May 3, 2012

POPs (Parents of Preschoolers) News  jmarkworth@stjohnschicago.org  www.stjohnschicago.org

This week in Jesus Time, Philip met a man from Ethiopia and explained part of the Bible to him. The man wanted to be baptized, so Philip baptized him in the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. Baptism was discussed in class, as well as scrolls, since that is what Philip taught God’s Word from.

The early childhood WALK FOR CHILDHOOD DIABETES was a fun experience for all. Thank you to Decker’s mom for walking with us and helping us keep together. The children in Kindergarten, Pre-K and Preschool had so much fun that the teachers decided to add a couple extra blocks to our walk and we realized that we were walking right in front of McDonald’s!  

It was fun during our walk to have people honk their horns or wave to us. It made us feel like we were doing something important!

Snacks for next week:

May    7        Paige (15 SNACKS)

          8        Van (6 SNACKS)

          9        Decker (15 SNACKS)

          10      Evan (15 SNACKS)

          11       Katherine (6 SNACKS)

 Plan to join us for the Preschool Family Picnic on May 31^st. Bring a blanket, a picnic lunch, the children and their riding toy at 10am. The kids can enjoy riding around on the back lot and playing on the playground. Then we will spread our picnics on blankets in the back yard. This will be the last day for Preschool (and for Pre-K.)

 A BIG OOPS! Terry and Jolie had their birthday on Tuesday May 1^st and their names were left out of this week’s snack list! (Sorry.) It was taken care of, and they celebrated their birthday with treats on Wednesday.

   This week we practiced the letter X. There aren’t very many words that start with x, but we played xylophones and colored a picture of them. We also looked at some REAL x-rays!

  In case you haven’t heard, we have caterpillars in our room that are growing and growing. Soon we will see that they have turned into chrysalides (plural for chrysalis). Our little biologists are keeping a close eye on them and know to be gentle when handling the containers.

  Scholastic News this week was about seeds. The children have had fun with the maple seed “helicopters” on the playground and have learned there are seeds in them. This week we planted bean seeds and some flower seeds to watch them grow.

April 26, 2012

POPs (Parents of Preschoolers) News jmarkworth@stjohnschicago.org  www.stjohnschicago.org

In our Jesus Time this week, the children learned about Peter and John helping a crippled man. Jesus’ power healed the man through Peter’s words. God gave us our feet and legs to walk and do things for Him!

  The early childhood WALK FOR CHILDHOOD DIABETES was held today, April 26. Each class carried a sign to let the neighborhood know that we were from St. John’s. We also had a big banner from the American Diabetes Association for us to let people know why we were walking. Thank you to those who came to school to walk with us, and a BIG thank you to all who sent in their donations for us to send toward the study of childhood diabetes.

We focused on healthy habits this week. Healthy foods were talked about and sorted. We checked our lunches to see if everyone had healthy things to eat.

The other thing we focused on was exercise. We had fun visiting the Kindergarten room with Pre-K for dancing, jumping and waving our arms to music after talking and singing about healthy foods. On Wednesday the children completed an obstacle course in the gym which consisted of stations to roll, crawl, toss, balance, run, jump, bounce a ball, and hula hoop. It was exciting for everyone and the kids had a blast.

We had a wonderful day at the Lincoln Park Zoo last Thursday! God blessed us with good weather and mild temperatures.

Thank you to all of the adults that joined us on this trip: Vincent’s dad, Sophia’s dad, Evan’s mom, Katie’s mom, Terry & Jolie’s mom, Kate & Kyle’s mom, Kristina’s mom and Decker’s mom. The kiddos had such a good time as we saw many exotic animals as well as visiting the farm. Lunchtime was a highlight of the day. The children were very well behaved on the bus and during the L-O-N-G day!

Snacks for next week:

April  30      Vincent (15 SNACKS)

May    1        Rafael (6 SNACKS)

          2        Gabriel (15 SNACKS)

          3        Evan (15 SNACKS)

          4        Van (6 SNACKS)

In our Scholastic News, Emily Elizabeth and Clifford taught us about taking care of the world by throwing trash in the right place. We learned to not be a litterbug. We have recycled paper and cardboard in our classroom all year.

