Thanksgiving is all about gathering with family. We were filled to the brim at our house and hosting my out-of-town company was a full time job. This email just had to wait.
I just wanted to report our last days before the big grateful day.
We finished our last preparations for our Indian costumes with the introduction to Letter Ii. Indian, inches, igloo, isn’t it itchy. We also pulled out a tape measure and measured several of the children, discovering what ‘inches’ were. “Do me! Do me!” Ha!
Our Indian headbands had triangles to fill in. Trig was so cute, “My teeth are done!” The children had finger painted Indian signs on their costumes, an orange sun for ‘day’ or a blue rain sign. As we were putting our costumes on, Navy noticed that one of the paintings looked more like a blue splash of water, “Mrs. McClure, she kind of scribbled the paint all over!” I told her that some of us may be artists and some of us may be singers. She quickly replied, “She must be a singer!” Ha! Miss Julie and I laughed and laughed!
I asked the children, “What is a feast?” Miles B. said, “A kind of ant!” Gracia said, “Passing out food!” Madden said, “Helping people grow plants!” Trig said, “Eating food!” Mason said, “Where lots of food is and people get together and eat!” Que said, “Everybody comes to celebrate!” Hendris, “The Pogrims!”
I asked, “Where did the pilgrims come from?” Nash asked, “From space?” Ha!
I asked the children to tell me about the first Thanksgiving. Lincoln said, “They came from a king castle.” Josh said, “The mean king said you must go to my church!” Mason, “You have to pay the king!” Que said, “They moved to a different place on a boat.” Jace said, “Because they wanted to be free.” Boston said, “They went on a big ship.” Gracia said, “The Main Flower!” Navy, “It was the Mayflower!” Madden, “They went to America!” Sienna, “It was all plain.” Hendrix, “There was no houses!” Navy, “They had to cut down trees to make log cabins. Lily, “They were very tired.” Madden, “The pilgrims were hungry.” Lily, “No corn at the store!” Mason, “They tried to plant seeds, but it didn’t grow well. Josh, “The Indians were watching them.” Joseph, “The Indians do it!” Lily, “The Indians helped them and then they growed!” Jace, “Three fish in the ground. Put seeds in and it grows.” Que, “Taller and taller and taller! Weally tall!” Gracia, “The pilgrims invited them to a feast but only the braves could come.” Preston, “They invited 2 Indians.” Que, “60!” Rustin, “14!” Fox, “100!” Nathan, “No! It was one and one and one and one.” Navy, “It was 99 braves. Only boys! Not girls! The chief said!” Kaylee, “The Indians brought turkeys.” Mason, “They shooted wild turkeys!” Daphne, “And they cooked them up!” Navy, “They were thankful!”
Our feast was fabulous, as each child filled their plate with all the things they wanted to eat from our feast table. While we ate on blankets on the front lawn, we talked about what we were thankful for. Most of the children mentioned their family or moms and dads. Smith said, “My snacks!” Chance said, “My dog!” Navy said, “Jesus.” Ivy said, “Our costumes!” Mason said, “Taco Bell burritos! The bean ones!” Preston said, “I like kitty cats.” Ha! We had a great day!
We hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are so very thankful for you!
We will be sending a song line for your child to memorize as part of our Christmas program. We will be assigning those today and sending those out this week. Look for them in your child’s folder. Please remember no Show-N-Tell until January. You may find little to nothing coming home in the weeks to come. We will be making things to display or wrap up for our program on the 20th. We hope all will be well to come as much as possible. Everyday will be filled with lots of things to do and accomplish as we move into this busy month. It is hard to make up projects in class, but we do our best. We are excited with the season of Christmas in full bloom. We absolutely love this time of year.
Good morning! Let me bring you up to date on letter Tt! It was terrific! It was tremendous! It was toooo much turkey fun together!
We all listened to the tick of my clock from off the wall held very close to our ears, “tih, tih, tih”. We learned “Tt Ticks To Tell The Time!” We discovered many Tt words, train, tiger, turkey; even Teletubby!
We sang and twirled for one last time as we spelled B R O W N, being our last color word for the year. We will miss our color weeks. In past years, we have heard the children ask, “What color is it this week?” Sorry! No more colors. You can wear anything you want. Inevitably, someone will ask, “So what color do I wear?”
We will also not be having anymore Show-N-Tell until after Christmas. We will use the time to learn songs and dances for our program on the 20th at 10:00am. Please, please mark your calendars to attend. You will not want to miss it. We will have a hat and/or prop or a cane for every song they sing. You will want to invite family members and/or grandparents to attend. Plan on using your cameras bigtime!
