SURPRISES AND SEWING WITH MRS. SARAH

We wrapped up the end of the year with a special visitor. Everyone was surprised and amazed when  Santa Claus walked into our room! He must have found out that we were learning about clothing. The children were thrilled to see his forest green vest and shiny gold buttons. His bright red suit was trimmed in shimmering gold and fluffy white wool. He was a sight to behold!

As the end of the year came to a close we celebrated the birth of Jesus at our Christmas Party. The children were able to wear their favorite p.j.’s for our party. Wearing our p.j’s was fun and we were able to discuss the different types of fabric and colors in the material. We also learned that we wear different types of clothing for different seasons , changing weather or special occasions.

We discussed that some of our clothes are sewn together with pieces of fabric. I used lacing boards to demonstrate how to sew. This activity gave each child the opportunity to strengthen the small muscles in their hands. Building the small muscles in the children’s hands will aid with pre-writing skills.

Our dramatic play area was full of action. I read one of the books from our unit, The Girl Who Wore Too Much.  The class loved this story and after I read it we acted out the story. This story is a Thailand folktale about a little girl named Aree whose parents give her all the clothes and jewelry she wants. Aree learns of a dance and she tries to wear all her beautiful clothes and jewelry to a the dance. She learned that she can’t wear all her clothes because they are very heavy and she can’t move. Aree learned that she does not need all of her clothes to make her happy. The lesson of this story is to be happy with less.   

We love to have special visitors come into the classroom. One of great things about St. James is the amazing talents of our faculty. Mrs. Sarah teaches a class in our building and she volunteered her time and talents to show the class how to crochet and knit. Not all of our clothing items are sewn. The children were thrilled to watch Mrs. Sarah and learn that some sweaters, scarves, or blankets are made by crocheting or knitting yarn.  We watched Mrs. Sarah as she used one hook for crocheting and two needles for knitting. A special thank you to Mrs. Sarah!

Letters are everywhere and we have been working hard on recognizing and learning to spell our names. I took letters and placed in envelopes and the children  worked on putting the letters in the proper order to spell their name. It is a joy to watch the class as they learn and grow!  We will be moving on to discuss the special uniforms that people wear to work.