Tactile Letters

I can't believe tomorrow school is back in session. It has been a great Christmas break. I was able to relax, watch Gilmore Girls, and spend time with family and friends. Over break I went into my classroom only ONCE!!! Yahoo! I did one project over break for my classroom and I can't wait to start using them tomorrow.My colleague found these letters at Hobby Lobby and wanted one for every week. I thought it was a great idea and thought it would be fun to add different textures that match the theme. Here are the first 4 letters I made.

 M for Monsters

I bought Paper Mache Letters from Hobby Lobby and painted it with lime green acrylic paint. Then I gorilla glued (gel) the large wiggle eyes on. Then I hot glued neon pom poms on the front and back. I did not put pom poms on the sides because I wanted the shape of the letter to stay intact.

 R for Rockets/Space

I sprayed paint the letter R with a glossy black. I put to much on, so I dabbed off the excess with a paper towel which it gave it some dimension. Then I sprayed glitter spray paint. Once the painted dried I add the glitter star stickers to the front and back.

 W for Water

First, I painted the edges with blue acrylic paint. Then I used the traced the letter on this scrapbook paper. Once I cut it out, I used spray adhesive to stick the scrapbook paper on the front and back.

O for Ocean

My wonderful friend made this one for me. She used spray adhesive then sprinkled sand on top. She did this 2 times. After the second layer of sand was on, she then sprayed a top coat of the spray adhesive to help the sand stay on the letter and not fall off. 

Rebekah

A Peek Into My Classroom - First Arrangement

Back to school again.

This year I will NOT be changing rooms mid year, so I am able to take my time in setting up my classroom. This summer I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would like my classroom to look and what the flow of the classroom needs to be. Here is a look at my classroom.

 Dramatic Play: Changes monthly
Sep. - Harvest Sale
The board behind it is our Bible Board. Once school starts each child will make a self portrait to go on it.

 Reading Corner
My favorite spot and hopefully by the end of the year, it is their favorite spot.
Right above it is our Word Wall. We have a variety of books in the baskets on the left. Those will continue to change throughout the year. The bookshelf on the right changes weekly with the theme. We have a basket of Reading Buddies, felt board and puppets to retell stories.

Close up of the books and "Reading Buddies."

Our tables in a fun L shape. Gotta try something new!

Each child gets a new table spot each month. Here is their journal and "I'm a Preschooler" name tag.

List of Jobs. Every child has a job. This switches weekly along with their rug spot.

Our "Learning Corner". 

Our World Map! It is way more fun to learn about countries with a giant map on our wall.

Teacher chair, alaphabet pocket chart, morning songs, morning meeting materials.

Kitchen

Art Area: It is a favorite spot. The three rulers will hold different crafts throughout the year. The clips make it easy to change and NO rolling of tape or things falling off the wall!! :)
We will put out a variety of art supplies and the children will have time to create freely. 

My aide's and Mine area! Counter and sink for everyday needs. Desk and cupboard full of supplies!

 Each year, every student puts his/her thumbprint on my tree. It will be fun to see how full it is in a few years!! I LOVE my teacher toolbox. I cannot believe I went a WHOLE year without one!

Our Preschool Community Wall
Each student has a name on the leaf. Every owl is a teacher and aide!

My Owl!

Our Cubbies! We use the buckets to hold hats, mittens, scarves, etc. during the winter. It really helps us not loose everything! Best Dollar Tree purchase.

These frames are from Ikea. I have them around the room on Open House night. They say what to leave where.
This is the first arrangement! 

 Table Tags

 This year my name tags weren't sticking to the table, so I tried using velcro command strips, but the kids kept pulling them off. Found out that Clorax leaves a residue. We used our school cleaner and the name tags stuck again!

Second Arrangement Post Coming!!!

I is for Ice Cream - Year 2013

Forgot to post our favorite week we had last year. I will be posting this year's update soon!
Here's a look at my first year Ice Cream Week!
 
What a FUN week we have had! 

This has been my favorite unit, yet!!! 

The week began with shaving cream ice cream cones. We talked about mixing colors and what happens. They enjoyed the texture of shaving cream and making a "puffy ice cream cone."

Shaving Cream Ice Cream Cone

1. Triangle Cone glued onto a piece of card stock.

2. Mix shaving cream, paint and glue. 

3. They had the choice of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or mint. 

Ice Cream Shop - Dramatic Play

What a hit!! They fight over who gets to be in the center. I made 4 different types of play dough ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, mint and strawberry). I added coca to the chocolate play dough, mint extract to the mint and vanilla extract to the vanilla play dough. They loved that it smelt just like ice cream.

Morning Meeting Greeting

Hippity Hop to the Ice Cream Shop

"Hippity hop to the ice cream shop to buy an ice cream soda.

Which ice cream do like (insert students name)?"

