SNOWY EASTER PREPARATIONS

Today is Easter, the sun is shining and the air is warm!! At long last! As you can see from the photos, our Easter parties were on snowy days. This is as late in the season as Easter can ever be and still it was cold and wintery right up to the last minute. Then WOW! What better way to frame the G00d News that Jesus lives! Isn't it good to know that no matter what spring throws our way, Easter still comes! Hope your Easter was beautiful!

IS IT SPRING YET?

Today has been feeling much more like spring with temperatures in the 50s! Our talk at school has been about birds and nesting and planting seeds. As soon as the children walked in the door Tuesday and Wednesday they went to work filling cups with soil and planting seeds for Mothers' Day. (The kind of seed is a secret. We aren't telling for now!) Of course, the seeds need water and sun to sprout so we have made an indoor garden of sorts by placing the pots in watering trays and putting them in the sunny windows in room 5-6. We will water them every day, checking to see if the sleeping seeds have begun to grow. Outside our windows we are watching the Pre School Garden. From our windows it appears that the garden is still sleeping, just like our seeds. Then we took a walk outside to examine the garden. Some tulips are coming up! They were planted last fall by our four year old classes. What a great spring surprise! I hope the bunnies don't find them. Shhhhh..... don't tell them.

After we planted our seeds today our hands were dirty and who should come to visit our classes? Evelyn, a Public Health student from Bethel University, came to demonstrate how we should wash our hands so that they really get clean. We need to soap all of the surfaces of our hands including between our fingers and on our fingernails. How long should we suds our hands? Keep washing until you finish singing the "Alphabet Song" or "Happy Birthday!"

This has been a busy week!

VISITORS COME TO PRE SCHOOL

We love to have visitors come to Pre School to tell us about their jobs and talents. During "tool week" we talked about how tools help make our jobs easier. We invited Charlie Eggert's dad, Jeff, to come and talk to the Orange and Blue Classes about the tools he uses in his dental office. Dr. Eggert first showed us his mask, which he wears over his mouth and nose so that he doesn't share his germs with his patients. He also has a very cool pair of glasses to wear. They have magnifying lenses in them that make it possible for him to see the tiny cracks and spaces in our teeth. Of course he brought a tooth brush which he used to brush his dragon puppet's teeth with gentle circling movements. The tooth brush is a tool we need to use to keep our teeth clean too. Before leaving, Dr. Eggert gave each student a "dental tool bag" which included tooth paste, a timer for brushing, and other nifty items! We are so glad he was able to find time in his schedule to come to school!

There are many kinds of tools and Builder Ed came to Pre School during "tool week" to show all of our students the tools he uses for building and fixing houses. (Builder Ed is Mrs. Shelly's dad who has recently remodeled her house.) Ed brought tools for measuring, tools for drilling, tools for sawing and pounding and tools, like his level, for keeping his work on the straight and narrow! Some of the tools were very noisy so he has to wear special ear protection. We got to try them on too. Builder Ed has a tool bucket which is FULL of all his tools. When he is working he puts the things he is using currently in his tool belt so they are handy for him to use. Before Builder Ed left we all got to squeeze the trigger on his cordless drill and feel it vibrate and see it spin. Thank you for spending time with us Builder Ed!

Tools are really cool!

HO HUM

Pajama Day was a total success! Did we all lay around taking naps? No way!! But we did wear our pajamas, snuggle with our bedtime friends and eat cereal for snack. Our stories were about " The Napping House." By the end of the story, no one was napping in the Napping House and certainly not at Pre School. We thought you would enjoy seeing some of us in our best sleeping attire!

Valentine's Day/Red Day

Hey! Look at the fabulous job these three year olds did with the blocks. They used every one of them eventually!

I have made a Valentine

For a little friend of mine

It' red and white and lacy, too!

I opens and says,

I Love You!

We have been cutting, pasting, stamping and eating hearts at Pre School! Sharing Valentine's is so much fun. This has also been a good time to talk about being a good friend and helpful child. You can see in these pictures that we have been working very hard on all of our Valentine projects. We hope you have enjoyed them.

On Monday, February 14 (yes, on Valentine's Day) the Blue and Purple Classes had a special visitor, Jolene Jacobs. Jolene teaches stamping at our church. She brought some of her stamps and equipment to school so the children could make cards for someone special. We want to thank Jolene for all her help with this project!

Hope your Valentine's Day was a good one!

FUN OUTSIDE IN THE WINTER

It's been a record setting year for snow in the Twin Cities. That hasn't kept us from enjoying the outdoors! Here are a few pictures of the children living it up in the backyard!

HI HO, HI HO IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL WE GO

We're back in school and it's fun to see our friends again after the Christmas break. There is so much snow in our backyard that we are having a hard time walking around in it. What a silly problem to have! The custodial staff had to snowplow a path for us out to the "emergency tree" and up to the sidewalk on top of the hill. It helps us walk around and it also makes a great sliding path! We learned a little about polar bears earlier this month and it is clear that our January weather is perfect for them!

Right now we are reading some of our favorite nursery rhymes and fairy tales. We have lots of puppets, flannel graph figures, dress up clothes and castles to help us retell our favorite stories.

The Orange and Green Classes are learning fun songs for their program which they will be giving on Thursday, February 17. It takes a lot practice to do a good job. We love repetition!