lynley , Waylon, and Catherine Joyce for taking time out of their day to make our day special.

Everyone loved meeting Ruthie, Pepper , Zeus and Rhea. We were thrilled to have these dogs visit our classroom.

D IS FOR DUCK CALL and DUCK DECOY

The children were fascinated by the sound of the duck calls. Each child had to wait patiently for their turn to shake a duck call. We counted duck decoys and duck calls , and we learned that a duck hunter needs camouflage clothes. A special thank you to Mr. Ribble for giving us a WOW moment.

Hide and Peek - Recognize Quantities Without Counting

This week we played Hide and Peek. This game was a hit! One child hid the blocks under a tub and the other child peeked. The peeker had to tell the class how many blocks were under the tub. We played this game several times this week.

Benefits of this game -

The ability to recognize quantities at a glance is an important skill for preschool children to develop. When children can identify a number without counting it , they understand and have internalized it. With this skill they move easily to performing operations with numbers.

Alphabet Cards Obj. 16 - Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet

We rolled play doh to make the letter D. The students had to make a long line and a curved line to form our letter of the week.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The children have made ornaments and decorated the little tree in our homeliving center. Each student has worked on a gift for their parents and I can't wait for each parent to see these special gifts.

Stick Letters - Letter Recognition Skills

We searched our playground for sticks to make letters. We learned that we needed straight sticks to make our letters. We combined sensory play with fine motor skill development for this lesson. This was a wonderful way to use a tactile experience to reinforce letter recognition.

Landscape Art

This week we talked about how trees change and grow. Each child took a turn at the easel as they painted a beautiful landscape. As they painted the landscape they fostered a deep connection to nature. We learned patience and persistence as we completed our task. Our classroom is beaming with these beautiful works of art.

The real reason for Christmas

Each week on Tues. morning your child attends a chapel service. During chapel we sing hymns , listen to bible readings and we have a chapel talk. We are blessed to be at a christian school where we can learn the true meaning of Christmas. All parents are invited to attend our chapel service every Tues. at 8:30.

A Special Visitor

Everyone had a great time at the Christmas Party! A special thank you to Mrs. Kuhn for putting our party together. Thank you to everyone that brought food and made this a special day for the children.

We loved the visit from Santa and the presents were wonderful.