In the month of January, we will study exercise! Young children are in nearly constant motion—movement helps them feel confident, releases tension, and builds strong bodies and minds. Their natural love of moving will make this study especially fun and engaging!

Throughout the month, we’ll explore many types of exercise, observe how people move, and learn what our bodies need to stay active and healthy. As we study exercise, children will build skills across physical development, literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology. They’ll also practice important thinking skills as they observe, investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test their ideas.

We are excited to kick off the New Year with a fun and active study of movement!

Running is a type of Exercise!

ABC Snowman match

We played a group game where we matched letters to their corresponding sound. This was great practice and review of the letter sounds!

Yoga is a type of Exercise!

Thank you to Molly Kendrick for teaching a yoga class to our Pre-K kiddos! The children learned different breathing techniques, discovered their dominant hand and leg, and participated in fun stretches and balancing poses. It was a wonderful, engaging experience for everyone!

Christmas Write the Room

“Write the Room” is a fun, movement-based literacy activity where children walk around the classroom with a clipboard to find themed picture cards for each letter of the alphabet. As they locate each card, students trace the corresponding letter on their recording sheet. This engaging activity reinforces letter recognition and penmanship skills while also getting the kiddos moving during a classroom scavenger hunt.

Letter & Number Review Practice

With this week being a review week, we have been practicing the letters and numbers we have learned so far. To put this into practice, each student was given their own whiteboard and marker to write the letters and numbers as I modeled them on the board, using the same verbal cues we use in class.

Fine Motor Work

Christmas Party Fun!

Pre-K Christmas Program

Each year, St. James Pre-K students present a retelling of the first Christmas. Through the process of preparing for their program, the children learn the story of the birth of Jesus, memorize songs, lines, and movement, and then have the opportunity to perform in front of a large audience full of the people they love most. I am so proud of their determination, courage, and hard work!!!

Community service

The Pre-K classes chose to help pack boxes at Harvest Regional Food Bank as our community service project this year. We felt it was important for the children to donate their time in a meaningful, hands-on way. Through this experience, our students learned what community service is, why it matters, what a food bank does, and how it helps people in our community.

Before our field trip, we asked our students two guiding questions:

What is community service?

Community service is doing helpful work for your neighborhood or town. It is work you do for free—giving your time and effort instead of getting money. Community service makes a positive difference and helps build a stronger community.

What is a food bank?

A food bank is a place where people donate food to help those who don’t have enough to eat. It is like a grocery store, but people do not have to pay money to get their food.

Bread Study Field Trip

To conclude our Bread Study, we took a trip to Gusano’s to answer our focus question, “Who works with bread?” The students not only had the chance to visit a restaurant, but they also rolled out pizza dough and made their own pizzas—sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and all! The best part was getting to enjoy the delicious pizzas they created. A big thank you to Gusano's for their wonderful hospitality and for hosting St. James Day School Pre-K! Our students had an amazing experience!

Chicka Chicka HO HO HO

We read Chicka Chicka Ho Ho Ho written by William Boniface and illustrated by Julien Chung. This festive story is wonderful for reinforcing alphabet recognition and building language skills through its catchy, playful rhyme.After our read-aloud, students were given green paper cutouts along with the letters in their names. Each child practiced spelling their name to create their own Christmas tree. It was so much fun to see which names were short and which were long, and to watch them recall and arrange the letters to form their names!

Science with Butter

We are wrapping up our Bread study, and what a wonderful way to finish! A huge thank you to Cece’s mom, Ellen, for collecting baby food jars so our class could make homemade butter. During this activity, we explored Objective 26: demonstrating knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials.

We talked about liquids versus solids and observed how the heavy cream started as a liquid and, with shaking (adding energy), transformed into a solid—BUTTER! The children strengthened their gross motor skills while shaking their jars and then used fine motor skills to spread their freshly made butter on their bread.

It was a fun, hands-on learning experience for everyone!

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We have continued our Bread Study throughout the month of November. Students have had the opportunity to explore questions such as: How many slices of bread tall are you? How is bread made? and What kinds of bread do we like?

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How many bread slices tall are you?

We focused on Objectives 20 (Uses number concepts and operations) and 22 (Compares and measures) as we counted and measured how many pieces of bread tall we are! The students were then able to graph our data. We are having the best time with bread!

