What an amazing start to our week at Buckle My Shoe! On Monday, we had Pajama Day/ Polar Express Day. Everyone dressed in their coziest pajamas, including teachers! After morning play time, the 3's class helped set up the classroom to resemble the inside of the 'polar express steam train.' We moved some shelves in the block area and gathered enough chairs for all of the 2's and 3's. The children helped line up the chairs in two rows facing the computer screen on the wall. When it was time, they each collected a golden train ticket and found a seat on the train. All aboard! I alternated from reading a few pages of the Polar Express book to three clips from the Polar Express animated movie. We passed out hot chocolate and mini marshmallows during the scene when the children drank hot chocolate on the train. At the end of the story, the main character receives the first gift of Christmas. We were excited to open our first gifts as well! In small groups, the children helped unwrap the many gifts that were kindly donated to our school from BMS families--thank you so very much for your generosity!!!!!! The kids were filled with joy and ready to use the new gifts! For the rest of the day, we read some new books and played with some new toys and materials.
Tuesday was our family potluck brunch and visit from Mrs. Clause and Santa Clause. We sang Christmas carols and received gifts from Mrs. Clause and Santa Clause (AKA small goodie bags prepared by the teachers). Each gift included homemade crayons in shape of a Christmas tree, star, heart, and gingerbread boy, a note pad, a box of Christmas stickers, and candy cane.
Happy Hanukkah!
Today was the second day of Hanukkah. We have had some Hanukkah books displayed in our book shelf his week and last week, but today we read two books as a class about how Jewish families celebrate the holiday. The children were especially interested in one story where the candles in the menorah actually lit up for each day of Hanukkah. They took turns coming up to the book and counting the lit candle(s). During center time, we painting a menorah on poster board using tempera paint and tape. Later, we painted popsicle sticks and put them together to make stars of David. Tomorrow, we will use clay to make a 3-dimensional menorah light up three real candles to represent the third day of Hanukkah.
