April 16th, 2019

Dear Pre-K families,

This week as we celebrate Holy Week, we have many activities going on to conclude our season of Lent.  We have been learning about the Stations of the Cross.  We will pray them on Wednesday morning after our reading buddies visit.  We will post them around the backyard and carry our wood crosses that the children nailed and painted.  These crosses will come home this week.  Please remember to take special care of them as Father Thomas blessed them at our last Mass.  You may add a picture hanger to the back if you would like to hang it up.  

This past Sunday, we celebrated Palm Sunday.  This is when Jesus rides through the town of Jerusalem on a donkey and the people threw down their coats and waved palm branches at him to honor and praise him.  We made our own palm branches out of cut outs from tracing the children's hands.  We watched a video about Palm Sunday and did a reenactment where one child pretended to walk through the crowd as Jesus and the other children waived their palm branches toward him.  

We also have been making a book about Lent.  It includes some special days and traditions about Lent.  

On Thursday morning,  we will attend the live Stations of the Cross in the school auditorium.  The 8th graders and 1st graders will reenact the Stations of the Cross during the Holy Thursday prayer service.  After the prayer service, we will come back and color Easter eggs and prepare for our special snack.  If your family would like to sign up for something, please see the sign up posted in the classroom.  Also, if your family would like to bring a small treat to share with the children for their Easter basket, a small wrapped candy or plastic filled egg would be okay.  There are 25 children in the class.  The children painted and decorated an Easter basket which is attached to their treat bag. The basket may be removed  from the bag and used as an Easter decoration keepsake if you choose.  Please remember that Thursday is a minimum day for the entire school.  The school will close promptly at 12:30, and there will not be any afternoon child care.  There is no school on Good Friday and school will be closed next week for spring break.  

This week is week 2 of our theme Nature All Around Us.  Last week the children planted beans in a plastic bag.  They have been growing in our window by the art center.  Please feel free to see how much they have grown.  Watch for them coming home on Thursday.  You and your child can plant them in the dirt and continue to watch the seeds grow at home.  This week our letter is Uu.  We will be talking about What's in the Sky.  We will do a story extension on a book written by Eric Carl called Little Cloud.  Our clouds will be hung up in our "sky" over our "Farmers Market" in our dramatic play area.  Please check it out, the children have been having a good time playing there.  Also please visit our writing center's Lent theme display.  The children have been writing words about Lent that are written on prayer rocks. 
 
We hope that your family has a wonderful week off together.

Thank you,
Mrs. Veronica