Jingles Journal, Week of Dec. 2, 2013

Hello!  My name is Jingles.  I am an elf from the North Pole.  Santa sent me to spend some time with Miss Jessica's preschool students.  My first week has been great!  The children have been learning about Advent and getting ready for Christmas!  Did you know that the best gift you can give Jesus for his birthday is your love and kind acts?  These children are full of love for God and each other!  They are teaching me so many things!

Santa thought it would be a good idea for me to visit Miss Jessica's preschool classes at St. Joseph School because the children learn so much about God's love for us.  Like most elves, I like to have fun and can sometimes get into trouble.  Santa has been trying to tell me that God loves me even when I make mistakes and forgives me when I am sorry.  The children are also helping me to learn this.  I see them sharing and laughing with each other and it warms my little heart.  I can't wait to tell Santa and my elf friends!

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Terrific Threes

We were very busy this week learning with Christmas themes.  We made wreaths because we learned that like a circle, God's love for us is never ending.  Our wreaths gave our little fingers a workout because we had to tear the paper before we could glue it.  We practiced colors in English and Spanish by playing Find the Gingerbread Man.  We also ordered gingerbread men by size.  We made manger scenes with our hand prints. Miss Jessica read The Elf on the Shelf and The Gingerbread Baby.  

On Thursday, St. Nicholas visited and left yummy candy canes in our shoes.  

Fantastic Fours

We had a busy first week of Advent!  We made one of our first Christmas decorations -- a string of lights that spells our name.  We had to put the lights in order.  Christmas lights remind us that God's love always shines brightly for us!

We started learning about the letter K and its sound.  We sang The K Song and learned how to make a K in sign language.  

We read The Elf on the Shelf and The Gingerbread Baby.

Mrs. Bortner had a dance party in the classroom with the morning session on Wednesday.  We pretended to be animals and "shadow danced."  Shadow dancing is just like follow the leader.