We Did It!

I am so thankful to those of you who lifted our class up in prayer today. As the day came to a close, we gathered as a class to thank God for ordering our day in such a way that we were able to get work done and still have time to play. We hope that next week we will have Mrs. Sandy back and healthy. Continue to pray for her recovery and a return of physical energy.

We had a visitor in our class today. The pastor of North Macon Presbyterian and the father of our very own Stone, Hunter Stevenson, stopped in to play a round of "seven up". The children were thrilled for the addition to our game. If you would like to drop by our class for lunch, recess, to read a book, or play a game we would be glad to have you. The children enjoy introducing their parents to their friends.

I have to share the sweetness of your children's hearts. Today during our history review time, I asked who would want to be a monk. The majority of the children's hands went up. I was surprised and intrigued. I asked them to share their reasoning, and here are a few of their answers:

"Because they get to go to church eight times a day and worship God."

"They get to feed the poor and hungry before they feed themselves."

"They get to build tables."

"They spend lots of time in prayer."

These answers are a testimony to the intentional way that you teach your children about Christ and his church. It completely melted my heart and I am sure it will melt yours!

You may have heard we had a bit of excitement today. One of the children was stung by a wasp during recess. We were able to treat the sting quickly and everything turned out fine. I want to assure you that North Macon Preschool staff sprayed the nests immediately, so we should not have this problem again.

I want to encourage each of you to write your child's name inside and outside of their books. When class gets underway it is very easy to pick up the wrong book. This will help everyone get home with all of their belongings.

Have a wonderful week!

Getting Comfortable

I am sure you were impressed with the Roman signum that your child brought home from school today. The kids did a great job creating a signum that would represent their legion in the Roman army. I loved seeing the fierce creatures, or emperors the children drew on their plates. Once our signums were made, we marched down the hall holding them high as we pretended not to let the Barbarians, Celts, Vandals, and Huns take our legion's signum. We were able to relate this history extension to the story we have been reading in class, Teddy's Button. In the story, Teddy's father was responsible for protecting the army's colors/flag. His father was a hero because he rescued the colors from the enemy. Next week, we will talk about the banner that Christ holds over his people. We will talk about how Christ has never dropped his banner of love, and how we as his soldiers must hold the banner of Christ's love over our friends and enemies.

Speaking of enemies, ask your child if they met their greatest enemy in school on Wednesday. In Teddy's Button this week Teddy was told by Pastor Upton that he would meet his greatest enemy in the Christian life. Before I read the part of the story where Teddy meets his enemy, I took the children into the bathroom and had them line up with their backs to the mirror. I asked them if they wanted to meet their greatest enemy. On the count of three I had the children turn around to see their greatest enemy in the mirror--themselves! This led to us finishing the chapter and having a discussion on the war we have with ourselves when it comes to loving, obeying, worshipping and serving Christ. We talked about how knowing and loving Christ is the only way to fight this enemy. It is precious to see these children love this book and identify with this young boy and his journey with our Saviour.

It was obvious today that the students are getting comfortable with me and with school. Everyone has become better acquainted with where everything goes and the order of our school day. The biggest clue to their feeling of comfort was the large amount of excess talking. I had to speak to the group several times about listening and not talking, but the more I think about it this is a good sign. In a matter of three classes, they feel safe and at home. They love their friends and want to share what they are thinking with them. They are excited about what they are learning and can't wait to share the answer. I will continue to remind them of being respectful and proper listening skills, but I am thankful for their enthusiastic and friendly spirits!

I want to take this opportunity to encourage each of you regarding Shurley grammar. We are working in class on alphabetizing and the correct usage of a and an. At this point, I am not expecting mastery. We are going to camp out in these concepts for awhile. Anything you can do to reinforce these concepts at home is great. Perhaps having your child alphabetize your spice rack, dvd's or books at home would be a good review activity. In class we are playing games to reinforce the concepts each week.

I hope each of you has a terrific week. Please let me know if I can help you in any way.

A Happy Day Indeed!

We had another good day at Veritas. The children had fun playing grammar "around the world" and listening to another chapter of Teddy's Button. The most fun, however, came as we celebrated the birthday of our classmate, Hunter. Thanks to Mandi Wiggins (Hunter's mom), we had our snack outside, which consisted of cookie cake, chips, and a fruit drink. As evidenced by the big bag of candy your child brought home, we also had a pinata. The children enjoyed singing to Hunter and celebrating his special day.

Please feel free to send a special treat for the class on your child's special day. We always welcome the opportunity to celebrate one of our classmates. If you would let me know in advance that you will be sending something special for your child's birthday, it will allow me to plan our day appropriately.

I was very impressed by the children's reading logs. Please continue to encourage your children to read everyday. A book that has aided me in selecting books for Jack is Gladys Hunt's Honey for a Child's Heart. Available on amazon.com for under $10, this book contains age appropriate book lists, as well as encouragement for parents to read to their children. You may even be able to find this book at your local library should you be interested.

I hope each of you have had a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend. Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday.