Journey to Excellence

Other than just a tiny bit of accumulation on the roofs from flurries, we haven't had any snow yet. But, we're reading about snow this week! Our book for Thursday is Snow by Uri Shulevitz. We will also be reading the book Super Snow Day ~ Seek and Find by Michael Garland. When I saw this book I just knew that we needed to check it out. It will be so fun!! We will also be making shaving cream snow scenes . We'll make the scene of snow on blue construction paper and then once it's dry we will cut out winter shapes (trees, snowmen, houses, etc.) to glue on our scenes. This is always a fun project!!

We will be doing our Christmas stories and activities on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Tomorrow's book is The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola. In Mexico, the poinsettia is called flor de la noche buena: flower of the Holy Night. At Christmastime, the flower blooms and flourishes, the quite exquisite stars lighting up the countryside. A Mexican legend tells how the poinsettia came to be, through a little girl's unselfish gift to the Christ Child. Tomie dePaola has embraced the legend using his own special feeling for Christmas. His glorious paintings capture not only the brilliant colors of Mexico and its art, but also the excitement of the children preparing for Christmas and the hope of Lucida, who comes to see what makes a gift truly beautiful.   We will be doing a couple activities. First, we will learn about the parts of a poinsettia , draw and label one, and inspect the leaves of a fresh one we have in our living room.   Then we will make a paper towel poin...

Tomorrow's book is A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe. This charming tale of an overgrown pine that was always passed over for Christmas, and what his woodland friends do to help him. We will be doing two activities with this book. First, we will make sugar cookies in the shape of Christmas trees and then decorate them. Then we are going to take extra tree decorations and decorate our lone little pine tree that is in our backyard. It was our Christmas tree last year, and we planted it after Christmas was over. I think we will cover some pine cones with peanut butter and bird seed and add some suet bars, as well. That tree is a favorite of our local birds. I will post pictures of all our activities from this week on our Weekly Wrap-up.

Tomorrow's book is Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner. Snowmen at Night shared with us the magical, slip-sliding adventures of snowmen after dark . . . but have you ever wondered what snowmen do for Christmas? Well, now’s your chance to find out! The snowmen are back, and this time they’re celebrating Christmas—the snowman way! We will be making, and playing with, the ever-popular Snow Playdoh. It's easy to make and so fun to play with, making snowmen and other snowy creations. Photo Credit Here is the link for how to make it. Have fun!

It's time to start counting down the days until Christmas. One of our favorite activities for Christmas is the simple paper Christmas countdown chain. My kids love to wake up each morning to decide whose turn it is to tear off the chain. We keep it pretty simple. We use green and red construction paper (or two patterns of Christmas scrapbook paper if we have some), cut them into strips, and staple them together into a chain. The only link that is not a Christmas color is the one for December 22nd. That's Eli's birthday, so we always dazzle it up with birthday paper and ribbons. Here is a picture of our Christmas chain from last year. This week we will read the book Snowbear's Christmas Countdown by Theresa Smythe and make our countdown chain so it's ready for December 1st. On the first day he wrote a list of all the presents he wanted Santa to bring him. Come celebrate with Snowbear as the days leading to Christmas fly by in merry preparation! December is f...

Are you planning to join us in our journey through our planned Christmas Books and Activities ? If you are, here is a list of the supplies you will need for the activities for the first six books (the first two weeks): about four sheets of Christmas scrapbook paper flour salt oil cream of tartar silver and/or iridescent glitter white paper towels red and white craft paint shaving cream white glue construction paper to make Christmas trees, snowmen, or foam ones sugar cookies (either prepared or homemade) Christmas tree cookie cutter frosting and cookie decorations popsicle or craft sticks hot glue gun We will be making Christmas countdown chains, snow playdoh, paper towel poinsettias, shaving cream snow scenes, popsicle stick snowflakes, and will decorate Christmas tree sugar cookies. We will be starting these projects on Tuesday. I'll post the specifics about the first activity on Monday. See you then!

 I can't even believe I am already writing this post! Last year we participated in a Christmas Book and Activity a Day project with my friend Shannon at Peace, Love and Rainbows . It was so fun and really got us in the Christmas spirit. I decided that this year we will do the same. We will do three books per week, with an activity attached to each. Here are the first six books we will do. I have a general idea about activities, but will post the specifics of them later when I get them finalized. Snowbear's Christmas Countdown byTheresa Smythe (make a countdown chain) Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner (make shaving cream snowmen) The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola (a poinsettia craft) The Last Snow of Winter by Tony Johnston (make snow-doh) A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe (christmas tree craft) Santa's Snow Cat by Sue Stainton (a cat in a stocking?) We wil...