Letter of the Week: Aa

To start off our second day of Joy School

I set up the pieces of a future marble chase.

One of my students had no idea what we

were building, but when we finished

she squealed with excitement and it was delightful!

In the beginning they all just sat back and watched,

but it didn't take them long to jump into the 'chase.'

We also made a marble chase out of 

a wooden set I have.

Much harder to make and keep together,

but more rewarding when it actually works!

The marble run grew taller and taller.

After our morning play time,

we moved right into Circle Time.

This year I have incorporated our Bible Time

 at the end of our Circle Time. 

Our lesson today was the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden.

I read the Bible story to the children and 

then brought out my new felt Bible characters to enhance the lesson.

Each child wanted to take a turn in putting an apple in Eve's hand!

Here are Adam and Eve 'hiding' from God.

We talked about how we never have to hide from God,

He knows us, sees us no matter where we are and forgives us 

because He loves us so much.

Here they are coming out from hiding and

confessing their sin to God.

Here is the Angel, sent by God, to guard the Garden,

and Adam and Eve leaving.

The children each wanted a turn placing the angel down

onto the felt board.

And of course the flaming sword was all to much to resist

they each took a turn putting it into the angel's hand.

"A is for apple, a,a,a.'

After our wonderful Bible time

we went to the table to do our Bible craft.

I encourage each child to take their time and 

color within the lines.

It was a busy morning and time for a much needed

snack break.

This week I allowed them a fifteen minute play time 

outside after snack.

They ran, shouted, squealed, and laughed.

When they came back in they were ready for 

 our CLIFFORD magazine!

I love how excited they all get when they see me pull out 

the Clifford magazine.

We read all about apples- of course!

Our task was to see how many foam apples

we could pile on top of Clifford's head.

Next we reviewed our vowel sounds

in preparation for reading!

Today's vowel was Uu.

I really am so proud of these little guys.

I am pouring into them

the months of the year, days of the week,

colors, shapes, the alphabet, Bible stories,

vowel sounds, a thematic unit on apples,etc. 

and they are following my lead very well.

This is going to be a great year!

First Day of Joy School!

It's soooo good to be back teaching Joy School!

Here is our first day together.

I prepared 'Play-Doh stations'

for the children to play at.

They originally chose any seat, played

and then switched seats with the child on their right. 

Everyone had a chance to play with different 

Play-Doh colors and toys.

It also allowed them to see what a new friend just made.

After our morning of playtime/ meet and greet,

we headed to our Circle Time area.

I have so many things this year that I am adding 

to the morning!

I couldn't wait to teach.

We began with our prayer time 

and pledges to the American flag and to the Christian flag.

After that we learned the different parts of the calendar.

We reviewed our alphabet and it's sounds,

colors, shapes, numbers, and learned a few new songs!

Next, we made the very first page to our 

"God, Me, and My A,B,C,'s" book.

They all worked so hard that they were ready for snack time!

When they finished their snack I took out their "Clifford Magazine"

for each child and we read it together.

The back page of the magazine is filled with things for them to color.

Part of our Enrichment Time together 

I will be teaching the children their vowels, vowel sounds

and beginning reading.

The first letter to learn about is the letter 'I.'

The children did great!

We even had the chance to work in our handwriting book!

With all that I introduced, all the work they did, 

meeting new friends, etc. I have to imagine they all went home tired.

It was a great first day to what I believe will be a great year!