Love and Friendship

I am looking forward to the Valentine’s Day celebration on Thursday and Friday.  We are excited to celebrate love and friendship.  The children will be passing out their friendship valentines.  The classrooms have planned some wonderful goodies too!  They range from friendship pizza (with fruit), yoghurt parfait to…… chicken nuggets!

It made me think about how I have seen the children grow and develop their skills at caring for each other and forming friendships here at school.  It warms my heart when I go into the classroom and see children welcome new friends, console those who are sad and tell each other: “you are my friend.”  Even the two year olds show care and compassion with pats on the back.  It is so sweet.

It is wonderful to see not only children develop care and friendships with each other but also to see staff connect with parents and each other. We have wonderful and caring parents who are also connecting with each other.  Having friendships with other moms who are experiencing the same season of life is a great thing. I am happy that Concordia is a place where that is happening!

The Wonders of God

I just received a disk with pictures from the Living Nativity this week. There is one picture that really stood out to me. The picture is showing the Bethlehem star. It really is the light post with the reflection of the light from the flash of the camera but it looks like the Bethlehem star. I wonder if God was trying to show us something with the light that night? The night of the Living Nativity was beautiful and the children did an awesome job! I hope you saw and felt the love of Jesus through the children that night.

The Lame Man…..

First a diagnosis of hyper thyroidism, then medication, a bad allergic reaction to medication, then a new medication to help get rid of the hives, next a reaction to this medication, next off to the hospital with no feeling in my legs or feet.

I can identify with the lame man (Mark 2 – text below) who had to be lowered through the roof to be healed by Jesus.  What a wonderful lesson not only of God’s power but of the gift of friends.  Thank you friends for your prayers on my behalf.

They were heard and God is merciful and gave me back the feeling and use of my legs and feet. The doctors  still do not know what the cause was and more so why the feeling came back as quickly as it did.

After 4 MRIs they still have no clue what is going on. I am doing better everyday and getting stronger,  still some concerns with one leg going to sleep.

Thank you for all of yours prayes and concerns during my illness. I am very glad to be back to work and with the children.

-Mary Mason

Mark 2 (The Message)

Mark 2

A Paraplegic

^1-5 After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.”

^6-7Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.”

^8-12Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . .” (he looked now at the paraplegic), “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

Reflections

As I look back over the last 2 1/2 months, since Concordia Preschool has been opened, I have observed many changes and yet many things that have remained the same.  The school is growing quickly, we are adding new staff, and our last classroom will be opening soon!  The children are learning many new things.  For example, the two’s have learned a new routine, new words and now have friends at school; the three’s have all learned how to line up and are learning how to snip and cut with scissors.  The Pre-K classes are learning how to write their letters and recognize some of the letters in their name.

Through my reflections I am recognizing how God is using me and my talents.  I know He is building my creative energy, my enthusiasm and excitement for what He is doing here.  The fact that I am given the privilege of guiding the lives of children and staff and building curriculum goals that will help children grow their brainpower, balance their emotions, assure their spirit and develop their physical bodies is such an awesome honor!  God is giving me the endurance and I am so grateful to be used by Him in this important task. I look forward — and pray every day — to be a blessing to children, staff, and parents.  I deeply appreciate your prayers and encouragement as I lead.  Let me know how I can pray for you!  Just leave me a comment here or email me at mary@concordiachurch.com

Mary Mason

Director

Something new at Concordia on Sundays!

Every day on the way to and from the playground, your children walk through a large room with lots of chairs.  That’s where we’re going to be holding our first church services; and the very first preview service is THIS SUNDAY, October 11th  @10:45 am.

You’ve received a letter from our pastor telling you what the service will be like.  Now I’d like to give you a personal invitation to join me and some of the rest of the staff here on Sunday for this first preview service. Whether you’re interested in church or not, I know you have a heart for children.  So please come help us figure out how to create a church experience that reaches the whole family  together.

You’ve already been part of one new start.  Now, join me this Sunday in another one.  I think it’s exciting.   So exciting, in fact, that I’ll be there at the door to welcome you.

See you Sunday,

Mary

Preschool Holidays

Concordia Preschool will only close for 10 holidays per year.  Our next holiday will be Thanksgiving and the Friday after.  The list of holidays includes:  New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day,  Good Friday, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day,  Thanksgiving and the Friday after, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We are open Monday through Friday the balance of the year.  I will be sending home an approved school calendar for the 2009/2010 school year this week.

We will not be celebrating Halloween at school.  Please do not send children to school in costumes on the Friday prior to halloween.  We will be learning about Fall Harvest and nutrition at the end of October and into November. 

