St. James Day School PreK had our Christmas Program on Thursday, December 7, at St. James Episcopal Church. This time of year it is easy to get caught up in the rush of the Christmas holiday and lose focus on what is the true meaning of Christmas. The children were able to share the Nativity story to a sanctuary filled with loving family members and friends. I am so blessed to be able to teach my students about Jesus’ birth and talk openly about God at St. James. The children were very dedicated to learning the songs and movements for the program. How impressive these children are! They memorized songs, lines, solos, and moving parts. This takes a tremendous amount of focus, attention and courage to get in front of a lot of people. These kinds of activities are very important to their social-emotional development.  Young children’s social-emotional development involves learning how to understand their own and others’ feelings, regulate and express their emotions appropriately, build relationships with others, and interact in groups.  Children’s interactions with others are crucial to their learning.  When their interactions are positive, young children are more likely to have positive short and long-term outcomes.  Words could never express how proud I am of their determination and hard work.

We stepped back in time to 1697 and visited the 5th grade living history exhibit of Colonial America.  We started in the Southern Colony of Maryland, followed along to Pennsylvania Colony and finished in the Rhode Island Colony.  PreK was very attentive to the presentations, and were able to purchase penny candy from the general store. 

We have learned all about the letter G this week.  We added the words green, go, gopher and goat to our word wall.  We are also on the number 11.  The children had to trace and then write the number 11.  They had to trace the word eleven and then write it themselves.  They went on a number hunt, and had to circle every number 11 they found.  They cut out 11 pennies and pasted them into a piggybank, and drew 11 windows on a building. 

I added orbeez beads to the sensory table, and this has been the most popular center.   They will stay in the table until Christmas break.   

We worked on AB, AAB, and ABC Christmas patterns. Guiding children to understand patterns is a foundational skill in mathematics.  Children begin to identify patterns in their environment at an early age.  As they learn to label patterns by having one name stand for something else, they are creating an algebraic representation.

We put up our Christmas tree, and have been making our own ornaments.  The children painted their own Christmas tree and decorated it with pompoms.  They are very unique and are on display in our windows. 

I absolutely love teaching at St. James and being able to lead the little ones in a daily chapel and the Pledge of Allegiance.  What a great way to get your day started on a positive note!

I have been talking to the students about kindness.  The simple acts of kindness seem to go unnoticed in this world we live in.  The children were given the prompt “I can light up the world with kindness by…..” on a Christmas bulb.  They had to draw of picture of them performing an act of kindness and I transcribed their words onto the picture.   Activities like this are helping their emergent writing and critical thinking skills.  Writing originates from drawing and is supported by make-believe play.  Understanding the mechanics of the writing system has a moderate correlation with reading in the primary grades.  

We have investigated bread!  Bread is everywhere.  Nearly every culture in the world eats some type of bread.   As we studied bread, we learned concepts and skills related to physical development, literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology.  We also developed thinking skills as we observed, investigated, asked questions, solved problems, made predictions, and tested our ideas.

We enjoyed making our own bread.  Making bread allows the children to demonstrate their knowledge of print by following a recipe.  Children see print in their homes, in their schools, on street signs, and elsewhere throughout their communities.  Knowledge of print and its uses includes understanding that print carries a message and that print is organized and read in particular ways.  Young children’s concepts about print are a good predictor of later reading, writing, and spelling ability.   Making our own bread also allowed them to compare and measure ingredients.  Preschool children understand that there are different ways of measuring.  They are beginning to recognize the attributes of length, height, width, capacity, and weight.   

One of the reasons I love teaching at St. James is the fact that I have the flexibility to allow a child to make breakfast for his friends. Colin, our guest chef, served chocolate chip waffles to his classmates and teachers……..priceless moment!  Who would not want this loving, nurturing and FUN environment for their child?  This is the prime example of building positive relationships with peers, which is so important in social-emotional development.

We celebrated our study of bread by taking a field trip to Be the Blessing Bakery.  The bakery is a program of the Randy Sams' Outreach Shelter. They provide jobs by employing individuals experiencing homelessness.  Cathy Smith, Bakery Program Director, taught our little ones the importance of wearing nets over their hair while cooking.  They were able to see how cupcakes are made and the ingredients used.  Each child took a turn at putting the batter into a muffin cup and then were able to decorate and eat their own creations!! 

Our community service project this fall was making decorations and cards for the Randy Sams Thanksgiving luncheon.  Both PreK classes joined together for this project.  Together we made 102 cards, and 130 placemats for the shelter.  Also, 216 tubes of toothpaste were generously donated by longtime St. James Day School supporter Andrew S. Curry, D.D.S.  Mrs. Jennifer Laurent, Executive Director of the Randy Sams Shelter, came to our classroom and talked to the children about the shelter, and picked up the decorations.

Part of our community service in PreK is going to Opportunities, Inc., to sing halloween songs. These types of activities help with their social-emotional development.  The foundational skills for being a productive member of social and learning groups are established during the early childhood years, and they are important for early school success.  Children who are socially competent interpret social situations and match their behavior accordingly.  We have been practicing for about a month and the children did an outstanding job!

After singing, we loaded up and headed over to the Curtis farm for a hayride, games, and lunch.  What a great way to establish and sustain positive relationships, and making and keeping friends.  Being able to establish caring relationships and to enter successfully into ongoing social interactions are essential skills for school and for success in life.  A very special thank you to the Curtis family for sharing their house with us.  The children had a great time!! 

What a great way to end our pet study by taking a field trip to DogPatch pet store!  I love being able to bring a study to life for the children.   They were able to pet a snake, puppies, iguana, rabbit, and a guinea pig.  A very special thank you to Mr. Braswell and his staff for letting us come into his store, and having lots of patience! In studying pets, we have learned concepts and skills in the areas of literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, and technology.  We developed thinking skills as we observed, investigated, asked questions, solved problems, made predictions, and tested our ideas.

We focused on the letter T and number five this week.  We learned about Tom Tuttle using his timer and the sound it makes.  We added the words Tobi Lee, turtle, timer, and Townes to our word wall.  We made toothpick art, twizzler pets, and learned about the State of Texas.  We added telephones to our pet center, and built tall towers in the block center. 

Piper’s dog Meggie, came for a morning visit, and Colin’s dog, Lovey, came for an afternoon visit dressed in a school uniform!

In small group we worked with number cards.  The children were given cards with a numeral and its number word printed on one side.  They were instructed to use manipulatives to count out each quantity.  With this activity they are using number concepts and operations.  This is important because children’s understanding of counting, number symbols, and number operations are fundamental to their success with more complex mathematics.  To count well, children must learn one-to-one correspondence, i.e., that one number name is matched to a single object in a set being counted.