Christmas Presents and A Blooming Amaryllis!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!  See you in the New Year!

Santa Came!

Santa came for a Surprise visit, today!

Christmas Presents and Santa

The Leader of the Day opened a Christmas present and we shared what was inside...a book for everyone and candy!

Santa dropped in one day.  Pre K - B was lucky enough to get their picture taken with him.

Christmas Puppet Show

The Pre K classes went to a Christmas Puppet Show at the John M Cuelenaere Public Library this week.  Fun was had by all!  The library is showing movies over the Christmas Break.  Families might want to check it out!

                           

                       

                  

                              

                                      

                                   

                                       

                                     

Christmas Tree Decorations

Today the children made decorations for our class Christmas Tree.  It was a great fine motor activity.

It also was a great Math activity for some students.  One student told me that she was making a pattern with the beads she was stringing.  This shows me that she is learning to make patterns...an important math skill.  Notice the A B pattern she made, one large square bead, one small round bead all the way down the line.  We discussed the pattern and it was a great introduction to patterns for some students who listened to our conversation and observed her work.

Surprise Visit from SANTA!

Today, we did some Q-tip painting and we had a surprise visit from Santa!

Advent Calendar

This Advent Calendar helps the children visualize how long they need to wait for Christmas.  Mary and Joseph are on their way to Bethlehem.  When they reach the stable, Jesus is born and it is Christmas!

Wrapping Christmas Presents

Today we started wrapping Christmas presents for our mommies and daddies.  (Shhhhhh....it's a surprise!). Some students brought extra wrapping paper and were nice enough to share with their friends.  Wrapping takes plenty of time and we are not finished yet.  We have some patient children who are waiting for their turn tomorrow.

This activity is educational in many ways.  Lots of Language is used while wrapping the gifts.  Teachers expand vocabulary and comprehension by asking questions, listening and having conversations while wrapping the gifts with the children.  

Waiting patiently for your turn and sharing are important Social Skills.

 Fine Motor Skills are used tearing the tape off the dispenser and applying it to the gift.  

Another important reason that I help the children make gifts for their parents is that it is important to experience the act of giving.  Often, at Christmas, children have many experiences of receiving . By giving their parents this small gift, I really hope that the children learn about giving and begin to experience the joy that comes with it.  

Puppet Show

On Dec. 3rd & Dec. 4th we travelled to the John M Cuelenaere Public Library to see a puppet show.  Maxine, Sharon and Kim put on three very entertaining puppet plays for us.  We wanted to thank them for their work so the students dictated a thank you note to me and made a "THANK YOU" picture.

Dear Maxine, Kim and Sharon,

Thank you for the puppet show.  We Liked it.  We really liked the Christmas one.  We Liked the reindeer.  When Santa wore sunglasses it was funny.  Mrs. Claus' bikini was funny.  Thank you!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,

Mrs. Bain's Pre K

St. John Community School

Thank you ladies!  The Christmas Puppet Show is always one of the highlights of Christmas for the children and for me too!

Advent Fundraising

In Pre K we have been talking about "Getting our hearts ready for Christmas".  We talk about being kind to family and friends.  We talk about helping people in need.

In the spirit of giving, St. John Community School is attempting to raise $1000 during Advent to help purchase a Shelter Box.  The Shelter Box helps such people as the victims of  Typhoon Hayian in the Philippines.   We are collecting money in our classroom. Please help our students with this worthwhile activity by contibuting money to our Jar. Thank you!

If you would like further information about Shelter Boxes, follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ShelterBoxUK

Santa's Gift Shop

Today many children had a chance to shop at Santa's Gift Shop. The activity was a great success!  Look at all the choices!

    Santa's Little Helper's

    

   Happy Shoppers