This is a hit as well. They love choosing a new favorite flavor of the day. 

Miss Holmquist

Bible: Moses

My class LOVED the story of Moses. We have spent 2 weeks learning about Moses. What an amazing story he has. 

Week One: Moses as a baby

Unfortunately, this part of the story is not in the Jesus Storybook Bible. I wanted to include this story because for a 3 & 4 year old, babies are apart of their life and they are interested in it. Most of them have younger or new baby siblings.

Memory Verse: God protects us. Psalm 121:7

Craft/Journal: Baby Moses in the River

After watching the Beginner's Bible Story: Moses we made our own baby Moses and placed it in our journals.  The children had a lot of fun creating their own baby Moses. 

Idea Credit: Pinterest - http://www.broomandcrown.com/2011/02/baby-moses-project.html

It was easy to make. I had my WONDERFUL aide glue the blue construction paper into their journals. Then I used our school die-cut machine to make the head (mini circle die-cut) and body (mini tag die-cut). I drew on the face too. I quickly cut out a brown oval (color and shape of the month). The students practiced their cutting skills by cutting strips of green grass. Then they glued the basket and grass onto the blue construction paper. Then the glued baby Moses into the basket. They were SO proud of their pictures.

Week Two: Moses - Burning Bush, Plagues, Red Sea and 10 Commandments

What A LOT to fit in!!! We watched all of the Jesus Storybook Bible videos. The kiddos loved retelling the story. They were into the plagues, especially the frogs.

Memory Verse: God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Our curriculum had these great templates for the cloud and fire! We talked about how God was always with the Israelites and that He used a cloud during the day and fire at night to lead the way. My aide cut out and glued the cloud and fire to construction paper and then to craft sticks. Each child had 2 sticks. It is easier for them to know what to hold up to reenact the story.

Once they were done coloring, we all lined up to reenact the story. I was Moses and they were the Israelites. Right before we started the reenactment, I had an idea to give each child a tap light that they would light up when it was "nighttime." They thought it was amazing! To finish it off, we walked through the red sea (our tables) and sat on the other side, aka our rug.

I am excited for next week: Joshua and the Battle of Jerhico.

Bible Loving Teacher,
Miss Holmquist

Bible Curriculum

I have really enjoyed our new Bible curriculum this year. Especially since my colleague/friend and I spent one night aligning our curriculum with the Jesus Storybook Bible. Now I feel like I can incorporate Bible everyday. 

Curriculum:

We use the Jesus Storybook Bible as our outline for the year. The kiddos LOVE the stories and the videos that go with each one. My favorite part is that every story points to Jesus! If you do not have this Bible, I highly recommend it. You can buy the Bible and videos here. In addition to the Jesus Storybook Bible we also use Route 52 Curriculum: God's Word and God's Love. There is a little overlap between the two books, but it has age appropriate lessons and activities.

Now that our curriculum is merged together and in order of the Jesus Storybook Bible we are ready to go!

Memory Verses:

We use some of the verses in the curriculum, but majority of the time we find our own. want each verse to start with "God." By the end of the year, our Preschoolers will have memorized the many characteristics of God! How cool is that?

I am looking forward to a great year, sharing the love of Jesus with these young children. 

In a Flash...

Just like that, in a flash, the year is done!

What a year it has been. No amount of college classes could have fully prepared me for the year I have had. It has been a memorable year, with many twist and turns and up and downs. 

Top 5 Things I have learned:

5. There is a LOT of information out there. I will never be able to do all of it, even though I want to.

4. Build a relationship with you colleagues and your boss. It is important to have them on your team.

3. Take the extra mile to connect with your families. Whether it is creating free time in the morning to talk with parents. Coming to school early or staying late and keeping the door open. They appreciate the relationship they have with their child's teacher.

2. A great support system is ESSENTIAL! Thanks to all of you who encouraged, listened, and supported me throughout the year.

1. God is faithful. He was with me each and every day.

Top 5 Highlights of the year:

5. Funny Quotes

4. Our Christmas Party!

3. Our Grandparents Day Program - Let It Go!

2. Our new classroom!

1. Seeing my kiddos faces everyday!

Looking forward to year two!

One Year Experienced Teacher,
Miss Holmquist

Year 2...

Year TWO!!!

How is that possible? At times I think I should still be attending classes, and other times it feels like I have been teaching for many, MANY years!

8 days in and I am lovin' my new bunch of kiddos. Our Preschool and PreK program is busting at the seems. It is amazing to see God's work in our school. What a privilege I have to love on these kiddos and teach them about the Lord.

This year I am teaching with two friends from college. It is crazy how God works. Never in a millon years would we have thought that we would be teaching together and now here we are!

I can't wait to see what God has for us this year. It is going to be a GREAT year. 

Welcome back to school. 

A Blessed Teacher, 

Rebekah