Pre-K Update

Well, the year has come to an end.  What an amazing class!  Each of you has learned so much over the last 9 months, have grown so much!  So now, you're ready for Kindergarten -

Mrs. Peterson, get ready! - Come next fall, these children will be yours.  I hand them over to you with sadness because I will truly miss them, but I know they will be in good hands!

Parents - Thank you for sharing your precious child with me this year! Thank you for your support, your prayers, and most of all for entrusting me with your amazing child!  I am forever grateful!

Our Year Pre-K 2007-08

Way back in September, when school had first begun

Came in 17 students, with 3 more yet to come.

There is Hannah, our best sleeper; the waker-upper must beware!

And when Thomas first joined us, he brought tears and Army bear!

Of course there is Kya who is quick, first in line every time.

And Bealul who called from Florida to hear his teacher’s voice on the line.

When Isaak lost a loved one, his friends showed him that they care;

Cheering him up with Visions of Heaven and lifting him up in prayer.

Solomon may not be a king yet, but his crown is stored in Heaven!

Angelina shared her wisdom, “Your mom’s not gone, she’s just in Heaven”!

Emma Lou-Lou’s heart stickers stuck around for awhile, as did her new nickname!

And right off the “bat” Gabe became a big brother, and out of his shell he soon came.

I’ll never forget the smile on Janine’s face, when a reader she became;

And because of Olivia’s jaunty dance, “Jingle Bell Rock” will never be the same!

When Yulia first came to Crossroad’s, little English she did speak,

And now as she leaves Pre-K fluent and reading, she smiles cheek to cheek!

Jonathan may be clumsy at times but it adds to his comedy spiel;

And when Helen came back from Africa, remember how Pre-K squealed!

And we’ll never forget Emilia, the winner of the most-talkative-at-rest-time award

And the honor she gave to Danny with new glasses, the handsomest boy award!

Half way through came Alex, and Andre started to shine

Then Jayden came bearing hugs to anyone he could find

Cerenity was last to come, shy at first, didn’t say a word

But to say that she is shy now to most would sound absurd!

We’ve had a full, fun year, with many memories to treasure

But come next fall, no longer mine, for Kindergarten they will enter.

We had a great time on our nature hike to search for creepy crawlers on Friday!  Take a look!

And, we're off!

Hannah looking for bugs!

Jonathan at-one-with-nature!  Here he's admiring his bugs!

Solomon showing me his find!  His excitement made the trip worthwhile!

Even the Pre-K girls got down and dirty searching for bugs!  Angelina dug in the dirt to find a worm!

Isaak and Danny discuss what kind of bug they found.  Pre-K's interest level superceded what I expected!  What a great learning experience - they had a mission to find bugs and set out on that mission without diversion.  Great job Pre-K, job well done, mission accomplished!  

If your child is suddenly complaining that they can't see very well and might need glasses, I think I have the answer.  You see, today, Danny came to school in his new glasses.  A fellow female student announced that "Danny is the most handsomest boy in the whole world!"  You can take it from here....

Gabe invited me to his T-Ball game last week.  During this game, he played catcher.  I couldn't help but think of the Armor of God - given to us not only to protect us, but to help us do the job that God has called us to do.  Thank you Gabe for this visual!

Pre-K has implemented the use of a "spy".  This job requires a student to stand somewhere in the hall to observe the behavior of other students.  This "powerful" position within the class makes this a very popular job choice each day.

Angelina took this job to a whole new level this week, by hiding behind the copy machine in order to view her classmates without being seen.  Needless to say, finding the perfect hiding place is now a priority of the "spy-of-the-day"!  

Olivia has also decided to use this "power" to her advantage.  During her stint as the "spy", Olivia chose to use hand signals to let her classmates know who was in charge (see below)! 

We had a great week this week!  When we got to the fire station on Friday, no one was there!  All the firefighters were out on a call - luckily we stuck around a bit because as we were getting back into the car to leave they came back!  We had a great time touring the station, climbing on the truck, and even spraying the hose!  I should have pictures posted on our picture page shortly!

Here are some quotes heard this week:

"Dear God, I pray we have a great day!  That we are all nice to each other and have fun. Amen!"  ~Emma's Snack Prayer

"Wouldn't that be great if the Lord came back to earth today?!" ~Angelina to her table group, during work time

"But I said 'Pretty Sorry' and she's still mad at me!  I said it like this: 'preeeetyyyyy sorry'." ~Emilia (if only you could see her flutter her eyelashes as she said it)! 

This week Pre-K discussed special talents that God gives each of us.  We talked about King Solomon's gift of Wisdom.  We also talked about Samson's gift of Strength, and how he lost his gift because his hair was cut.

Later on, while cleaning up for lunch, Jonathan helped me move a table.  He said: "I'm strong just like Samson.  But I'm not going to cut my hair!"

So, sorry parents, if your child doesn't want to get their haircut on their next trip to the barber! 

