Give Thanks!

 I hope you all enjoyed reading the "I'm Thankful" books your children made!  The responses I got ranged from "octopuses" to "cake" to "The Holy Ghost."  I loved it.  The purpose in doing this was twofold; I wanted the kids to really think about what they wanted to thank Jesus for (primarily) but also to see words get put to their thoughts and drawings. 

The Thanksgiving Feast yesterday was so much fun.  It was crowded, but I think that is just an indication of the bounty that God has bestowed onto us.  The food was delicious.  The company was even better.  Thank you all for being their and sharing this experience with all of us.

Over the course of the last few weeks, we've talked through the Thanksgiving story countless times.  If your child hasn't already told you what he or she knows about it, ask them!  I had one mom text me and tell me her son told her that the pilgrims were on the Mayflower for 40 days and 40 nights:)

I got a new camera the other day, so please excuse pictures as I'm trying to figure out settings, etc.:)

Brooklyn and Hasti (from Vicki's class) discussing life

Mr. Chris leads us in prayer

Your kids made Indian necklaces but they got tangled together badly.  Sorry they couldn't bring these home!

Packing shoeboxes!

 Because of your children, eleven 3rd world children will be receiving a Christmas gift this year!

This week we laid out the boxes and your children distributed soaps, toothpastes, toys, washcloths, coloring sets, etc. into Christmas gifts that will be sent all over the world with Samaratans' Purse.  It is our hope and prayer that your children gained a little bit more perspective on 1)the world is SO big  2)so many kids have so little 3)and we have SO much.  We also hope that the eleven children will hear the gospel of Jesus when being handed these gifts and will know Him as their personal savior. 

Thank YOU, parents, for all being so very supportive and generous in this project. 

Fall Festival!

 I think that this year's Fall Festival was the BEST EVER!   We have Mrs. Leslie and Mrs. Brooklyn (one of our TPP moms) to thank for this.  

I do want to apologize for being so long between posts, again.  When I do this, I forget the small details of our days that make it so interesting (to me).  I did want to post a few pictures to show how completely adorable your kids were that day!

An apple a day...

I love apple day!    To expand on the pumpkin seed lesson, we talked about the life cycle of an apple-starting with the seed, seedling, tree, bud, blossom, and fruit.    The kids made apple prints and had a taste test of three varieties (the red won!).  The children charted their favorite apple. We briefly discussed fractions as I cut a whole apple into eight pieces. 

 

Building blocks

You might as well get used to me posting pictures of their block creations!  They always gravitate towards the classic wooden blocks.  Building with blocks help children develop a capacity for creative, divergent thinking (http://www.parentingscience.com/toy-blocks.html)-skills, as we know, are vital for well-rounded development!

A little blurry-but check out their hard work!

They worked together so well!

So proud of a job well done!

Shop 'til you drop!

Our shopping unit was particularly fun for me because it was the first time I used shopping as a unit topic.  It presented lots of neat opportunities.  They explored the physical properties of money (coin rubbings, penny vinegar soak-that experiment failed miserably!, etc.), briefly discussed presidents, categorized (which is difficult with nickles and quarters!), gained a better understanding of symbolic representation (the bar codes represent and item and price), and have a better understanding of the concept of exchange.  The role playing was so much fun to watch-the kids would take turns running the cash register and being the customer.  What I didn't expect was the kids would take the groceries "home" and unpack in the kitchen!

Disecting a pumpkin

WOW!  October snuck by on me! 

Here are some pics of a few of the kids before the Fall Festival festivities began.  I brought in a pumpkin, cut it open, and the kids go to town.   We used this opportunity to talk about seeds and how they grow.

This picture cracks me up for some reason