October Recap and Halloween Parade!

Black {Cc} Week

Black Week was the real beginnings of Halloween fun with black bats, witches’ hats and black cats. We learned about letter Cc, the sound it makes and found loads of Cc words by rehearsing the “Crazy Cook” chant. Ask your child what they know about the crazy cook at the corner café and get ready for some great stories and some good ‘C’ words! We also learned the number 5 poem and more about squares. 

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 16^th 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.

See you back on Monday. Much, much love to all!

Mrs. McClure

Miss Julie