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Homemade Playdough

We read Mmm, Cookies! by Robert Munsch this week. In the story, a little boy named Christopher makes “play clay” and tricks his family into eating pretend cookies. He soon learns an important lesson about not playing tricks on others when his teacher turns the prank back on him!

After reading, our class made our own playdough—our very own “play clay.” We followed a recipe, measured each ingredient, mixed the dry ingredients, and then combined the liquids. The students loved watching the mixture come together, and they were so excited to see the finished product: bright blue playdough!

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How is bread made?

We explored our focus question, “How is bread made?” A special thank-you to Genevieve’s mom for visiting the Pre-k classes and guiding us through the process. Students had the opportunity to measure ingredients, touch and smell the dough, observe the mixer, and enjoy a taste of the freshly baked bread.

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What kinds of bread do you like?

This week we explored the focus question, “What kind of bread do you like?” Before sampling different types of bread, we shared our initial answers. We then sampled several types of bread including brioche, a blueberry bagel, a tortilla, a Hawaiian roll, cinnamon raisin bread, and an English muffin. After tasting, we graphed our data and answered the focus question again. It was interesting to see how our responses changed!

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In the month of November, the Pre-K classes will be learning all about bread! Bread is everywhere!! Nearly every culture in the world eats some type of bread. A study of bread provides children with an opportunity to learn how bread is made, the kinds of bread we eat, who works with bread, and how and when we can eat bread.

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Our Class Bakery

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How many slices are in a loaf of bread?

To incorporate our objective #24—using scientific inquiry skills—we explored the question, “How many slices are in a loaf of bread?” Students practiced connecting new observations to what they already know, made predictions, and then organized the information they gathered. We learned that there are 24 slices in a loaf of bread!

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Sensory Fun!

Sensory play is a fun and meaningful way for children to explore their senses while developing fine motor skills, interacting with others, and experimenting with different textures. It encourages imagination and supports cognitive growth. The flour bin was definitely a hit!

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H is for Hat!

In the month of October, the Pre-K students have followed our Creative Curriculum study on Roads. We have explored questions such as:

• What do we know about roads?

• What are some characteristics of roads?

• How do we stay safe on roads?

Students have learned about the different types of equipment that use roads, how roads are made, and the signs that help us travel safely.

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Transportation Day!

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Pattern Practice

Practicing patterns in preschool is important for many reasons! It helps build a strong foundation for math concepts, logical reasoning, and sequencing, while also enhancing problem-solving skills. Pattern awareness even supports early reading development, as both involve recognizing and understanding sequences. The best part is—pattern practice is easy to continue at home, too!

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Alphabet Matching

The students played an alphabet matching game using magnetic car cards. The goal was to match the uppercase letter with its corresponding lowercase letter. This type of activity supports early literacy by strengthening letter recognition and visual skills, while also encouraging focus, problem-solving, and turn-taking.

P is for Pumpkin Pie

Each week, we enjoy tasting a food that begins with our focus letter to make letter recognition and phonics fun and hands-on. This week, we made pumpkin pie! While cooking, the students practiced number concepts by measuring ingredients like 1 cup of pumpkin purée and 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. They also practiced important social skills by taking turns and waiting patiently for their turn to help. Making pumpkin pie was a wonderful way to strengthen our fine motor skills through pouring, stirring, and working together as a class!

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We wrapped up our Pet Study last week with lots of fun in our pet-themed centers and by painting our very own pet rocks! The students loved getting creative. We are excited to welcome October and begin learning all about roads next!

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P is for Police

Mrs. Bailee's husband, Officer Hunter, made a visit to our school! We learned about how police officers keep us safe, how to recognize their police cars, and even got to see some of his equipment up close. The students loved this special visit!

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Bouncy Egg Experiment

In science, we conducted an experiment by placing a raw egg in vinegar. The vinegar dissolves the eggshell, leaving behind a soft, rubbery egg without its hard outer layer. Before beginning, students made hypotheses to predict what they thought would happen. While the egg didn't explode as some had hoped, it was very exciting to see it transform into a "bouncy egg"!

Pet Visits

From cats to horses, and even a turtle and chickens, Pre-K has had so many furry and feathered friends visit! A big thank you to all of the parents who helped make these special visits possible.

Fine Motor Journal Work

Students have begun working on their Fine Motor Journals. Each week, they will tear paper to decorate a picture related to that week's focus area. Tearing paper is an excellent fine motor activity - it strengthens hand muscles, improves finger dexterity and hand strength, and enhances hand-eye coordination.