 Plan to join us for the Preschool Family Picnic on May 31^st  from 10 am to noon. This will be the last day for Preschool (and for Pre-K) so we will play on the playground and finish up with a picnic on the lawn. The children may bring a riding toy for some extra fun. There will be no childcare for Preschoolers after May 30th.

April 18, 2012

POPs (Parents of Preschoolers) News jmarkworth@stjohnschicago.org  www.stjohnschicago.org

HE LIVES!! JESUS LIVES! Our Jesus Time this week centered on retelling Jesus’ death and resurrection and talking about Heaven. It is hard to explain a mystery such as how Jesus came back to life, how He can be in Heaven AND with us all the time, and what Heaven must be like! It is so wonderful to hear what the children know and believe! God bless our little learners!

Z is for Zebra, zipper, zucchini, zero and ZOO! We practiced making Z’s in the air like Zorro and are having fun making a little book about the letter Z. The children enjoyed stories this week about the zoo, and have set up a zoo in our classroom using all the toys that pertained. It’s quite unique!

Don’t forget our early childhood WALK FOR CHILDHOOD DIABETES on Thursday, April 26. We are accepting volunteers to come walk with us for about an hour, beginning at 9:00 am. Each family is asked to donate at least $1 toward the prevention of childhood diabetes. Our walk is aimed at raising awareness, and to remind the neighborhood that we have a great school at St. John’s!

FIELD TRIP TO LINCOLN PARK ZOO  TOMORROW, April 19^th is the date for our trip to the zoo! We NOW have 9 adults to accompany our class. Thank you for volunteering!

We plan to leave the school shortly after 9:30 a.m. and will return around 1:45 p.m. At that time, parents are welcome to pick up their child to take them home. Those that stay will need to rest for a while before being dismissed at 3:10. For this day, each person will need to bring a bag lunch (disposable bag, please) and drink.

PLEASE DRESS YOUR CHILD FOR POSSIBLE RAIN SHOWERS DURING THE DAY.

Snacks for next week:

April  23      Katherine’s Birthday! (15 SNACKS)

          24      Van (6 SNACKS)

          25      Kristina (15 SNACKS)

          26      Sophia (15 SNACKS)

          27      Katie (6 SNACKS)

April 6-13 Easter Break

April 5, 2012

POPs (Parents of Preschoolers) News             jmarkworth@stjohnschicago.org  www.stjohnschicago.org

When we return from Easter Break, we will have a new student in our class, making the class full at 15 students! Our new friend is Vincent Tran! He is the brother of Hannah Tran in Mrs. Spike’s class.

 Snacks for our next week at school:

April  16      Kate (15 SNACKS)

          17      Jolie (6 SNACKS)

          18      Paige (15 SNACKS)

          19      FIELD TRIP DAY: the ZOO!

          20      Katie (6 SNACKS)

This week in Jesus Time we talked about Jesus’ death on the cross. He died to wash away all the things we do wrong; even the things we say or think wrong! And He did that because God loves us SO much. We always ended the Bible story with the reminder that Jesus came back to life on Easter so we can live with Him in heaven. It is so good to hear the children help me finish the story. It helps me to feel that they believe it as truth. How wonderful!

W is for WOODCHIPS, water, wind, wiggle, watermelon, whales, white, wall…. Our list for W went on for a long time! …Why, where, what….

FIELD TRIP TO LINCOLN PARK ZOO

Thursday, April 19^th is the date for our trip to the zoo! We have our 6 adults to accompany our class! Thank you for volunteering!

We plan to leave the school shortly around 9:30 a.m. and will return around 1:45 p.m. At that time, parents are welcome to pick up their child to take them home. Those that stay will need to rest for a while before being dismissed at 3:10. For this day, each person will need to bring a bag lunch (disposable bag, please) and drink. Permission slips were due today. If you haven’t returned yours, please do so on Monday, the 16^th.

On Thursday, April 26^th, the Early Childhood classes will walk for the American Diabetes Association to raise awareness of childhood diabetes. We welcome parents who could take approximately an hour to walk with us starting at 9:00 am. We ask that each family donate at least $1. Thank you.

Happy Easter to you and your family! We’ll see you on April 16^th! Love, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Markworth