Since I have already told this story to almost everyone I know, I had better share it with you.  The following is an example of having "faith like a child":

After Isaak's mom had come in to give him a hug, Ms. Joyce told the class, "I just love seeing moms hugging their children, especially since I don't have a mom anymore."  With no hesitation, Angelina piped up and said: "Yes you do Ms. Joyce.  She's just up in Heaven!"

Isn't it wonderful how some of our greatest lessons come from those who we are supposed to be "teaching"?!  Your children are such a blessing.  I thank God for each of them everyday!

As many of you know, George had to have surgery yesterday.  I am thrilled to share with you that the hole in his head (caused by my daughter getting the blow dryer too close to George's hat), is now completely healed.  The "doctor" said that he will have scarring but he is scheduled to have some "plastic surgery", where the "doctor" will place a banana patch over his scar.  Thank you for your prayers during this time!

In November we will have a Pre-K and K Feast!  Pre-K will be dressing as Pilgrims and K will be Indians.  We will do activities together on Thursday, November 15th and will have our feast on November 16th!  I need parent volunteers for both days, so if you are available to help, please sign up on the volunteer page.

Also, Pre-K and K will once again be partnering up to perform a Christmas Program.  This program will be on December 12th during Chapel (8:45-9:25).  Please continue to check our volunteer page for opportunities to help with this program.  Thanks!

Emilia: "Solomon, someone mixed red in the playdough you brought today!"

Solomon: "Oh....Is that bad?" 

Emilia: "Yes!"

Solomon: "Mrs. Hickey!  Someone mixed my playdough!"

Another conversation overheard:

Olivia: "I'm going to tell your mom!"

Danny: "You don't know her phone number."

Today we were introduced to our scissors for the first time since school started.  These are not just ANY scissors, they are "C"rocodile scissors!  They have sharp mouths just like crocodiles and they will devour any dotted line in sight!  We had a feeding frenzy in class today, as we worked on cutting our "C" Pocket Book.  When the gnashing of the teeth was finished, we had pieces of dotted lines everywhere.  Yes, it was a bit messy, and got downright scary at times, but Pre-K escaped uninjured and is ready to tackle more dotted lines tomorrow!  Phew! 

Today each student got their very own Bible to look at and the smiles on their faces made my day!  Each child was so excited as they looked through their Bibles and talked about some of the stories.  At the end of Bible time, when Bibles had to be put back, there were many moans and even one with tears.  If only all of us were as excited about God's Word!

Matthew 18:3  "And He said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  What an example of this I was able to witness today!  Again, your children are such a blessing!  Thank you for sharing them with me!

A couple of funny things I heard today:

"Bananas are good for you.  They make you smart!" ~Gabe

After a discussion on King Solomon: "You mean King Solomon in the Bible?  Cuz I've never been to Heaven." ~Solomon

The discussion around the playdough table today was all about birthdays; who's invited, where it will be, how old they will be, etc.  Just a warning to parents, if you hadn't planned on throwing your child a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, you can expect that they will be asking today.  That was definitely the most popular destination! 

"I'm having my party at Chuck E. Cheese" "Me too!" Me too!" "Me too, and you can come too!" 

"I'm going to be 5!" "Me too!"  "Me too!"  "Me too!"  Imagine that!

Your children are such a blessing!  They keep me smiling!  Thank you!

I hope everyone had a restful weekend!  I know I did!  Today we started "B" week!  What a bright group of kids - I bet they can already tell you the difference between a Big B and a little b, and can tell you the sound it makes too!  We learned a new song about Bubba the Bear today, and made "b"ubble art!  Not everyone had a chance to participate today,  but we will have more time tomorrow.  You can see some pictures of bubble art on our pics page! 

Friday we will have Bear Day!  Your child will bring their teddy bear to school and we will do many activities with them.  They are really excited, but please try to help your child wait until Friday to bring their friend to school.

Thanks!

We now have day 2 behind us.  If you ask your child what they learned today, they might say "rules, rules, and more rules"!  Students are adjusting very nicely, and quickly I might add.  We are still working on learning names and played a fun game today to help us.  Bible songs were a hit today - what a great group for "The Lord's Army"!

Don't forget it's Dress Down Friday tomorrow! 

What a great start to our new year!  We had fun exploring the classroom today, learning the rules, and we even went to Chapel! 

Some funny things that I heard today:

"Can I have a day off? I can go to school for two days, but then can I have a day off?" - Emilia

"I just miss her (mom) so much.  I can't help it, I just love her!" - Gabe

I am looking forward to this school year!  What a great group of kids!

I am so excited for the 2007-2008 school year!  This is a year that you and your child will always remember.  This website is designed to keep you informed of what goes on in Pre-K.  It includes photos, descriptions of daily activities and special events, volunteer opportunities, our weekly newsletter, and much more!  Please feel free to access this website as often as possible.  You will find my home email address on the contact page and you can link to this website from Crossroads main site at www.ccscougars.com.  I look forward to a great year!