Time flies...

Back in March, sweet nurse Katie (Graham's mommy) visited our class to share a little about her job. She was spectacular!  She brought pictures, nurse equipment and a package of band-aids for each of the children.  Thank you so much nurse Katie!

 Look at how interested all of the kids are during story time now.  Wow, they've come a long way in becoming great listeners!  We love it!

 In April, we've been talking about everything that God has made, right down to the tiny insects in the grass...here we let the children hide the insects in the tall, tall grass:

Of course, we talked about the Easter story.  We waved palm branches and sang, "Hosanna to the King" like they did on Palm Sunday.

We learned that Jesus is the lamb of God, and that he died and came alive again!  He is risen!

And, of course, we had an Easter egg hunt.  We hid them in fairly obvious places all over the gym.  It's always interesting to see who wants to find as many as they can vs. who just wants to find a couple and open them right away.

 We evened out the bags after, just to be fair :)

 How proud were you of your little ones at the spring sing along ???  Wow!  We were super impressed!

 The weather has been gorgeous, so we've been able to have lots of outside play time instead of going to the gym.  We took this opportunity to try and get a nice group pic...at least they are all looking at the camera ;)

 And I just had to include a few joyful bubble pics from backwards day.

Well, it's hard to believe that there are only two more weeks of school after this week.  We will keep it action packed and make the most of the time we have left before summer.  See you tomorrow for our last school day of April!

Bonus!

I'm doing a little bonus post today just to highlight a few great things from this week...

Our class got to participate in a trial motor skills class with Ms. Kristin (from My Gym) on Wednesday.  The other classes in the school do this regularly and we wanted to test it out with our group since they are such natural climbers :)  They did awesome!  And Ms. Kristen was wonderful with them.  I took as many pictures as I could, but our help was needed so I wasn't able to capture everything.  Here's what I got:

Warm up / stretches

 Up and over

 Balance walking

 Some fine motor work with frisbees

 And games and songs with this fort

 It really was so much fun and they did a great job!  If you are returning to TOT Time next year, motor skills will become a regular part of the schedule.  And since this trial lesson went so well, we are also hoping it may be something we can do with the Toddler class during the second part of next school year.  Go toddlers!

And then today, EVERYONE wore fun socks, along with spirit day t-shirts, to school to support Down Syndrome awareness!  Thank you so much parents!  We loved taking our shoes off for a bit, stretching our toes out and looking at ALL the different socks.

 Have a wonderful weekend!  Enjoy the gorgeous weather while it's here :)

from February to the firetruck

Reminders:
Ms. Heidi is planning an art show next month featuring one piece of art by each student at TOT Time.  Please help her by bringing in one piece of art by your child to place in the marked blue box in the hallway.  She would like it to be something done in art class.  (usually has your child's name written on the back side at the bottom, middle of page.)  The art will be returned to you after the show.  Let us know if you have questions.

We seem to have some sickness moving through the school/room lately.  Please help us by following school policy about when to keep your child home from school (fever/diarrhea/vomit free for 24 hours, NO thick, green/yellow nose drips).  Thank you!

Now the fun part.  I have so many great pictures for this post!

Back to Valentine's / Pajama day.  We did a color matching activity that everyone was interested in!

 And passed out Valentine's...

 And we tried something we never have before...we watched a Veggie Tales movie for a special V Day treat!  Look at them all sitting so nicely.

 A few didn't want to finish the movie, so they came over to do some more color matching in our room.

 We did a classifying puzzle:  things that fly in the air, things that go on the road and things that go on the water.

 For spirit day, Bridget's sister joined us...

 So cute!

 Then I brought in my son's train set for a day and Woo! Woo!  It was a hit!

 The new month of March brought in a new color:  green!

 This group is really getting the hang of sitting on the rug for books and activities.

 Notice these two always sitting together on the rug. #friends

 Did you know that St. Patrick lived in Ireland many years ago and used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

 We brought out the green Play-doh for some fine motor fun.

 This group is so great at independent play.  Lemley likes to squeeze her way into a corner somewhere to ensure some alone time.

 They love to explore and try lots of different activities!  Shape sorting...

 The old standard, cars...

 Babies...

 And some serious laptop learning...

 Again, sitting so nicely for a story...

 And the big moment when they saw the firetruck!

 They got to take turns sitting inside...

 Graham was the only one who didn't want to get in...but he was still excited to be there.  (We did eventually get him inside, mom.)

 Check out our crew on the front of Engine 19!

This group has really grown since the beginning of the year.  Not only are they physically bigger and have more hair :), but they really get into the things we do in the classroom, they're talking so much, and really learning a lot!  It's hard to believe we only have a couple months of school left this year, but it's great to reflect back on how far we've come.

Hope you stay dry on this rainy, rainy Sunday...see you Wednesday!