UPWARD BOUND CHRISTIAN PRESCHOOL

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Examples of some of the fun we will have...

1: Alphabet Book/Letter of the Week - Each week we will learn a new letter of the alphabet. We will encourage your child to try and write the letter in both upper and lower case. We will give them a picture that starts with the current letter and they will color, cut, and paste the picture into an alphabet book. Your child will bring the completed book home with them at the end of the school year.

2: Arts and Craft Time - As teachers we both enjoy doing lots of hands on art with the children. The children will paint, color, glue, cut, work with clay, and various other craft items. The children will work a lot with scissors and glue. This really encourages hand/eye coordination. Cutting skills is something they will test your child at kindergarten round-up. We will send home art work daily with your child. The kids are very excited each day to show their parents what they created.

3: Bible Time - Each week we will learn different bible stories and themes. We will use videos, flannel boards, and other visuals to help children learn the stories. With each story we ask the children a variety of questions, each of these questions along with the childrens answers will be posted outside the classroom for parents to read. The kids answers are always entertaining. Below is the monthly bible story schedule.
September : God Made me Special
October: Bible Heroes
November: Thankfulness and Helpfulness (Thanksgiving)
December: Christmas Story
January: Right Choices (cheating, stealing, lying, stranger danger, how to be a friend, manners)
February: 10 Commandments
March: Noahs Ark and Easter
April: Creation
May: Review our our year

4: Song Time - We spend time each day singing a variety of songs with the kids. These songs go along with our bible themes and other daily lessons. We also work on action songs where the kids follow instructions along with the music. This helps children with their large motor skills. We will visit the nursing homes a few time through-out the year and sing some of the songs we learned to the elderly.

5: Story Time - Each day we set aside time to read some stories to the kids. The stories go along with the season or theme we are working on. We also have a set time that the Polson City Library lady will come and read stories to our children. There is always a large supply of books for the children to use during center time or when they are finished with a project they can enjoy book time.

6: Snack Time - Each day we will have snack time. We do a a variety of fun snacks depending on the time of the year. Each child will have a set day during the month where they are responsible for bringing snack/drinks for the class. That day they will be the special helper. This encourages the children to share what they brought and be responsible for helping in all the classroom activities for the day. Your childs name will be posted on the door calendar to remind you what day is your childs special day.

7: Outdoor Fun - Each day we will try and get outside for some fresh air. Please dress your child according to the weather. We will go on adventures and treasure hunts and a variety of other outdoor fun.

8: Prayer Time - Each morning we set aside a few minutes to pray. We will talk to the kids about prayer requests and pray with each one the children say. We will put a cross up on the wall and each prayer request we attach them to the cross. We want the kids to know that even though they may be small, Jesus listens to their prayers just as much as he listens to adults. Through-out the year the children will memorize a variety of short prayers.

9: Center Time - Upon entering the classroom each morning different manipulatives will be set up on the tables. The children are encouraged to work on different centers each day. They may do some of the ones set up on the tables or choose one off of the shelves. We will write down what each child works on daily and add this onto their daily summary. Following is some examples of center time manipulatives:
ie...puppets, play-dough, puzzles, tan-grams, geo-boards, flannel boards, building blocks, marble magic, alphabet match, math magic, and many more.
During the first part of the year the children will work on many different centers each day, through-out the year their attention span will lengthen and they will work on fewer centers for longer periods of time.

10: Field Trips - We will be going on many field trips through-out the year. We usually venture on 2 a month. There is a list of some of our current field trips on the schedule site. We need parents to help with field trips. The time and dates will be posted prior to the scheduled event. Please let a teacher know ahead of time so we may plan drivers.

11: Loving and Christian Environment - The children will learn to work and play in a social group of children the same ages. We will learn to take turns, share, and work together in the classroom. Each child will have different jobs to do around the classroom. We will work on classroom behavior, manners, and friendships.

12: Show and Share - The children have different show and tell items they can bring weekly. On Mondays we will have our alphabet bags. They children are asked to bring something in their alphabet bag that starts with the letter of the week. On Wednesday children may bring in any item they wish to show for show and tell. (No guns, weapons, or snakes) Please advise teacher if the item is breakable and/or label and valuables.

13: Numbers, Shapes, and Colors - We will work on different colors and shapes each month. We will also work on numbers weekly along with our letters. We will use a variety of graphs, art projects, and math manipulatives to help learn these things. We will learn to count to 100 by the years end.

14: All the Unexpected Fun Times - We will have some days that are scheduled parties and fun days due to the season and time of the year. We will post these days on the calendar. Parents are welcome to join in on the fun if they would like.

15: Questions and Answers - All of the subjects and units we study in class will be written in your daily summaries. We will also post all of the questions and answers discussed in class. This is a fun way to get a peek into your childs mind.

16: Daily Summaries - We will send home a daily summary with your child each class period. This will give you a detailed summary of our class day.We encourage each parent to read this aloud with their preschooler and then talk to them about their morning. This helps kids remember what they did each morning.

17: Shadowtime -Through out the school year we will have Shadowtime. This is a favorite with the kids. Using an overhead projector and hundreds of different images we learn a variety of things each day. We use shadows to work on math, counting, and hidden pictures. This has been a very positive addition to our classroom.

18: Alphabet Day - Monday will always be our weekly letter day. On Mondays children will bring in their alphabet bag with items beginning with the letter of the week. We will try and write the letter and number for the week. We will also send homework home with the children on Monday with their letters on it.

19: Calendar Time - Each day will will have calendar time. We will sing and learn the days of the week. They will also learn the monthes, seasons, and holidays. We will count forward and backward the number of the days. This will help with addition and subtraction.

20: Special Projects - Through-out the year we will do many fun projects. Some of these projects will be posted outside the classroom for parents to enjoy. Our class has also passed out framed copies of the 10 Commandments through-out town. To date we have distributed 350 to different homes and businesses. This project is done after the children have completed their 10 Commandments unit.

21: Scholastic Readers - We will read through and work on scholastic weekly readers. These readers cover topics such as weather, animals, jobs, your community, etc. They also cover healthy habits and eating correctly.

22: Homework - We will send homework home with your child on Mondays. We want kids to enjoy homework and start some smart study habits with them. We will praise the children for doing homework with a trip to the treasure box.

23: Treasure Time - We have a treasure box in our classroom filled with lots of fun surprises. Treasure time is awarded to the children for different reasons. If children remember their alphabet bags, return homework, great behavior, or just for fun treasure time is awarded.

24: Large Motor Skills - We will do a variety of physical education activities to work on your childs large motor skills. We will do indoor and outdoor activities. We have a large variety of tools to use including balance beams, bean bags, rubber balls, parachutes,etc.

25: Class T-shirts - In the beginning of our school year each child will draw a picture of themselves. We will transfer this picture to a t-shirt design and make our own class t-shirt. We will go on a field trip to Total Screen Design and each child will make this transfer into a t-shirt of their own. We will use these shirts as our field trip uniform. Each field trip we go on the children will wear these shirts. This makes it easy for us to keep track of our classmates. The children will take these home at the end of the school year. We will also make a personalized friendship shirt for each child at the end of the school year. This will have each friends handprint along with the teachers for a childhood memory.