The Pre-K classes will have a nutrition specialist coming in once a week for 4 weeks.  They will be learning about nutrition and healthy bodies and they will cook/make a snack each of those weeks.  The three year old classes will also have the same nutrition specialist come to their classes for cooking and learning about nutrition and healthy bodies in November.  Please watch for more details coming soon!

New Shade Covering!

Our shade covering is going up today! The children will be delighted to have the shade over our playstructure on the playground. This will help the children stay out of the direct sunlight.

We had a good Pampered Chef demonstration on Saturday.  If you would like to place a Pampered Chef order for yourself or the school you can order by thursday of this week the 17th. Please see Mrs. Mason for a catalouge.

Thank you for helping us set up our kitchen

Our Second Month!

We have just begun our second month in our new facility and everything has calmed down and is going very smoothly! The children have made new friends and the staff is pleased with the class schedules and the way the children have adjusted. Life is good!

The two year-old class will be moving to the front room (A/B) which will be the purple Teddy Bears. Mrs. Salde will remain the teacher of this class and we will be adding an assistant teacher very soon.

Concordia Preschool will hosting a kitchen shower for our new kitchen. A Pampered Chef Consultant will be showing the products on Saturday, September 12th from 10:00 a.m. to about 12:00 p.m.. If you would like to purchase an item or items for yourself and/ or the preschool, please join us.

We will be serving some refreshments made from Pampered Chef recipies. Our wish list of items that we need for our kitchen is as follows:

mini muffin pans 6 – 8,

stackable cooling racks 4,

flour / sugar shaker 3 – 4,

ice cream scoop,

measuring spoons 2,

measuring cups 2-3,

liquid measuring cups 2,

oven pad 2,

oven mit 2 – 3,

pastry blender 2,

chefs silicone pastry brush 2,

vegetable peeler 2,

core & more 2,

julienne peeler 2

citrus press 1,

egg seperator 1,

easyopener 1,

jar opener 1,

scoop clip 2,

smoothedge can opener 2,

large serving spatula 2,

small spreader 4,

mini serving spatula 4,

2&4&6 qt. stainless bowls,

8qt stainless bowl,

quikcut paring knives 2sets,

hot pads 4,

master scraper 4,

medium scraper 4,

micro scraper 2,

mix n scraper 2,

classic scraper 4,

skinny scraper 2,

bamboo spatula 2,

bamboo spoon set 2,

8″ chefs knife 2,

3″ paring knife 4,

5″ utility knife 2,

hold n slice 2,

finger guard 2,

handy scraper 2,

kitchen shears 1,

kitchen shears cover 1,

large grooved cutting board 2,

cutting board 1,

color coated santoko knife 2,

egg slicer 2,

pizza slicer 2,

crinkle cutter 2,

apple wedger 4,

food chopper 2

batter bowls 2,

Thank you for helping shower our kitchen.

My Preschool Life!

Wow, after reading my dear friend Melissa’s blog called “My Beautiful Life” and Pastor’s blog called “MY INTERUPTIBLE LIFE”, I wondered what I would call my blog.  I’ve been contemplating that thought and what will I write about then the thought came to me a couple of days ago that I should name my blog “My Preschool Life”.  I plan to give you little snippets of the day at preschool with little comments children make or things they do at school.  I will also send out information about the school and what is happening here.  I plan to give you information on our curriculum and other interesting  useful information to help you as parents.

I hope you will find my blog useful and informational.  I look forward to communicating with you on a regular basis.

The end of the week…….

It has been a good week!  It has been great fun for all of us to get to know each other.  I have been hearing good feedback from children and parents that all are getting into the swing of things!  I am glad to know that some children are unhappy when they have to LEAVE Concordia Preschool!

I wanted to get off a quick note to parents about the importance of your children wearing close toed shoes to school partciularly for the active play that occurs on the playground.  Flip flops expose the feet and especially little toes to injury.  Also, children aren’t always able to run around the playground in flip flops like they need to.  Little ones are trying to improve their coordination and adding uncooperative footware to the mix doesn’t help the situation.

As we close our week, I hope you find this information and suggestion helpful.  I am looking forward to a great week  next week.

I hope you have already seen our brand new website.  I am happy to hear that many parents are accessing their child’s classroom newsletter online! An effective partnership requires good communication.  Our goal is to give you information about the kinds of activities, and concepts your children will be covering in class and that way your communication with your child will be enhanced.  You have more information to go beyond the usual, “What did you do in class today?”  As always, your feedback is always welcome.

Blessings on your weekend!

Mary