Last week, we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath. This candle represented the gift of “Hope” that Christmas brings us. We studied the work of the children’s author, Jan Brett, and we enjoyed counting, baking and decorating gingerbread cookies.
This week, we light the second candle on our Advent wreath. This candle represents the gift of “Peace” that Christmas brings. The nativity, with its setting being a calm, holy night full of peace and quiet joy is the perfect representation of what peace means in our lives. We will use the theme of the Nativity to enjoy a variety of holiday learning activities.
We will learn all about letter Nn this week. Nn is for Nativity and St. Nicholas Day. We will learn about the characters who make up the Nativity scene and about St. Nicholas (the saint who inspired the Santa Claus tradition) through story and song. We will practice forming letter Nn with bingo markers, pencils and through movement as well.
Our elf on a shelf, Elfie, has been busy watching us each day and traveling to and from the North Pole each night reporting to Santa. Each day of Advent he has been bringing us back little treats and trinkets from the North Pole. This week he will be our guest scientist. He will be conducting the “Magic Milk” science experiment with his favorite skittles candy. We will enjoy the magical rainbow that the candies create as the solids dissolve into a liquid.
This week we will also be creating Christmas patterns. We will use red and green small manipulative bear toys to create AB and AAB patterns. We will use Christmas pattern block shapes mats to create holiday pictures using a variety of shapes.
Center time has been filled with holiday cheer! Our five centers include a sensory bin filled with Christmas cookie cloud dough, train and train track building in the STEM center, letter Nn work boards and Nativity toys and books in the Literacy center, a gingerbread bakery in Dramatic play and many peaceful art projects including wooden Christmas star ornaments, baby Jesus mangers, photo snow gloves and decorative Christmas tree cones.
Our class Christmas Program is this Friday, December 9th at 9:30. The children should be dropped off regular time (9am). After the program in the chapel, light refreshments will be served in the MPR. Santa will be visiting with small gifts for each child. Afterwards, Friday students may return to class for the remainder of the school day. Parents may take their children home with them after the program. Please notify the teachers of your dismissal plans.