We jumped right into the grateful holiday by making turkey hats. As soon as the children started, we began to hear a myriad of squawks and clucks. Despite my persistence to remind the children that a turkey says, “gobble, gobble”, the end result was a chicken barnyard. Madden led the foul group, “Look! I’m a chicken! Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!” flapping his wings to lead a string of brainless birds flapping and squawking and strutting around! “Madden, It’s a turkey! Turkeys gobble! They gobble!” Too funny!
It just got bigger and better, louder and squawky-er as the week progressed. By the time we made our turkey/number game and made our turkey bag costumes, I’m sure the week had gone to the birds! Ha! I couldn’t, resist while packing the little birdies in their cars, announcing, “This one was a real turkey today!” Buah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
We were surprised and delighted one of those mornings to have one little turkey change the mood of our day. It was totally refreshing when we heard Gracia softly serenading herself during tub time, “Glo-oh-oh-oh-oh, O-oh-oh-oh-oh, O-oh-oh-oh, Or-ia!” repeating the chorus over and over again as she stacked blocks together. It was the sweetest thing! It absolutely filled me with the Christmas Spirit and I have longed for that holiday to come ever since. Thank you, Gracia!
A couple of fun conversations: I can’t even remember what Dani did wrong, but she profoundly announced, “I made a mistake, Mrs. McClure! Mistakes happen!” So cute!
While waiting for Ryder to get picked up one day, he asked me what my big door was, high up inside the preschool. I told him it was my attic door. I asked, “Do you have an attic?” “Yah. We keep dogs and chickens and goats in our attic.” Really? “Yah. ‘Cause they always want to run away!”
I get a kick out of Ryder. He is always saying things that make us laugh or raise an eyebrow. Several weeks ago as we were waiting for rides, my husband and daughter parked down the street and came in through the front door of my house. Ryder alerted me, “Mrs. McClure! I think I just saw your gramma and grampa going inside your house!” I tried to repeat that to tell Miss Julie at the time and I could not even get the words out! I was doubled over so much from laughing. We still laugh at that. Surprisingly enough, my daughter and husband were not amused!
This coming week is a change from our regular schedule. I hope you noticed it on the calendar and the treat schedule. We sent a note explaining most of that along with a plea to send 25 small bite-sized somethings for our feast. Please send no backpacks on that day and the ‘somethings’ in a disposable bag or container. We will be dressing in our Indian costumes. It is a fact that 99 braves and their chief attended the first thanksgiving feast with the pilgrims to honor and help celebrate their gratitude for them with so much abundance in the face of starvation. So, in a great effort to throw all political “correctness” out the window in order to honor the true facts of history, we will be representing those 99 braves who helped to save some starting immigrants; our ancestors. Times will remain the same. We simply switched school on Wednesday, to Tuesday so we could dress up the children, celebrate the feast and add a day that didn’t encroach upon my own Thanksgiving plans.
Might I add my thankful heart and gratitude for all of you wonderfully supportive parents who patiently plow through these lengthy emails and follow our suggestions and requests to an abundant degree? How very thankful we are for you and your perfect children. Thankful. Thankful. Thankful.
Green week was so great! Letter Ff was fffun to sound out and we also learned the number 9 poem. We twirled around in our green clothes, spelled and sang all about green and then named everything we could think of that was green. Dani even showed us her green underwear, proof of wearing green so she could line up ahead of others. Too funny! The third day to name green things, Lilly said, “Toes!” No! Toes does not begin with F. Then, someone said, “Feet!” Lilly perked up, “See! I told you it was toes!” Ha ha!
Green Poem: G-R-E-E-N spells GREEN! Green like a frog {ribbet!} Green like a tree. G-R-E-E-N spells GREEN! Just like broccoli.
The children had a ball after making the stick frog on Monday. The blow-tongues were non-stop! Navy Eaton was so fun. She giggled and laughed every time she blew her frog’s tongue! We did too!
The rainbow fish was a very fun project as well. The children had a great time gluing the colorful fan-scales on and adorning them with sequins. The room was almost quiet as each child fussed over their fish deciding where to put the next scale or sequin. Very fun!
Thursday, we read the story of The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly. The children drew pictures of what they would swallow if they were the old woman. I don’t know which picture was more fun, Jace’s amazing car or Cannon’s mac & cheese! We laughed and laughed at every one.
We played the candy game and named lots of color words, letters with sounds, numbers with poems, and shapes, too. The children are getting very proficient at all of these things, especially when it comes to getting a candy tossed with the correct answer. We love that game!
Que has grown quite fond of Miss Julie. Yesterday, he called out to her, “Hey, Miss Julie!” and then, he sent his best and biggest wink her way with his winning smile! Ah, that Miss Julie. Everyone loves her! But, you know, it’s hardly fair that Miss Julie gets all the good jobs. She gets to sing, “You have a candy day! La, la, la, la, la, lah!” and then, offers up the candy jar! She smiles and warmly, welcomes the children from their car! She gives them stamps and lays the treats out for them in line each day! No wonder they love her so much! I get to tell them, “Go wash your hands!” Don’t eat your clothes!” “Use your inside voice!” “Push your chair in!” “Sit down!” Stand up!” Don’t forget to close your glue!” I could go on and on! I have to give them 5 times as many affirmations, just to keep them from loathing me! Sheesh! Ha ha! But seriously, we do love our Miss Julie! What would we do without her??? I am very, very thankful for her.
Hey! It would be a great idea to review the letters we have learned thus far in our book, Rhett and The Alphabet. We have learned Oo, Cc, Gg, Aa, Pp, and Ff. We will soon be shedding the shape and color cards and use only the letters. We will also soon be playing, Guess the letter by it’s story and the sound it makes, asking the winner to take a turn at it. We hope that by playing these games and familiarizing the children with the letter stories, they will all be ready to jump into reading by January. That’s our plan. Your help at home is invaluable! Next week, we will be learning letter Tt.
Next week is Brown Week. It will be our last color week and our final number 10, as we move into the holidays. We will not be having Show-N-Tell after Thanksgiving to make time for Christmas songs and dances to prepare for our program. We will then, resume Show-N-Tell after Christmas when we all return back to school, Girls, always on Monday, Boys on Wednesday.
The children found lots of squares in our room. Adalyn found the black boxes. Lillian said the file drawers. Reagan said the chalkboard and clock and Jace pointed out the squares on the calendar. Clyde had the perfect clothes on; a shirt with a big black square on the front and checkered black and white shoes. We brought him to the front of the class for all to see. It really was perfect. The children also named many black things. Allison said the TV. Sienna said markers. Madden said rats, Mason, bats, Lincoln said witch hair with a black hat. Que said spiders, Chance said jaguars and Jace ended black widows.
We launched into our Halloween songs. The children loved them. Josh said he knew a song about pumpkins rolling until they cried. Miss Julie said, “I gotta write that one down!” I sang a song about a witch riding high in the sky. When I sang, “So beware! Don’t you dare… to make a boast… or a ghost… to your dismay… will hear you say… you don’t care… say a prayer… or IT WILL COME AND PULL YOUR HAIR!!! Buaaahhahahaha! Madden quickly folded his arms, bowed his head and began to pray as soon as I sang, ‘say a prayer’, and he plead out loud for Heavenly Father to bless him that I would not pull his hair. Too funny and so obedient!
Monday, the children colored a witch with her black hat and then, played Candy Corn Count with Mrs. Walters. Oh, how the children have loved Mrs. Walters. We are indebted to her. Her last day was Wednesday. Several children have continued to ask about her, especially Daphne. “Where’s Mrs. Walters? She’s so fun. I love her!” and then, as an afterthought, “But I love you, too!” So cute! What a diplomat! We got lots of pictures of all the children surrounding her for a group hug! “Thank you, Mrs. Walters!” We are excited to see her again as my sub later this month.
Wednesday, we made black bats. The children loved attaching streamers to their bats and shaking red glitter onto the dots of glue they dropped inside the bat faces. “Ooh! Now, they look spooky!” I told the children to have someone tie their bat underneath a ceiling fan where it could fly all month until Halloween! They couldn’t wait to get them home!
Thursday, we colored a black cat and attached it to a stick with the witch to make a fun flip-stick to use while singing, “The Mean Old Witch” song. We videotaped both classes singing and flipping their sticks.
It feels so good to be back. I have truly missed being with all these sweet children to enjoy all the fun things they say and do. My husband continues to do well in his progress of healing. It took two days to get him home, making stops along the way while avoiding the altitude of an aircraft, but it did give us some really nice time together. I told him we need him. What would we do without “custodial services” in preschool? Ha! Thank you to so, so many for your loving support and faith and prayers.
Next week is Mesa School’s October Break. We will follow the same schedule and break for a week. We will resume on Monday, the 16th with White Week, letter G, ghosts and skeletons; more Halloween decorations for your homes this month! Ha!
Have a lovely week with your families. I heard of some of your get-away plans from several of the children. Travel safe and we hope to see all well, back on the next, next Monday!
