Grace Garden Preschool

The Ladybug room has been abuzz this week, as we finished our bug unit and began talking about Holy Week. The Ladybugs loved using orange spoons to scoop bird seed in the sensory table (orange is the color of the week!) and learning about the letter K.

We talked about our favorite arachnids on Tuesday--spiders! The Ladybugs made spiders by adding google eyes and eight legs to coffee filters, which they painted black. We sang, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", one of our all time favorites, and read a little board book called Little Spider by W. Lei. We headed out to the garden to look for spiders, and took a peek at our carrot and cucumber plants. Keep your fingers crossed...even after the Ladybugs' tender loving care, it's hard to say whether the seedlings are going to make it!

On Wednesday, we switched our chats to caterpillars. The Ladybugs painted egg cartons green and turned them into pet insects. They then crawled around on their tummies, pretending to be caterpillars. We switched gears for chapel when Pastor Amy talked about how Jesus was treated like a king during his last trip to Jerusalem. She even washed one of our friends' feet, just as Jesus washed the feet of the people who came to see him.
 
The Ladybugs continued their Easter lesson on Thursday, when we made stained glass crosses out of markers and paper. The children also decorated bunny cards for some of the home bound members of St. John's church. We read The Story of Easter by Patricia Pingry, a mild and extremely simple explanation of the first Easter.

This week, the Ladybugs focused on keeping their feet on the floor in the classroom (we have some climbers!) and being grateful for their friends. We practiced using our loving hands and our words, as well, and the Ladybugs are doing a great job!

Next week, we will continue our Easter celebration, which will culminate next Thursday, April 5th with an egg hunt! Please prepare to bring in eight plastic eggs, filled with small treats (no nuts or choking hazards, please). Some examples of treats include stickers, band aids, tattoos. The eggs should be filled and taped around the sides, so that the eggs can be opened at home. The hunt will take place during our morning outside time if you would like to join us. It should be a precious photo opportunity!

Until then, have a terrific weekend!

Love, 
Ms. Shannon and Ms. Tammy

The Ladybugs had a glorious time this week, hopping back into the swing of things, welcoming Spring, and becoming experts on bugs and birds! 

They started off the week "soaring" around wearing ladybug wings on their backs. They inspected interesting toy bugs in our sensory table and maneuvered tweeting toy birds around the room. The Ladybugs created speckled birds' eggs by spreading glue and sand on blue ovals. We read In My Nest, by Sara Gillingham, a class favorite, in which little fingers can manipulate a tiny blue bird puppet throughout the book. Our garden time got rained out that morning, but on Wednesday, we poured a couple inches of rain out of our drowning cucumber planters!

Later that day, we put together a new bird feeder and began waiting for our feathered friends to find it! We painted letter J's with purple paint to illustrate our letter and color of the week. The Ladybugs sang, "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee", which you may remember singing as a child! Pastor Amy taught us in chapel that God gives all his creatures what they need to live. She read us a book about the metamorphosis of butterflies and encouraged us to grow up to be beautiful and wonderful, just like those fluttering insects!

The Ladybugs began their Thursday by painting a robin to hang with our nest of blue eggs. And we just had to make paper ladybugs--the children sponged black spots onto their insects' backs. We sang our hearts out with Mrs. S in music class and delighted in what's become a weekly dance party. 

We couldn't help but notice on Tuesday how much the Ladybugs have grown. Not only their bodies have grown, but also their vocabulary! Because the Ladybugs are talking more and more, we focused this week on how to use words to be a good friend. We practiced using words when we wanted to share a toy, play with a friend, or tell a friend you like his new shoes! 

Over the next couple of weeks, we will learn about Holy Week and Easter. We hope you have a fun-filled weekend outside in what's supposed to be gorgeous Spring weather. We can't wait to see you all next week!

Love,
Ms. Shannon and Ms. Tammy

Spring was in the air in the Ladybug room this week, as we planted, cleaned, and talked about critters who welcome back warm weather.

Our week began with a batch of lemonade! We squeezed, smelled, and even sucked the yellow fruit before we stirred up a yummy pitcher of refreshing drink. Some of us loved the sour taste, while others shut their eyes and shuddered! We Ladybugs headed out to the garden and planted cucumber seeds in cups, which we hope will soon go home to be planted in your own gardens. We pulled on garden gloves and scooped soil in our sensory table while filling and dumping flower pots.

On Wednesday, the Ladybugs gave our back doors an official spring cleaning! They sprayed water from squirt bottles and wiped up with towels. They painted paper butterflies and learned a garden finger play and a song, “Signs of Spring.”  We later took a buggy ride and hunted for green grass and dandelions. Pastor Amy taught us about forgiveness in chapel and explained that when we forgive, we allow others to begin anew. When others forgive us, we may begin anew. 

The Ladybugs glued paper circles together on Thursday to form cute little caterpillars. We sang and danced with Mrs. S. in music class, where the Ladybugs are really learning the words to the favorite tunes! The Ladybugs also painted at the easel with yellow, our color of the week, before having a birthday celebration for our friend, Grace. By the way, thank you for the delicious snacks, birthday girl!

Next week is Spring Break! We hope you have a safe and happy week off together. We'll look forward to seeing you the following Tuesday when we'll talk about bugs and other creepy crawlies.

Love, 
Ms. Shannon and Ms. Tammy

With boots on our feet and hats on our head, the Ladybugs celebrated Texas's birthday in style this week! Aside from riding stick horses and herding the plastic animals in our sensory table, we talked about the color blue, letter H, and numbers one through five.

On Tuesday, the Ladybugs colored Texas flags on paper, learning the proper spots for the flag’s colors red, white, and blue. We also cut a huge state of Texas out of white paper and filled it with red and blue hand prints, to mimic the Texas Flag. We read Cowboy Small by Louis Lenski and talked about the animals, plants, and food that make up our Texan culture. We also took the Ladybugs on a buggy ride so that we could see the Texas flag flying high above the HEB across the street!

The Ladybugs began their Wednesday, brushing blue paint onto paper at the easel. They also colored pictures of cowboys, cows, and horses, which we made into puppets! Pastor Amy taught us in chapel that the cowboys of the Wild West would get lonely on their cattle drives and they would long for home. We then sang, "Home on the Range" and "Happy Birthday" to Texas. Later that day we dressed in suede (aka polyester) chaps, bandannas, and hats and posed for funny photos! We read a sweet book by Adam Gamble called, Good Night Texas.

By week's end, it was time to party! We donned our western wear and cut armadillos, boots, hats, and chili peppers out of Play Doh. The Ladybugs made bluebonnets out of glue and blue tissue squares. We baked our own cornbread muffins and ate them around a "campfire" while we read Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Betsy Lewin. Mrs. S. led us in our favorite tunes in music class - and even taught us some new cowboy-inspired songs. By the end of the day, we brought out the country music and we had a dance party. What a fantastic week!

Thank you, Jude, for the delicious snacks this week--you sure know how to treat your friends well. And thank you all for turning in your Summer Palooza and enrollment forms to Ms. Kym! 

Next week, we will talk about Spring and all of the wonderful things the season has to offer the Ladybugs! Enjoy your weekend with your adorable kiddos!

Love,
Ms. Shannon and Ms. Tammy