F is for French Fry

In the month of September, students will study all things pets. We will explore the different types of pets, what pets need, how pets make us feel, and the kinds of jobs that involve working with pets. As we study pets, we will learn concepts and skills in the areas of literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, and technology. We will also develop thinking skills as we observe, investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test our ideas.

Piggy Bagels

A big thank you to Sonny and Mrs. Jessica for providing the fun pet-themed snacks this week! We kicked off our Pet Study with 'Piggy Bagels,' and the kids absolutely loved them!

Gross Motor Play in P.E.

This week the Pre-K students worked on their gross motor skills with Coach Nichole in P.E. by riding scooters. Riding a scooter helps build balance, coordination, and strength in your legs and core. Children learn to balance, push off with their legs, and steer all while enhancing body control and endurance.

Scissor Skills

Learning to cut with scissors is an important developmental milestone. As children practice cutting, they strengthen the muscles in their hands, improve hand-eye coordination, and build bilateral coordination - the ability to use both sides of the body together. Cutting activities also help children develop focus and attention to tasks, all while building confidence in their fine motor skills.

Learning with Puzzles

Puzzles are more than just fun - they are an excellent way for children to learn and grow. As children work with puzzles, they strengthen their fine motor skills, develop perseverance, and practice problem-solving. Puzzles also support memory, encourage planning, and give children the opportunity to test out new ideas in a hands-on way.

Fun in Centers

We’re going on a Chester Hunt…

We read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn this week. It is a sweet story about a mother who comforts her son by placing a kiss in his hand for the first day of school. At the end of the book, the son comforts his mother by returning the favor and placing a kiss in her hand. We finished our week by going a Chester Hunt to find Chester raccoon from the story.

GARDENING STUDY

Wow! I can not believe we have reached our last study which is the gardening unit. We will continue with study until the first of May. We have transformed our center into our very own garden shop where the kids will have a planting station, pick your own bulb and seed station, and design station. They will be able to take orders, create their own bouquets, and practice their planting/ gardening skills. This is one of my favorite studies and I'm so excited to open up this center for the class.

Painted backdrop

I absolutely love the hand painted backdrop for our garden center. Each child painted their own flower and all of them turned out so precious!

Gardening Time

Chelsea Claybrook (Lucas' mom) from the Miller County Master Gardeners visited our class this week. She shared some herbs and plants from her garden and talked to us about what a garden needs and what we can do to help our garden grow. She even helped us plant a garden on our playground. THANK YOU, Chelsea, for taking the time to come and visit our preschool class.

GisforGAMEWARDEN!

HUGE THANK YOU to Harper's Dad, Cody, for organizing this fun morning with Game Wardens! Officer Cody, Park, and Mills talked to Prek about water safety, wild animals they help catch and relocate, what their day to day looks like and so much more! Children even had an opportunity to hop into the boat and a patrol truck!

SisforS'MORE!

We wrapped the letter S up this morning with a sweet treat! S'MORES! The children loved being about "roast" their own marshmallow and make an ooey gooey sandwich!

Heart Letter Game & Review

We spent one of our mornings playing a game where the students had to identify the uppercase letter then find the lowercase match. This was a fun way to get the students up and moving while demonstrating knowledge of the letters we have covered so far this year. We also used our white boards and went over writing both upper and lowercase letters and sounding out of the letter sounds.

Candy Heart Sorting and Graphing

We had a some math fun with candy hearts graphing! I gave each child a box of candy hearts and they had to sort, count and graph the colored hearts! Fun and yummy learning moment!

Friday Table Fun

I put out 5 different table centers each with a different objective. Every child had the opportunity to visit each center.

-build letters with wooden pieces

-match lower and upper case

-playdough hearts

-counting and lacing: children had to roll the dice and lace that many beads

-tri grip candy hearts: children had to use tri grip tweezers to pinch candy hearts and move them from one cup to another.

Let's Talk Science with Candy Hearts!

For our candy heart experiment we labeled three cups (water, vinegar, soda) and we predicted whether the hearts we dropped in the liquid would sink or float. Once the hearts were in we waited a few minutes before we discussed our observations.

After, we made predictions on which liquid would dissolve the candy heart the fastest.

We are learning all about exercise and how to keep our bodies healthy with our exercise study.

Our class gym is open, we’ve had several special visitors, made and tried many different foods and it’s been all around fun learning this uni!

SpecialVisitor

We had Megan Lithem (Liam's mom) visit our class this week and help us answer our focus question. Megan is a clinical dietitian that helps patients address their health and lifestyle needs and goals. She helped pre k learn about the 5 food groups by playing sensory and matching games as well as bringing hummus and veggies for us to try out. We had so much fun and learned a lot about the things our bodies need to stay healthy! Thank Megan!

Smoothies & Energy Balls

This week we discussed what we can do to take care of our bodies and what our bodies need to move and exercise. We talked about how our bodies are like batteries, and we need to keep them "charged" or full of good things to have the energy to play and learn.

We made energy balls, smoothies, and guacamole. I asked them all to at least try one bite of everything, and if they didn't like it, they didn't have to eat it. I was pleasantly surprised by how many of them enjoyed eating everything.

Yoga

To follow along with our focus question we practiced a little morning yoga as one of the different kinds of exercises we learned about. I dimmed the lights and put on a kid friendly instructional yoga video. We stretched, moved, and giggled A LOT! They all enjoyed it so much and asked if we could do this everyday!

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM& PARTY

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. I am so blessed to be able to teach our students about Jesus’ birth and talk openly about God at St. James. The children have memorized songs, lines, solos, and moving parts which requires a tremendous amount of focus and commitment. It isn’t easy to perform in front of a large audience especially when it is full of your loved ones. I am very proud of their determination and hard work.

TOYS FOR TOTS

I'm pleased to announce that we collected 124 toys on campus and PreK came in FIRST with a total of 31 toys collected! This means Prek will be treated to a cookie cake at the end of the week.

Pre K helped the Marines load up the toys we collected!

WritetheRoom

In our classroom, write the room activities are used to give students opportunities to practice skills that have already been taught. This repeated practice is a necessary part of the learning process.

Write the Room is an activity where students move around the classroom looking for cards and completing the activity on the card. It's kind of like a classroom scavenger hunt for task cards. The cards I use have letters A-Z on them. Throughout the year, I might change it to numbers or both upper and lowercase but for this week we just used capital letters.

Students use a clipboard and a response sheet and move around the classroom looking for the cards that are posted. They will either trace, dob, or color in the letter on their answer sheet. In addition to the skills practice, they get some movement built into the activity too!

ChristmasTrees

Each child painted their own interpretation of a Christmas tree. I love every one of them, and can see each little personality displayed.

BowMath

One-to-one correspondence is an early math skill that involves a child's ability to count in ascending order while touching each object in a set, one by one, and only once. The children had to touch and count different colors of bows, and write the correct number. They had so much fun with this activity.

Why investigate bread?

Bread is everywhere! Nearly every culture in the world eats some type of bread. Few foods experiences are as universal as bread. Children in my class explore bread in many ways; rolling play "dough" into pizzas and bread, in our "bakery" dramatic play they make sandwiches and other fun food items, and flour in the sensory bin.

N is for NOODLE!

Huge THANK YOU to Mrs. Jennifer(Ellie's mom) and Mrs. Kelsey (Hudson's mom) for making noodles with both pre k classes! The children were able to make their own dough, roll it out, and run it through the noodle attachment. After that they had the opportunity taste test the noodles with marinara and fettuccine sauce. The kids LOVED it and several went back for seconds! Ask your child about the noodle making fun we had!

Flour Sensory Bin

Halloween

One of my favorite St. James activities is the Pumpkin Patch with middle school. How neat is it for our children to see how pumpkins are grown (planted and taken care of by middle school), then have a special book written and illustrated just for them by our very own middle school students. It is then read to them after they pick a pumpkin out of the patch! The middle schoolers work so hard to create a fun and memorable experience for our little people in PreK, and I think they did an outstanding job!

Torn Paper MONSTERS

We made terrifying torn paper Monsters to help go along with our focus letter M. I made one myself and had it out for an example and each child tried to recreate it with their own unique style. I think they turned out so cute, I mean terrifying! :) Plus, it helped us work on our grip and rip.

Count and Graph

Counting helps children develop their cognitive skills, including memory attention, and spacial awareness. As they count objects, they have to remember the numbers they have already counted, pay attention to the objects they are counting, and spatially arranged objects to count them accurately. This week children had to count and graph spiders, bats, and witches hats by touching and counting each individual picture. Then they had to remember that number and color in that same amount of boxes next to the picture.

Table Fun!