White {Gg} Week
Gggolly G! It was gggood! Even gggreat! We found lots of Gg words this week. Chance said, “Graveyard!” Sienna said, “Glasses!” Miles B. said, “Green!”. We also enjoyed so many donning the color white as we again sang about our color, twirled and spelled it in a song. The children loved the part, “Ghosts are white and they say, ‘Boo’!” And, of course, the children found lots of things to list that were white; ghosts, skeletons, paper, snow. Ella said, “Teeth”! Dani said, “A polar bear!” Taeya said, “Mail!” Adalyn said, “Daisies”! Avery said, “People”! And Leisel said, “Stripes on a zebra!” Now, that’s what I call reading between the lines! Ha!
We learned a new number poem to make a 6. The children are really doing a gggreat job on their number poems. I love to hear them rehearse them from the top.
Monday, the children loved making a billowy ghost. (Watch the video at the end to see more fun ghosts!) By the end of class, the boos were raising the roof! So, it was great fun and relief to have all those ghosts float from the room in succession as the line of children filtered out the door, “Boooooooooo!” I always wish the parents could just be here for those precious priceless moments.
Wednesday, we stretched the children to use their creative abilities to construct a skeleton with Q-tips. I had to laugh when Dani’s grandmother, Yah-yah, mentioned, “That’s the greatest use of a Q-tip ever!” Ha! They were all so unique and wonderful!
Thursday, the children fashioned a skull that really captured most of the boys’ interests! “Woah! That is so cool!” “It’s awesome!” Both classes. I couldn’t even write all of their names. They were sufficiently engaged! I love that! I also loved hearing from Josh’s mom, “You are supplying our entire Halloween decorations!” So great!
When we read the story of “The Class Pet From the Black Lagoon”, it spurred on a discussion about everyone’s pet. After listening to many share about their pets, Preston reported that he had a pet penguin. I responded by saying, “Penguins need it to be very cold.” He replied, “I know. He lives in the snow!” Too cute!
That will be Orange Week and Letter Aa with spiders and Frankenstein and scarecrows; perfect for scaring letter A, who is so afraid, “Ahhhhh!” Have fun!
Halloween Party and {Pp}urple Week
Holy Crow! We are already 5 days into November! Time is racing by.
Our Halloween days are gone but OOOH, did we have fun! The video does a better job of covering the events than I could never tell in words. You must log on and see for yourself; the trick-or-treating, frosting jack-o-lantern cookies, the boo bingo, the parade and Halloween songs, the spooky crafts! Ahhhhh! Too much to tell. Go watch it…NOW! You’ll love it!
While making spiders, Madden announced that spiders have 1030 eyes. Ms. Walters said to Kohl, “You need 1 more leg!” He replied, “Oh no! COME ON!” Ha, ha! Kohl cracked us up all week. We were playing the candy game, recognizing number, color and letter cards. When I got to Kohl, to have him tell us what his card was, he could not remember. I told him it was a #5. He shouted, shaking and slapping his head, “That number 5 is going to kill me!” So cute!
Purple and letter P were short lived with only two days, but we did manage to pppick out P words in our Purple Pickle song and learn how to spell purple. Que was so cute, “I love your purple shirt, Miss Julie!” PURPLE SONG: (I love you, you love me tune) P-U-R-P-L-E Purple has two P's you see Like the grape on the vine, or the plum on the tree. P-U-R-P-L-E
We made a great pirate and learned about pilgrims. I asked, “Do you know what pilgrims are?” Hendrix answered, “No! but I have a book about a magic tree house!” Ha!
I showed the children a picture of a cornucopia and asked if anyone knew what it was. Lincoln said it looked like a pinecone. Sienna guessed, “Snake?” Mason, “It’s a pie!” Boston and Ryder both thought it looked like a snail. Avery guessed, “A snail house?” Hendrix said, “Hive!” Dani, “A lion?” Navy H., “An acorn!” Leisel asked, “Is it a turkey?” I laughed out loud as I said no and told them all what a cornucopia was. Too funny!
I love getting the chance to hang with these sweet children once again. I love them so. Some are full to the brim waiting to explode with all they want to tell us, while others charm and delight us with their surprise remarks and genuine perfection. She, who must not be named, is always filled with drama, drama, drama, “My mom gets mad at me and it breaks my heart!” Ha ha! They are priceless.
We hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend as we move into the holidays. Christmas is just around the corner. Please mark your calendars for our Big Christmas Program December 20 at 10:00am. You won’t want to miss it. It is the best thing we do all year with songs and props to allow the children to perform and show off their adorable selves. I love it so much.
