Other fun things

Our week has been full of wonderful fun and learning!
The children were deeply moved by the stories of St. Martin and were especially inspiring as they acted out the helpful ways of this great man. Taking turns being St. Martin, everyone had a chance to bring blankets and food to poor, cold, and sick individuals outside. We also sang "This little light of mine" and our lantern song that we sing in November:

"The sunlight fast is dwindling
My little lamp needs kindling.
Its beam shines far in darkest night,
Dear lantern, guard me with your light."

We talked about the light we all have inside and how it shines brighter whenever we help those around us. Making a list of tangible expressions of kindness helped the children see how they could show love and get along peacefully with their friends.

Monday is music day and this week we have been listening to Mozart and reading books about him as well. We also read the book My Family Plays Music by Judy Cox and talked about the many types of music and instruments that were shown. Our music basket came out and we all took turns with the different sounds and made up our own songs!

Friday is art day and this week we read Katie and the Sunflowers by James Mayhew. His books are a wonderful way to expose children to great artists within the context of a lively adventure!
Focusing on Vincent van Gogh, we picked his work, Sunflowers to imitate in our own art for the day as we made paper vases with stems and flowers and glued them on a background of colored construction paper.

We will be focusing closely on Mozart and Vincent van Gogh for the remainder of the year so the children can have a fuller grasp and understanding of the works of these artists.

Other books we looked at this week:

Children's book of Art
I Spy a Freight Train by Lucy Micklethwait
The Children's Book of Faith by William J. Bennett
Mozart: Scenes from the Childhood of the Great Composer by Catherine Brighton