It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Brrrrr! It is chilly!  Ok, let me clarify- it is cold for us Southern Californians!  Actually, I woke up this morning, checked my weather app on my phone, and this is what popped up! 

 Really? Windy with rain and snow showers??? I'll believe it when I see it, but, it would be kind of fun!  I remember about 8 years ago we actually saw a little bit of snow and hail in Westlake!  We looked out our back window, saw that the ground was covered in white, and let the kiddos run outside and experience a little bit of winter.  Well, this week we saw some white on the ground, but it was only frost.  This was still very exciting for our Kindergartners!  Here is a cute photo of them looking out at our playground:

    If the Christmas season hasn't made them excited enough, that definitely did the trick! Speaking of excited- these kiddos are off-the-chart excited for Santa to come and visit them!  I am hearing constantly about their Elf on the Shelf watching them at home... hopefully they are behaving extra well for their little North Pole spy!  We are trying to instill the true meaning of Christmas in these sweet little kids, while still enjoying Santa and his reindeer.  I explained to them that we are getting our hearts ready for Jesus, and Santa helps us do that by reminding us to stay on his Nice List!  It seemed to really hit home with some of these kids!
     We made our Advent wreaths this week (a tradition here at St. Jude), and we really encourage you to "light" a candle each week to prepare for the coming of our Lord.  Look for a green packet in your child's backpack to read about Advent and what to do with your wreath.  Here are some photos of the kids working hard on painting their candles:

 They look like little elves working hard in Santa's workshop! Love it!


     Speaking of the meaning of Christmas, we are learning about the birth of Christ, and how Christmas wouldn't exist without this important birthday!  We have read many books about the first Christmas, and the kids seem particularly excited about spotting the Christmas star- maybe they can look for the brightest star in the sky on Christmas eve! 
     
     We did a fun little art project involving a candy cane and the baby Jesus. They are hanging in our room right now, but they will make their way home. Here are  some photos of that adorable art project.  The original intent was to have the candy cane hang upside-down to look like a J for Jesus, but something funny happened along the way, so we have a backwards J instead! Oops! Oh well! It's still pretty cute! And I was proud of them for realizing it was backwards!
 

That's baby Jesus with his little blankie = )

Here are some photos of the kids working on their coloring skills with a beautiful picture of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  I have to tell you- I was blown away with how far their coloring skills have come so far!  As a former First Grade teacher, I can honestly tell you that some of these kids are producing First Grade work when it comes to their coloring! Coloring is excellent for helping a child work on their fine motor skills, their attention to detail, and their ability to follow directions.  Here are some photos of their coloring projects:

  We are still having a great time during Centers. Thank you to our parents who are able to help out during Centers! Centers really cannot run according to plan without your help, so keep signing up!  Thank you! Here are some photos from this week's math and language arts centers:

Here is a kiddo using one of our whisper phones. They allow students to whisper-read quietly to themselves!

Stencils- another great fine motor skill tool!

Working on whiteboards is so much fun, especially with Christmas colors! Here they are practicing their number writing skills.

We were pretending that the beads were Christmas lights to be strung on our houses! Working on our patterns again...

So bummed to learn that Lakeshore Learning does not sell these great puzzle blocks anymore! The kiddos absolutely love them!

Tracing solid shapes- some of our kids' creativity really shines at this center!

 So, the Advent program will be here before we know it- remember- December 19th, 7pm in the church!  In case you're wondering, the kids will not be wearing their uniforms- we request that they wear a nice Christmas outfit- something Church appropriate, but comfortable enough for them to perform in.  We have something for each child to wear on their head- it will either be a halo or a shepherd's headdress, so again, no high buns/ponytails for the girls please.  We will have the kiddos arrive well before 7pm in our classroom-probably 6:30- to get them ready and to calm them down, but they should have dinner before that. Arriving by 6:30 will also help you go save some seats!  I guarantee that many parents will be there well before 6:30 to save spots somehow... If you're curious, kindergartners will be sitting in the very front of the church.  More information on all of that closer to the big night!  In the meantime, we would love it if your kiddo could practice singing our songs at home.  The songs will be, "Away in a Manger"- the first three verses, and "Here Comes Santa Claus"- verses 1, 3, and 4.  Just playing those songs a few times in the car/ at home, will help us out a little!  We practice every day in class.  They should be pretty familiar with "Here Comes Santa Claus"- we've practiced that song a lot this week.  "Away in a Manger" will be practiced more this week.  I can't wait!

This week our share theme will be things that begin with the letter Kk.  If you could avoid things with a silent Kk, we'd appreciate it!  That is a little too tricky for our kiddos when we are introducing a letter sound!  

Finally, I want to thank all of you for donating such generous items to our Adopt-a-Family program!  I wish we could see how excited this family will be when they receive such amazing gifts!  As my mother says, "There's a better place in Heaven for you!" 

Well, I'm off to do a little Christmas shopping!  

Hope you all enjoy this winter-like weekend!

Take care!