We did center rotations with table manipulatives this morning.

roll, count, build: roll the dice, count the dots, find the number, and build a block tower with # of cubes

sorting and patterns: sort the marbles and follow the patterns

bead threading and counting: thread the right # of beads on the pipe cleaner to match the number on the pumpkin

pumpkin counting and number recognition: count the pumpkins and clip the pin on the right #

BEEP BEEP.. Road Work ahead! We have started our ROAD STUDY!

Police Officer, Pilot & Plane, torn paper PUMPKINS, & Picnic!

It was a successful week focusing on the letter P!

Thank you Trooper Phifer for visiting with PreK!

Big thank you to Mr. Claybrook for our AWESOME field trip to the Airport!

International Fair

We got to visit the 5th and 6th grade International Fair, and while we were there we could taste test different foods from around the world. It was extra special because my oldest, Sander, presented Argentina to the class. They loved trying chocolates from Switzerland, bread from Iceland, cake from Germany, empanadas from Argentina, plus so much more! It was a fun morning full of food and learning!

Rubber Egg Experiment

We used a glass jar, an egg, and some vinegar to make a rubber egg!! This was a fun science experiment to go along with our letter E and we were able to make predictions on if it would bounce and if so, how high? We found out not very high. The children loved this activity- don't forget to ask them about it!

Ryhming

Phonological awareness is an important skill in learning to read. One way we encourage the development of this is through rhyming. Recognizing rhyming words is a basic level of phonemic awareness and requires that children listen closely for sounds within words.This helps children learn how language works and that words are made up of seperate parts.

This week we played a rhyming game and I had each child pick a puzzle piece with a picture on it and then find it's rhyming match. They had to say what the picture was out loud then went piece by piece until they found a picture that rhymed. The kids loved it!

D if for…

Doctor, Donuts, & Dads!

HandwritingWithoutTears

Part of Pre-Ks curriculum is Handwriting Without Tears and we started working in our Kick Start Kindergarten workbook. We teach in the following developmental order: vertical and horizontal, magic C, big and little curves, and diagonals. We begin with capital letters as a group, seperate from lowercase. Instead of teaching 52 letter symbols with different sizes, positions and confusing starting places, we divide and conquer and start with 26. This week we started with F. The reason we start with F is because of the simplicity with lines and the amount of steps it takes to make the letter.

Alphabet&NumberPunchCards

Using a hole punch is a great way for students to develop their hand strength and hand-eye coordination. Most children love it, too. If the holes fall out onto the table or floor, picking them up allows children to refine their pincer grasp as well! We will do this same activity every Tuesday as I introduce our letter and number of the week.

FlowerColoring

Science content during early childhood focuses on living things (life science), the physical properties of materials and objects (physical science), and Earth's environment and how we care for it (earth science). This week we focused on life science with a flower experiment and the the best way to learn science is to do science through integrated hands-on child-centered inquiry. Young children are natural investigators, they are curious how things work and what will happen next. We did a flower experiment to go along with our letter of the week F. We talked about the parts of the flower and made predictions whether or not the flower would drink the colored water and if it would turn our petals the same color as the water. Each child picked the colored vase they wanted and placed a flower in it.

Students will be doing several activities in their fine motor journals. We will be making various types of lines, letters, numbers, and their names using different techniques. Tactile perception is the brains ability to understand information coming from the skin, particularly the hands being used to register sensory information. We used our fingers and ink pads to stamp inside the letter F.

Let's get rolling into the 2024-2025 school year!

THECHESTERHUNT!

This week was all about Chester the Raccoon and The Kissing Hand! We learned it's ok to be scared and nervous, and no matter what, our mom's & dad's love is always with us! The kids have all enjoyed reading your notes, and we even made "Our Class Kissing Hand Book" which includes your notes and hand prints. Now, throughout the year, they can go to our library center and find their notes from you if they get sad. Finally, we had a CHESTER HUNT with both Pre-K classes! And oh my, did the kids love this! We had a special delivery of clues that led us all around campus and when we returned to our class, Chester had left us a special surprise. Please enjoy the video of our hunt today!

Let'sMeasure!

How many blocks will my shoe be?

In preschool, we introduce units of measurement that children can really wrap their minds around. Usually, those are with regular household objects and toys. In this activity, children delve in deeper to understand the measurement of length with cubes! This was a great activity that involved estimating and measuring. I traced everyone's foot on a piece of paper then asked each child how many cubes they thought it would take to go from the bottom of their shoe to the top and wrote down their answers on the whiteboard. Then we measured and counted our blocks and compared the difference with our predictions.